Appreciating Expond’s Personalized Experiences
Getting Mindful Outside of the Santa Barbara Mission with Petra Beumer
By Ryan P. Cruz | January 27, 2022
Expond is a new online booking platform that makes it easy to set up a personalized adventure, guided meditation, fitness session, or hiking trip — really anything you could imagine that can help you get out and forget about your day — on your own time and usually where you want. The list goes from traditional — yoga, stand-up paddleboarding, and electric biking — to more new-wave, outside-the-box adventures, such as rock-skipping along Santa Barbara’s winding waterways.
The online booking process was a breeze. You get to choose from 39 different activities — operations director Derek Martinez hopes to reach 60 by year’s end — and some offer a variety of locations. I chose a guided meditation with mindfulness specialist Petra Beumer out on the grass in front of the A.C. Postel Memorial Rose Garden — a chance to sit out in the shadow of the Old Mission Santa Barbara and enjoy a moment of relaxation was too good to pass up.
Beumer told me to set an intention before arriving at the session, and think about one thing I’d like to add to my life and one that I’d like to remove. She provided the yoga mats and led me through a guided “walk through nature” while I lay out in the sun, soaking in Beumer’s soothing voice and enjoying a moment of bliss and a break from the hustle of everyday life.
After the meditation, Beumer talked through some mindfulness tips, which included setting reachable goals and promising yourself to achieve them. During the pandemic, she said, it’s important to stay in the present moment and take care of our bodies and minds.
Expond’s greatest asset is being the medium between the providers and the users. Most of their providers are small businesses — personal trainers, physical therapists, hiking guides — and Expond helps them book more clients through hotels and online. For people who want a little self-care in their lives, it’s as easy as choosing what you want to do, and when, and booking it.
Prices vary; goexpond.com
Read all of the stories in this year’s Self-Care issue here.
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