New yoga and wellness studios open on Long Island
Jessica Milligan, of Riverhead, during a collective flow class at Yoga Collective in Westhampton Beach. Credit: Randee Daddona
If you’re looking to keep moving this winter, there are new yoga and wellness studios on Long Island offering workout classes and assisted stretching sessions aimed at keeping you relaxed, rested and rejuvenated. Check out these facilities if you're looking to kick-start your health routine:
Stretch it out at The Stretch Garden
189 Main Rd., Aquebogue
Carissa Kretszchmer and her son, Nicholas, both of Huntington, thought of the idea for a multiservice recovery and rejuvenation center last year.
Carissa says The Stretch Garden, which opened in November, is not a literal garden but an indoor space for "self-care and preservation." It offers "six modalities for healing and rejuvenation" for individuals (no group sessions), including a salt cave, a cold plunge, an infrared sauna and light therapy.
Carissa says the most popular choice, however, is assisted stretching, in which either she or her son — both certified stretch therapists — "move you into different stretches for 45 minutes." Carissa adds, "People really relax, and you float out of here when you leave."
Nicholas Kretszchmer conducts a stretch session on Jackie Grossklaus. After, Grossklaus relaxes in the infrared sauna. Credit: Elizabeth Sagarin
Regular client Steve Politi, 51, of Holbrook, an attorney, says his sessions at The Stretch Garden offer "sustaining benefits through the day and into the next day." Politi begins by sitting in a compression chair that "gets your blood moving." He then participates in assisted stretching and a nine-minute cold plunge in a tub filled with water at 38 and 40 degrees. Politi, a golfer, says the treatments improve his flexibility.
"It’s a relaxed environment. You are just trying to get better on your own every time you go," says Politi.
Cost Starting at $25 for a cold plunge and $100 for an assisted stretch
More info 631-502-0001, thestretchgarden.com
Practice mindfulness at Yoga Folk
13175 Main Rd., Mattituck
Yoga Folk in Mattituck offers clases in slow flow yoga, Vinyasa Yoga, Barre and more. Credit: Yoga Folk
Soothing sips of ginger tea with lemon and peaches and handfuls of magnesium and lavender lotion were part of a recent Five Senses class at Yoga Folk, a "mom-and-pop" yoga studio which opened in January.
A class in slow flow yoga, which essentially stimulates all five senses, is the specialty of Yoga Folk co-owners Savannah Perez and her husband, Daniel Sellick, both of Mattituck. Perez was a former school guidance counselor who previously worked as a yoga instructor at studios across Long Island.
In the five senses class, "Since it's winter, I like to start with a hot tea," Perez says. "We feel the sensation of the hot tea going through the throat and heart and belly. We really appreciate the warmth."
Other senses are stimulated with "mood lighting and nice blankets and pillows and vibey music," combined with "a really gentle yoga," Perez says.
Classes are also offered in vinyasa, chair, slow flow, Ashtanga and other yoga practices.
Cost Starting at $25 for a weekly membership and $30 for a drop-in class.
More info 631-502-3217, yogafolkny.com
Try vinyasa flow at Yoga Collective
97a Old Riverhead Rd., Westhampton Beach
Participants during a collective flow class at Yoga Collective in Westhampton Beach. Credit: Randee Daddona
John Kim was a longtime martial arts practitioner when he discovered yoga two years ago — and quickly took 600 yoga classes. Realizing that "martial arts training and a yoga practice go hand in hand," in November, Kim opened Yoga Collective at Studio Moodo, his martial arts and wellness studio in Westhampton Beach.
The Collective seeks "to create a strong community" among its six yoga instructors and "practitioners on their own yoga journeys," Kim says. Walk-in classes occur inside a "very large, airy, studio" decorated with ornaments and Buddha figures, says yoga instructor Nicci Howell, 44, of Hampton Bays.
The signature yoga style is vinyasa flow, which "mindfully moves the body with the breath," Howell says. Classes include beginner and all-level sessions, gentle yoga and yoga for kids. Little Yoga Adventures for ages 5-9 features play and interactive storytelling, and teens yoga (for ages 10-15) includes breath work, movement and learning about the history of yoga.
Instructor Julia O'Neill at Yoga Collective in Westhampton Beach. Credit: Randee Daddona
Sabina Trager, 58, of Westhampton Beach, has been a yoga enthusiast for five years. She takes Howell’s Wednesday morning class, which she says is "new and different each week. Today was focused on the back; another day might be about balance," says Trager, a retired pharmaceutical representative.
"They are very hands-on, very encouraging, and they have a nice welcoming space," Trager says.
Cost Starting at $28 per class and $125 for five classes.
More info 631-769-2300, yogacollectivewhb.com
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated services at The Stretch Garden. The Aquebogue business performs assisted stretching.
