Customers meditating in the cosmetics department at Selfridges. A shopping spree in London can be a stressful experience. It helps to chill out in-between.
By Jenny Soffel
Saturday afternoon in London’s busy Oxford Street can be a stressful affair. Pop music blares from every shop entrance, clothes are pulled from their hangars and tumble to the ground, small children wail, and hordes of families and teenagers shuffle through the aisles.People hereabouts are apt to push, shove and shop until they drop. They dash from one store to another and curse under their breath as their hands get sore from carrying plastic carrier bags loaded with items. Their feet hurt too but they don’t seem to be able to stop. London shopping thoroughfares, teeming at weekends with thousands of tourists from home and abroad, are not for the faint-hearted.The city’s exclusive Selfridges department store is trying to create a calmer panorama for shoppers. Up till the end of February it staged a retail experiment. It set up a so-called Silence Room as part of a No Noise policy. The idea was developed together with Headspace — a modern meditation project which includes a smartphone app.The idea was inspired by the founder of the store Harry Gordon Selfridge who installed a silence room in 1909. The modern incarnation offers space for up to 50 stressed-out customers who can take time out from bargain-hunting. A kind of receptionist welcomes customers at the door and asks them to take off their shoes and part with other “21st century distractions” like mobile phones and other gadgets.“This is not at all typical for London and we could do with more of these rooms,” said one shoeless visitor.The British mental health charity Mind has welcomed the new concept. “Living and working in London can be exhausting and in our cluttered lives there is often not enough time for relaxation,” said spokeswoman Beth Murphy. “An initiative like this recognises that people need a change of surroundings when they are suffering from the effects of stress.”The No Noise concept has even prompted some manufacturers to place high-priced wares in “The Quiet Shop,” albeit without the customary brand tags. Throughout the store are meditation booths which look like oversized mushrooms. These invite people to duck away from stress for 10 minutes.“I think it is part of today’s Zeitgeist,” said Selfridges spokeswoman Anette Cremin. “People want to be taken into account too, they are simply being overstimulated these days.”The team from Headspace seeks to incorporate meditation into the everyday lives of modern citizens. “Around 20 years ago people started thinking about how we can keep the body fit — thanks to diet research. People are now beginning to understand that you have to take care of your mental health too,” said Richard Pierson, a co-founder of Headspace.His colleague, former monk Andy Puddicombe, has come up with an app which enables people to mediate while they are on the move. “The great thing about meditation is that you learn to take breaks. Not only when you are out shopping but in your relationship, at work and at home,” said Pierson, who began meditating four years ago.Recent figures from the British government show that stagnating high street sales are largely due to people buying things online in the comfort of their homes. Over Christmas 2012 Internet traders accounted for nearly 11 per cent of overall sales.“The fact that the big names in retail are being left behind is down to the Internet. Online-shopping cuts out the stress you experience in shops,” believes Richard Pierson, who bought all his presents online last December for the first time.“I think the large stores have got to offer a particular kind of experience in order to keep pace with this. Selfridges has understood this.” — DPA