Dave Fresilli has a vision that no one should have to suffer with health issues once they know how to heal. Dave is also is on a mission to make Ashland the healthiest town in the America. Now celebrating his 4th year in Ashland, Dave continues to change lives. His clients are reclaiming their health, and independence and now enjoy all the things they love from hiking with friends, to picking up grandchildren with out pain. Holistic Health and Fitness LLC. is a boutique private health and wellness studio in which clients work one on one with Dave in fully integrated protocols to give the body what it needs to heal. There are also several options with online courses and coaching, which allows Dave to work with clients who travel, and with clients from all parts of the globe.
In today’s interview I met with Dave to speak with him about his private coaching and training facility.
Dave, thanks so much for speaking with us today. Please tell us about your mission and vision for change here in our community.
Hello Shields, and to all who are reading. The mission is a simple one. To continually offer insights and protocols that will make our clients and Ashland the healthiest community in America. You see health is not a difficult state to achieve or to maintain. It is like a locomotive. In the beginning there is a force that needs to be applied, however once moving it takes less and less energy to increase speed. The challenge for most is there are constant distractions that pull them away from creating the change. Yet the change itself is not hard. Everyone has the innate potential to heal. All it takes is the desire to change. For some they choose not to change, and must deal with the pain and suffering. Others make a committed decision to heal and develop the knowledge, skills, and abilities through the protocols. We are also very fortunate that we live in a very special place with an abundance of healthy available food, water, and natural resources. We are saturated in a health-based environment for the most part. I hold a big vision for our clients, this community, and myself. I know from personal experience the body is able to heal itself when given the opportunity. I see this in all our clients, no matter what the health challenge. It’s all about compassion and coaching each client to recognize they have the ability. So many folks are lost or have given up. They don’t want to be hurt or disappointed again, so they just surrender to the health issue. Yet, if they honestly reach out for help and are willing to trust, I will take their hand. It takes continuous support to coach and assist clients to make changes in lifestyle habits, food, and exercise. This is why I work one on one in a private setting, so the client feels safe, and can let down any walls of resistance. Each client needs 100% of my attention, and I am focused on giving them that. The biggest part of Ashland being the healthiest community is educating and sharing. I have been offering talks about every other month at the Co-Op, (Thank you Ashland Co-Op), since last year. Each talk expands on what the body needs to heal. The more I share, the more folks will integrate these protocols, and the healthier they become. As they get healthier they directly influence their families and friends. It is grassroots health and wellness.
Putting numbers to all this and proving Ashland’s health is not my concern. I am focused on authentically creating health one person at a time until it reaches critical mass.
Dave I am inspired by the vision that your hold for both our community and your clients.
Each client is truly unique, because each comes with a personal life story. Some more challenging than other, however each one has been affected by the conditions of that story. I can only say once more that there is deep compassion and empathy for everyone who comes to work with us. We are working with people who want change, even if they are afraid, and in doubt. Our clients want more out of life and have decided to take full responsibility to heal. This is not about being perfect, but instead a level of commitment that will create healthy change. Many clients feel they have reached a dead-end and despair sets in. They know they need help, but either become apathetic, or are afraid to ask. They hope there is a solution but just have not found it. The coaching we give creates that change. I personally found the way out of the woods for myself, so I know everyone else can. No one can state, “You don’t know what it is like” because in my life experience I dealt with a lot of pain, illness, despair and hopelessness. The conditions may have been different, however the suffering was the same. Time and time again we have seen wonderful changes in a clients health once they begin in earnest to follow the protocols of health and wellness. It is what I call The Easy Health Formula™, and it is what I teach all my clients.
Please give us an overview of the services you are providing.
Every client no matter if an online client or in the studio is seen as an integration of Spirit, Mind, and Body. This means when coaching a client it is not enough to induce true healing if we ignore or omit any of these three components. Each session is an hour long, and many times it will go longer if we both have the time, without any addition fee. I believe in giving as much as I can to support the clients growth, and many time that means spending more time with them to move through emotional blocks.
Local clients work with me in the studio in a private environment. There are no distractions, just the client and myself. Online courses range from The Easy Health Formula™, a six-week course giving practical step-by-step protocols to integrate into your life, to Advanced Coaching – The Easy Health Formula™, which is private online coaching, and much deeper training. Finally, Wellbeing- The Mastery Program™ in which I work privately with clients to realize how through attachment to thoughts and beliefs they have created a self-image that is causing resistance, and so mental / emotional frustration, pain, and suffering is experienced in all of life’s conditions.
You provide a very specific six-step approach to working with all clients. Please say more.
As I mentioned early, health is actually simple to create and maintain.
What most folks will then say is “No its not, it’s hard”. Yet, what is this perception based on? If we get the client to truly let go of his or her fears of change, which is only based on their beliefs, they could then see that the changes needed are simple.
There are six components within The Easy Health Formula™. Every talk I give explains them. Many times folks will say “ You told us this the last time”, as if there should always be something new, the latest and greatest to create health. It reminds me of the story of the pastor who for several weeks in a row gave the same sermon of love thy neighbor. A group of older women who like to get together and talk about everyone else’s faults approached the pastor after three weeks and said, “Pastor are you alright? You have told the same sermon for three weeks now”. The pastor then replied, “Yes and I will continue to give it until you start following it”.
It is the same with creating health. Awakening to our higher Self, Diaphragmatic Breathing, Hydration, Nutrition, Exercise, and Sleep are the critical components to health. The question is are you doing them optimally? If you are not experiencing real health, fitness, and wellbeing, then it is time for change. Now, many of you have already gone down this list as you read and checked them off feeling I am doing okay. However, if you are dealing with issues in your health, fitness, or wellbeing, I would humbly point out the body never lies. You may ignore and deny all you desire, however the body will continue to decline until you have no choice but to listen to it. The challenge is by then the issues have become exponential and the way back takes more effort.
Please don’t put off your health with thoughts of I’m to busy, I don’t have the finances, It will get better on its own, or Its all apart of getting older.
I have found that when integrated, these six components give the body what it needs to heal, and health and wellness follow. I have witnessed clients with illness’s and disease such as high and low thyroid, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, chronic pain and fatigue, hormonal imbalances, disc issues, neurological issues, and certainly obesity, all respond and regain their health.
It is not I who am doing anything but coaching and giving the knowledge and skills to the client to become an expert in giving the body the tools so it can heal itself. By the way all of this can and will be done under the guidance of the clients medical doctors if they are on medications or following prescribed medical protocols.
Dave part of what makes your work so unique is the absolute attention that you are able to dedicate to your clients.
It takes time for the average person to integrate change into their lifestyle. What we are doing is letting go of old lifestyle habits and introducing new healthy ones. Even when a client is highly motivated, many still are resistant to changing how they live. This resistance comes in the form of thoughts, which will sabotage the client’s best intentions. This is why a coach is so critical to the process of change. Otherwise the client without a guiding voice who knows this process will fall prey to the voices in the head.
It has to be recognized that the self-image a person has of himself or herself, (ego) is their belief system, and who wants to admit that their beliefs are wrong? The ego will do whatever is needed to maintain its existence.
Clients must want, (not be willing) to heal, and create health. The body need time to do this, and can only be achieve through consistent love and attention from you the client. We have a piece of art in the studio that says “ Treat your body like it belongs to someone you love”.
We only offer two commitments working one-on-one with clients in the studio. The minimum I will work with a client is six months, however I know through an over abundance of experience that one year is truly needed to integrate these protocols.
This is because the first six months the client is experiencing trial and error from their old habit. Quite a bit of coaching and correcting and re-explaining must happen. This is not a just show up a few days a week and then forget it as soon as you walk out the door program. This is not an “I’ll give it a try for a few weeks or months”. If the idea of trying is there, then the idea of if it’s challenging I can give up and blame it on something other then me exists. Clients must be past all this and dedicated to healing. Why? Because I cannot do it for you. I will coach and guide and support and be a shoulder to cry on, however I cannot eat, sleep, breathe, hydrate, exercise, or think for you. This is where taking responsibility for your own life must be embraced.
I feel such deep joy when client realize their potential and take control of their health. Their lives change. They realize that all along it was always up to them to embrace health and wellbeing.
I have experienced clients going from total despair of feeling they would never be out of physical pain from disc issues, to the happiness of playing with their grandchildren. Clients without hope have come off of medications for chronic illness’s they were told they would always be on. Clients who realize their physical pain is coming from beliefs that were established from situations that had happened earlier in their lives. It is said the body is a servant to the mind. What we believe we conceive.
This is all about coaching and guiding clients so they are healthy and strong and can do the things that they love with the people that mean the most to them.
Those who have worked with you have achieved real life changing results. Would you please talk about some of the transformations you have witnessed?
Including what I just mentioned, clients have recovered from Type 2 Diabetes, Epstein’s Bar, Crones, Leaky Gut, allergies, auto immune issues, hormonal imbalances, joint pain, musculoskeletal imbalances, Functional Scoliosis, disc injuries, Tinnitus, TMJ, food intolerances and so much more. You see, everyone of these clients although I cannot get specific, transformed from being is a state of fear and despair not knowing if they would ever get better to creating a whole new lifestyle of health and wellbeing. Many come through our doors barely able to move or function, and progress achieving wonderful health.
Dave please talk about the seriousness of this role you play for your clients.
It has always been ingrained that I must lead by example. If I don’t walk my talk how will my clients. If I am not following these protocols I cannot be authentic. To have experienced thirty years of chronic health challenges from infancy through adulthood, and found the way to health and wellbeing is a gift I take seriously. I can empathize with those who have given up, or are lost and without hope. Yet, I know from first hand experience the body can do wonderful things to heal itself. What I offer as a health practitioner and coach comes from a deep compassion that no one should suffer from his or her own ignorance. It is only ignorance of not knowing what to do that causes health challenges. It is more than a belief or good intention; I know everyone can do this, because I have been a witness to it.
Will you please talk more about your personal philosophy of heath and wellness?
We know that the body is a system of interdependent systems. This means that if one system is stressed or injured it will have an affect on the others. More specifically organs talk to other organ and also to muscles all through the nervous system. It happen in the opposite way also, muscles to organs. It is such a complex system yet, also very simplistic, once you embrace how each interrelates.
The body is designed to at the very minimum survive, and at the highest level it will thrive. All this depends on what you give it and expose it to.
This is also why working with clients with layered symptoms or the hard challenging cases are many time the easiest to resolve. The body is under so much stress that the first priority is to reduce all forms of stress to the body. This is where The Easy Health Formula™ and the 6 Components to Health and Wellness are integrated. When these protocols are followed the body is given a chance to de-stress, rest and heal. Once the body has recovered it then moves into higher levels of health and wellbeing. It is truly about going back to the basics of life.
Many clients mentioned they have worked with multiple health professionals to resolve their issues, and nothing is truly helping. They get some results, maybe a decrease in symptoms, however the issue never actually heals. It can be because all the attention is going to relieving the symptoms and not allowing the body to heal the cause.
The challenge can come when the client cannot believe that after all they have been through that these simple protocols are the answer. They feel there has to be some special process or miracle drug no one has ever heard of before. Yet, the miracle is the body itself. You must allow the miracle to present itself by giving it what it needs. In fact, you are the miracle.
I have seen it time and time again how simple it is for the body to heal once you give it what it needs. Truly folks, this is not hard. I am not going to ask you to climb Mount Everest, or write a book on how to build a space shuttle, or get a degree in Human physiology, (all these are hard to do), just follow and integrate these six protocols into your lifestyle. Then give the body time to do the rest.
Dave I really appreciate you saying that sometimes the most complex situation require the easiest solutions. What are some practical tips you can offer our readers?
All health, fitness, and wellness challenges are do to an overload of some kind of stress. I feel that most folks are missing the fact that the body summates stress of all kinds. It doesn’t know the difference between digestive stress, emotional stress, the stress from environmental toxins, or not getting quality sleep, or a physical injury. The body takes the brunt of them all and reacts in the same way. As my mentor Paul Chek tells us “We need to become stress reduction experts”. So the practical matter is we give the body what it needs to heal, and we reduce or completely omit what is causing the stress. Mental / emotionally, create more time to be still. Digestively, eat high quality wholesome food for your metabolic type. Physically, stabilize and strengthen the body. Environmentally detoxify your surrounding and lifestyle. Sleep, must be deep and restful so the body can heal and rebuild. Hydrate by taking in half your body weight in ounces a day. The great thing about Ashland is that many folks have a good grasp on this. So for some it’s just a few tweaks in their lifestyle and things shift to the positive. Whoever you are, I say to you, you can do this. If you look within and drop your resistance and fear, you will admit its true. It’s easy and it works. You just have to take responsibility and do it. I am here to guide you and keep you on the path.
Please share some recent testimonials with us.
Sure I would love to. All these clients vary in age, sex, health challenges, and life story.
After a decade of deteriorating health, I gave up more and more everyday activities because they would injure my body and send me into a pain cycle that could only be managed through chiropractic care and ceasing from the activity. I felt depressed and dependent on others. My massage therapist recommended David Fresilli’s work, as a possible solution and I can never thank her enough. Based on David’s findings, he created a program to help me regain body strength and stability. I have never had such great posture, and it has been years since I have felt so good – maybe I’ve never felt so good. I am able to do more of the activities I love such as gardening. He taught me exercises and stretches to do when I overdo things (a chronic habit of mine), so I can take charge of my own health care. I consider the work I do with Dave as very valuable health insurance.
Hugs,
Cheryl
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I will be forever grateful to Dave for the skills and insights he has helped me gain, which in just two months have undone a lifetime of frustration. I came to Dave because I was desperate for a change. Having maintained a healthy weight for several years, I was alarmed when two years ago I started to gain weight at a steady rate. I struggled for those two years, and despite my efforts gained 25lbs! I was terrified this trend would continue and lead me to the obesity I had struggled with in my early 20’s. Knowing I needed to do something different, but not quite understanding what, I looked into all the trainers in the Ashland area. For me Dave was the obvious candidate. His approach was not to isolate exercise, diet, sleep, mental health, but to look at all aspects as an interactive whole. Still, for many months I dithered. I was embarrassed that I needed to be told to exercise, embarrassed at not being able to control my own eating. And besides, didn’t I already basically know what to do? “Eat less and move around more?” I resolved again and again to do it on my own, and failed again and again. Eventually I worked up the nerve to contact Dave and he responded promptly and invited me to a free consultation. Our first meeting confirmed to me that Dave was the health guru I had been hoping for. He was both extremely knowledgeable about health and also about the experience of transitioning from an unhealthy state to a healthy one. In him I sensed someone gentle enough not to shame me for “messing up” and also someone firm enough to never allow me a “pass”. My experience with Dave was more powerful than I ever hoped. I came in two months ago, looking for a change, hoping to get healthy again. Meeting just once a week with Dave has changed my life. I’ve lost so much weight; in just two months I’m lighter than I have been in two years! But it’s not just the exercise; I now understand and am implementing the healthy habits that eluded me my whole life.
Thanks Dave!!
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Here is why I work out with Dave.
I have been a member at the local gym and worked out for most of my adult life. I have used other trainers before Dave but didn’t seem to change my strength or fitness level.
I had observed how serious Dave was about training and his devotion to his clients, so decided to sign up with him just over three years ago. He started with a thorough evaluation and then we began a program he designed to correct issues I had with poor posture and muscle imbalances. We also talked about nutrition and diet, which led to my eating healthier and being more aware of what I eat and why certain food choices are better than others. His positive encouragement certainly made it much easier than doing it on my own. The results showed up relatively quickly in a change of body composition and toning up all over. We have moved through several phases of training and I am amazed at how much weight I can lift sometimes, but Dave’s confidence in my abilities and the constant challenges he gives me are enough to make me believe I can do it. I think the reason Dave is so different from other is he follows a holistic philosophy and practices everything he teaches. His self-discipline rolls over to his clients and so they get results. He had inspired me so much that I have taken the first steps to follow in his footsteps and got my personal training license. I look forward to continuing to learn from Dave in future workouts.
– Caroline D
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When I met Dave Fresilli a year and a half ago, I could barely move without pain. I had so many issues, I was afraid to list them: profound scoliosis (curvature of the spine), an injury to the sacro-iliac joint for which I’d already been in physical therapy for a year, a frozen shoulder, and a diagnosis of fibro-myalgia to account for the pain I experienced at the mere touch to my hips and legs. I was so out of shape that I could barely do three squats. Dave was undaunted, and set out to design a painstaking, long-range plan for my rehabilitation and reconditioning that would rebuild my strength from the inside out. What he accomplished is miraculous: Today I am out of pain and, at 56; I’m in better shape than I have been in over 20 years. I’m as impressed with my measurable increase in strength (I can lift 185 lbs. – way beyond my body weight) as I am with the change in body tone (I dropped from size 12 to size 8 without realizing it). By the way, the “fibro-myalgia” cleared up after 2 weeks on probiotics. Dave is much more than a Personal Trainer; his level of knowledge about the science of the body, from the mechanics of movement to nutrition, is exceptional. He meets his clients’ needs with dedication, and attends to their varying levels of ability with compassion and skill. Moreover, he makes it fun! He’s the friendliest guy at the gym, the one everyone knows and loves.
I can’t recommend Dave more highly. He has the skill to help you recover and rejuvenate. With these words, he challenged me and made me realize my hopes: “Surprise yourself!” I encourage you to sign up with Dave and do the same.
-Laura G
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I’m a travel and location photographer and depend on my ability to keep moving under heavy loads for long periods of time. Unfortunately, my knees were getting creaky, one of my shoulders was giving me fits, and I was starting to run out of gas before the day was done.
Dave put me through an exhaustive evaluation process and developed a customized list of stretching and strength exercises designed to get me into better alignment and shore up my weak spots. The workouts wore me out in the beginning. But he hung with me, very patiently correcting my form while pushing me to complete the reps.
Over time, my knees quit barking at me and, in a moment of insanity, I signed up for the Chicago Marathon. Happily, I ran across the finish line under my own power, something I never would have dreamed possible before Dave worked me over.
– Brent W
Dave, please give us a brief overview of your training and background. 
As with most, this has been a life long journey. I have spoken before that I was a very sickly child and suffered a great deal with gut issues, chronic fatigue, allergies, learning challenges, ADD, social disorder and the like. This was my motivation for healing. I spent years learning what helped me heal, and then began working as a personal trainer. From there I began a journey of self-discovery through meditation and Zazen, and finally became a holistic health practitioner after seven years of study through the Chek Institute. I have been working with clients in this fully integrated approach to healing for almost ten years.
What types of individuals are having the most success in working with you?
Every client I work with has a deep appreciation that healing cannot happen at just a physical level. There is a belief system or self–image that is creating the environment they are experiencing. It is this awareness that allows the clients to embrace the protocols given to them.
There is in many cases a great deal of physical pain along with emotional pain and suffering that draws clients to realize that what they have been doing isn’t working, they aren’t healing, and that there must be something more. Health challenges such as hormonal imbalances, chronic pain, digestive issues, chronic fatigue, illness, and so-called diseases, muscular and skeletal imbalances, and injuries, all these and more are common with clients. Can you imagine the fear and emotional suffering that comes with these conditions? It can tear a person apart and lose all hope for a life without pain. Not being able to enjoy the simplest things in life because you have to be near a bathroom, or being so fatigued and can’t find the energy to just go for a walk or hike with your family. It’s exhausting being in continual pain. Chronic pain and illness will stop someone from wanting to do anything, you can’t even sleep. All you want is for it to stop but you don’t know what to do, its all so confusing. The clients I work with have suffered enough are ready to heal. In a sense they are ready to listen and stop fighting the obvious situation they have created, many times through a sub-optimal lifestyle. In other words you must be willing to surrender the ego, and open your heart.
Dave what is the next step for any readers wanting to learn more?
Look deep inside and ask yourself “Do I want to heal and enjoy health, fitness, and a deep sense of wellbeing?” If the answer is yes, then we are ready to work together. The rest is easy. All you have to do is ask. Pick up the phone and call, or email to setup an initial complimentary consultation. Come with an open heart, be wanting to create a new healthy lifestyle, and the body will do the rest.
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