Davos 2019: Coping with the dark side of a champagne and chalet life

It is 8 am. The Sun is shining brightly on snow-covered mountain peaks, but this is cold comfort for a clutch of people wrapped in several layers of quilted clothing, caps and gloves, with barely their nose tips visible. As these people stand in a queue at the Davos Congress Centre’s shuttle hub for a 20-minute drive to Rinerhorn Mountain’s base camp, they struggle to bring cups of hot coffee to their lips. It feels so cold that no one wants to pull off his gloves to check the temperature on the mobile phone. One person braves it to see how far below zero the temperature is. On Thursday, the highest was -3 degrees Celsius, while the lowest was -14 degrees Celsius. 

Fingers begin to go numb while the ice under thick-soled shoes leaches away precious warmth from the body. After about 15 minutes of shivering, the bus rolls up (on time, Swiss style), its tyres crunching ice on the road. As passengers scurry into the heated bus, it is time to enjoy the view from the warm confines. The bus drops them at a cable car station that takes them to the base camp of Rinerhorn Mountain for a two-hour retreat-style session on managing stress. 

At the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, several sessions are dedicated to wellness and wellbeing for those in leadership positions. Most of these sessions are held to packed groups at the Rinerhorn base camp. The Rinerhorn Mountain is a popular site for skiing during the year and the base camp restaurant turns into a meditation camp of sorts during the summit.

Sessions on meaningful life include topics such as harnessing stress, contemplating meditation and discovering happiness. 

Though the congress centre hosts morning meditation sessions, the real charm is being in a mountainside chalet with exquisite views of the Alpine ranges. 

Being rich and powerful is not easy. While private jets and chalets offer comfort and convenience, the life of billionaire promoters and high-powered executives can be demanding. Corporate leaders have to ensure that their bodies and brains give peak performance while delivering quarterly numbers and satisfying stakeholders demands. 

The other side of a champagne and chalet life is mental stress and physical ailments. Not surprisingly, a rising number of executives are spending time, effort and resources to stay cool, calm and collected. 

The participants in these sessions open up about causes of stress and are keen to understand how to stay calm under pressure. The sessions are run by professors and experts from academic and research institutions. One of the tips they provide include Walking Meditation. 

“Go out for a 10-minute walk… And pause every 15 steps to take a deep breath and dwell in the beauty and mystery of this moment,’’ a leaflet by the Greater Good Science Centre, Berkeley University, suggests. 

There is even a “Sensory dinner in the dark” at the mountain basecamp, it promises “dinner in total darkness…for a powerful collective experience where surprises and sensory alteration may well transform what you think you know about yourself and others.”

Participants say that these sessions help them trigger lifestyle changes and spur them to adopt meditation as part of their normal life when they return home.  Standing in the cold for the session seems to be worth the trouble for the peace that it brings later.