Dear BellaVita Family, BellaVita was established as a wellness community in NYC. Our number one priority remains the health and spirit of everyone in our community. We deeply believe that during these difficult times it is especially important for us to come together in solidarity so we may find strength through wellness. BellaVita consists of like-minded individuals committed to individual health, the health of those around them and the health of the community as a whole. Although we have to practice social distancing, we are connected through technology. 2 ways to join us: MOVE- While classes are canceled through March we are switching to weekly virtual classes to be featured on YouTube(click here) and across all of our social media platforms (LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook). CONNECT- What is lacking during this time is interaction, our social media channels will provide an outlet to engage in discussions. If you wish to share words of wisdom, pictures, stories, or videos to feature on our channels, please send it to us. We will link it to you if you would like. Please keep yourself healthy by focusing on guidelines from the CDC. The CDC COVID-19 website remains an important resource for up-to-date information about the virus. If you have any questions/concerns don't hesitate to participate in discussions or email us at: info@bellavitaworld.com In health, love & light, Carla & Bella By Katie Kerrigan "We believe that every baby deserves the best possible start. Unfortunately, not all babies get one. We are changing that." March of Dimes It's April! And, as always, we are busy preparing for our monthly event. This month we have chosen to work on a cause that one of our Bella's Zumba instructor Carmen is passionate about, March of Dimes! As some of you may be aware, March of Dimes is an organization that leads the fight for the health of all mothers and premature babies. About half a million babies are born premature or with birth defects in the U.S. alone each year. On April 25th we are going to have our AMAZING instructors Carmen and Quinn who will bring you through an irresistible Zumba workout. We will have our special guest Onix Banegas, who is a dedicated advocate for March of Dimes. Having helped her sister Jacqueline through the birth of her twins Addyson and Adryana, Onix knows first hand the complications and struggles that come with premature birth. Addyson and Adryana were born 12 weeks early, at a combined weight of 4 lbs. The doctors told her that the first 24 hours were critical, and to prepare herself for the worst. We can only imagine how distressing this must have been for a mother and we want to help with the mission to ensure that all babies receive the best possible start in life. We have included a link to a video that was created by Jacqueline, demonstrating the importance of this organization. This year, Onix and Jacqueline have set the goal of raising $10,000 for March of Dimes. We would love to see you there for this event to show support for such an amazing cause. We will be welcoming any contributions no matter how big or small! There are going to be some incredible sponsors at this event, namely Just Salad, eBoost, and Rhythm Superfoods as well as Jumpgal Fitness and Mama Luisa Catering. Be sure to RSVP to info@bellavitaworld.com as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. You don't want to miss out! Last week our very own yoga teacher and certified life coach, Kristen, presented at our Self-Care workshop. She talked about the spectrum of self-care activities, identifying personal stressors and triggers, and using self-care to reduce the negative impact of stressors. Now she's back to give you some more tips to incorporate self-care into your every day life. 4 Tips to Improve Your Self-Care GameI can hear you now: Self-Care... Ain’t nobody got time for that! Let’s be honest, most people only have time to grab a coffee on their way out the door and MAYBE they’ll eat a bagel (if anything at all) for breakfast. The idea of taking hours for “yourself” is never going to happen- you’ll be lucky if you even leave the office at a reasonable time. Or maybe it’s your family consuming all of your time- they need you to do everything or else nothing is going to get done. You are lucky if you can even make time for a shower. I hear you. I get you. I was you (the overly stressed part, not the mom portion…). Your responsibilities (work, family, relationships, whatever yours may be) are consuming your to-do list and there’s little time left for you to even sleep at night. But here is a truth bomb: how present are you really for your responsibilities right now? Are you finding yourself losing your shit on a regular basis? Are other areas of your life suffering due to your time-consuming/stress filled responsibility? Are you getting sick more often than you think is normal? If you answered yes to any of the above then you may be physically present, but you’re not really performing at your best. Your all-consuming responsibility is only getting half (at best) of you. Like you may have heard before: if you keep refilling everyone else’s cup but never go back to refill your own, then eventually you’ll stop being able to even fill other people’s cups (or something like that). “I hear you, but how the hell do I make time for this self-care crap if there is no time to spare?” If you’re new to the self-care game, or have neglected yourself for a while, taking even a little time for yourself can seem overwhelming. I’m someone who quit a well-paying corporate job in order to incorporate more self-care into my every day routine. I am an extreme self-care aficionado, but self-care can be quite simple. Any task that you would do to take care of someone else, but you do for yourself is a self-care activity.
2. Make time for yourself. Like I said earlier a lot of people have this idea that self-care takes A Lot of time. This is just untrue. Preparing meals in advance so you can eat well even when you are super busy is self-care. Taking a 5-minute mental break from work, or people, is self-care. Even watching tv to give yourself something to focus on without using much mental capacity is self-care. My biggest advice for making time is change your mindset that self-care needs to take a crap ton of time and plan ahead for situations you know will be more stressful. 3. Keep a log of ALL of the self-care activities you complete. Make a mark on your calendar, create a list, or if your kind of type-A create a spreadsheet. The more you can visibly see that you are taking even small amounts of time for yourself the prouder you will be for doing so. 4. Reward yourself for effort not success. Life is not perfect and stress is impossible to completely eliminate. You can make a goal to do x amount of self-care activities but something may happen to prevent you from doing so. That’s okay! I even consider being willing to change plans around your circumstances as a self-care activity! Celebrate you and your willingness to take care of yourself more. Check out more photos on our Facebook page!
Our mission at BellaVita is to offer you complete wellness of the body, mind and soul. We encourage positive change by offering top-notch group fitness classes, personal training sessions, and a welcoming, compassionate community of instructors and health experts.
However, we also have a responsibility as global citizens: we need to promote change in the lives of people we've never met, in any way we can. On Tuesday, October 4h, the Category Four Hurricane Matthew hit the Caribbean nation of Haiti. It is the worst storm in Haiti in over half a century. The heavy rain and winds have destroyed villages, flooded roads, uprooted crops and separated landmasses. The death toll has been reported as high as nine hundred, and is still on the rise. We at BellaVita have been deeply affected by this tragedy, and we want to play our part in the Hurricane Matthew relief efforts. And of course, what better way than a Zumba class? Join April, returning from her back injury, and Quinn at noon on Sunday, October 16th for a Zumba class inspired by the reggaeton, Soca and dancehall form of Caribbean culture. We are encouraging a suggested donation of ten dollars. All of the proceeds will go to Hope for Haiti, a nonprofit organization that is providing supplies to the victims of Hurricane Matthew. Check out their website: www.hopeforhaiti.com We can't wait to Whine up for Haiti with you! Many people set health and fitness goals for themselves, but few actually reach them. It’s easy to forget about them, or to start off strong and slowly lose the drive to keep going. There are hundreds of reasons why people fail, but that can change. Achieving a goal is hard, but with the right planning and hard work, you can get there. Set a goal - The first step to achieving a goal is actually setting one. This may seem like a no-brainer, but how you set goals weighs heavily on whether or not you will actually achieve them. Be specific and realistic about what you want. There is nothing wrong with dreaming big, but make sure you realize the time, effort, and skill required to complete a goal so you don’t become discouraged by upcoming challenges. For example, if you want to lose weight, don’t pressure yourself to lose weight quickly by aiming to lose 20 pounds in a month. You will get easily frustrated and have to resort to unhealthy and drastic measures to successfully achieve this. Do your research – One of the most helpful tools for anything in life is research, and it proves itself useful here, too. You have to know what is necessary to reach a goal in order to actually do it. If you want to lose weight, find healthy recipes that you can make during the week, or look up workout routines that you will actually enjoy doing. Having the knowledge of the steps you need to take makes it so much easier to accomplish things instead of stumbling around in the dark hoping that you’re doing something right. Make a plan – Break your goal down into smaller steps. This will make it easier to tackle, and following a plan allows you to see how much progress you are making. Based on your research, decide the actions you need to take that will lead you to your end goal. Focus on achieving these small steps and before you know it, you’ll be at the finish line.
Make time –Now that you’ve mapped out your plan, makes sure you actually follow it. Setting goals provides motivation, but its easy for this motivation to fade after a long day at work when you really want a pint of ice cream or you really don’t want to workout. Make time in your schedule that is dedicated completely to achieving that goal, whether its going to BellaVita for a yoga class or spending your Sunday afternoon preparing your meals for the week. Don’t rely on motivation to fuel yourself. Stay determined and disciplined, and work hard everyday. Be kind - Don’t beat yourself up if you make a mistake. Just because you slip up once doesn’t mean you have failed. Your success is based on a compilation of efforts. As long as you are consistent, a couple of days off track will not harm you or undo your efforts. Reward yourself – Give yourself a treat when you reach a new milestone, such as by buying yourself a new pair of jeans or going on a weekend trip with your friends. This will provide an extra bit of motivation to keep you going when life is being extra challenging. And most importantly, never place your self-worth on whether or not you achieve your goals. Find acceptance and happiness with yourself in the present. Don’t wait for the future you to allow yourself to be happy because you deserve it right now, regardless of whether you can hold a handstand or are 15 pounds lighter. In Health, Jamie Studio Representative Dear BellaVita Team, Members, Clients & Partners, This message is long overdue as it's been hard for me to put how grateful I am into words. In the beginning we had absolutely no clients, but passion and drive for making fitness fun, enjoyable, and by adding balance to our members’ lives in crazy New York City. Now we can proudly say we’ve had over 9000 class attendees to date which is incredible! On behalf of the BellaVita team, I'd like to thank all of you for meditating, exercising, and sweating with us! We've come a long way since day 1 and your continued support means everything to us. YOU are the reason we exist and our number one goal is to show our appreciation by making sure you are always happy! As a company, we've gone through major changes from schedule to a new location, and many of you have stayed loyal to us, for that I am thankful. In addition to our wonderful clients, it is especially important that I take a moment for our team. Without you, there would be no BellaVita. Each and every one of you has contributed to creating a beautiful, supportive and judgment free environment. You are our greatest assets and I appreciate everyone that has been, is, or will be a part of our team. You are what makes BellaVita exceptional. Every studio representative, instructor, clean team, and partner has made their contribution to bring us where we are today! I feel truly blessed to have THE BEST team on the planet! Love you guys! Last week was our company photo-shoot and we are so excited to be sharing pictures with you soon! With our new pictures we’ll be introducing you to our wonderful instructors. To share the excitement with everyone, we decided to make an event out of it and invited you all to come, it was a blast! I'd like to give a special thanks to all of our amazing sponsors for being a part of our special day. DAVIDsTEA gave us delicious samples to help relax & detoxify. We highly recommend their delicious blends, with over 150 teas in store and 500 total teas there is sure to be one for you! After a long day’s work, EBoost was a life savior because they gave our members an extra burst of instant energy for evening classes. Xanadu also gave us a caffeine rush for that extra push for class with their great iced coffee. Congratulations to Xanadu on the new location and we are so happy to welcome you to the community! WTRMLN WTR also showed their support by giving all of us fresh watermelon after class to stay hydrated, absolutely fabulous! Our community support is inspiring and we are so happy to have such amazing neighbors! Speaking of AMAZING neighbors, we have a HUGE partnership event in the works for May...Stay tuned for info! (SOOO excited about this one, you will be too!) A special thanks to our incredible studio representative Nerissa for coordinating; Stephen, Robert, and Imani our talented photographers and videographer for catching everything on film; DJ Radicate for taking class to the next level; Our make-up artists and hair stylists, Annie, Nichole, Monique, and Galina for getting us camera ready; and everyone else that participated in the festivities! We have many plans in the coming weeks, including additional classes, new partnerships, events & MUCH MORE! Finally if you have any questions, or suggestions, I'd love to hear from you as we are always looking for ways to improve! I am so excited to see what the future holds for BellaVita! Today is wonderful so remember to live in the present, the best is yet to come. Here's to a healthy and happy future. xoxo In health, Izabella, Founder/Director Email: Izabella@BellaVitaWorld.com Phone: 917-722-2378 Good afternoon, Bellas and Bellos!
Happy International Women’s Day! Today we celebrate the tremendous strides made by women all over the world towards equality. However, we all must also remember that we are still many strides away from a truly equal world. There various ways in which women remain underrepresented, in the US and in countries all over the world. The UN General Assembly President for the sixty-ninth session, Sam Kahamba Kutesa, summed up the daunting task that people all over, and of all genders face; “The deep-seated norms, beliefs and practices that contribute to gender-based discrimination must be confronted and changed.” This isn’t meant to discount any of the work of women from the past, but instead inspire you all to think about how we can take steps together in the future! Change begins with empowerment, and I must say that the women I’ve met at the studio are the embodiment of that. They are strong, intelligent, and incredibly driven. We at BellaVita are incredibly privileged to continue to work (and work out) with all of you! Remember, today is a day to celebrate history’s greatest, and a day to celebrate the greatness each of us is capable of. Enjoy the (slightly) warmer weather this Sunday, and make sure to check back with us next week! Cai BellaVita Studio Representative (Quote Source: http://www.un.org/pga/060315_statement-opening-gender-equality/) With the New Year already underway, many of us are striving to make and maintain resolutions for 2014. While such goals are part of what makes the promise of a fresh start so exciting, the burden of keeping them can, at times, only add to our stresses. Fortunately there are a number of things you can do to stay on track for the New Year.
1. DON’T MAKE YOUR GOALS OUT OF REACH Be realistic whenever setting resolutions (or any type of ambition) for yourself. You will only set yourself up for disappointment if you place too great a strain on your expectations. Making promises to yourself that you are unable to keep will only cause you more worries. Always be honest about what you are capable of, and begin from there. 2. TAKE IT ONE DAY AT A TIME If you happen to break your resolution, remember that each day brings a new beginning. Do not dismiss all the hard work you’ve put into your goals for 2014 simply because of a slip or personal setback. Rather, promise yourself you will simply try again the next day. 3. DEVOTE YOURSELF ENTIRELY More often than not, New Year’s resolutions revolve around creating and sustaining a physical goal. However, such an objective is not exclusively about your physical self. Mental preparation is also a must! If you devote all aspects of yourself towards your resolution, you will be more successful at upholding it. You deserve to make your well-being a top priority! And do not underestimate the everyday essentials of maintaining great health: Always get plenty of sleep, proper nutrition (a good diet does not mean depriving yourself!), and setting aside time to exercise will keep you accountable and better equipped at handing personal goals. Written By Kimberly McDole -BellaVita Representative While New York is a city associated with endless opportunities, all too often its pace and its energy can be overwhelming, even exhausting for its residents to properly manage. For those immersed in such a hectic lifestyle, finding the moments to care for ourselves may seem like too difficult a challenge. However, the ability to set aside the adequate time each day towards personal well-being proves more than just beneficial for one's physical health, it is crucial in maintaining a healthy mindset as well, and a remarkable way to combat the inevitable stress that attaches to our daily lives. And fortunately, actively taking care of yourself does not have to be accompanied with exhaustion; fitness exercises like yoga, Pilates and Zumba nourish both physically and psychologically- granting valuable activity to the body while simultaneously providing a peaceful relaxation for the mind. All too often we deem a healthy lifestyle with positive eating habits. But proper nutrition for our bodies is so much more than the foods that we consume; to truly nourish and take care of ourselves, we must be devoted, both in mind and in body, to exercise. BellaVita offers a unique assortment of daytime and evening classes to help you succeed in obtaining your happiest and healthiest self. http://www.bellavitaworld.com/schedule.html#Tue |
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