Whether it’s a soothing musical “sound bath,” DJ beats, or an ice-cold plunge, Madeleine Vargas is perfecting the art of blending sensory experience and breath control to manifest focus, presence and peace. “In a world with constant stimulation and quick fixes, we can take back control of our lives,” says the former TV reporter and founder of Breathe to the Beat.
Madeleine credits breath work with overcoming a serious eating disorder during her high-pressure TV news career, a condition that had defeated therapeutic and pharmaceutical treatment. “I felt helpless and alone,” she recalls of difficult moments in North Carolina.
“Local news was changing, too. Ratings, sensationalism and unrealistic expectations of women in the industry - the pressure became suffocating.”
She discovered breath work through the example of Dutch athlete Wim Hof. “It was the closest I had ever felt to my body and myself,” she recalls. “I knew I had found my calling.”
Leaving broadcasting for the Utah mountains to refine her new life direction was “one of my hardest decisions. But if you have the courage to change, that's when the work begins, and your life!” she smiles. “From the moment I arrived in 2021, the mountains and the energy resonated. This is where I finally felt at home.”
Madeleine’s brings a creative, vivid approach to breath work via her mobile studio and at Park City Yoga Collective on Center Drive. “It’s not lying on your back breathing to ethereal music,” she laughs. BTTB offers “true self-acceptance” while movement and rhythm help manage stress, anxiety, depression – or simply enhance presence and mindfulness. “No pressure, no expectations,” she says.
Her reinvented trajectory and recent marriage bring an authentic vibe to Madeleine’s new PC life she attributes in part to the town itself. “I’ve seen how supportive Park City is,” she enthuses. “People have a shared commitment to lifting each other up here. It is incredibly inspiring.”