Sometimes we need to escape everyday life and reconnect with ourselves to ultimately recharge our minds and body. We are Sanctum was created from a desire to push physical, mental, and spiritual boundaries to rich a happier, and more fulfilled life. Through the act of movement, sound, and guidance, we become mindful and connected with each other and most importantly with each of the cells in our body.
Is it time for you to reconnect with yourself? Join our conversation as we speak to Founders Luuk Melisse and Gabriel Olszewski about the concept of Sanctum. How do we give ourselves a timeout? What makes us crawl out of a dark hole, why is movement so important to our everyday lives? Find out how Sanctum has built a community of mindful individuals and why “intention” is an important part of the process.
How did you both begin your journey of developing Sanctum?
Luuk: For me, I used to be a dancer. I used to go to the theatre then after that, I jumped into the sports scene. What I learned as a dancer was to express myself, to tell a story through movement. When I was in the sports scene, I really missed that part and felt that in a lot of sports classes, you don’t make a real connection with yourself and your emotional body. That is how our journey started. Gab and I started to think about how can we create an authentic experience which is an experience about movement so we started to travel around the world to LA, to New York, to try out a lot of studios but we also went to Asia to try and do mindful practices with monks and to try kundalini.
That was actually the seed that we thought “hey, can’t we create a class that is about emotional release where we combine eastern practices mixed with western practices? We thought of combining young energy together with ying energy in a relatable way. We started to infuse methods like kundalini, martial arts, breath work, mindful movement, and high intensity into one class.
For those who are thinking of attending a class, what will they take away from it?
Gabriel: The primary goal of the Sanctum class is to create a safe space for people to express themselves. Through this expression, everyone goes for it even though you’re surrounded by people you know, don’t know, or might feel intimidated by, people let go by expressing and releasing anything that is not serving you anymore. From having a bad day to deeply rooted beliefs that are not serving you – it’s about letting go and releasing through movement.
We are creating more headspace, more self-worth, and more connection with people. Even though you’re in your own bubble with headphones on, you feel the connection with the group which is the beauty of Sanctum. You’re working on yourself while connecting with others.
Why did you tell people to wear headphones and not use speakers?
Luuk: I think the headphones have a big purpose. Through the headphones, you can hear the music and me, literally in your head so I am with you and can whisper to you. Also, in the headphones, you are secluded from everything around you so you feel way freer to feel released and use your voice. The funny thing is that even though you feel more with yourself, everyone around you hears the same sound so there is also a sense of community. It’s a very interesting dynamic.
How important is it for people to copy your movement? Is it okay to freestyle?
Luuk: That is a great question, so our teachers are called guides, because we guide you through the experience, but you are the master of the experience. We guide you on the knowledge we have and all the motivation we have but in the end, we leave it up to you to see how far you want to go. We give instructions in a class that is challenging to test your physical and mental body, but you decide how far you want to go. The movements we show you can be adjusted to your needs and how important it is to listen to yourself is up to you.
Gabriel: Anything that triggers your spinal cord where all of your senses are hidden is important. You don’t need to follow exactly the same as Luuk said, but you need to follow the framework and the freedom is there.
Is the idea then to keep moving and not stop?
Luuk: It is about the power of movement and the key elements that help. It’s the element of breath, the element of repetition which brings you to a certain state of trance and another state of your brain. You don’t think about execution anymore but about the intention behind so we use a lot of elements to celebrate the healing power of movement.
What do you mean by intention as you use this word quite a lot especially when meditating?
Luuk: For me, the intention is a why? Why are you doing things? That is a question that I ask myself more and more. Often we live our lives and end up in patterns and then we forget about the why so we do all those things then we realise through meditation or a Sanctum class, what is the why and what makes me happy, and am I still doing things that support’s my why?
Gabriel: For me, intention is a purpose. It is the light at the end of the tunnel. When you go through a struggle, you go back to your intention which is why Luuk says you go back into the clouds. You always see the light in the tunnel – with the purpose in mind you can push yourself and stretch your boundaries to go deeper.
When you are not feeling okay, what do you do to get out of that state of mind?
Gabriel: Personally, I am an introvert so I like to be alone. I love to be with people as they give me good energy, but sometimes when I need to process things, there is nothing better than locking myself in a room with hot tea and a blanket just to process things.
So you don’t do any movement? You take comfort in taking it slow?
Gabriel: Yes, I love Sanctum and do it every day but in order to sort of gain energy from myself and reload, I love to wind down myself.
Luuk: The funny thing is, when I am not feeling okay, I teach the best classes. I use how I feel in my classes and feel the change happening. For me, the biggest motivation is music. When I am not feeling okay, I listen to music and have hundreds of playlists so I start to move to release. I start to zoom out and feel all of the energy.
It’s a great connection you both have with each other as it’s a yin and yang combination. How do you apply this opposite feeling in your classes?
Gabriel: We apply it in the company of Sanctum. Luuk is an extrovert who likes to empower people, and I like to be more in the background and backstage which is important when you need to sort things out and make sure you have the correct framework. I am more of the marketing man and Luuk is the fire energy on stage.
Talking of marketing, how do you promote yourselves on social media?
Gabriel: I am responsible for the marketing of Sanctum and come from a marketing background. I did 20 years in marketing and quit my corporate at the end of last year in October. Instagram is my baby and I never had the chance to express myself in my marketing job to that extent but as Sanctum is my company, we can do whatever we want.
But the key idea with social media is not to provide answers to people or not to show things in an explicit way. It’s to present things in a way that is intriguing and leaves a bit of a mystery behind it. When you scroll through our feed, we like the spiritual energy but also like to celebrate inclusion and diversity. We are all about welcoming anything – we don’t define sex, age, or religion in our class, we have children, elderly people, and body acceptance which is what we try to present on our social media.
How do you apply musical dance in your classes Luuk?
Luuk: The first point I would make is the expression of your body. I started dancing at a high level when I was 11 years old so as a teenager, it was a way to express myself. We have all been a teenager and those moments of feeling bad and therefore all I needed was my body. I would go to the dance studio and express myself.
If there was one thing I would give to everybody in the class, it’s to show the power of your body and that you can express yourself through your body. You don’t need anything else. We live in a world where there is a lot of pressure and fear. If there is one thing we need, it’s the form of expression.
What’s next for you guys?
Luuk: We are planning on opening up an expansion in London around April time. We have a retreat happening here in a hotel happening in the second part of April and we are planting some seeds to open up here too so I will say stay tuned!
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