They are not allowed to speak or use the phone
South Koreans go to private cafes to relax and refresh
Forest healing has received increasing attention in recent years.
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Out of sight, on a side street near an urban park called "Seoul Forest", there is a tea cafe that can barely accommodate 10 people, and in this place it is impossible to talk, customers' phone must be on silent, shoes are not allowed, and the rules have one purpose : relax.
As South Koreans enter the stage of coping with the epidemic, some are starting to return to social life by going to public places, where they can be alone and not do much, and there is nothing new in South Korea where people desperately seek refuge from the pressures of living as active adults, During a global pandemic, in a highly stressed and hyperactive society, with soaring real estate prices, and often stressful work schedules.
In the "Spice Out" competition, which was held this year, the competitors sought to achieve the lowest possible heart rate while sitting in a "healing forest" on the southern island of Jeju, and the competition has spread globally, since its beginning in 2014, and has been organized in several countries, Including Hong Kong and the Netherlands.
The concept is popularized in a few public places in South Korea.
This month, theaters across the country screened a movie that simulated a 40-minute plane ride over and through clouds, and the ticket price for "The Journey," a project supported by major movie company Megabucks, is just under six dollars, under the slogan "Take a break." Comfort through soft clouds.
These spaces and experiences aren't exactly a common phenomenon, but researchers say they benefit from heightened feelings of entrapment and loneliness in the second year of an epidemic life.
Consumer trends researcher Yoon Duk-hwan, co-author of the "Trend Monitor" yearbook, said he expects that escaping from the bustling life to relaxation will become a trend, as the public grapples with the stage of epidemic settlement, and Yoon continued: "It is difficult to live with the feeling of siege and loneliness in At the same time,” he added, “they want the space in which they are alone in a place other than their home, and until the epidemic situation improves significantly, we expect this trend to continue.”
self care
Cafés such as "Green Lab", near the Seoul Forest, appeared in local media reports, and witnessed a continuous flow of visitors, during all periods of the epidemic, by providing spaces to relax while drinking tea, and customers could read, write poetry, meditate or just stare at the trees.
The Green Lab opened just before the pandemic with a concept called “rituals,” an emerging trend that encourages the daily practice of self-care.
Until recent months, customers were not accustomed to the idea of visiting a place just to enjoy being on their own. Nowadays, three slots are allotted daily, Bae Hyun, an employee, said, with little chance of getting a place without prior reservation. Hyun: “It is very difficult to find places in Korean society where it is acceptable to do nothing at all.” On a large scale, as people's daily lives have changed under the pandemic, they are becoming more familiar with this concept.
One recent afternoon, Jang Jae-hwan, 38, took a group of colleagues to the "green lab", and as the head of a skincare brand, Hwan said he was looking for "ways to find peace while crowded in a highly competitive business world." He tried Pilates, aerobics and yoga, but wanted to find somewhere that required him to do nothing, and ended up in Green Lab. "I wanted to be able to hit the pause button and take a minute for myself, but I... I feel like I always have to do something.”
new ideas
"In this space, the rule is that I have to do something," Huan said. "Green Lab created space in my mind. I even read a book, enjoyed the smell of diffusers, meditated on trees and flowers, and wrote poetry." “I started getting new ideas, one by one, and I felt very refreshed.”
One of his colleagues, Ahn Areum, 32, said that she had heard about the “Spice Out” competition, but she did not know about the existence of places such as the “Green Lab” cafe, and was keen to verify what was said, and said that she was looking for ways to deal with her fears of the epidemic. And the daily pressures, and she added: “I was very tired, and I don’t have enough time to go out, and after work I come home, and I have to do housework, and then I hardly have a period between 30 minutes and an hour, before I go to sleep.” Continue: I spend some free time on my phone, so with space like this, I can actually focus on taking a break.”
In another cafe on Jeju Island, which was called “Juys”, the upper floor is reserved for those who want to spend some time alone, but by early reservation, the cafe provides stationery, so that you can write messages when having coffee and dessert.
fire scenes
According to local media reports, a cafe in the southern port city of Busan offers "fire" scenes, where customers can stare at a screen showing a video clip of a campfire.
On Ganghwa Island, off the west coast of South Korea, there is a coffee shop called Mong Hut, which also offers activity-free relaxation areas.
In one of the corners there is a single chair, facing a mirror for those who want to sit and stare, and there are corners for meditation, reading, or sitting, by the pool or garden, or enjoying mountain views. Children or pets are not allowed.
Enthusiastic participants
Three years ago, groups of people were gathering in crowded city centers in South Korea and China, to compete in "Spice Out".
Enthusiastic participants from all over the world apply to the idea's creator, Wops Yang, who selects a group of 50 to 80 people for the competition, based on their age and ethnic diversity.
On competition day, the group converges in a central location, competitors put their phones and other distractions aside and meditate in nature.
Meanwhile, the event is growing in popularity, and since its launch in 2014, it has been held four times, three times in South Korea and once in Beijing.
Wops Yang plans to hold future competitions in Bucharest, Los Angeles and Amsterdam, hoping to expand the competition to thousands of people.
Although the participants say it is not easy, many have returned the ball after their first attempt.
"When I noticed the participants who finished the 90-minute competition, I saw their faces full of life, as if they were waking up from a deep sleep," Yang says. "They are the only ones in the world, perhaps, who have done nothing in the past 90 minutes and kept meditating."
mind clearing
Mong Hut director Ji Ok Jong said the cafe opened in April 2019, with the aim of providing a "self-healing space", and it attracted many visitors once the epidemic spread.
And “knockout” is a concept that means emptying your heart and mind, so you can fill them with new ideas. “We opened the place because we wanted to make space for people to do exactly that,” he continued, “It is a place where people can self-medicate, which is something they can Only the person in question can do for themselves, not something another person can do for you.
We wanted to facilitate this for everyone who is exhausted by the demands of modern life.”
Tajung Kin, 32, found the online café and recently visited, to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
There were other visitors, but she found enough nooks to be alone with minimal contact, and cleared her mind.
"While I sat there, secluded and relaxed, enjoying the view and drinking coffee, I felt like there was an empty space in my mind," she said, explaining, "I felt great relief, and my heart felt open, while the crowded thoughts disappeared from my head, and I returned to the city with a more positive outlook." .
• Cafes, such as "Green Lab" near the Seoul Forest, appeared in local media reports, and witnessed a continuous flow of visitors, during all periods of the epidemic, by providing spaces to relax while drinking tea, and customers could read, write poetry, meditate, or just simply Stare at trees.
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