Reena Vokoun, founder of PassionFit, launches a bi-weekly wellness podcast built on four pillars: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. She shares how burnout after two kids led her to leave a 16-year marketing career at Google and GE. The show focuses on "power moves," small actions like a short movement break or journaling that help you improve one pillar when motivation is low.
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Hello everyone, I'm Reena Vokoun, the founder and CEO of PassionFit, as well as an author, a TEDx speaker, a TV contributor, a podcast host, consumer and corporate health and wellness expert, and a wife and mom. I'm coming to you from San Diego, California, and I'm so excited to welcome you to my brand new podcast called Your Power Move by PassionFit. This is an exciting new launch for me, and I hope that you will subscribe and, um, also rate and review the podcast because your feedback means the world to me. So this podcast is going to be available in audio and video formats on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and Spotify, and it's going to be coming out twice every month. And I'll be doing solo episodes where I'm going to be talking about various topics around health, wellness, fitness, nutrition, behavior change, productivity, work-life balance, and personal and professional development. And then I'm also going to be interviewing guests every month so that I can share with all of you more about their backgrounds through these interviews, as well as challenges that they've faced along the way, their purpose and why, um, and what their power moves are in various areas of their own life. So I'm really excited for you all to tune in. I think we're all going to learn so much together, and I hope that it will inspire you to make big transformations in your own lives as well. So how did we get here? Well, after 16 years working in corporate America in digital marketing and media roles for Fortune 500 companies such as Google, Yahoo, Reebok, CNET, and GE, I, you know, after having 2 kids, I hit a point of burnout, honestly, trying to manage my corporate career and my family. Definitely loved my career, loved my educational background in advertising and marketing and media, but I knew that it was going to be more and more difficult to manage a full-time demanding career along with my husband's demanding career in tech as well and two young children. And meanwhile, I've always had a passion for health and wellness pretty much throughout my entire adult life, you know, really pursuing, you know, interests in nutrition and mindfulness and fitness and behavior change. I've been teaching fitness classes since college, basically my entire adult life, throughout grad— graduate school school, motherhood, the corporate career, as well as entrepreneurship. And so I kind of wanted to go back to those passions, especially when I did face a point of burnout trying to manage both my family and my career. So once I went back to my passions around health and wellness, I was really able to find myself again and realize that I wanted, um, more health and wellbeing and balance for my family and myself. And more importantly, I wanted to solve a bigger problem because I knew that I wasn't the only one that was experiencing burnout and even health issues from burning the midnight oil and working so many hours at work, and then all of the mom and parenting duties and travel and coordinating with my husband and all of those things. And so that's really where my company PassionFit was born. And the whole goal of it is to help other women. You know, the, the mission is to empower women to flourish both personally and professionally through wellness. And I also want to work with organizations as well, which I have over the last decade. I PassionFit about 11 years ago, and I reach individuals, companies, nonprofits, universities, and the media around a lot of the topics that I've already mentioned: fitness, nutrition, mindfulness, and work-life balance. And honestly, over the last, uh, decade, it's been both an honor and a privilege to create products, services, and content that really address those needs of helping people to take care of their health holistically, um, as well as prevent and manage burnout so that it doesn't lead to bigger health problems later in life. PassionFit really focuses on different products, which include online courses on work-life balance. I'm a two-time author, so I have two books that are a part of a women's wellness book series called The Wellness Empowered Woman and The Wellness Evolved Woman. We also have an activewear line and healthy lifestyle products, so yoga pants, tank tops, hats, tote bags, notebooks, yoga mats, and more. And then we do a lot of coaching and consulting with individuals as well as organizations on employee well-being, a lot of, you know, speaking engagements, corporate wellness programs, retreats, wellness retreats, and much more. We have a YouTube channel and a blog, and now the podcast is the latest endeavor. Over the last 11 years, I've been fortunate to reach about 20,000 people across all of my work, both online and in person, whether it's fitness or dance or yoga classes, again, retreats or corporate wellness endeavors. And really, this podcast is going to allow me to reach even more people, to really get, you know, different messages across that will help with wellness education, inspiration, and motivation, and ultimately to uplift human life. That is really, you know, at the end of the day, what's most important about the work that I do is to make a positive impact on others. So holistic wellness is a focus that I've had since day one, and I think that's becoming ever more prominent in the health and wellness industry because we're all recognizing the importance and the interconnectedness your physical health, your mental health, your emotional health, as well as your spiritual health. That mind-body connection is real, and we really can't address just one area or the other. In my certifications and training in various modalities as a health coach, a nutrition and behavior change and yoga specialist, as well as a fitness professional, I really see that firsthand with my clients, um, as well as with myself and my family as well. So I really do try to focus on taking a holistic approach and You know, your power move, this concept that this podcast is all about, is how you can take those first steps in any of those areas of your health and wellbeing when you're not always motivated. I think, you know, being holistic is important, but for many that can actually be overwhelming to focus on getting enough sleep, drinking enough water, you know, exercising 5 days a week and making sure you're cooking healthy meals. Um, and so while holistic is important, it's important to tackle one key area at a time. And on those days when maybe you are feeling burnt out or sluggish or not at your best self. That's really where the power moves come in. So that's really the core theme of this podcast. And again, it's those first steps that you take, those little micro actions that are going to help you on those days just to get started or get moving. So I would love to share with you some of my holistic wellness practices across what I like to call the 4 key pillars of wellness, which I covered in my TEDx talk. Um, and really it's going to cover physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. And then I'll take through what some of my power moves are in each of those areas just to get me going. Um, so when it comes to mental health, um, I really do focus a lot on making sure that I'm keeping my mind and my brain active and engaged, whether that's through reading books, listening to podcasts. Um, after college and graduate school, I still really try to pursue as much continuing education and certifications and trainings as I can because it allows me to expand my knowledge and my mindset in different ways. Um, and talking to to others. Um, I think this podcast is really gonna be a great educational tool for all of you as well as myself. And just remembering that we need to keep learning and growing and challenging ourselves. That allows us to really keep our mind, um, and our mental health, uh, focused in the right areas and keep us feeling strong. Um, on those days when maybe I'm just tired or burnt out and not feeling like doing anything for my mental health or not wanting to, um, learn and engage in something new, I just take that first step. Maybe it's just pushing play to listen to a podcast. Maybe it's just opening up the textbook or opening up that online course, those kind of first steps, those physical actions that you take just to get started. And usually in most cases, once you start and take that first step, which is really the hardest, then you can start to engage your mind and keep going. So that's what I would recommend is finding that one thing that's really going to help recharge your mental health. When it comes to physical health, for me, it's all about movement first. Again, I've been teaching fitness classes for my entire adult life, and I still to this day teach 8 fitness classes a week, and that's really where I get my workouts and my movement in. Monday through Friday, I'm teaching Pilates, barre yoga, high-intensity interval training, boot camp, and dance, and it really gives me a mix of cardiovascular activity, strength training, and flexibility work, and just really keeps my physical health strong, which is very very important, especially throughout our lives in different stages and as we get older. In terms of nutrition for physical health, I really practice the Mediterranean style of eating wholeheartedly. It's what I recommend to my clients as well, which consists of eating from all of the major food groups, so fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats, and having flexibility so that you can still enjoy your food but also eat your food in a nutrient-dense way to promote positive health and disease prevention and management. And then when it comes to sleep, I'm pretty vigilant about getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night. I have good sleep hygiene practices, and if I fall off track, maybe I'm scrolling on my phone before bed, I recognize it, I put it away, and I grab a book or listen to some calming music to really help me sleep, because that is also ever more important for your physical health to give you the energy to exercise and to eat well. So those are just some examples of physical health holistic practices that I have. And on those days where I'm not feeling motivated I'm motivated, especially if it's to go teach a class with my community and my students, I might just take that first step to, you know, do a downward dog or sit in child's pose and just stretch my body or, you know, step outside and just get my feet moving and take some steps for 5 or 10 minutes. Again, it's kind of like with some of the things we talked about with mental health. Once you start and literally and figuratively take that first step, then you can really just get going after that. So if you can just do that one thing that's gonna help you physically to get moving, that will help quite a bit to then continue. Or if it's maybe eating a piece of fruit just to kind of remind my body that it needs nourishment, and that's going to hopefully allow me to crave more nourishing foods and to cook healthy foods for my family as well. And then when it comes to sleep, again, it's, it's removing those obstacles to good sleep. So it's turning off the TV, putting the phone away, just reaching for that book so that you can start to calm your mind and body down and prepare for good sleep. When it comes to emotional health, so some of the things that I really focus on there are to, um, journal about how I'm feeling in different stages of my life. Um, making sure that I have healthy communication with all the important people in my life, my husband, my kids, my parents and extended family, my friends and my community. And it's reminding myself that I don't have to be perfect. I think perfectionism can rear its ugly head for many of us, myself included. That's another problem that I'm trying to solve. With my work with PassionFit. Um, so it's reminding ourselves that, you know, we are human, we are not perfect, and it's okay. Um, and that really does help to promote positive mental health. And on those days where maybe, you know, you got feedback that you didn't like, um, at work or a conversation with a loved one or a friend did not go how you wanted it to go, it's taking a, a step back and maybe, you know, thinking through what you could have done differently, giving yourself grace, maybe talking to someone or talking to that person. Um, just again, that first step to kind of take yourself out of the situation so that you can get perspective, um, is another power move to really help with emotional health. And again, everybody should find what's gonna work best for them. And then finally, spiritual health. This is another area where it's going to be customized for everybody's needs. Um, but for me personally, I really do focus on meditation and prayer and practicing yoga and listening to calming music and really just being grateful for the life that I have. And again, putting life into perspective. And, you know, the deep breathing is another important part of mindfulness and meditation. And that really helps with that mind-body connection and that overall spiritual health. And when it comes to a power move, if I'm just, you know, my mind is racing and I'm not really in a place to sit down and meditate or pray, I start with my breath. And I feel like that is the simplest, most human thing that we can do to take some deep diaphragmatic breaths as we inhale through the nose, as we expand our diaphragm out and exhale through the nose or mouth as we pull it back in. So for you, find what is that thing. Maybe it's just going into a quiet room, or maybe it is playing some, again, calming music to get you into that mindset for prayer or meditation or mindfulness practice or yoga or whatever it is that you need to do for your spiritual health. So those are just some examples, again, of holistic wellness practices across 4 key pillars and power moves that I use in each of those areas. And over the course of, uh, this podcast, I'm to be covering all of these topics, um, in much more detail in both my solo episodes, as well as the episodes with my guests. So I'm so excited that you're here and I hope that you will continue to tune in and tell your family and friends. And I hope you subscribe and also rate and review the podcast because my goal is to serve your needs and educate and motivate and keep making it better and better. So thanks so much for tuning in and stay tuned for my first guest episode coming very soon. I've got a real treat for all of you, and I can't wait to share more soon. Thanks so much and take care.
