Haven

Haven Nature Studio is a hilltop sanctuary in the Montecito Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, founded in 2020 by Brian Schopfel. The studio hosts regular yoga and meditation classes, breathwork sessions, sound baths and musical performances in an outdoor natural setting.

After observing that sound-related programming attracted the largest audiences and the most repeat visits, Schopfel developed Floating, a collective of Los Angeles artists presenting sound experiences in natural settings. Floating launched its events in August 2021 and expanded beyond the original Montecito Heights hilltop to parks, gardens and other outdoor venues across the Los Angeles area, including Storrier-Stearns Japanese Garden in Pasadena, Bronson Canyon in Griffith Park, the Audubon Center at Ernest E. Debs Regional Park, Los Angeles State Historic Park and the Philosophical Research Society in Los Feliz. Programming spans ambient and electronic sets, singer-songwriter performances, ceremonial improvisation and residencies by individual artists.

The Floating concept is framed around "deep listening," a practice associated with composer Pauline Oliveros that links listening with healing and activism, and around a distinction its founder draws between task-oriented "wellness" offerings and a broader notion of well-being centered on unstructured presence in nature.