How to Relax with Vive Float Studio's Keanna Casanova
Our series Talk Shop is a career and style profile featuring personalities from various industries. They are shot on location in Cherry Creek. This month, Keanna Casanova, the Studio Director of Vive Float Studio + in Cherry Creek talks about the art of relaxation. Keanna wears clothing from her closet and jewelry from Oster Jewelers in Cherry Creek North.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ESTHER LEE LEACH // JEWELRY: OSTER JEWELERS
LOCATION: VIVE FLOAT STUDIO IN CHERRY CREEK
Cherry Creek Fashion: Vive Float Studio is all about relaxation! What services are offered and what are the benefits?
Keanna Casanova: VIVE offers a variety of rest and recovery services including Float, Cryo, Full-Spectrum Infrared Sauna, Halo, and VibroAcoustic Therapies. We’ve had guests come to us looking for relief from traumatic brain injuries, arthritic pain, and respiratory challenges from asthma to the common cold, migraines, athletic recovery, and high stress. Our boutique wellness environment offers you mental and physical recovery simultaneously. Other benefits include creativity and immune system boosts, assistance with trouble sleeping, relief from skin conditions such as eczema, reducing inflammation and general relaxation. We really look to care for the whole person so you can go back into the world as the best version of you.
CCF: You are an expert of ‘relaxation’. Can you share your five top tips for achieving a relaxed state out in the world?
KC: 1. BREATH. My number one tip when feeling frustrated, overwhelmed, or stressed is to close your eyes and take a slow, steady breath. Just those few seconds allow you to slow down and re-center.
2. SLEEP. No one functions well on low sleep. Your brain just doesn’t work the same! When you’re not getting a good night’s rest, your mind and body suffer. I find it helpful to stick to a pre-bed routine for good night sleep. I do the same actions, in the same order, every night before bed. It signals to my brain that it is time to start quieting in preparation for sleep.
3. MAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF. Do something just for you. Make time, every day, even if it’s just a quick moment, to do something that gives you life and a chance to re-center. Actually sit and enjoy that sip of coffee, take a walk around the block, breathe the fresh air, and be fully present in the moments of your life.
4. GRATITUDE. I know the season has passed, but one of my favorite Christmas movies has a line in it, “When I'm worried, and I can't sleep, I count my blessings instead of sheep.” I find counting my blessings to be an instant stress relief. It can be so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle, the ‘grind’ of the day-to-day. Taking a moment to remember all that I am grateful for is so restoring and calming to my spirit.
5. MAKE A CHOICE TODAY YOUR FUTURE SELF WILL THANK YOU FOR. Go for a walk or to the gym. Eat a salad. Cross a big “To-Do” off your list today, instead of waiting till it’s due. Leave yourself a small gift to find on a rainy day. It’s amazing the feeling of realizing it’s already done, or I’m weeks into a new habit or finding a treat tucked away.
CCF: It’s a new year and this is the time that many people rethink their way of living and plan on making positive changes in their lives. What advice do you have for our readers about carving out time to relax and recharge? How do they stay committed to this when life usually gets in the way?
KC: This can be so hard! It’s so easy to set a goal for the new year and then let life get in the way. I’ve learned that I function best when my mind and body and in good health and happiness. As hard as it can be, remembering I am a happier and more productive person when I’ve taken the time for myself to recharge really helps me make the time. My best trick for committing is to set an appointment. Whether it is an appointment with myself, a friend, or one I know can’t cancel like a float, beauty appointment, or a fitness class, once it’s on my calendar I am committed. I find community to be the most helpful in staying committed. Having others around to hold me accountable or to join in my pursuit makes it so much easier to stay on track. When I know I’m meeting a friend, or someone is going to ask about my venture or progress it becomes so much harder to find an excuse.
CCF: Why is it important to take time to relax and recharge? How can it help with the rest of our lives? It’s always good to get some reminders about why this is so important!
KC: Taking the time to rest and recover is everything. When we are running from one thing to another, caught up in the hustle and bustle of being the busiest people we know two things happen. The first one is burnout. You can only give so much before you are running on empty. We all know this version of ourselves and know it’s not our best. When we live life from survival mode, pushing from one day to another, we stop eating well and getting enough sleep. We begin to waste the gifts of our lives. Then the second is the loss of presence. Time disappears. The next thing we know it’s another holiday or life moment and we barely remember the one we just celebrated. When we forget to rest our brains don’t have the opportunity to really recognize and take in all that is happening around us. We miss the details, the moments and then we don’t take the time to commit what we do take-in to our memory.
When we slow down, care for ourselves, and breathe we are able to present the best of us to the world instead of what’s left of us. We remember how important being present in the moments of our lives truly is. We only get to do it once and there is such an emphasis on living our ‘best life.’ What good is it living life to its fullest if we don’t really take the time to reflect and appreciate it? We miss so much when we run from one day to the next. Slow down and enjoy the ride every now and then.
Keanna Casanova: @keannavivienne
Vive Float Studio: @vivecherrycreek