Wehl is a community centred around “real-life wellness” lived out by real people. We want to be a social community that shares our real-life wellness moments to inspire each other on our wellness journeys and offers practical tips that can help simplify, balance and improve our everyday lives.
When we think of “real-life wellness” we think:
- Real, ordinary (yet extraordinary) people living out a more natural, holistic approach to wellness in a very practical and sustainable manner
- Real actions, small steps and thoughtful moments that incorporate wellness throughout a busy day and week
- Real-life problems and imperfections – and learning to love and value both in ourselves and others
- Real effort despite not always having the time, motivation, energy, or even the love for wellness but, with each other to help, we strive to put in the real, daily effort it takes to stay on track
- Really, truly owning what wellness, a.k.a. wehlness (body, mind, spiritual, work, enviro and social), means to us as unique individuals – no comparing just caring
We want Wehl to showcase our wellness online as authentically as possible. We’re well aware that it’s never going to be possible to fully represent our “real-life wellness” online but we want to try our best to get as close as we can! For us this means creating an inclusive, supportive community where we can each feel comfortable to be our one-and-only real self and where we encourage others to be themselves. Together, we’ll become the BEST versions of ourselves that will show-up whether we’re hanging out online or out and about in real-life!
At Wehl, we promote building relationships, sharing and experiencing “real-life wellness” together – both online and offline. We hope Wehl will be a hub where you can meet new people, stay in touch with old friends and be inspired to reach out to support each other face-to-face, in-person, offline, in real-life – whatever you like to call it!
As part of this dedication to creating a culture of “real-life wellness”, we are committed to maximizing the use of photos of our community and using original photography as often as possible. It was in this “real-life wellness” spirit that we brought together some amazing people to become our “real-life wellness models” for a photoshoot last year. We wanted to be able to showcase photos on our platform and blog that better represent us! So, we decided to throw a multi-location photoshoot party in Toronto!
As with many things in real-life, and basically everything involving Wehl to date, this required a lot of faith. At the time, we hadn’t completely sorted out how we were going to even build Wehl or what it was exactly going to look like yet. We knew the mission and we had spent a number of months researching and planning Wehl’s development, but it was unclear how it would all be fully realized.
Not having a fully functioning platform became a “minor detail” and we decided those complications we’re not going to stop us. In the Spring of 2016, we brainstormed, we created a schedule for the day, we grocery shopped, we baked, we gathered props and we woke up very early on a Saturday morning!
Our first stop was to meet up with our ever-so-talented photographers Kristen and Jeremy at a bridge along the Toronto lakeshore. Kristen and Jeremy got some great pictures of Marty cycling with the CN Tower in the background. Marty had biked 30 km for this photoshoot, so we were really grateful that he woke up so early to make this happen.
Our next stop was a lovely home overlooking the Toronto harbour (thanks Matt and Lisa!). It was a perfect location to have a wonderful breakfast and get some food ready for lunch while snapping some fun shots of healthy food prep in the kitchen. Karen mastered mango cutting while Jen D. showed off with her exceptional pineapple cutting skills.
We then made our way to some nearby green space, where we played numerous sports under the canopy of massive maple and oak trees. Dave and Danielle and their kids demonstrated their badminton and soccer prowess. Thomas, who had come all the way from Montreal, led the crew, including Karen and Josh, in some core workouts. Headstands and cartwheels made for great photos as did the yoga moves that Khanh and Hanh entertained us with. There was skipping including double-dutch and even some hoola hooping by Khanh, Hanh, Jen D., and Annabella. Andrew made some spectacular football catches, with Matt and Owen also enjoying a little game of catch. We had a healthy picnic lunch, enjoyed some kombucha, and then took more active photos and group shots including some Bollywood dance moves courtesy of Sidney.
After relaxing a bit in the afternoon (photo-taking and modelling is hard work!), we then headed out on the water. We had a lot of fun hanging out with Michelle, Graham, Brendan and Nadya. By then it was getting late and the sun was setting, but we smiled at how all these people had come to take part in a party for a platform that was still just a dream…
Thank you to everyone who made that special day possible! It truly was a representation of “real-life wellness” that we hope to capture online through our photography and our community on Wehl.
Some of us are great photographers and others struggle to find the right angle and not get our shadow in the picture. We want Wehl to be beautiful and showcase our wellness successes but we also want it to represent our imperfections, challenges and everyday life. So, let’s strive to share our “real life wellness” – a whole new level of beautiful.
Until the next photo-shoot party … Keep livin’ it Wehl and keepin’ it Real 🙂
We invite you to join our all-in-one healthy lifestyle app at Wehl.com!
What does “real-life wellness” mean to you? Share with us here and showcase yours on Wehl!
