Ravinia 2026 Issue 3

Violinists and Intermission founders Elena Urioste (left, a Steans Institute alumna) and MelissaWhite (right) Music and Mindfulness: How Yoga Is Transforming Some Artists’ Bodies – and Brains BY KATE HOGAN BERGER AS THEY RECALL, it was “very serendipitous parallel track- ing” that led Melissa White and Elena Urioste to each other. Both grew up playing the violin, which led to careers as award-winning professional musicians. In , they happened to meet through music, becoming fast friends with a shared mindset. “We were catching up at some point in New York, and discovered we both had separately come to a hot yoga practice and fell in love with it,” White recalls. “ en we started going to classes together, and started daydreaming about how nice it would have been to have had this practice incorporated into our lives much earlier, since we were doing so much playing, practicing, traveling. It felt good to do something to take care of our bodies, and rebalance our bodies from the asymmetrical stance we take all the time.” Years of grueling rehearsal and harsh critiques had taken a toll on the women, both mentally and physically, and hot yoga le them feeling “so empowered,” recalls Urioste. “It was a really cool feeling. “ e bene ts that it brought to my violin playing—totally by accident—were just invaluable,” she adds. “It was a big part of our conversations at the time we started, just how profound the e ect of this yoga was on our personal lives, regular lives, and traveling as violinists.” eir practice and daydreams ultimately led to building something bigger together: Intermission Retreats, getaways de- signed for professional musicians to immerse themselves in yoga and experience the associated mindfulness and positive self-talk. ese retreats are already invigorating musicians. “We’re getting people excited about feeling strong, not only in their arms, but in their legs, and in their core, and in their sense of how they’re taking up space,” says Urioste, “because that’s something that we deal with all the time on stage, this idea of anchoring ourselves. And the yoga mat is a really great place to practice that and feel centered. e way it then trans- lates to the stage is kind of magical.” is practice also o ers a respite from the rigors of life as a performing artist. “On our instruments, day a er day, we’re training to be the best, trying to be better than we were before. And to have this space where we can be curious and simply play, it opens the mind to the space of, ‘ ings are okay,’ ” says White. “We really are human, and we can be human together, and hold each other up in a really beautiful way that we can take back to our instruments.” Retreat-goers are invited to bring their instruments with them, as each day includes time for musical practice. “It’s kind of an artist colony environment,” Urioste says. “A musical free- for-all. But hopefully a really positive and joyful one too.” “Strangers come together, and we leave as really nice friends,” adds White. “Together we have created this space that has lled all of us with more creativity, more inspiration, more strength, more clarity in knowing what we can do. And that is really powerful.” To learn more about upcoming retreats, visit intermissionsessions.com. RAVINIAMAGAZINE • AUGUST 3 – AUGUST 16 , 2026 16 DANIELCAVAZOS