Marco Gyms and Fitness

Patrons plant palms and heels into the wood floors of Bija Yoga's cozy, neutral-toned studio, growing into seasoned yogis as certified instructors lead them through ancient postures. It's this sense of planting and flourishing that Jamie Shane, the owner and one of the instructors, hopes to evoke with the studio's name—the Sanskrit word for seed. She leads her classes with a similar fluidity, whether she's introducing an ever-changing variety of poses during Go Flow—a Vinyasa-style class that links breath to movement—or opening up the floor to encourage practitioners to follow their own yogic lights in Your Flow. Other classes drag yoga into the new millennium, incorporating kickboxing moves in rigorous Kick Asana classes, or robot boxing moves in Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Asana.

Before finding her calling as a yoga instructor, Sylvia taught biology, Earth science, and general science for more than 25 years. Throughout her years in the classroom, she practiced yoga as a way to calm her mind and balance her body. In 2005, she switched gears—she trained for more than 1,000 hours and earned her E-RYT 500 certification. She specializes in Kripalu-style mindfulness yoga, which emphasizes self-acceptance and consciousness of the interplay between life and yoga. Although she primarily teaches multi-level classes, some sessions, such as chair or adaptive yoga, are intentionally geared toward those with limited mobility. At the beginning of class, she occasionally reads inspirational passages or practices levitation.

AFAA-certified fitness instructor Kari Fundingsland did three decades' worth of research before opening Kari Kardio. Beginning with her first Jazzercise center in 1983, she amassed group- and personal-training knowledge at gyms stationed from the United States to Australia. She took note of club fads and their effects, and experimented with different exercise styles to create the Kardio Flex System—a malleable workout template that allows instructors to pair her proven exercises with their own music playing over speakers or inside their heads. Today, more than 30 group classes per week at Kari Kardio attest to the breadth of her industry savvy.

With backgrounds in competitive athletics, personal training, and other high-level fitness activities, Kari Kardio’s teachers pair time-tested training methods with the latest workout trends. Their classes—which run the gamut from spin to kickboxing to strength training—accommodate all experience levels with safe exercise modifications. Treadmills and stationary bikes line the 9,000-square-foot studio, helping students chase their fitness goals and complete stationary paper routes when not attending classes.

When searching for a name that encompassed the principles of her studio, founder Erika Cooper turned to the five elements—earth, air, fire, water, and ether—and their relation to the five senses for inspiration. She settled on Elements Yoga, which was perfect, as the bedrock of her philosophy is to continuously learn, grow, and remain aware of the world around us. Hence, she ensures each session at Elements is a communal and multisensory experience—in addition to traditional yoga postures, she has students chant, sing, and dance in a friendly and engaging environment that encourages laughter and very slow, purposeful high-fives. Cooper also believes in the power of education, which is why many of her classes include readings and lessons on the history of yoga and Sanskrit. She extends those teachings to regular workshops, as well as to the studio’s certification program.

In an effort to give back to the community through the practice of yoga, Elements hosts weeklong donation-only classes five times a year with 80% of the proceeds passed on to local charities.

Balance Health Center takes a holistic approach to wellness by offering chemical-free body treatments and classes that promote balance within the mind and body. The center's nontraditional healing approaches include acupuncture, Ayurveda, and traditional Chinese medicine, treatments that all aim to heal the body without unnatural substances.

Spa services encompass waxing and seven-step facials, and bodies can acquire a bronze glow with the center's version of sunless tanning that relies on an organic, citrus-scented solution rather than the sun's hand-me-down rays. Relaxation's role in personal balance asserts itself in assorted scalp massages, hot-stone therapy, and aromatherapy as well as in spa massages that integrate essential oils. Helping guests to bring the center's philosophies home, Balance Health Center hosts classes and workshops on herbology, stretching, and yoga.

Though the term “boot camp” may conjure images of aggressive drill sergeants barking orders as their recruits struggle through grueling tasks, Body Proud Fitness Boot Camp sessions are much the opposite. Their enthusiastic trainers motivate patrons in outdoor boot-camp classes, issuing positive reinforcement as they work together to burn calories and excess fat through challenging, but not defeating, exercises. Each one-hour session is designed to promote fat loss with a varied routine of interval training that my involve weightlifting, push-ups, sit-ups, and plyometrics. Many activities require participants to band together to tackle obstacles, bolstering a sense of support and camaraderie. Instructors then lead exercisers in a cool down with yoga and stretching, leaving them more limber than a linguini noodle basking in a jacuzzi.

In addition to the calorie-blasting boot camps, Body Proud Fitness Boot Camp’s weight-loss specialties include one-on-one personal training and nutritional counseling. Clients gain access to the Truestar at-home training and nutrition programs, which lead them toward overall wellness with custom meal plans and supplements paired with tailored fitness routines.