Five years ago, Kevin Boehm found himself on a ledge above the Sunset Strip after writing a suicide note. That was a “rock-bottom moment,” says the cofounder and co-CEO of Boka Restaurant Group. But since then he has pivoted hard, getting sober, starting therapy, and recommitting to transcendental meditation. These days you are as likely to find him talking about meditation as hospitality. Boehm, 55, helps run 33 restaurants, from New York to Los Angeles, so he adjusts his wellness routine to what his body and mind need on any particular day, whether he’s on the road or back at home in River North. He’s also a co-founder of Biân, the Goose Island private wellness club — a fitting venture for someone who spends a lot of time, as he puts it, “whiteboarding” himself.
Shock factor
“I’m in the gym seven days a week. One day it’s Pilates, the next it’s strength training, yoga, or Barry’s [high-intensity interval workouts]. I believe in shocking the system. If you’re looking for growth, you’ve got to try different things.”
The gift of gab
“I talk to my therapist every week. I’ve also had songwriters as therapists for most of my life: Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Tom Waits, Patty Griffin. Long before I could afford therapy — or had enough sense to seek it out — they made me feel seen.”
Deep breaths
“I was taught transcendental meditation in 1993. I can do it anywhere I can sit in a chair — even on a plane. I get my feet on the earth, say a mantra to myself, and only concentrate on my breathing. When the world gets so big that you feel like you can’t hold on to it, you have to make life as small as possible. And to me, meditation is making my life really small, getting it down to nothing.”
The dry life
“I only drank once or twice a week. I was like, ‘I’m not an alcoholic.’ But when I drank, I spent the next three or four days feeling like I wanted to die. Getting sober, I found a lot more balance in my life.”