I am always on the hunt for wellness services at airports, and I love learning what people do to help manage airport stress.
One inspiring woman is changing the game completely when it comes to wellness at airports. Maraliz Campos is championing airport stress reduction through sound meditation.
Who is Maraliz Campos?
Maraliz Campos is a sound practioner and wellness guide, recognized for her work in sound meditation. She’s a wellness thought leader and a talented musical performer.
In 2019, she made Wanderlust’s 35 under 35 in Wellness list, and Vice called her one of the wellness influencers making the industry more inclusive.
Maraliz has walked a tough road to get where she is. Diagnosed with 12 autoimmune diseases at just 25 years old, she went through 2 years of chemotherapy and nine years in total of gruelling recovery.
I chatted with Maraliz to find out more about her airport sound therapy sessions, and how she envisions the stress-free airport environments of the future.
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You recently performed public sound meditations at airports in Atlanta and Cancun. Why sound meditation at airports?
Maraliz: I continue to bring this sound work to public spaces that are typically associated as stressful or triggering like airports and subways. On the one hand, this action disrupts the noise pollution already existent in those places and allows us an escape from within the space itself. However, by introducing calming sounds into the symphony of noise, I also hope to reframe the ways we interpret or ‘listen’ to what we call noise pollution.
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What if noise pollution could be perceived in the desired way? How much stress reduction could that provide us? These are the questions I explore with all of you through my public offerings.
One another level, these displays are also a form of advocacy. Until now, sound meditation has been mostly offered at a high price in yoga studios where a lot of populations will never step foot.
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I want them to become familiar with these practices as well because I truly believe in the research supporting their efficacy when it comes to relieving stress. Therefore, I choose to provide accessible experiences, however short they might be, so that people who might not otherwise be exposed to these instruments or stress reduction methods might have a chance to explore something new and powerful.
People immediately feel as though more is allowed in an airport than they had previously thought —Maraliz Campos
At least then, they are given a chance to choose whether or not to continue exploring sound meditation for themselves. If we hide behind clean studios and high-end events, we are stealing the opportunity for a broader audience to change their lives in this particular way.
How do you travel with your sound bowls? Has security ever questioned you?
Maraliz: Yes. I’ve had bowls completely shattered by TSA and not received any monetary compensation from them for replacements. They also always stop me and make me take the bowls out so they can inspect. I expect it at this point.
How do you personally handle airport stress?
Maraliz: Believe it or not, one of the great stress reducers inherent in me sharing this practice publicly lies in the human connection that comes afterwards. By introducing an out-of-the-ordinary practice into the airport space, people immediately feel as though more is allowed in an airport than they had previously thought.
This frees them to be themselves and serve their own needs with more confidence.
You have a different take on wellness than many people might expect. What is wellness for you?
Maraliz: Wellness practices aren’t about feeling great. If that’s all we can expect from them, then they are no different than a hit of cocaine or K. Wellness is the great disruptor. Pain is the great connector. And this journey of shifting unconscious reactions to curated responses is humanity’s unifier.
Where to listen to Maraliz Campos’ ambient meditations
Maraliz Campos’ first ambient meditation EP ‘Seis Comunidades’ will soon be released on all platforms. You can also find tracks on her website.
For those of you in New York, she’ll be celebrating with a release party, open to the public, at the Rubin Museum on July 26, 2019, at 7 pm.
If you find value and meaning in what we do and would like to help make the airport experience a healthier one: please use our hashtag next time you travel to share your healthy habits and wellness finds #ITravelWell
