Welcome to Vanguard

Find a quiet place. Sit, lie down, stand or even walk—whatever feels right. Silence your phone, dim the lights, and close your eyes.

Now, just breathe.

Let your breath flow naturally. Notice the cool air entering your nostrils, the gentle rise of your belly, the warmth as you exhale. This is your anchor.

Your mind will wander—that’s normal. Don’t fight it. When thoughts arise (work, to-do lists, memories), acknowledge them like clouds passing in the sky, then return to your breath. No judgment. No rush.

This is not about emptying your mind—it’s about being here, fully present. The past shaped you. The future isn’t here. Only now exists—and everything you do in this moment writes what’s next.

Meditation vs. Breathwork

• Meditation = stillness, surrender, connection.
• Breathwork = active control, rhythm, effort.

Try this: 5 minutes of quiet meditation → then 5 minutes of deliberate breathwork (e.g., box breathing or 4-7-8). Let them complement, not compete.

Start small. Even 3 minutes changes everything.

*Daily mindset is available in the app along a daily practice and daily training program.

Vanguar app daily requirement

+ Complete the Mindset daily programming if applicable or 5min meditation.

No food? You’ll last ~3 weeks. No water? ~3 days. No oxygen? ~3 minutes.

Breathing isn’t just survival—it’s power. As Vanguard practitioners, we don’t just breathe. We breathe with intention.

Here’s one proven method (inspired by Wim Hof):

1. Power Phase Inhale deeply through the nose → fully fill your lungs. Exhale loosely through the mouth → let it go (no force). Repeat 30 times (fast but controlled).
2. Retention On the last exhale, empty your lungs completely and hold. Stay empty as long as comfortable (no strain).
3. Recovery Breath When the urge hits, inhale fully and hold for 15 seconds. Exhale. That’s one round.

Do 3 rounds. You’ll feel tingling, warmth, clarity—like your system just hit overdrive.

Pro Variation (21-15-9)

• Round 1: 21 breaths → hold
• Round 2: 15 breaths → hold
• Round 3: 9 breaths → hold (Faster, intense—great post-workout.)

Warning: Never do this in water, while driving, or if you feel lightheaded. Sit or lie down.

Focused breathing = controlled energy. Pick a method. Own your breath.

Vanguar app daily requirement

+ 5 min of focused breathing, any style.

Face the freeze. Reclaim your edge.

Modern life is built on comfort—food, heat, ease—all at your fingertips. Cold exposure shatters that illusion. It awakens survival instinct, rewires your nervous system, and forges unbreakable mental and physical strength.

Start simple: take a warm shower, then slowly turn the knob to cold. When your breath catches and skin tightens, stay for 30 seconds. Breathe deeply. Stay calm.

Build gradually. Begin with cool water for 30–60 seconds. Over weeks, go colder and longer. Aim for 2–3 minutes daily—mornings work best. Starting with ice is very aggressive. Building up is more effective and more sustainable.

The payoff: activated brown fat (burns calories), reduced inflammation, a 200% dopamine surge, a clean mind and a stronger immune system with fewer sick days.

Warning: stop if dizzy. Never hold your breath.

Do it daily. The cold doesn’t negotiate. Surrender. Strengthen. Rise.

Vanguar app daily requirement

+ Cold shower, cold plunge for at least 30sec. You pick the temperature, as long as it makes you uncomfortable.

Fuel your body. Own your energy.

Everything you eat becomes who you are. Fast food is cheap, instant, and everywhere. Healthy food costs more and takes effort. Most of us eat too much, too often, too late.

keep it simple. No scales. No macros. Be aware, discipline, control, and eat real food.

• Limit: refined sugar, processed junk, alcohol.
• Fast: no food 2 hours before bed. Delay breakfast. Give your gut a break. 2 meals a day is plenty of food when you eat right.
• Hydrate: drink lots of water. Carry a water bottle with you.
• Cook: cook your own meals and meal prep.

Eat to live—don’t live to eat

Develop an awareness and make conscious choices. Rewires your cravings, energy, and health.

Simple. Sustainable. Transformative.

Vanguar app daily requirement

+ The goal is to create an awareness, promote good habits and keep it simple. There are many ways to improve your nutrition habits.

• Log your nutrition intake (this will create an awareness)
• No alcohol (no amount of alcohol is good for us)
• No refined sugar (sugar is without a doubt one of the most brutal and damaging things to our health)
• Fast 16 hours (this one might be controversial and goal dependant. There is no denial that eating less and within a shorter window helps take strain off the digestive system)
• No food intake 2 hours before bed (go to bed on an empty stomach, you'll sleep better and your body will be able to focus on repairing itself instead of digesting)

Move with purpose. Level up.

Your practice is about movement, flow, body activation, breathing.. Your training is your time to develop yourself, to sweat, to improve in the 10 physical skills: Cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy Practice is flow. Training is fire.

Goal: 3 workouts/training sessions per week

• Functional training, run, lift, swim, ruck... do something and move.
• The Vanguard Initiative provides a daily training program in the app.
• Aim for sustainability, consistency and relative high intensity.
• Workouts are meant to be done everywhere with minimal equipment and space. You'll need a set of rings, a sandbag with handles, a skipping rope, a ruck pack or simple backpack that you can fill with weights.
• Everyone should learn to defend themselves. The goal is not learning to fight. Develop skills and a self-confidence that will get you out of a fight. Learning striking and grappling. Your choice of discipline. Do what interests you.

Focus: Sweat. Build strength, stamina, skill. No scores. No pressure. Just progress.

Pair with nutrition, recovery, and the other tenets.

*daily Vanguard training program available on the app along a daily practice and daily mindset.

Vanguar app daily requirement

+ Complete the Training daily programming or any workouts of your choice.

Feed your mind. One page at a time.

Physical books, if you can, limit screen time. The weight, the smell, the turn of a page: it sticks.

Choose anything that sparks you: self-help, sci-fi, biography, history. You’re in control.

Goal: Read at least 10 pages a day.

• Set time aside for it. Get it done.
• Pick something that interest you.
• If you're already a veteran reader? → just continue what you're doing.

Read daily. Morning, night, lunch break—make it a ritual. Carry your book with you. Pull out your book instead of being on a phone. Rewire your brain.

You become the books you read.

Pro tip: Use the optional Vanguard Bookmark, which lists all 12 tenets as a reminder.

Read daily = New mind

Vanguar app daily requirement

+ Vanguard app requirement: Read at least 5 pages

Declutter your mind. Shape your future.

Journaling defragments your brain. Pour thoughts onto paper—your day, goals, emotions, frustrations. Transform mental chaos into clarity. Draw, sketch, note a powerful quote. Keep it positive. Turn gratitude into habit.

Your thoughts become words. Words become actions. Actions become habits. Habits become you.

Write daily. Reflect: What went well? How did I feel? What’s tomorrow’s win? This clears your mind for sleep and builds self-awareness. What do I want to achieve today?

Use any notebook (8×5 hardcover is portable and sturdy), or reserve the custom Vanguard Journal.

One page a day rewires your life. Write. Reflect. Become.

Vanguar app daily requirement

+ Write in your journal. Just putting a few words will get you a long way.

True giving is the quiet act of releasing something—time, attention, money, kindness—into the world with no string attached, no mental invoice waiting to be paid. It is the opposite of a transaction. When we give expecting recognition, gratitude, or even a subtle sense of moral superiority, we haven’t really given; we’ve only made a loan disguised as generosity.

The purest form of giving often costs us nothing material yet feels like the greatest sacrifice: our undivided time. Sitting with a friend who is unraveling, listening without glancing at the phone, letting silence stretch until they fill it—these moments are small offerings of presence. You walk away lighter, as if you have offloaded some invisible weight you didn’t know you were carrying.

Something mysterious happens when we give without expectation. The brain bathes in oxytocin and serotonin; loneliness recedes; blood pressure softens. Studies on volunteers, blood donors, even people who simply spend money on others instead of themselves show measurable drops in stress hormones and longer telomeres—the protective caps on our chromosomes linked to longevity. But the data only confirm what the heart already knows: giving breaks the claustrophobic loop of self-obsession. For a moment, the narrow room of “me” opens into a wider sky.

Vanguar app daily requirement

• Give without expecting something in return.
• Giving is open-ended, you make it what you want it to be.

Recharge in the real world.

Sunlight powers life. Fresh air resets your system.

Goal: Step outside every day. Not to your car. Not with your phone.

• 5–10 minute walk around the block
• Meditate on grass. Grounding.
• Bike to work
• Walk, run, bike, train outside, walk your dog, sit...

No time minimum. Just meaningful connection.

Cloudy? Rain? Cold? Hot? Just get outside.

Going outdoors daily sharpens mood, better sleep, more energy

Daily. Phone-free. Alive.

Vanguar app daily requirement

+ 5 focused minutes outside with the sole purpose of connecting with nature. 

Belong. Connect. Grow.

Humans are wired for tribes. From ancient villages to modern cities, we thrive together.

Goal: Engage with one community—weekly or more.

• Join a club (climbing, functional fitness, martial arts, book club, team sport)
• Part of a group to help others
• Volunteer, coach, host
• Show up, talk, listen

Meaningful connection sharpens social skills, lifts mood, and grounds you.

One interaction. One tribe. Stronger you.

Vanguar app daily requirement

+ Engage with one community.

Turn imagination into reality.

We are born to create and build. A song, sketch, poem, dance, game—anything that starts in your mind and lands in the world.

Goal: Create as often as possible.

• Doodle in your journal
• Write a line of poetry
• Invent a move, riff, recipe
• Play like no one’s watching

No rules. No judgment. Just expression.

Take inspiration from everyone, everything and everywhere

Think of something, take action and create it for the real world.

Vanguar app daily requirement

+ Just create something. A movement. Draw. Sing. Play music. Dance. Express yourself physically or intellectually. No limits. Get out of the consuming vicious cycle and create from within.