Category Archives: Health & Wellness

Stewart’s Shops/Dake Family recently donated $3 million to support the Saratoga YMCA and Saratoga Senior Center’s joint project.

The undertaking will create a new wellness environment for residents from children to seniors living in the greater Saratoga region. The relocation of the Senior Center to the West Avenue campus will free up the current center space for other civic organizations to operate, which will benefit the entire community.

The YMCA has been dedicated to improving the health and wellness of the greater Saratoga community for over 150 years. This expansion project will provide much-needed additional space for the Y when post-COVID operations are currently requiring more space in exercise areas to better support public health, officials said.

The new building will supply additional space and will come fully equipped with new fitness spaces and wellness centers devoted to public health – something the Dake Foundation and Stewart’s Shops have been consistent with in their giving for decades.  An indoor “adventure center” which will include a play space, a new gymnasium, as and a shared lobby area between the Y and the Senior Center, are also parts of the plan. 

By Jennifer Farnsworth

Despite supply chain issues and COVID concerns, small business owners are saying local holiday shopping has been strong.

Todd Shimkus, president of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, said all businesses benefit when shoppers support local businesses and the local economy.

His organization is running a promotion wherin people who spend $20.21 or more at any local shop, restaurant, salon, florist, fitness studio, nonprofit organization or any other business in Saratoga County are entered into a drawing for the chance to win a $100 gift card. The campaign runs through Dec. 31.

“Shopping locally is important. Whether you are eating out, shopping for the holiday shopping season, hiring a local contractor, or signing up for a gym membership, we want our local residents and out-of-town visitors to support local businesses,” he said.

“We need to have their back and show our support as consumers. That’s why the Chamber created the Save Our Locals $20.21 campaign. We all benefit when we support our local businesses and the local economy.”

Times Square Clock Shop in Clifton Park is another  place to find interesting gifts. Owner Peter Judd said they have a new line of clocks that he describes as one of their all-time best sellers.

By Christine Graf

Malta resident Brandi Tyler has taken her love for CrossFit training and turned it into a career. The first-time business owner opened her own CrossFit gym, Unbroken Athletics, in September.

Located at 146 Raylinsky Road in Malta, the gym offers a range of classes to suit any fitness level. Tyler, a Level 2 CrossFit trainer, also offers individual coaching. Unbroken Athletics is one of more than 13,000 CrossFit-affiliated gyms throughout the world, she said.

A former personal trainer, Tyler was introduced to CrossFit about five years ago. It is a high-intensity form of functional training that combines strength and conditioning and utilizes movements that are performed in day-to-day life—things like squatting, running, jumping, throwing, and pulling.

The workouts are particularly effective because they combine elements of load, distance, and speed and can be modified for individual of all ages and experience levels.

“I once saw a 90-year-old woman deadlift her own weight,” said Tyler.

She began to consider opening her own gym at a time when fitness centers were shuttered due to the pandemic. During that shutdown, she coached several clients in her home’s garage. The response was so positive that she decided to move forward with establishing her own business despite having no prior business experience.

By Mary Beth McCue, RD, CDN, IFNCP

Being conscious of choosing healthy lifestyle practices has probably never been as critical as it is today. Eating “clean” is commonly promoted in mainstream media; but what does this mean and why is it important?

Eating organically raised foods, free of contaminant’s and pharmaceuticals is foundational for “clean eating”. Based on the science published on sustainable farming, and on regenerative, holistic medicine; eating clean foods may be the most critical lifestyle choice for people to live their healthiest and most successful life.

Like integrative and functional medicine, the organics industry is mainly consumer driven and in rapid growth. Humans are literally at the verge of new life everyday, at every meal and every thought. How is this so ? Our choices determine the state of potential new life, renewed health, because our cells are constantly turning over and renewing. What we feed ourselves will determine “everything”.

No matter what personal health challenges or goals one has, eating clean needs to be part of the ongoing process. The most nutritionally dense, safe, toxin-free foods that support the lowering of inflammation and stress in the body PLUS support a healthy immune and digestive system come from clean foods.

These factors are all focal points for maintaining health, and vitality.and are critical to the recover from any chronic condition from losing weight (toxins store and hold in fat stores), to those with anxiety/depression, cardiovascular, immune, diabetes, GI conditions and more.

By Christine Graf

Local mental health practitioners are struggling to meet the tremendous demand for services that has been triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The need encompasses all age groups, and pediatric health experts have labeled the mental health crisis among children as a national emergency.

According to Dr. Erin Christopher-Sisk, Ph.D., founder and clinical director of ECS Psychological Services in Saratoga Springs, the need has never been greater.

“In my almost 20 years of being in practice, I have  never seen the volume of need that we see and have seen over the past year-and-a-half. Every provider I know is booked solid. Our mission has always been to keep up with needs of community, so we just continued to try to hire therapists and expand staff. We were at  seven or eight full-time staff members before the pandemic, and we are now at 20.”

Licensed psychologist Dr. Debra Pietrangelo, founder of True North in Glens Falls,  has been practicing for more than thirty-five years and describes the current need for mental health services as “unbelievable.”

“We are turning people away every day,” she said. “Sometimes 20 to 30 a day. We’ve always had to turn people away, but it’s worse than ever before. I have ten clinicians, and wish I had space for more. There are not enough practitioners out there to meet the need.”

By Jennifer Farnsworth

Lindsay Ferrara syas that people looking for help with nutrition and diet, but find themselves overwhelmed by the process, can come to her at Pinnacle Nutrition.

Ferrara,  MS, RD, CDN, has built a business that tailors a plan to a person’s individual needs. Her 15 Maple Dell location in Saratoga  Springs has become a place where she helps people find a lifestyle that will work for them.

“Pinnacle Nutrition is about helping clients achieve their nutrition goals in a way that is specific to their own body’s needs. Without being overly restrictive, and by cutting through all of the diet and nutrition misinformation that is out there,” she said.

Ferrara was initially set to open in 2020 just as COVID-19 began shutting places down. At the time she was not ready to commit to a physical location, so she began with a combination of in-home visits and virtual counseling. 

After renting a space at Serenity Salon for six months, Ferrara moved into her Maple Dell space. She has been hard at work building her business through referrals from the gym where is a member, along with word of mouth and social media marketing.

By Christine Graf
After being deemed non-essential and forced to close at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, acupuncturists were permitted to reopen in June. During the closure, the Acupuncture Society of New York (ASNY) pushed for the governor to grant the profession essential status.
Licensed acupuncturist Bridgette Shea, owner of Ageless Acupuncture in Saratoga Springs, is treating several patients who recovered from COVID but have lingering and often debilitating symptoms.
“I’m finding that the combination of acupuncture and herbs—Chinese medicine—is what works best,” said Shea. “I treat them with acupuncture because the body work really helps. Most of them have lung stuff going on still or something chest related or upper back related that was related to when they had the actual acute infection. I’ll also do some cupping on their backs to draw out some of the leftover heat, inflammation, or dampness that may still be residing in the body.”

By Christine Graf
Licensed massage therapist and certified Feldenkrais Method practitioner Evan Rock has moved her Saratoga Awareness business to 7 Wells St. in Saratoga Springs.
Rock, a Saratoga native, founded her business in 2015 and previously operated out of a shared space at 2 Franklin Square.
She has an applied science degree in massage therapy from SUNY Morrisville and completed a four-year certification program at the Feldenkrais Institute in Manhattan.
The method employs the use of gentle movement and increased awareness to improve range of motion, flexibility, and coordination. It was developed in the 1940s by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, an Israeli engineer, physicist, and martial arts expert. The method is based on the principles of physics and biomechanics and was introduced to the United States in the 1970s.

By Jennifer Farnsworth
Dr. Lisa Yacovani, PT, DPT is bringing a fresh approach to physical therapy through her new mobile practice, Dynamo Physical Therapy PLLC.
Based out of Saratoga County, Yacovani offers individualized care to her patients through her traveling concierge physical therapy practice.
Yacovani said Dynamo Physical Therapy is based on the notion of being proactive about health through a comprehensive approach. Although she works with patients in all stages of life, she said her passion is reaching age groups that are able to take preventative measures that will impact their lives in the future.