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A New Leaf: Keep New Year's Resolutions
Downtown
January 6, 2003
The new year is just a few days old -- have you kept your
resolutions? If not, it's not too late to
RE-resolve and get cracking: A newer, better,
smarter, brighter, thinner or smoke-free you is
waiting! Lower Manhattan offers a variety of
services, shops and goods that can help you achieve your goals
in 2003.
Year in and year out, people promise themselves that they
will turn over a new leaf, and if yours is one of the most popular
"leaves" -- losing weight, stopping smoking, getting into shape or
general self-improvement (with a bit of community service added for
good measure) -- here are a few downtown sources that can
help.
| NOURISH THE BODY
LA Weight Loss Center
"This is the busiest time of year for weight loss
organizations," says Jack Bachinsky, a spokesman for the LA
Weight Loss Center. The company
offers customized programs for its clients, and, with over 450
centers nationwide, they have a lot of experience catering to
all sorts of dietary idiosyncrasies and
needs. There are no classes or big group
sessions, and there's no special food to buy -- the diet is a
healthy mix of grocery-store-bought items.
The initial consultation is free, and the weekly fee is a
modest $7. Most clients stop in at least
twice a week for support, guidance and
monitoring. Counselors are available during
general business hours, and dieticians and nutritionists are
on call 24/7. "If someone throws a big
chocolate cake in your face, and you need us, we're here,"
says Bachinksy.
Yoga in Tribeca
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| Instructor Oberst practices
what she preaches | For many
years, Carolyn Oberst has studied all forms of yoga (Hatha,
Iyenger, Jivamukti, Anasuara, Ashtanga) as well as healing
arts, meditation and metaphysics. She
draws on her diverse knowledge in her instruction, but calls
the type of yoga that she teaches "Middle Path" -- it's
neither totally passive nor the most active or
strenuous. In a serene Tribeca loft, Oberst
offers nine regularly scheduled classes per week (from an hour
and fifteen minutes to two hours; about $16 per
class). The classes are small (usually no
more than ten students), and offer a tremendous amount of
hands-on attention from a careful and caring
teacher. Oberst prides herself in knowing
her clients' bodies, abilities, injuries, needs and unusual
quirks.
Tribeca Bodyworks
Alicia Ungaro has been practicing Pilates, a movement
and exercise discipline, for over 20 years.
The author of two books on the subject, she opened her
studio in 1995. She also is a physical
therapist, which gives her uncommon insight into her clients'
individual needs, limitations and
abilities. Ungaro believes in "controlled
training" for clients, which means nearly all-private sessions
on the Pilates equipment (the Reformer and the Cadillac) and a
tremendous amount of hands-on guidance from her and her
instructors. Those wishing to do private
training, but not wishing to spend the $70 per session, can
partner with a friend and share an instructor for a one-hour
lesson. And for clients who enjoy the
rigorous, but serenity-inducing Pilates workout, but cannot
afford semi-private lessons, there are 20 group mat
classes a week, for $20 per 45-minute session.
Eden Day Spa
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| Stop in to get worked over
at Eden Day Spa | Would you
rather be worked on than work out?
For a tranquil massage downtown, there is no dearth of
day spas to check out -- Millefleurs and Bliss are certainly
among the most popular. Eden Day Spa, an
Asian-influenced, year-and-a-half-old newcomer, is also worth
a visit. It's the perfect place for a
calming soak in restorative, aroma-therapeutic mineral salts,
lavender and blackberry in a wooden tub from Eastern Asia,
called the Mu-Tone. Detoxify and nourish
the body with a "Deep Sea Dive" (a seaweed wrap), followed by
a Vichy shower. The "Sandy Beach Scrub" is
$125; massages start at $65 for 45 minutes, and facials start
at $85. And look for good specials
on Eden's website.
Tribeca Hypnosis and Healing
Institute If you're finally ready to get rid
of cigarettes -- or lose and control weight -- then a trip to
Trudy Beers at the Tribeca Hypnosis and Healing Institute
could be in order. Beers, a self-described
"clinical hypnotherapist," believes that, to help people
achieve their goals, there are deep, emotional connections
that must be unraveled in conjunction with and through
hypnosis. Beers says that only one session
($350) is needed for smokers, who are then armed with a
customized tape that they must listen to daily for at least 21
days. She claims an 85 percent success rate
with this method. For weight loss, she
suggests that, after the initial session, clients follow up as
needed, "usually, every three or four or six
months." And for how long must those
perpetual "dieters" listen to her tape?
Also 21 days? No, she says, they need to
listen to the tape "until forever."
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EXPAND THE MIND
Berlitz
Want to learn a new language?
Berlitz, a perennial favorite for 125 years, will
provide instruction in any tongue, from Cherokee to Punjabi to
Mandarin, although the most frequently requested are English,
German and the Romance languages. Private
instruction costs $1,550 for 10 two-hour-fifteen-minute
sessions. Group classes are only $229 for a
six-week course, with approximately five to ten students per
class. New classes begin every month, so
there's no excuse for delaying your journey into a brave new
world of communication.
Borough of Manhattan Community
College
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| No time like the new year
to head back to school | With
hundreds of classes to choose from, BMCC downtown offers
everything from certification programs in computer technology
to memoir writing for beginners. Or
you might try courses such as Stop Aging and Start Training,
Women's Guide to Total Financial Health or Panic Clinic for
Public Speakers. Because the facility is
part of The City University of New York, fees are truly
affordable.
New York Academy of Art
If you are a Michelangelo-in-the-making, or think you
might be, this is the place where you can express or explore
your talent. Central to the mission of the
Academy is the study of the human figure, and there are
numerous courses in everything from figure drawing to
landscape painting to a mind-stretching, five-day, intensive
workshop for beginners, "Drawing on the Right Side of the
Brain" ($1,350). Grab your beret and
palette and head downtown!
Museum of the Piano
Tucked just below street level at 291 Broadway is the
little-known Museum of the American Piano.
Kalman Detrich, the museum's dedicated and enthusiastic
director, has fulfilled his passion for the piano and put on
display a wide range of interesting keyboard instruments,
including a "giraffe" piano, a square piano, a Viennese forte
piano and a half-dozen charming, miniature "toy" pianos for
children. There is also a player piano,
with a drum, accordion and cymbals (among other instruments)
ingeniously packed inside it; when it's played, it sounds like
an entire band. A budding Horowitz can not
only take piano lessons, but also can learn piano tuning,
woodworking and wood refinishing and polishing -- all the
skills needed to repair and maintain this exquisite
instrument. Piano classes, taught by two
teachers who focus on jazz/pop or classical, are $25 for 40
minutes, and practice time is often available at $5 per
hour. There also are classes for parents
and children to share.
Hands On
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| Never too young to take an
interest in the cello | If
you're interested in sharing music with your children, this
delightful school has lessons in a great variety of
instruments, including violins, recorders and percussion
instruments. Children from four
months to five years old listen to and play age-appropriate
music. The cost is $450 for 15 classes,
which may include sessions called "Travels with
Punchinello." Because Hands On's downtown
facility is large, there also are art classes for
children. |
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GET INVOLVED
If you have resolved to improve yourself by improving
your community, here are some resources.
Links to the various community boards can be found on the
City's website, http://www.nyc.gov/html/cau/html/cblinks.html.
Community Board 1
49
Chambers Street, Room 715, 212-442-5050, http://www.cb1.org/
CB1 serves Tribeca and areas below Canal Street, east
of Baxter Street (including the "civic center"), which include
the Financial District, Battery Park City, and the South
Street Seaport area.
Community Board 2
3
Washington Square Village, #1A, 212-979-2272
CB 2 serves SoHo, NoHo, Little Italy, Greenwich
Village, and Hudson Square (south of Houston Street and west
of Seventh Avenue).
Community Board 3
59
East 4 Street, 212-533-5300, http://home.earthlink.net/~cb3nycm/
CB 3 serves the area below 14 Street and east of the
Bowery that includes a little bit of Chinatown, the Lower East
Side, and the East Village.
Volunteer Opportunities:
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GETTING THERE
- LA Weight Loss Center, 125 Maiden Lane,
1-800-526-SLIM (7546), http://www.laweightloss.com/
- Yoga in Tribeca, 38B Walker Street, 212-966-4554,
http://www.yogaintribeca.com/
- Tribeca Bodyworks, 177 Duane Street, 212-625-077,
http://www.pilatescenterny.com/
- Eden Day Spa, 388 Broadway, 212-266-0515, http://www.edendayspany.com/
- Tribeca Hypnosis and Healing Institute, 56 Beach
Street, 212-334-0299, http://www.hypnosischangeslives.com/
- Berlitz, 2 Rector Street, 212-765-1000, http://www.berlitz.com/
- Borough of Manhattan Community College, 199
Chambers Street, 212-220-8350 (for Continuing Education), http://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/
- New York Academy of Art, 111 Franklin Street,
212-966-0300, http://www.nyaa.edu/
- Museum of the American Piano, 291 Broadway,
212-406-6060, http://www.museumforpianos.org/
- Hands On, 19 Warren Street, 212-227-7375 (no
website)
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