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These are the places, people, and activities that inspired us.
BERGEN COUNTY, N.J. — If you’re like me, you love discovering skillful people who practice natural methods to bring the body into alignment and health.
So I was delighted in 2016 to find plenty of both on my beat.
I even started to partake of some after I discovered them.
Here are highlights:
- WOODCLIFF LAKE: A special yoga studio for people with back issues? You bet. It’s sheer heaven at My Back and Body Clinic in Woodcliff Lake.
I and my classmates all have some back issue. In my case, it’s scoliosis.
But the sessions also are for those with poor posture, herniations, spondylolisthesis, and other conditions.
That’s fine. We’re all in it together under the knowledgeable and patient Yogi Jane Do Campo, who hails from the prestigious Yoga Union in Manhattan.
She thought to bring these specialized services here. So glad she did.
In these classes, each and every participant is instructed to modify poses differently for each side of the body. Oh, what a profound difference that makes.
- PARAMUS: Not every medical doctor is holistically inclined.
But Dr. Thomas Cacciola of Paramus is one of 3,000 holistic doctors in U.S.
Indeed, for years running, he has been named a top holistic doctor in the nation by the Consumers’ Research Council of America.
Holistic doctors sure will prescribe medication whenever it’s needed.
But if some other natural intervention or lifestyle change will do, they feel that’s even better.
- FAIR LAWN: Have respiratory issues? Check out Salt Breeze in Fair Lawn. It’s a Himalayan salt room.
The floor is a bed of pink salts.
The walls are lined with salts that radiate a rotating rainbow spectrum of colored light.
Salt Breeze was founded by Oksana Sheremeta of Saddle Brook, formerly a surgery nurse at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck.
- WYCKOFF: There’s a reason Miller’s Pharmacy is still up and running since Robert Miller founded it in 1929.
People trust the place and they love Pharmacist David Miller, the third generation to run Miller's.
On staff is a nutritionist with a doctorate and a dietitian with a master’s degree.
You can get your commercial prescriptions and medical supplies there but you also can indulge your passion for homeopathy and compounded medicines.
Just the other day, I bought the latest-model humidifier there – one that is refilled using a typical plastic water bottle.It's super easy to clean, which is important with humidifiers.
Expect innovation at Miller's.
- SADDLE RIVER: The borough is home to The Body Image Boutique, situated in an amazingly restored historic church building.
There, psychotherapist Melanie Struble and yoga teacher Jen Kraft have created an oasis for anything positive that can be done for the body — destressing, detoxifying, healing, nurturing, strengthening, and loving.
The boutique features a full complement of practitioners in many fields and a yoga studio to die for.
- RIDGEWOOD: Want to check out Superfoods but feel intimidated?
Totally visit Super Juice Nation with locations in Ridgewood and Paramus (and, as of the end of January, Wyckoff in the Three Chicas mall).
Brother and sister Jeff Wozniak and Amy Ratleff have created a place that features their own kind of smoothies and green drinks, each with different healing properties.
If you last tried a green drink 10 or 20 years ago, forget what you think you know. They’re delicious at Super Juice Nation.
My personal faves are the Mint Night Raver and the beet-based Yeti.
The other day, though, the same cold that had me buying the newfangled humidifier at Miller’s also had me sipping on a Hydrotonic green drink at Super Juice.
It's a mix of pineapple, spinach, parsley, lime, orange, and coconut water. Yum.
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