The Laker/Lutz News

CREATION Wellness Center

Helping your relationships thrive — not just on Valentine’s Day

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You come home from work and you see your husband sprawled out on the couch watching television, while dishes are piled up in the sink.

You get mad.

You’re thinking: Really, he’s just sitting there while there’s work that needs to be done?

Veronique Polo is a life coach at CREATION Wellness Center, which is part of Florida Hospital Zephyrhills. She will be facilitating a class aimed at helping people to have thriving relationships. (B.C. Manion)

You’re not thinking: He’s exhausted. He just finished a tough day at work and he’s stressed out. He needs to relax a little.

These are the kinds of things that occur often in relationships and can sometimes result in a fight.

Choosing to “believe the best” of the other person, however, can help avoid conflicts and help relationships thrive.

That’s just one of the eight tips that Veronique Polo, a life coach at CREATION Wellness Center in Zephyrhills, will discuss on Feb. 22 at 1 p.m., during “Eight relationship tips — A class on taking any relationship from conflicting to thriving.”

CREATION Health is part of Florida Hospital Zephyrhills, which is part of the Adventist Health System.

Polo said the advice she’ll be providing applies to relationships of all types, including romantic and family, as well as friendships, neighbors and colleagues.

She said the tips came from books she has read and her life experiences.

The goal, she said, is to provide practical information, which people can use in their day-to-day lives.

“So many times you go to a class, and you’re like, ‘Well, that’s great theory, but how does that work in my life?’” Polo said.

The life coach said “The 5 Love Languages,” a book by Gary Chapman, can help people better understand the needs of those they are close to in their lives.

Chapman’s book discusses these five love languages: gifts, words of affirmation, acts of service, quality time and touch, Polo said.

“The most important thing about the love languages is understanding what the person needs.

Not just what is natural to you,” she said.

She used this example: “One of my dearest friends, she loves gifts.

“I can text her how much I appreciate her. I can wash her car. She will like those things, but what really she appreciates is if I get her a little necklace that’s meaningful, or a gift card,” Polo said.

To her friend, a gift demonstrates that someone thought about her and what she likes, and went out to spend both time and money to get it for her.

For someone else, quality time may be much more important.

“There’s no right or wrong love language,” Polo said.

The key is understanding your loved one’s needs and making a commitment to seek to meet them.

She describes it like this: “There’s a love tank, and you are either going to fill it or not.”

She also noted that relationships can’t be one-sided.

“There are deposits and withdrawals, and people can’t keep making withdrawals, if they don’t make deposits,” she said.

The way to discover your loved one’s love language is to observe them, she said.

What someone gives, is likely their love language and what they want to receive, Polo said.

A wife might be wondering: ‘Does he really love me?’

Meanwhile, her husband is thinking: ‘I always give her gifts. I’m always telling her I love her.’

The thing is, her love language might be quality of time or acts of service — and the husband is totally missing it, Polo said.

So, the wife’s love tank is not being filled, Polo said.

That’s why it’s so important to communicate, the life coach added.

“Don’t suffer in silence.

“So many times when we feel hurt, misunderstood —  we regress, we isolate ourselves. That just inflames the problem,” she said.

Communication is a two-way street, she added.

“Don’t assume what your mate is thinking. Ask them questions.

“Being open about your thoughts and your feelings is how you get clarity in a relationship,” Polo said.

It’s also important to realize that each of us is responsible for our own happiness, Polo said.

“We blame others. We think: ‘I’m not happy because I don’t have money. My husband doesn’t make me happy, or my kids are brats. Or, whatever. It’s everybody else’s fault but yourself. You need to realize, you’re in control.

“It’s not your circumstance that makes you happy. It’s how you see it,” Polo said.

What: “Eight relationship tips — A class on taking any relationship from conflicting to thriving.”
Where: Florida Hospital Zephyrhills CREATION® Health Wellness Center Education Room, 38233 Daughtery Road, Zephyrhills
When: Feb. 22, 1 p.m.
Cost: Free, but registration is required
Info: (813) 779-6476 to register

 

Eight relationships tips:

  • If you can’t listen, don’t talk.
  • Believe the best.
  • Safety, security, love, acceptance
  • Learn about the love languages. They are: Gifts, words of affirmation, acts of service, quality time, touch. (What someone gives is likely their love language, and what they want to receive)
  • You can’t control others, only yourself.
  • Stubbornness is the silent killer.
  • Take responsibility for your happiness.
  • Don’t suffer in silence. (Your mate can’t read your mind and you can’t make them guess — that’s unfair.)

Source: Veronique Polo, life coach at CREATION Health Wellness Center in Zephyrhills

Published February 14, 2018

Wellness center celebrates opening

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Florida Hospital Zephyrhills officially welcomed community leaders and residents to the ribbon-cutting of its CREATION Health Wellness Center on Feb. 4.

Dozens took the opportunity to tour the 13,000-square-foot facility, which is housed near the hospital’s campus on the northeast corner of Daughtery Road and Dairy Road.

The wellness center features an education room, where free healthy cooking classes will be offered. (Kevin Weiss/Staff Photos)
The wellness center features an education room, where free healthy cooking classes will be offered.
(Kevin Weiss/Staff Photos)

The nearly $500,000 project is approximately three times the size of the former wellness center, which was located on the first floor of the hospital.

The old facility, which shared room space with the hospital’s cardiac rehab department, was a “tight fit,” according to Susan Frimmel, the hospital’s marketing director.

The new facility was a “long time coming,” said Casio Jones, wellness center director.

“When I walked into the (old facility) almost five years ago, I said, ‘This is not going to work.’ It was there since 1995, and when I got there in (2011), they were still using equipment that was purchased in 1995,” Jones explained.

The center’s 24-hour fitness floor consists of brand-new cardio machines, circuit machines and free weights.

Jones noted the wellness center is for a people of all ages and fitness levels.

To properly accommodate the wellness center’s all-encompassing membership, Jones said all fitness specialists are degreed in exercise science and have “high-end certifications.”

“We have such a variety of special populations, from active people to those with health conditions…so we need to make sure our staff is able to provide a safe-training environment so when somebody comes, they’re not just on they’re own and don’t know what to do,” Jones explained.

Over 30 group exercise classes are offered throughout the week, ranging from spin classes to Zumba to Pilates.

Jones said the fitness classes are important, because they provide an environment where members can both “socialize and work out.”

In addition to the 24-hour fitness floor, the center features a full-service spa — offering skin care treatments, massages, body therapy, waxing and pampering.

“Gyms in this area don’t have spas,” said Jones, who’s worked in the health and fitness industry for more than 30 years. “When you think of CREATION, it’s the whole body. You can’t just have a gym without the relaxation part; you have to help the person rejuvenate to recharge.”

Dozens of community leaders and residents attended the Feb. 4 Florida Hospital Zephyrhills CREATION Health Wellness Center’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Dozens of community leaders and residents attended the Feb. 4 Florida Hospital Zephyrhills CREATION Health Wellness Center’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.

There’s also an education room, which Jones referred to as the “hidden gem.” Free healthy cooking classes will be taught throughout the week, as well as informational sessions on other aspects of health, such as diabetes care.

“Now you’re truly impacting not just that person, but their household,” Jones explained about the education room. “You have people that are potentially overweight…can learn the appropriate ways on how to live and manage their life.

“Without the right information, you can’t transition somebody to make the right changes.”

The wellness center had a soft opening two weeks ago, and already has over 700 members, Jones said. He hopes to have over 1,000 members by year’s end.

According to Jones, the wellness center has seven exercise instructors, five personal trainers, five massage therapists, two estheticians, an acupuncture specialist, a nail technician, a community educator and a diabetes educator.

Florida Hospital Zephyrhills President and CEO Randy Surber said it was important to have a wellness facility that’s not only fitness oriented, but also promotes living a balanced lifestyle.

“We believe the balance between fitness and staying active is really key to future wellness, but we also believe in nutrition and what you put in your body has a significant influence on your health,” Surber explained. “Our goal is to keep people active, teach them how to eat right, and also pamper them every now and again, too.”

Surber feels the new wellness center will be “transformational” to the Zephyrhills community.

“A lot of people really wanted this and are eager for this,” Surber said. “We believe we can teach them the right way to live in a way that can help them extend…their quality of life.”

Tim Linville, president of the Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce, was impressed by the wellness center’s “holistic” nature.

“It’s nice there’s other options for people in Zephyrhills as the city grows,” the chamber president said. “It’s gorgeous.”

What: Florida Hospital Zephyrhills CREATION Health Wellness Center
Where: 38233 Daughtery Road
Amenities: 24-hour fitness facility, group classes, wellness spa, healthy living seminars
For more information, visit FHZwellness.com.

Published February 10, 2016