By Gabbie Burton
Contributing Writer

In a world full of distractions, technology and seemingly endless strife, a quiet moment to center oneself and block out the noise of everyday life is not only wanted but needed.

Enter Mindful Mondays at the Landenberg Loft with Kristin Wistar, who has been hosting varying sessions at her home loft since 2020 and began offering her Mindful Mondays practice about two years ago. Every session includes a short movement flow, a Healy microcurrent session, guided meditation, oracle cards and lattes to end the morning.

I participated in one of Wistar’s Monday sessions on Jan. 27. Typically, an early morning is a nightmare for me. I’m at my most cynical when I’m sleep deprived and having come from a bartending shift the previous night, I was feeling slightly hesitant to experiencing holistic practices. Luckily my hesitation did not last long upon arrival; I was immediately impressed with the Loft’s open, bright and charmingly decorated space, which was due largely to Wistar’s 30-year background in interior design. The setting quickly soothed my morning discomfort just in time to start the session.

Joined by a half dozen other morning warriors, I began on my yoga mat, while the sun soaked the room through the large windows overlooking the Landenberg countryside. Wistar set the intentions of our practice by explaining her theme for the morning, which she described as “unity consciousness.”

“With just everything going on in the world right now, it feels like there’s so much division and uncertainty,” Wistar said. “We really need to bring ourselves back to center and back to remembering that we’re all citizens of the planet here just trying to do our best, regardless of what our beliefs are, and just come together.”

We started with some movement which followed the GuanJing method, something I had previously never heard of. Wistar described GuanJing as a combination of yoga, Qi Gong and dance. To me, it felt like I was doing Tai Chi mixed with some yoga.

“We're tapping into the life force, energy of nature when we’re doing these poses, and it links our movement with our breath,” Wistar said.

We visualized dipping our heads into water, pulling up the cleansing water, flicking away any stagnation and then dipping back into the water again. I found the visualization effective. Even if it’s not literal, I feel that when you visualize things, you are taking an intentional step closer to making changes that impact your reality -- sort of a “fake it ‘till you make it” mentality.

Following our movement practice, we pulled out the zero gravity chairs, which reminded me of a fancy beach chair, and hooked ourselves up to Healy devices. Several attendees had their own, which is shocking in retrospect upon seeing the prices ranging from a few hundred to thousands of dollars online. The small plastic device comes with two wristbands and two wires running from the device to the wristbands.

Wistar used an app to set up the Healy microcurrent program I was receiving called Release. I expected to feel electric shocks but realized it doesn’t work like that. Instead, it sends healing microcurrent frequencies meant to “interact with the bioenergetic field,” according to the device website. I’m unsure of how an interaction with my “bioenergetic field” is supposed to feel, so as to whether or not it works I can’t say. However, in the interest of being open to the experience, the other attendees at the loft were all in and therefore so was I.

The best part of this segment was the guided meditation Wistar led us on. Miraculously, I managed to stay awake even though the meditation had me drifting somewhere between conscious and unconscious for most of it.

“Gift yourself this sacred time to go inwards, we hardly ever give ourselves this time, begin by calling back all of your energy and bring it down and inwards with your breath,” Wistar said. “Feel your collective energy expanding, radiating a powerful vibration of love that ripples outwards.”

I felt refreshed afterwards as Wistar treated us all to her “Loft Lattes,” a mix of adaptogen coffees, tea or hot chocolate. As I sipped the warm drink I pulled oracle cards -- something I actually do have some experience with -- and chatted small talk with the other attendees about all the things waiting for us outside of the Loft.

Wistar began explaining that her interest in holistic and alternative healing methods and practices began over twenty years ago when she was struggling with postpartum depression.

“That rocked my world upside down, and my whole life changed after that,” she said. “I ended up experiencing really deep, dark, insomnia, anxiety and depression, and I went through it for about 20 years.”

During that time, Wistar was working in interior design and found that Feng Shui gave her a second purpose in her career as well as helping clear up negative and stuck energies in her home and life.

“I got to see just how much impact the house has on the person’s energy, body and their whole life,” she said. “When I made shifts in my home I really started to feel like, ‘Wow, things are shifting.’ I felt like I could have more control over my own life by making change in my home.”

Focusing on movement practices also helped Wistar battle her mental health struggles by moving the stuck trauma in her body, she said. Ultimately, Wistar’s struggles and subsequent journey to reach mindfulness and improved health made her realize the importance of community which became an integral part of her practices and the loft’s mission.

“Because I suffered for a long time by myself, I want this space to be a place where you feel really safe to just be as you are and share what's on your heart and know that there's nothing wrong with you or that you’re not going to be judged,” Wistar said. “You’re just a human living your life, and we’re all equals.”

Given that it was her community that helped Wistar heal, her intention for the Landenberg Loft has been one of cultivating community, and she intends to offer the same magic to anyone who visits the Loft and may need it.

“Community is so important for us to really look into someone else’s eyes and to feel that connection and to feel someone's touch, it’s so incredibly important,” Wistar said. “It’s my life's purpose to merge mind, body, spirit and home and create a sacred union between them.”

To learn more about the Landenberg Loft, visit www.kristinmwistar.com.

Glossary

The Healy is a handheld microcurrent frequency device that scans your bioenergetic field to identify frequency imbalances throughout your physical, mental, and emotional body. 

The GuanJing Method is a meditative movement practice that cultivates life force energy to achieve optimal balance and health within mind, body, and spirit. It increases vital energy flow in the body, releases tension and establishes balance and health through visualization and intentional movement patterns.