The Hollywood Reporter - 26.02.2020

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 34 FEBRUA RY 26, 2020

1-5, SOBEL: COURTESY OF TOMMY SOBEL (5). SPA: RUDI WEISLEIN. MEDAVOY: STEFANIE KEENAN/GETTY IMAGES. PHONE: ADOBE STOCK.

Wellness

Style

A

s more and more resorts
and hotels create digital
detox programs for the
device-obsessed — in California,
both La Quinta Resort & Spa and
the Golden Door offer phone-
free retreats — Tommy Sobel has
gone one step further. A former
new-media creative executive at
Amblin Partners (and before that,
assistant to Steven Spielberg for
five years), Sobel is the founder
of Brick Method, a sort of roving
social club that aims to create
a sense of community among
participants while asking them to
detach from their phones.
“I really loved the experience —
Brick’s events really help people

break terrible habits,” entertain-

ment lawyer Benjamin Rubinfeld

of Ziffren Brittenham says of the

two-and-a-half-year-old com-

pany, which has thrown weekend

getaways in Ojai and Joshua Tree

(costs have ranged

from $125 to $600),

one-night-only get-

togethers in L.A. and

even beach clean-

ups. At most events,

guests place their phones inside

VHS cases and ceremonially seal

them with wax. Activities have

included hikes, yoga and group

Reiki healings.

Sobel got the idea for Brick —

named after the concept that

turning off one’s phone renders it

simply a brick — when he worked

in digital media. “I got to know

a bunch of influencers who were

super successful and all incred-

ibly anxious and isolated and

felt this obligation to be on their

phones all the time.” An April

retreat in Costa Rica will take

guests on a six-day volunteer-

ing trip to a turtle conservation

research station ($1,500). Sobel

also coaches clients one-on-one

on breaking their addiction to

devices and the “persuasive tech-

nology” they contain. “Brick’s core

message,” says Sobel, “is to carve

out a daily screen-free practice

by going phone-free for a little bit

every day and do something that’s

meaningful in the real world.”

1 Brick Method’s 2019 Ojai retreat. 2 A phone being sealed inside a VHS case. 3 Founder Tommy
Sobel (left) and actor Emile Hirsch at a Brick event. Says Hirsch: “People are massively addicted
to their technologies. It’s making them miserable.” 4 Guests doing yoga in Joshua Tree.

Sobel

1

10% Happier

ABC News

correspondent

Dan Harris’ app

offers more than 500

guided meditations

as well as a special

section on sleep.

$9.99 a month

Bloom

To manage stress,

this app offers

personalized

cognitive behavioral

therapy sessions

and interactive

video classes.

$8.99 a month

State: Breathing

Sheppard Mullin IP

lawyer Craig Cardon

says he’s gotten

“the best deep

sleep patterns in

years” thanks to its

breathing exercises.

$2.99 a month

Waking Up

Cardon calls this

guided meditation

app — by Making

Sense podcaster

and neuroscientist

Sam Harris — “kung

fu for the mind.”

$99.99 a year

GTHX

George Takei is

among the content

contributors at this

app encouraging the

practice of gratitude

(includes guides and

a journaling page).

$9.99 a month

2

Irena Medavoy:

My Post-Awards-

Season Detox

W

hat could be more

extreme than awards

season? Hosting and attending

events, eating everything. I

have Postmates-cheated on my

husband with food at midnight.

Craig’s at midnight? Party on.

So after weeks of being

dined and wined, I headed to

We Care Spa in Desert Hot

Springs, California, for six days

of extreme fasting and colonics

(about $3,500). The staff is

exceptional. But detox juice-

fasting is not for everyone. My

friend Jamie Tisch, co-founder

of the Women’s Cancer

Research Fund, lasted less than

24 hours, while producer-direc-

tor Lysa Heslov (Served Like a

Girl) added three days.

The great news is that We

Care, which opened in 1986,

has added upgrades includ-

ing 12 gorgeous new executive

suites. Mine had a mountain

view and a

glorious bathtub.

The private

toilet space is

completely nec-

essary for what

is happening

inside your gut, and if you travel

with a friend, you’d better have

a Grace and Frankie relation-

ship. I was with my girl Red

Barris, a 12-year devotee who

looks incredible.

As I waited for my last

colonic, I could understand

why so many beautiful actors

(Cameron Diaz, Matthew

McConaughey) have come

here: You actually shrink; I lost

eight pounds. But the real goal

is to change your habits. I know

I will be coming back, maybe

before Cannes.

One of the new executive suites at

We Care in Desert Hot Springs.

A former Amblin digital media exec, who throws screen-free getaways in spots like Ojai, forces guests

to seal their devices in VHS cases and make meaningful real-world connections By Degen Pener

Breaking Your

Phone Addict ion

in Paradise

4

Medavoy

Five

Mindful

Apps

to Try

3

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