Meditation at the Brewery
“This brewery just placed their third order with us,” read my work email at Samadhi Cushions. This stops me for a moment. Brewers…meditation cushions at work … I like this – it’s not obvious – the connection between the two. Somewhere here, a story exists.
Two conversations later, one with Shaun Hill, owner of Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro, VT and another with long time staff member, Bob Montgomery, a story did arise. And so did some provocative questions. Can a business based on making and selling alcohol hold a higher purpose and motivation? Can an entrepreneur pursue an aspiration for the greater good while making some of the best beer on the planet? How do you introduce meditation into the work culture, when you, as the boss, are still trying to make it more of a priority in your life?
The Complexities of Shaun Hill
After a few conversations, I realized something: being Shaun Hill is complicated. The land where his brewery sits has been in his family for 8 generations. At heart he is a country boy who doesn’t want too much attention. At Haverford College on a scholarship to study Philosophy, he felt “like an alien.” (smart money kids vs a country boy who grew up poor). Hill dreams of being a homesteader on the land one day. He’s been named Best Brewer in the World numerous times. Hill is a thinker. When you talk to him, he is non-stop in his musings and considerations.
“Life is like a cycle, or the repetition of holding on and letting go, which I think is a recurring theme. Wherever you are you are in those revolutions. There’s an ebb and flow or like, drowning and coming up for air. Perhaps like happiness and suffering. I mean, that’s all there is, right?” – Shaun Hill
Making it Just Right
Hill strikes me as someone who doesn’t stop. He’s deep in the business. It’s a job both demanding and all-consuming if you want to do it right. Maybe even perfect.
Most people I came into contact with weren’t going all the way in when making beer. After going to Copenhagen and having a mentor, and starting to recognize patterns and cause and effect in influencing outcomes, I realized I could make a really round, palatable kind of elegant and precise tasting beer. It’s like making a meditation cushion. I am sitting on one of your cushions now. You make a cushion out of buckwheat and organic cotton and it’s soft and very clean. A matte color that is soothing. Almost Japanese in its approach which is the element of craftsmanship that I like. But sometimes when you have a lot of vision there is a lot of sacrifice, too.
The Tension of Success
In his article, Shaun Hill and The Price of Perfection, Rowan Jacobsen captures the complexity that is Shaun Hill.The piece gives an excellent backdrop for the question: Where does Hill Farmstead Brewery go next? Hill’s angst, the inner tension he experiences, and the difficulty he seems to have in enjoying his success are all part of the picture. Jacobsen writes, “After all the years of striving to build a stable business and make the best beer, he’s got time to take stock, and he doesn’t much like what he sees. ‘Brewing allowed me to be obsessive and to have a deep, intense focus, and I thought those things would make me feel good. But all of the qualities that make me a great brewer—the ability to control an environment, to utilize the scientific method, to constantly engage in dialectic and experimentation—are the opposite of the things you need to be happy and to accept what is.”
When Jacobsen wrote his article Shaun was at the beginning of a reset in his life. He was taking time to read, to meditate, to try new things at the Brewery. Seeking more space and perspective, Hill returned to Copenahagen, working in a coffee roastery for two months. He traveled with two suitcases, one full of clothes and the other of books. Then the pandemic hit. He laid off a majority of the staff.
A Fresh Start
After enduring the pandemic hardships for more than 9 months and recognizing that the journey forward would require a journey inward, Hill gave his now small staff a paid sabbatical. Montgomery wanted to explore mindfulness. “One of my goals was to embrace meditation. I did the normal nerd thing and got the Headspace App and I did it almost every day on sabbatical . And I noticed a difference. And then Shaun said, ‘We’re going to get cushions and we’re gonna to try it here.’ I was all for it. I had bought a little bell (rin) from you guys because I wanted to remember visiting Karmê Chöling (a retreat centre in Vermont) in the 80s and hearing that sound and thinking, that is a cool sound. And now we have an appropriate signal for the beginning and the end as opposed to somebody just hitting their coffee mug with a pencil. That’s what we were doing, trying to find the mug with the best resonance. But nothing is as good as that little bell.”
A New Mission
When the sabbatical was over the small staff met for a week of sharing what they had learned as well as participating in mini workshops that focused on the overall mission of the brewery, personal time management, creating a great team, even a session on Beginner’s Mind. Montgomery adds, “It was an amazing week. We sat around on the cushions, with a whiteboard, writing tons of things and we still have all the papers strewn across the walls with the mission and vision and all the work we did as a group to bring it all together.” They have since launched their new Mission + Vision page .
The new Mission states, “Change the beer industry by creating ripples of influence and introspection & Utilize our beer as a vehicle for sharing our values and ideals, and promoting the tenets of Conscious Consumption, Conscious Belonging, Conscience+Commerce, and Education & Dialogue.”
According to the Mission Page, the Brewery is moving towards honesty about the effects of alcohol and how to look at engaging with it mindfully. They’re looking directly at the environmental impact on a local and global level while raising the question of “the meaning of the word sustainable.”
Engaging the Quandary
It’s not everyday you get this behind the curtain glimpse into the life of a Master Brewer. Someone who is truly accomplished at what they do, brewing one of the most renowned beers, a beer that “makes you feel good about the world.” A Master Brewer who is at the same time, uncertain if his time and energy is being spent in the best possible way. A Brewer who looks at the question of consumption and addiction and how those realities align with living a mindful life. It’s quite the quandary.
Mindful Brewing
Yet it appears the time for reflection, prioritizing, and increased engagement with his small staff is taking Shaun Hill and Hill Farmstead down a promising path. As I write this, Hill is in the middle of arranging a staff retreat at Karmê Chöling, the meditation center just south of him located here in Vermont.
We strive to continue to create products that demand reverence and we hope that our beers will be consumed in celebration and for ceremony, fostering deep connections with spirit and one another. When we are fully present, experiencing, and engaging with a singular beverage, we are granted a doorway to a sensory, spiritual, and emotional experience that is fulfilling and finite. (Hill Farmstead Brewery’s, Conscious Consumption)
Photos courtesy of Bob Montgomery.
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