Ronkonkoma, NY Health and Fitness

Self-improvement is a highly personalized goal that can take any number of approaches to achieve. Satya Yoga & Pilates attempts to incorporate as many of these approaches as possible, giving students the means to relieve stress, become more physically fit, or bolster their holistic well-being. There, students can design their own well-rounded workout regimen that emphasizes physical as well as mental health through yoga, dance, and Pilates instruction.

The yoga classes exemplify this flexibility through dynamic Vinyasa lessons that link poses to create seamlessly flowing sequences as well as gentler workouts that emphasize deeper, controlled stretching. Regardless of style, advanced yoga lessons continue to challenge attendees by introducing inverted poses, breathing techniques, and sudden-death overtime. The dance classes adopt a similarly broad approach, using belly dance and Zumba choreography to create cardio-intensive workouts or guiding students through the basic steps of international ballroom styles. Although Pilates focuses a bit more on building core strength, the sessions also emphasize the importance of measured breathing and controlled, mindful movements.

Bikram Choudhury arrived in America in 1972, bearing a series of 26 poses that he was able to prove promote healing within the labs of University of Tokyo Hospital. Within a room of up to 105 degrees, he performed postures that stretched soft tissues, awakened joints, and set off floods of detoxifying sweat. This style caught on and eventually washed over American yogis like a heat wave, ultimately leading to the opening of Bikram Yoga Bayport.

Within the studio, instructors host 24 classes a week. They tailor certain classes for beginner through advanced students, offering pose modifications to suit each student’s current skill level. The intense exercises can improve blood circulation and lung capacity, restore joint pliability, and impart the skills necessary to sneak up on your own toes by surprise.

A featured instructor for ESPN Radio and Long Island Golfing Magazine, teaching professional Peter Stern assists students with game improvement through lessons held at Indian Head Golf Park. Peter instills the fundamentals of a proper golf swing, which hold up from tee to green with a focus on helping pupils replicate perfected mechanics long after the lesson ends. While the body learns to become one with the club, a video camera records the session so that students can see weak points for themselves rather than trading bodies with a misunderstood sibling. All lessons evade the elements either in Peter’s indoor studio or outdoor covered teaching booth.

At CrossFit Stony Book, trainers lead groups through daily sessions of CrossFit, a fitness method that incorporates an assortment of functional movements into one high-intensity workout. Designed for all ages and fitness levels, each session focuses on a workout of the day, which may include a varied selection of pull-ups, squats, pushups, and other challenging exercises. With its ever-changing routine, CrossFit aims to increase strength, flexibility, and coordination while improving cardiovascular endurance.

Practice is the foundation of golf. Without it, the game can be frustrating, eventually sending golfers' into a fragile state of agitation. Knowing how important practice is, Indian Head Golf Park's instructors and staff focus their efforts on helping golfers improve their game. At the park's well-lit driving range, staff members keep golfers well stocked with buckets of range balls to blow off steam as they aim for the ball-retriever cart. Instructor Bob Greenstein works with students during private lessons to fine-tune their swings, and he hosts junior golf camps during summer to introduce youngsters to the game.

At Schlessinger Eye & Face, Dr. David Schlessinger goes far beyond eye drops and the Snellen chart. As a board-certified surgeon, Schlessinger offers three types of surgical treatments: oculoplastic surgery for instances of ptosis, skin cancer, or tearing disorders; neuro-ophthalmology, which covers all things relating to the eyes and brain, such as double vision or migraines; and, lastly, cosmetic procedures, including brow- and face-lifts and upper- or lower-eyelid surgery.

Supplementing Dr. Schlessinger's cosmetic procedures, his clinic's med spa also offers proven noninvasive beautification procedures. From within the med spa, his staff of licensed medical aestheticians battles the effects of aging and sun damage with chemical peels, microdermabrasion treatments, and custom European facials that leave faces beaming brighter than a headlight in a snowstorm.