Meet Sofia Chay

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sofia Chay.

Hi Sofia, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
The Vitality Collective was started by myself and co-founder Hannah Knauer. We opened the studio just over 2.5 years ago as a Wellness Studio serving the Vail Valley specifically our small mountain town, Eagle. The studio was opened because we felt the calling to open a space that didn’t exist quite yet. Not just a yoga studio but a studio that encompassed a variety of different classes that ranged from Yoga, Meditation, Sound Healing, Fitness Classes, Pilates, MELT, and community workshops.

We believe that approaching well-being from this angle is truly the recipe for feeling your best. Some weeks we need to slow down and some weeks we need to speed up, so we have something for everyone on any given day. Workshops were also a very big motivator for opening the space because there are so many wonderful, gifted, and educated practitioners in our valley, and we wanted to create a community home where all of these offerings could take place. Hence the name Vitality Collective.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Over all with the studio itself, it has been a smooth road, even when we made the transition to single ownership and I took over the business. My personal life has thrown me some challenges with two pregnancies and preterm babies the last two years so I have had to navigate that alongside the first few years of opening.

However, the magic of our space is that our team has come together so perfectly and we are all in this together. With the help of my amazing team, it has sort of acquired a life of its own with consistent growth and incredibly impactful experiences for our community. I am really looking forward to what this year has in store.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Being a D1 college athlete, I started learning about the human body at an early age, especially after navigating some serious injuries during that time. After graduation I moved to Jackson Hole to work at an Organic Cafe where I became front-of-the-house manager and spent my free time mountaineering in the Tetons, summiting 7 of the Tetons in just a few years.

I have always loved being in leadership roles and my passion for movement and adventure led me to go to massage school in Crestone, Colorado. I then studied in Kauaii apprenticing for structural bodywork and continued on to study Myofascial Release (John Barnes Method) My life path has inevitably led me to learn more about anatomy, physiology, injuries, recovery, energetics, and so much more.

I am now known for my passion and expertise in the human body. At the studio, I teach the MELT method which has become a very popular and impactful class helping people get out of pain. I also work as a hands-on bodyworker. Over all my life has led me to healing and how we can get out of pain and move towards a life of longevity and consistent movement and that is a big theme of our studio as well.

Who else deserves credit in your story?
As mentioned before one of my close friends Hannah Knauer opened the studio with me, we couldn’t have created the vision without each other, it is truly how the fire sparked to create TVC. Another mentor of mine has been Susanne with Aquarian Uprising LLC in Vail, she is an incredible bodyworker/healer who inspired me to begin my studies and continues to inspire me to keep learning.

I have also spent a lot of time learning the John Barnes Method of MFR which has truly changed my life and view of fascia, pain, and spiritual/emotional components to it all. Lastly, I have been teaching MELT, and Sue Hitzman, the creator of the MELT method has also inspired me to continue my education and instructor certifications so that I can share this incredible life-changing form of self-care with my community.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thevitalitycollective.com
• Instagram: @the.vitality.collective
• Facebook: @the.vitality.collective

Image Credits
Olivia Reed