The VFit Studio’s Core Philosophy on Wellness
“Fuel well – Live well!”
The VFit Studio is built upon our core philosophies of wellness based on 7 pillars. These “7 pillars of wellness” are at our core philosophy on how to lead life to the fullest. Once you’re able to dial in your pillars, you can reach unlimited potential and lead a well balanced life.
Finding true balance with your wellness pillars leads to a growth mindset. We’ve based our own personal lives on these pillars and have built our virtual wellness studio and community with each in mind.
Dialing in your 7 pillars of wellness means you live with intention each day and you put your energy into your own health and well being with focus on the following: food, hydration, sleep, fresh air, self-care, exercise, and gratitude.
EACH PILLAR MATTERS TO YOUR PHYSICAL AND MENTAL WELL BEING!
Yes, VFit Studio is a virtual wellness studio and that is the heart of what we offer to the world, but believe it or not, our wellness program focused on these Pillars of Wellness started well before we ran our first VFit class!
Just like your car, your body needs fuel to live. On a primal level, you can’t function very long without eating. The better you eat, the better you feel. Every person knows this at a basic level.
Usually, we look to and relate to fuel as just food and water.
In fact, 90% of the health and wellness industry is centered around telling you what to eat and what not to eat. Or trying to sell you on the latest fad diet, pill, or shake that’ll magically make you healthy without putting in the work or focus necessary.
Take a moment and think through your life. There are so many other facets of your life you must FUEL as well. This is your fuel with a pillar dedicated to the keystone wellness centers of a well balanced life.
In no particular order, we break down a quick recap of why fueling EACH PILLAR below can elevate your health and wellness to infinite levels:
// Exercise – Your muscles need fuel by way of fresh oxygen and movement. Work hard on those muscles, boost up your heart rate, and you’ll deliver this much needed nutrient called energy, blood flow, and life all throughout your body!
If you can move, you should be exercising your body most days of the week. Exercise comes in every shape and form and we believe in a well rounded routine of cardio, strength, balance/mobility, and restorative movement. We’ve developed a FUNctional Fitness Plan that outlays the recommended ratio of these four major categories of movement and have broken down our class schedule and formats in this plan our members use to schedule and plan their workouts each week.
Exercise, or movement, is where you can get the most bang for your buck, in the least amount of time. Begin to focus on fueling yourself up with 15-30 minutes a day and watch amazing things start to happen in your mind and body.
// Outdoors – getting Vitamin D by way of fresh air to get yourself outside and away from the screens. To connect with nature and others. To feel the light breeze on your face and be present. We include this pillar because getting outside each day is critical to your mental and physical well being.
Your body and mind need fuel from fresh air and vitamin D by means of spending time outdoors. Vitamin D is crucial in cell repair, stamina, boosts to your mood, along with improving your immunity. Many illnesses are linked to vitamin D deficiencies as society has led to more time indoors. Take breaks from your time inside and even break it into 5 minute chunks to get some fresh air each day.
And even in those harsh winter months when you might not actually be getting direct Vitamin D, you’re still reaping many rewards. Being outdoors and fueling up from fresh air, stepping away from the hustle and bustle of the daily grind, taking some slow calm mindful breaths. This all will lead to more focus, productivity, and happiness.
Stepping outside exposes you to more negative ions will provide a host of health benefits. Just from being outside and being surrounded by these negative ions, you can help improve your sleep, experience revitalized cell metabolism, improve your immunity and detox your blood.
In today’s tech driven world, you can easily go days on end without spending a solid chunk of time outside. We’re willing to bet it’s impacting your health. Keeping yourself indoors leads to more stress, a feeling of isolation, keeps you on edge, and more reactive in your life.
We suggest instead to build in at least 15 to 30 minutes a day to set your phone down, unplug, and go outside. There’s no bad weather, there’s only bad clothing. This pillar alone can easily change your life if you are lacking in it.
// Water – We have run our wellness resets since 2014 and you want to know the #1 eye opener most of our participants learn about themselves throughout our process? They’re not properly hydrated. Living in a constant state of dehydration (be it mild, moderate, or intensive), causes negative effects on your skin, energy levels, sleep, recovery time, mental cognition, and more.
Your body needs fuel by being properly hydrated with water daily. Nearly every biological function of your body is dependent upon having those hydrogen and oxygen molecules at the ready! 8 cups a day is the minimum place to start. We have a great formula of just how much water you need that we love sharing with our team.
½ to 1 ounce of water per pound of body weight
Then, add at least 10 ounces per each 30 minute exercise session. Increase your water intake depending on elevation, temperature, humidity, and other health related issues such as medical conditions or drug side effects.
// Gratitude – Ding ding! Another key pillar of health we see nearly every other program leave out. How can you truly be healthy if you aren’t living a life full of gratitude and celebrations?
Your heart, the very muscle that keeps you alive, gets its fuel by living a life full of gratitude and by celebrating even the smallest of victories. Being thankful for what you have, especially those around you, will continue to help you view your life in a more positive light and send ripple effects throughout your day. Your stress hormones will lower, your blood pressure will improve. Gratitude is some powerful stuff, trust us!
We have our team write down one reflection of gratitude and one small victory they had each day during the course of our wellness resets. Once this daily habit is created, soon instead of being a negative nelly, you start finding areas of life to be grateful for.
// SLEEP! – “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” is just about the worst quote out there. You’ll live a lot longer and at a higher quality of life if you get your proper zzz’s in!
Your body, mind, and spirit refuel when you sleep. The process of restoring and building happens overnight while you get in those blocks of rest each night. Getting a full night’s rest is important for your brain health, your mood, energy, and stress level as well. 7+ hours is the minimum that most need. While we know that during some stages of life, this Pillar may be out of your control, we still encourage you to prioritize sleep as a very important part of your life.
// Me Time – Your mind becomes fueled when you stop, slow down, and tune into your own needs. Having a moment of calm in your day can be delivered by taking time for some quiet reflection and self care. For some, this may be reading a book, meditating, working out, gardening, sewing, you get the jist. There is no one size fits all “self-care” activity. Finding a small pocket of time in your day to take care of you isn’t selfish, it’s critical.
You cannot keep giving and giving to the world unless you fill your own up. The importance of self care cannot be overestimated and while each of the above Pillars could also be considered self care, we double down on this one to ensure each day you take time out just for you to fill your own cup.
So there you have it, our secret but oh so attainable recipe for creating your best life!
And like everything, you need to constantly be taking inventory and working on your weaker areas. As seasons change, so will your Pillars in Need of Repair. It’s the exact reason we come together quarterly to press the Reset button and make sure that no pillar is left out of whack for too long.
These are just some of the ways and areas you can choose to fuel your body better to live well. If you try and find shortcuts on any of these – or GASP! – skip some altogether – then you’ll be truly selling yourself short.
At VFit Studio, we believe that each of us deserves to live life well and not harbor regrets and guilt about taking care of our bodies. When we take care of ourselves, we are better suited to take care of the ones we love around us.
How do you check in with your pillars? Meet your Wellness Wheel
This Wellness Wheel is an activity you can easily do each week, or ad hoc, to ensure you’re balancing out the 7 pillars of wellness. Focus and maximize your pillars and your wellness wheel will run smoothly and your days will be fueled well.
At VFit Studio, it’s our core value that to live your best life, you need a well balanced Wellness Wheel that can rotate evenly and propel you FORWARD. This wheel requires that all 7 tanks are adequately filled. When balanced, your wheel spins forward most effectively.
Take an honest look into your own personal life in this current season, and rate each Pillar of Health from a 1 to a 5. Then color in the rings to get a perfect visual of where your wheel may need a little more air and energy given to it.
A rating of “5,” or the outermost circle, means you are at your best of where you could possibly be with this pillar and have it dialed in, with little to no room to grow or improve. This very well may be the case in some Pillars, so don’t feel bad ranking anything at a 5. If you are maxing out a few Pillars already, that’ll just create more space for another Pillar you may need to dive deeper into and flesh out some new positive habits.
The center of our Wellness Wheel is zero. If there’s no shading in a Pillar this means you currently have NO focus on it. Guess what? Seeing this plainly helps guide you on what areas to start working on.
This Wellness Wheel exercise can be done alone, or with those you live with to help improve harmony.
As you continue this exercise and dial in your Pillars, you’ll find you can map out your Wheel and check in with yourself quickly and diagnose what you need to work to improve your quality of life in the present moment.
- First Friday’s Wellness Cafe: Special Guest Misa with 12 tips for raising healthy eaters
- First Friday’s Wellness Cafe: Ayruveda 101 with Lindsay
- First Friday’s Wellness Cafe: Revisiting Wellness Intentions and Mindset Shifts
- First Friday’s Wellness Cafe: Setting Intentions for the New Year
- NorCal Mexican Quinoa Salad
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