Best Of Health and Fitness

Chiropractor

1st Place
Logan Osland, Logan Osland Chiropractic, 4561 Market St., Ventura, 644-4937

2nd Place
Ralph Wilson, Wilson Chiropractic and Sports Medicine, 2000 E. Main St., Ventura, 643-4176

3rd Place
Angela Sutter, 1445 Donlon St., #5, Ventura, 658-9999

Cosmetic Surgeon

1st Place
Dr. Gorodisky, 32144 Agoura Road, suite 220, Westlake Village, (818) 879-0100; 1801 Solar Drive, suite 150, Oxnard, (866) 909-2945

2nd Place
Dr. Michael Pickart, Pickart Plastic Surgery, 1746 S Victoria Ave., suite 250, Ventura, 232-5688

3rd Place
Dr. Robert Improta, 2460 N. Ponderosa Drive, A117, Camarillo, 484-2855

Dance Instructor

1st Place
Louise Bretz at Connexions, 275 S. Laurel St., Ventura, 643-0788

2nd Place
Ionia Kershaw at Zumba Fitness, 2640 E. Main St., Ventura, 804-6108

3rd Place
Monica Galindo Thompson at Premier Dance Studio,  225 W. 5th Street, Suite B, Oxnard, 382-6242 

Dance Studio

1st Place
Connexions Dance Studio, 275 S. Laurel St., Ventura, 643-0788

2nd Place
Ventura Danzar and Zumba Fitness, 2640 E. Main St., Ventura, 804-6108

3rd Place
Billy Clower Dance Studio, 75 MacMillan St., Ventura, 643-5036

Dentist

1st Place
Dr. Bryan Fisch,Ventura Center for Dental Health, 2807 Loma Vista Road., suite 201, Ventura, 656-7033

2nd Place
Dr. Alex Mizraji, Ventura Center for Dental Health, 2807 Loma Vista Road., suite 201, Ventura, 656-7033

3rd Place
Dr. David Satnick, 6633 Telephone Road, suite 220, Ventura, 639-3050

Dermatologist

1st Place
Dr. Peter L. Karlsberg, 1190 S. Victoria Ave., suite 300, Ventura, 677-1600

2nd Place
Dr. Ross Kaplan, Coastal Dermatology, 3615 Las Posas Road, suite F100, 484-2813

3rd Place
Dr. Robert Jordan,  3400 Loma Vista Road, suite 1, Ventura, 644-9321

Family Practitioner

1st Place
Dr. Thomas McBreen, 2929 Loma Vista Road, suite E, Ventura, 653-5741

2nd Place
Dr. Margaret Peterson, Center for Integrated Health, 8 N. Fir St., Ventura, 648-5683; 2895 Loma Vista Road, Ventura, 643-2895

3rd Place
Dr. Robert Warwar, Warwar Medical Group, 72 N. Brent St., 648-3063

Gym

1st Place
Mavericks Gym, 5171 Telegraph Road, Ventura, 642-9600

2nd Place
True North Fitness, 6010 Olivas Park Drive, suite D, Ventura, 650-1239

3rd Place
Ventura Family YMCA, 3760 Telegraph Road, Ventura, 642-2131

Holistic Practitioner

1st Place
Lisa Wong at Holistic Healing Center, 5700 Ralston St., Ventura, 653-6008

2nd Place
Sharmila Mali at Ojai & Energy Medicine, 669-7299

3rd Place
Ema Salmon at Ema’s Herbs, 695 E. Main St., Ventura, 648-6426

Licensed Massage Therapist

1st Place
Shannon Mathey at ArchiTexture, 25 S. Ventura Ave., Ventura, 641-3900

2nd Place
Gennine Favazzo at Logan Osland Chiropractic, 4561 Market St., Ventura, 644-4937

3rd Place
Abby Nielsen at Embody Wellness, 176 N. Ashwood, Ventura, 217-3307

Martial Arts Instructor

1st Place
Fabio Leopoldo at Gracie Morumbi, Camarillo, 437-1770; Thousand Oaks, 496-1610; Ventura, 643-7717

2nd Place
Larry Reynosa at Makoto Dojo, 3026 Telegraph Road, Ventura, 641-0447

3rd Place
Ricardo Miller at Paragon Jiu Jitsu, 83 S. Palm St., Ventura, 850 8801

Martial Arts Studio

1st Place
Gracie Morumbi, Camarillo, 437-1770; 2160 E. Thompson Blvd., Ventura, 643-7717; 1182 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., suite A, Thousand Oaks, 496-1610

2nd Place
Makoto Dojo, 3026 Telegraph Road, Ventura, 641-0447

3rd Place
Sasaki Kenpo Karate, 3000 Paseo Mercado, #110, Oxnard, 981-4333

Personal Trainer

1st Place
Shannon Yontz at True North Fitness, 6019-D Olivas Park Drive, Ventura, 650-1239

2nd Place
Verity Summers at Raw Workouts, 5171 Telegraph Road, Ventura, 312-1729

3rd Place
Blair Ferguson at Ventura Training and Athletics, 1725 E. Main St., Ventura, 805.MAT.2144

Pilates Instructor

1st Place
Gail DeSart at Mind & Body Wellness Studio, 1445 Donlon St., suite 9, Ventura, 654-8354

2nd Place
Kristen Routh at B Real Fitness, 2440 Las Posas Road, Camarillo, 383-3700

3rd Place
Francine Hernandez at George Erb Fitness Center Inc., 231 Camarillo Ranch Road, Camarillo, 484-3307

Pilates Studio

1st Place
Mind & Body Wellness Studio, 1445 Donlon St., suite 9, Ventura, 654-8354

2nd Place
Pilates Influence, 3150 S. Harbor Blvd., Oxnard, 479-1066

3rd Place
Ventura Pilates Studio, 1455 E. Main St., Ventura, 648-4191

Yoga Instructor

1st Place
Audrey Walzer at Camarillo Yoga Center, 5800 Santa Rosa Road, suite 127, Camarillo, 484-8810

2nd Place
Maribeth Hammond at The Yoga Channel at Silverstrand Beach, 2520 Roosevelt Blvd., Oxnard, 984-2520

3rd Place
Pixie Kastrup at Yoga Jones, 105 S. Oak St., suite 200, Ventura , 643-JONZ

Yoga Studio

1st Place
Camarillo Yoga Center, 5800 Santa Rosa Road, suite 127, Camarillo, 484-8810

2nd Place
Yoga Jones, 105 S. Oak St., suite 200, Ventura, 643-JONZ

3rd Place
The Yoga Channel at Silverstrand Beach, 2520 Roosevelt Blvd., Oxnard, 984-2520

Best community bicycles 

the mob shop
the mob shop , 110 W. Ojai Ave., Ojai, 798-5193, themobshop.com

Buy a new bike, get an old one fixed, learn how to fix your own or do a local bike tour — the mob shop of Ojai has a little bit of everything for the avid cyclist.

The best thing about learning to ride a bicycle is that you never forget how to do it — and yet, after gaining that hard-won and uniquely-human knowledge, you realize that there’s more to bicycling than just riding in a straight line.

Having moved to its newest location four months ago — into the husk of an ancient disused service station, the sight of which marred Ojai Avenue for years — the mob shop is a bicycle shop for the community. While not only doing normal bike store things like carrying the latest gleaming exemplars from Scott USA, Masi, Pashley, Pake, Haro and Schwinn, as well as electric bikes, they also hold workshops that teach the public how to repair and safely operate their own bicycles. Bike tours through Sulphur Mountain and the Ventura River are also offered.

 
The Mob — Kelly Pasco, Greg Prinz, Tim Rhone and others — are ardent conservationists and champions of an organic way of life.  And that’s what bicycling is, when you look at it closely: an ideal for living that involves travel and remains connected to the ground, falling away under your tires as you pedal. The Mob Shop understands linking you to the world through something so simple as a bicycle — like links in a bike chain that just keeps turning.

— David Cotner

Best way to get your spiritual workout  

Yoga at the Ventura Buddhist Center, 901 S. Saticoy Ave., Ventura

PHOTO BY JOHN MCNALLY

As the sun begins to scale the sky, two dozen people practice folding and unfolding amidst Buddha statues and scriptures in Vietnamese every Friday in Saticoy.

There are teens with hipster cutoffs. There are grandfathers with gnarled knuckles. There are executives and stay-at-home moms. There, in the corner, is a Sri Lankan monk. And underneath the stained glass, in the front, surrounded by a rainbow of yoga mats, is an Irish labor and delivery nurse.

This is Sally McNally’s yoga class and everyone is invited.

“I want you to imagine turning on an inner switch, and keep that light on for the rest of the class,” she says as the class sits in lotus pose.

Following McNally’s lead, the yogis, both experienced and novice, begin warming up with stretches and sun salutations.

“Is it hard? It’s not as hard as having back surgery,” she jokes. “It’s not as hard as knee replacement.”

As a nurse at Community Memorial Hospital, she should know. McNally believes in the power of yoga to heal, something she’s taught one of the Saticoy temple’s resident monks, Tapovanaye Sutadhara, he said.

Several years ago, Sutadhara had a serious leg injury that left him unable to sit in meditation. After he began practicing yoga with McNally, his leg healed, he said.

“I have benefited from yoga very much because of Sally,” he said. “I can now bend my knees with no difficulty, and I gained flexibility so I am fine to sit in lotus pose now. There have been a lot of health benefits for me.”

McNally’s class, begun 10 years ago with the opening of the temple in East Ventura, has blossomed over the past few years, growing from a handful of students to 20 or 30 each week. She donates her time and all of the proceeds from the donation-based class to the temple, giving about $5,000 per year to the nonprofit’s operations, Sutadhara said.

McNally infuses elements of Buddhist meditation and philosophy into the hatha yoga class, drawing also on her diverse background. She grew up in Ireland, where she became a nurse and midwife, and moved to Saudi Arabia, Atlanta and Alaska before settling in Ventura.

The yoga class is held from 8:15 to 9:30 a.m. on Fridays. There is a suggested donation of $5 to $10, but no one will be turned away.

— Hannah Guzik