Platteville, WI Health and Fitness

Patricia Hockin, a devoted mother with an MBA, has something else up her sleeve: she’s also the founder and owner of Miss Pole. After deciding that her life needed some serious changes, Patricia enrolled in pole-dancing classes and was so inspired, so enthusiastic, and so dramatically altered that she decided every woman should have the opportunity to feel confident, strong, and sexy. Hence Miss Pole was born.

At Miss Pole, she leads classes that explore the sensual and physically challenging aspects of pole dancing and sensual dance. She leads beginner, intermediate, and advanced pole-dancing classes that cover hundreds of moves that tone the entire body. Other classes include lap dancing, burlesque, and sexy/sassy stretching.

The instructors at Kaivalya Yoga believe that, like yoga practitioners themselves, the rules of yoga should be highly flexible. They pioneer fresh approaches to Vinyasa techniques inside their University Square studio with the aim of inducing kaivalya—a state of freeing personal enlightenment. Heated and nonheated classes cover fluid posture transitions that synchronize breath with stretching rather than having students take one long breathing break halfway through class. Each session aims to eradicate the body's toxins and boost mental clarity, whether students are attending a free beginners workshop or hefting small weights during Power Sculpt.

Many of the teaching staff joined the yoga movement to combat physical ailments, such as slipped disks or chronic migraines, and now they deepen their practice through Kaivalya's inventive curriculum. They inject posing sequences with pieces of individual flair—Hally Marlino's classes embrace freestyle Vinyasa set to music, and director of teacher training Alex Pfeiffer leads groups through spiritually focused, dance-like routines. Certified massage therapists are also on hand to work muscles into an even noodlier state with Swedish, deep-tissue, and sports modalities.

Kaivalya Yoga's central location is no accident. Owners Dave and Tim met at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1998 and maintain ties with the school as an employee and a graduate student, respectively. They've engineered their venue and schedule to suit the student population: classes provide a meditative escape close to home, scheduling never interferes with Wisconsin Badgers games, and the boutique carries chic headbands, T-shirts, and hoodies from their exclusive Mad Yogi clothing line, ideal for moving from dorm to dining hall to yoga studio in comfort.

Silky curtains, damask artwork, and earth-toned candles set the mood at A Healer’s Hand, where the staff massage therapists and aesthetician fuse Eastern healing techniques and Western beauty treatments. On top of waxing and reiki, they specialize in prenatal massages that help relieve tension on weight-bearing joints and ease emotional stress that can be caused by pregnancy.

The club keeps visitors fit with group exercise classes, personal training, and aquatic activities in indoor and outdoor pools. Specific classes vary by location, though each hosts cycling, yoga, and Pilates. The 24-hour Harbor location caters to muscles with 160 classes per week, including youth classes in swimming, sports, and ballet.

Growing up, Doctor of Chiropractic David Dow grappled with a web of health problems. Erb's palsy in infancy led to scoliosis as a child. A torn shoulder ligament planted the seeds for chronic heartburn. It wasn't until undergoing Pettibon spinal-rejuvenation therapy that his body began to correct its chronic problems.

In the 20 years since starting his own chiropractic practice, Dr. Dow has treated close to 50,000 patients and four realistic-looking scarecrows. He focuses on the Pettibon method, which incorporates postural strengthening exercises, stretching, spinal traction, and acupuncture to treat herniated and degenerated discs. Dr. Dow augments chiropractic treatment plans with five types of massage.

For years, Jennifer “Bhavani” Sebastian used her calming voice and lighthearted humor during stressful work at an emergency communications center. Despite helping others in crisis, she struggled find peace in her own life. Upon meeting Rama Berch, creator of the Svaroopa method of yoga, she discovered what was missing: a sense of self-acceptance. Yoga became an agent of change as she learned to teach relaxing, Hatha-inspired poses and lead pain-melting yoga-therapy sessions. During her signature Svaroopa classes, props such as blankets, blocks, and chairs help bodies achieve optimal alignment during sitting, standing, and inverted poses. Jennifer circulates the room, showing students how to adapt the poses to different levels of strength, flexibility, and Rubik’s cube mastery. Bolstered by deep breaths and hands-on alignments, the exercises gently release tension from the sinews attached to the spine. As muscles unclench, bodies may gain mobility and shed chronic discomfort.