I’ll Have a Grande Latte with a Shot of Mindfulness & Community, Please.
Dear Starbucks, I miss you…the old you from twenty years ago where walking into the store meant a respite from the daily hustle and bustle. That waft of roasted espresso beans signaled my brain for an immediate exhale. Ahhhh, it’s time to relax, sip and savor; a real coffee break. Back in the day, Howard Schultz was inspired to bring the community feeling of European cafes back to the U.S. in the form of Starbucks. He envisioned the stores being what’s known as the “third place,” a place for people to gather beyond the home (first) and workplace (second). For decades that’s exactly what Starbucks was; a place to connect with community over coffee and conversation, smiles and connection. Slowly but surely technology has revolutionized our lives and shifted the way we work and live.
The “third place” has become the second place; a rent-free remote office. For the price of your triple shot, non-fat, half sweet, extra hot latte you can work in the sort of wild west where you stake your claim on some table top space, plug in your device(s) and create your own little bubble of a cubicle while closing off the notion of any interaction by inserting earbuds. The only connection happening in Starbucks these days is with the wifi system. Sadly, the sense of community has left the building. It’s the polar opposite of what Schultz originally envisioned.
I don’t mean to pick on Starbucks — I’m writing this open letter because of the power that Starbucks holds in possibly providing some type of solution for repairing the current state of distress in our culture and providing that old sense of place once again. Now that co-op workspaces are much more prevalent, Starbucks could begin a shift back to the good old coffee store days with a focus on wellness, mindfulness and brief unplugged-ness. What if 1 in 5 Starbucks stores was dedicated to nourishing our mind/body and social connection helping us become reconnected to ourselves and our fellow humans? This could have tremendous social impact!
Working at the pace of technology has caused record levels of anxiety, stress and burnout. It’s no coincidence that in May 2019, the World Health Organization declared “burnout” as an official medical diagnosis. Our constantly connected lifestyles are wreaking havoc on our mental health, wellness, relationships and social connection. We need a wellness recalibration. I’ve been inspired by the purposeful iteration of branding that Weight Watchers has done over the past couple of years. Now called WW, they focus on wellness rather than just weight loss. They saw this shift in our culture and took their 55 year old brand and pivoted… and it’s working. We are wired for human connection rather than isolation, it’s an important part of wellness to feel part of a community. What if Starbucks followed suit and iterated from work space to wellness space even in just a fraction of their stores?
We could create modern day coffee breaks that literally break us free from tech even for short amounts of time. Starbucks can be a supporter of global workplace wellness since it’s visible in every town on almost every block. It could easily be seen as a symbolic reminder for a daily dose of wellness and mindfulness. Mini-wellness breaks that consist of simply taking a few deep, mindful breaths literally change our neural pathways (immediately and long term) and we can direct our bodies to manifest our best thoughts and energy. Stepping into Starbucks wellness spaces could be like stepping off the hamster wheel to be still for a few minutes and think about our goals, priorities, our thoughts and energy and reset our daily momentum from a place of clarity, optimism, patience and compassion… sans technology. We may physically be in line for coffee, but we’re not there mentally or emotionally anymore. Autopilot has many of us in a state of semi- consciousness where it’s become the norm to be completely tuned into our phones and not notice anyone or anything unless there’s an earthquake or emergency.
As I contemplate a way to bring healing and empowering mindfulness to the masses, Starbucks keeps popping up as the easiest way to raise our collective self-awareness about the state of our thoughts, stress and energy. We could “habit stack” our coffee rituals with wellness practices. Habit stacking is the new bio-hack for integrating a new habit onto an already existing and well established habit. Plus, holding a warm beverage with both hands while breathing in the aromatherapy is one of the most nourishing acts of self-care.
Human connection is powerful, looking people in the eyes and acknowledging their presence is a game changing gift that we can offer each other way more often than we do. What if we began to associate getting coffee with being present, mindful, kind and engaged? What if Starbucks found a fun and impactful way to encourage mindful breath and brain breaks while standing in line? Maybe offer an incentive for being device free and reconnecting to ourselves and others? Starbucks has the power to help us combat and possibly reverse the effects of constantly connected life.
I can’t imagine a better positioned brand to easily encourage daily wellness and mindful breath sessions attached to our already well established caffeine habits. I’ve been pairing my morning lattes with mindful breath for decades — I call it “Espress’Om.” Adding the mindful breaths is like getting a (free!) shot of positivity with your espresso. Hey Starbucks, I’ll be the first “Breath Barista,” helping to serve up shots of mindfulness, wellness and human connection!
