If you live in Chicago and enjoy living a healthy lifestyle, BIÂN is your ultimate oasis. A wellness and aesthetics-based health club that offers every service under the sun—there’s a vinyl listening studio, a medical spa, a nap room and a cold-plunge poo, to name a few—this members-only club has been described as Soho House on Steroids, and we took a trip to see it for ourselves.
Upon arriving, we were greeted with the most delicious smoothie—we agreed it was the best we’ve ever had—before getting the full tour. As we walked around the property, a few of the other amenities we saw were a reformer pilates studio, massage rooms, a full-service gym, an infrared sauna and so much more. We also sat down with chief wellness officer, Mar Soraparu, who teaches breath work and yoga classes at the facility, to learn a bit more about how BIÂN is rooted in wellness.
Can you tell us about your role at BIÂN?
“As partner and chief wellness officer from conception, it was all-hands-on-deck from day one. Today, it’s actively curating the programming, evolving the programming and leading the teams from fitness, to studio to our advisory team. Our advisory team is really unique—it’s one of those pieces about us that’s really differentiating. It’s all about an individual’s experience, and we really do believe that when you affect one individual at a time, that is the greatest way to radiate change. So, we meet with every member, we understand what they’re looking to change in terms of their wellness, how we can incorporate goal-setting and how to help you get there. It’s a very hands-on process that’s very rewarding.”
What is your most unique offering at BIÂN?
“I would say the uniqueness really comes in with the compounding of everything. Bringing many wellness practices under one roof connects the best practices for your physical, spiritual, mental and emotional health. All of that is so equally important and it becomes a full-time job to piece that together on your own, so that’s what we wanted to solve and that’s what BIÂN is: a solution to that issue. Through our setting, we offer the ability to assist with issues from sleep to weight loss, and it all just depends on what works for you.”
You also offer beauty products!
“We do. Our partner and chief aesthetics officer Chicago plastic surgeon Julius Few, MD actively oversees and curates every product and service that we have. He brings his decades of research and experience to the table and created a really beautiful line of products that all of our members fell in love with because it was a true reaction to what people were seeing and what they needed. I use the BIÂN SPF, which we just included in The Box by Dr. Ava last summer. It’s lightweight and the only thing I wear most days. It really protects me and is a beautiful way to bring beauty to the every day…We also sell a Vitamin C Serum, which is amazing. In the morning, I use the Serum paired with my SPF, and I use that routine as my queue to meditate in that moment.”
What does your daily wellness routine look like?
“Overall, I would say wellness is incorporated into every moment of my day, though that’s not something that just happened—it took a lot of work. I try to take micro-breaks throughout the day, I try to work on separating work and home life, I always move my body and I need to feel well.”
