Mind Gym designed to relieve stress<\/p>\n
By Dini S. Djalal<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Hard day at work and thirsty for a stiff drink?
\nWhy suffocate in smoke-filled bars when you can have some fresh
\nair instead?<\/p>\n
But before you rev up those country roads for a hilltop
\ngetaway, driving through two hours of traffic to breathe mountain
\nair that's only 20 percent oxygen, why not visit a bar in town
\nthat offers four times that invisible goodness.<\/p>\n
No, peanuts don't come with this particular refreshment. The
\noxygen bar at the Mind Gym in Hotel Kebayoran, South Jakarta, is,
\nliterally, a made-in-the-USA bar with two big white bowls in
\nwhich you stick your head and breathe. That's 15 minutes of
\nunpolluted nothing, both for your nose and eyes, all to soothe
\nfrayed nerves. Here's the trick (pending approval from the
\nClinton administration): You have to inhale.<\/p>\n
The Mind Gym -- the, ahem, brainchild of hotel proprietor Api
\nSurya Winata and the only one of its kind in Indonesia -- is more
\nthan a lounge full of air, as I discovered one stressful
\nafternoon. Although the gym has been operational for over a year,
\nit has not been widely promoted and is largely unknown to the
\ngeneral public. Other spas using similar techniques exist in
\nEurope, Japan, Canada and the United States, but they are few and
\nfar between.<\/p>\n
With cynicism in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, I
\noffered to be a guinea pig and try one of these new remedies for
\nthe ultimate urban blight -- stress. The entrance to the gym was
\nnot promising. \"The Brain Revolution\", announced the red formica
\ngate, decorated by a stained-glass wayang (shadow puppet) as well
\nas a stuffed grizzly bear. The gym's interior was less
\naggressive, but by no means minimalist. A lot of colorful
\nfurniture stood against colorful floors and walls -- a zen temple
\nthis was not.<\/p>\n
Interior decoration, however, can be altered. Dr. Api said
\nthat the equipment was so new that he didn't exactly know what to
\ndo with all of it, how to display it, or what to charge users
\n(tentative prices have been set but may be altered according to
\nthe user's needs). He added that the equipment was not costly,
\nbut that import duties were.<\/p>\n
The expense may be worth it. The gym is full of apparatus
\nmeant to comfort one's mind and body. Those hesitant to risk
\npuffing on air can try other stress-relieving ploys. Most
\nimportant to me was that the techniques are perfect for the
\naerobically-challenged; they involve no physical activity.<\/p>\n
In one room is the inadequately named Vibrasound Table. First
\nof all, it's not a table but a bed, more specifically, a water
\nbed. There is pre-recorded music so that when you are lying down
\nin bed counting the dots on the ceiling, you can hear the
\n\"soothing\" sounds of waves crashing, wind blowing or birds
\nchirping. The sounds are meant to penetrate your bones and tingle
\nthe spinal chord. Unfortunately, throughout the 10 minutes of
\ntingling (and I was, to my own amazement, tingling), a man with a
\ntofu-fed California accent kept reminding me to \"let go\" and
\n\"relax\". What this therapy needs to do is let go of the chatty
\nguru on the cassette and make the room more sound-proof.<\/p>\n
Next up on the road to stress-free nirvana -- the Integrative
\nMotion System. In layman's terms, this means a rotating chair and
\na tilting bed. I first tried the chair, a black leather variety
\nwhich rocked me back and forth ever so gently. This lullaby
\nlasted for 10 minutes. Then I was instructed to try the bed,
\nwhich was a more intense form of gravity-testing. This I enjoyed.
\nAs blood rushed to my head every time the bed tilted back at a 45
\ndegree angle, it gave the same head rush as hanging off a swing
\nat the playground. Apparently, however, the benefits go beyond a
\nmere sentimental journey and remembrance of childhood
\nexperiences. These techniques are designed to integrate the right
\nand left hemispheres of the brain so that the brain can function
\nmore harmoniously.<\/p>\n
Close to nature<\/p>\n
Other gadgets and contraptions are available for the purposes
\nof relaxation and mind stimulation. There's a Think Well, a room
\nwith a water bed and \"nature\" sounds designed to clear your mind.
\nThere are books, magazines, cassettes and videos, all dedicated
\nto the science of mind stimulation and physical preservation.
\nThere's also the Mind Pyramid, which displays the user's Alfa and
\nTheta brain waves, though I think I may need a couple more mind-
\nenhancing sessions at the gym to understand this machine.<\/p>\n
The creme de la creme of the Mind Gym is the flotation tank.
\nHardly new to the New Age scene, this invention of Dr. John Lilly
\nhas been described as \"a return to the womb\". The tank is a small
\nsleeping chamber for one (honeymoon tanks have yet to roll off
\nthe assembly line) filled with 400 liters of water (30
\ncentimeters deep) and 350 kilograms of salt. The salt ensures
\nthat everybody will float in the dark, sound-free tank. Flotation
\ntanks are being hailed as the ultimate stress reliever, and thus
\nas a modern-day fountain of youth. Need assurance? Michael
\nJackson owns one.<\/p>\n
\"The whole point is how to free the mind without the burden of
\nbalancing,\" said the gym's owner, Dr. Api Surya Winata. Dr. Api
\nexplained that gravity is humankind's biggest enemy, and that 85
\npercent of our mental activity is preoccupied with balancing our
\nphysical selves. In the flotation tank, there is no gravity, so
\none's mind is more free to concentrate, and it is reputed that a
\nsession in a flotation tank will enable anyone to break their
\nperformance levels at work. It is also referred to as instant
\nyoga, as the tank immediately offers an altered mental state
\notherwise achievable only through years of yogic exercise.<\/p>\n
Dr. Api makes parallels between yoga and the flotation tank
\nbecause Dr. Api is a long-time practitioner of yoga. And it
\nshows. This 78-year-old literature graduate does not look a day
\nover 50 and has the energy of somebody at 40. Physical, spiritual
\nand mental excellence are Dr. Api's passions. During our
\nconversation, he repeatedly stressed that one's IQ may be
\nexponentially improved by a mentally-stimulating environment.
\nHaving lived all over the world and spent time with geniuses
\nEinstein, Picasso, and Charlie Chaplin, Dr. Api probably has a
\npoint.<\/p>\n
But to the average breadwinner in need of an aspirin, the mind
\nimprovement promises may be mere icing on the cake. Dr. Api
\ndescribes his gym as a \"laboratory where you can find out how to
\nteach yourself\". After falling asleep not once, but twice, on
\nthose moving beds, I was content with just teaching myself how to
\nrelax.<\/p>",
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