As a mass of attendees slowly made their way onto the tradeshow floor on the first day of IMEX America 2018 in Las Vegas, I made a beeline to the Be Well Lounge at the other end of the hallway for a peaceful pit stop before the hectic pace ensued.
After a short meditation with Lee Papa, along with a little healing sound therapy with “Rosie,” her the crystal singing bowl, I was off to the races—rested, rejuvenated and ready to take on the world.
Papa, a mindfulness speaker and trainer, has a kind of superpower when it comes to her craft. She has spearheaded the IMEX Be Well Lounge for four years, and she’s slowly been attracting a steady following of repeaters as well as newcomers.
They come to her sanctuary of serenity for what they are realizing is a dose of much-needed wellness during IMEX—or any show for that matter.
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The Be Well Lounge was as popular as ever at IMEX America 2018, with Papa offering a full schedule of guided meditations. The lounge also provided a place to sit, relax and just “be.”
“We were very pleased to be able to partner with Imprint Events this year, and I wanted to build the decor around the theme of the sessions, which was the road map to living mindfully—understanding self-love, self-care and self-mastery,” she said. “Imprint Group took the theme and ran with it, creating these fantastic vignettes using those terms.”
The design included comfortable couches, greenery, candles and trickling waterfalls.
Papa’s biggest reward throughout her journey of speaking and training on the importance of mindfulness for planners and attendees?
“Time and time again, it’s when an attendee comes back a year after they first came in and meditated in one of my sessions and says it changed their life,” she said.
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