Elizabeth Cutler, SoulCycle Co-Founder
This episode features Elizabeth Cutler, co-founder of SoulCycle, discussing the brand's creation as a hospitality-focused, full-body workout. She shares insights on its tribal, secular appeal and her personal journey with meditation, including a post-sale family sabbatical.
Deep Dive Analysis
15 Topic Outline
Listener Calls: Advice on Meditation Retreats
Listener Calls: Meditating on Sounds
Dan Harris's Personal SoulCycle Experience and Transformation
SoulCycle's Philosophy: Creating a Safe, Secular Space
The Genesis of SoulCycle: From Personal Need to Business Idea
SoulCycle's Core Innovations: Instructor Careers and Rider Experience
The Role of Unplugging and Internal Motivation in SoulCycle
SoulCycle as a Form of Secular Spirituality and Community
Addressing SoulCycle's Accessibility and Diversity
Elizabeth Cutler's Introduction to Meditation and Early Practice
Integrating Meditation into SoulCycle's Company Culture
Elizabeth's Personal Meditation Practice and Its Impact
Transitioning from SoulCycle and Family Sabbatical
Perspectives on Boutique Meditation Studios
Elizabeth Cutler's Current Endeavors: Mentoring Startups
4 Key Concepts
Rhythm Riding (SoulCycle)
This is a core innovation of SoulCycle where riders synchronize their pedaling to the beat of the music throughout the entire class, rather than following a regimented sprint-and-recover pattern. This method makes the workout more challenging and engaging, requiring continuous effort to stay on rhythm.
Full-Body Workout (SoulCycle)
Beyond just cycling, SoulCycle incorporates on-the-bike choreography, such as crunches and 'tap backs,' which are abdominal exercises. When performed with correct form and resistance, these movements provide an additional core workout, making the session more efficient and comprehensive.
Unplugging/Reset (SoulCycle)
SoulCycle intentionally removes performance monitors and clocks from its studios to encourage riders to disconnect from external data and digital distractions. This creates a space for internal accountability and self-reflection, allowing individuals to focus on their personal experience and humanity during the workout.
The Space Behind the Thoughts (Meditation)
This concept refers to a state of mindfulness where one can observe their thoughts with non-judgmental remove, rather than being swept away by them. It's like stepping into a 'crevice in the rock face behind a waterfall' of consciousness, allowing for a sense of calm and clarity.
7 Questions Answered
To retain benefits, it's crucial to continue with a daily meditation practice and establish a regular rhythm of attending retreats, ideally at least once a year. Additionally, fully committing to the retreat experience by maintaining a slow, mindful pace even in private moments and refraining from exercise during the retreat can accelerate progress.
Yes, meditating on sounds and surroundings is a valid and effective practice, especially if focusing on the breath leads to too many thoughts. It allows individuals to narrow their focus and can be incredibly valuable, with many styles of meditation available to suit different preferences.
SoulCycle's core innovations included creating stable fitness careers for instructors with better pay and benefits, requiring new playlists for each class, and introducing 'rhythm riding' where participants ride to the beat of the music. It also offered a full-body workout through on-the-bike choreography and was among the first to allow online bike reservations.
SoulCycle intentionally excludes performance monitors and clocks to encourage riders to unplug from constant data and external distractions. This design aims to create a space where individuals can focus on their internal motivation and personal experience, fostering a sense of humanity and reset.
Yes, SoulCycle aims to provide a secular space where people can connect with something bigger than themselves, process emotions, and find a sense of community. The dark, loud environment allows for vulnerability and emotional release without feeling exposed, filling a gap for many who are moving away from organized religion.
While SoulCycle studios are often located in well-heeled neighborhoods and classes are expensive, the company developed a 'sole scholarship program.' This initiative makes studios available to high school students, offering classes, mentoring, and resume building, with high attendance rates indicating its value to participants.
Elizabeth sits for 22 minutes each morning, using a timer, and focuses on her breath or repeats a sound. She aims to find 'the space behind the thoughts,' which she describes as a place where her brain feels happy and healthy. She notices a significant negative impact on her well-being when she misses her practice, reinforcing its importance.
14 Actionable Insights
1. Cultivate Inner Fitness Coach
Develop an internal ‘coach’ by committing to a fitness practice, allowing you to adapt and maintain your routine even without external motivation or specific equipment, by translating the motivation you’ve experienced into self-guidance.
2. Prioritize Daily Meditation
Make time for daily meditation, even during travel, by replacing less beneficial habits like social media use, as consistency improves well-being and you’ll notice when you don’t practice.
3. Fully Commit to Retreats
During a meditation retreat, fully commit to the experience by maintaining a slow, mindful pace and paying attention to every action, even when alone in your room, as this can accelerate progress.
4. Find “Space Behind Thoughts”
In meditation, practice finding the ‘space behind the thoughts’ to sink into a state of mental well-being and happiness, which also contributes to long-term brain health.
5. Unplug During Workouts
Use your workout time as a dedicated, unplugged reset, focusing solely on personal accountability and self-improvement without distractions from phones or external demands, to leave feeling stronger and clearer.
6. Own Workout Intensity
Take personal accountability for your workout intensity by honestly asking if you’re doing your best, rather than relying on external monitors, as you already know the answer.
7. Re-engage After Lapses
If you fall out of a meditation routine, use the noticeable increase in inner ‘obnoxious weather’ as a powerful reminder and motivation to return to your practice, clearly seeing its benefits.
8. Explore Meditation Styles
Experiment slowly and methodically with different meditation styles, such as focusing on breath or sounds, to discover what specifically resonates and works best for your personal practice.
9. Sustain Post-Retreat Practice
After a meditation retreat, ensure you continue with a consistent daily practice and establish a regular rhythm of attending future retreats to hold onto and deepen the benefits.
10. Start Meetings with Meditation
Introduce a short group meditation (e.g., three minutes) at the beginning of meetings to shift the collective vibration and improve the atmosphere for all participants.
11. Prepare for Retreat Challenges
Before attending a meditation retreat, brace yourself for the initial challenging period of transitioning from a busy daily life to an environment of silence and constant mindfulness.
12. Beginner Fitness: Pace Yourself
When starting a new fitness class, especially in a less judgmental environment like a dark room, don’t feel pressured to know everything immediately; dial it back and allow yourself to learn and find your way over a few sessions.
13. Seek Business Mentorship
If building a company, seek guidance from experienced entrepreneurs or mentors to help problem-solve, overcome obstacles, and accelerate growth to make things happen faster, smarter, and stronger.
14. Provide Podcast Feedback
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3 Key Quotes
I often think of the first couple days of a retreat as like if you're on a plane and the landing gear is not working and you have to crash into the runway and they foam the runway, that's what it feels like to me.
Dan Harris
You can be alone together without having to be you can. So you can be really vulnerable. But and I've cried on the bike tons of times, but it's dark and it's loud. So no one can hear me.
Elizabeth Cutler
I often say to people that, because people worry a lot about falling off the wagon, and I get it. But one of the benefits of falling off the wagon is you can see more clearly the benefits of meditating. Your inner weather becomes a lot more obnoxious.
Dan Harris
1 Protocols
Integrating Meditation into Company Meetings
Elizabeth Cutler- Set the agenda for the group meeting.
- Begin the meeting with a three-minute meditation session, with everyone participating simultaneously across different locations.
- Proceed with the rest of the meeting, noting the shift in 'vibration' or atmosphere after the meditation.