Ardmore, PA Health and Fitness

While studying under renowned Ashtanga masters, Mark Nelson, owner of The Yoga Garden, learned that each person receives unique benefits from their yoga practice—be it the calmness felt postclass or the increased physical strength gained from core-centric poses. His roster of instructors, a diversely trained group, teaches with this knowledge in mind. The guiding yogis include a prenatal yoga master, a former philosophy student and martial artist, and a published author who pens poetry when she is not positioned in downward facing dog. The faculty also offers lessons in Pilates and meditation, allowing clients to choose from multiple, mat-paved routes to inner peace.

The 2000 World Census determined that there's the same number of styles of yoga as there are practitioners (3.7 billion). With today’s Groupon you can sample them all (Chi yoga, Vinyasa, Kundalini, Acroyoga, etc): $49 gets you a month of unlimited classes at Dhyana Yoga. With four locations, Dhyana offers more than 100 classes per month covering the gamut of styles—from breathing-based Kundalini yoga to butt-kicking Ashtanga to about six different versions of Vinyasa flow. Because you can hop around to the different locations, you’re sure to find a class that fits your mood, exercise interests, or hairstyle.

At Power Yoga Works, winner of the Suburban Yoga category in Philadelphia magazine's Best of Philly 2008, certified instructors guide aspiring yogis of all skill levels in muscle-toning and detoxifying classes. The studio's focus centers around the power Vinyasa style, a modality that combines deep-breathing exercises with sequenced sets of flowing poses to help to build strength, increase flexibility, release tension, and purge the mind of distracting heavy-metal guitar riffs. Fledgling flexers receive a proper introduction to the fundamentals during four-week beginners courses that teach body alignment and come with a complimentary yoga mat. The schedule boasts copious classes and meeting times, helping students to salute the egotistical sun seven days a week. A warm, spacious studio allows up to 65 students at a time to stretch and bend without disrupting their neighbors' wingspans.

Founded in 1914, the original New York City location of Sterling Optical doled out frames amid the Ford Model Ts and paperboys that swarmed the city's financial district. The original band of eyesight experts weathered years of economic depression by impressing customers with speedy, full-service vision care, later launching a second store near Washington, DC. Today, a century of steady franchise expansion has given rise to almost 200 store locations in 23 states. Most locations continue the tradition of offering one-stop optical services, giving customers access to exams and onsite labs that manufacture glasses in one hour. The spectacle provider has been named one of the nation's leading franchises by Entrepreneur magazine.

Recalling his days at Albany Medical College in a Suburban Life interview, Dr. John Lee said, “It was then that I chose to specialize in a very specific field so my surgical ability could be honed and I could provide the level of service to patients that I felt they deserved." The little corner of medicine he decided to dedicate himself to is oculoplastic surgery, and it deals only with the eyes and neighboring parts of the face. With skills sharpened during a fellowship at Wills Eye Hospital, Dr. Lee now operates solely on eyelids, eyebrows, and black-eyed peas, and performs an average of 1,000 lifting and reconstructive procedures per year. Beautifying options for those who aren't ready to go under the knife include injectable wrinkle fillers and Latisse eyelash fertilizer.:m]]

Certified acupuncturist and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioner Adriane Dourte wields drug-free techniques to vanquish pain and alleviate a range of health complaints. A Philadelphia native, Adriane received her masters in TCM before deepening her knowledge through an externship at Zhejiang College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Hangzhou, China. There, she received hands-on training with doctors at TCM hospitals, as well as lectures from top professionals in the field.

Adriane's treatments employ TCM techniques from acupuncture with sterile, disposable needles to moxibustion, during which a carefully selected blend of herbs burns on or close to the skin. Using knowledge of each patient's medical history, she can customize sessions to address a range of conditions as diabetes, anxiety, or neck pain from watching out for falling asteroids.