Recharge. Renew. Rejuvenate.

By Heather Ashare

Maybe your 2008 New Years Resolution has been created, implemented and eliminated. Or perhaps you’re someone who forgoes the annual resolution-making and instead chooses to adopt a change when the need and inspiration strikes you irrespective of month or season. Despite which category you fall into, if you are looking for guidance to steer yourself to a healthier you without synthetic supplements, pills, or the latest fad in an exercise DVD, in the heart of the Flatiron area exists the Jena Wellness Center, a comprehensive institute specializing in holistic health, nutrition and yoga.

Who is Jena Wellness?

Started in 2007 by Jena la Flamme, this spiritual and holistic sanctuary offers respite and rejuvenation from the tear and grind of daily life when poor eating habits and too much time in front of our computers has left us feeling desperately in need of a makeover for the body, mind and spirit.

Comprised of eight women, all with their own repertoire of expertise and training ranging from a registered nurse, to a licensed massage therapist and from certified yoga instructors to certified holistic health counselor, the Jena Wellness staff is as comprehensive as the services that it offers.

The brains and spirit behind Jena Wellness Center is founder and director, Jena la Flamme. Jena is a Certified Holistic Health Counselor, accredited by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners and a graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, right here in New York City.

She has traveled all over the world including India, a country whose memory she keeps alive in her center by peppering the open-air rooms with treasures brought back from her travels. It was her journey to India over eight years ago that fueled the inspiration for the Jena Wellness Center.

Jena Wellness offers a range of holistic health services that are customized to fit the specific needs and requests of the client. The services include: Holistic Nutritional and Lifestyle Counseling, Bodywork, Private Yoga, Semi-Private Yoga and Pilates, and Corporate Wellness.

The center also offers special events that are open to the public. Mini workshops that include topics like fasting, cooking, digestion and couples massage are informative and fun ways to spend a few hours. A complete list of their events can be found on the center’s website.

Their client list includes all kinds of faces and backgrounds. Dancers, sales executives, organic farmers, and artists have been introduced to the mission and services of the Jena Wellness Center and have seen their lives altered in a positive and healthful way.

Jena’s services at a glance:

Nutrition

As part of the Holistic Nutritional and Lifestyle Counseling program, the client will learn about two distinct concepts over the six-month duration of the course. These two concepts which the Jena Wellness Center has coined performance eating and therapeutic eating are designed to help the client employ healthy and sustainable nutrition practices into their daily lives. Performance eating includes eating so that you have the appropriate energy to fulfill all of your daily tasks as well as your enjoyable activities like exercise, art, and relationships. Therapeutic eating involves using food as medicine to heal or restore your body’s imbalances.

According to Jena, there are three primary levels of eating. The first level is the typical American diet of fast and processed food where meals come in paper packages, are nuked in microwaves and are devoured on the run. The second level is an intermediate version of eating healthy with common and frequent mishaps of indulging in foods that works against our body’s optimal state of balance of health.

Jena’s main goal is to give you the tools and inspiration to engage in the third level called Therapeutic Performance eating where food is intended to heal the body and give it the energy it requires. During this program, clients receive nutritional counseling, do yoga and discuss their progress with the other members in the course. It is a comfortable, explorative and informative way of learning how your own eating patterns affect your whole self.

Bodywork

Inspired by dance and music, the bodywork sessions are intended to relieve pain, tension and stress throughout the body. Like all of the other services, the bodywork sessions are tailored specifically to address the problem areas of the client with the intention of restoring balance within the body.

Yoga

For those individuals who are not fans of downward-dogging in crowded and sweaty studios, Jena Wellness Center offers private yoga sessions that encompass breathing, stretching and strength-building techniques which are intended to instill quietness in the mind and body. Semi-private yoga and pilates classes are also available for those who want to capitalize on the individualized attention as well as the energy of having a small group of your friends taking the class with you. Each class is not just about learning how to breathe or stretching out tight hamstrings. It is also about having fun and feeling energized and inspired.

Corporate Wellness

For companies seeking to create a healthier workforce while reducing healthcare costs, Jena Wellness Center offers a host of various classes for your company’s needs. From health seminars to group yoga classes and to lifestyle coaching classes, each course is specifically created to meet your staff’s needs and goals.

A haven for your senses and the earth

Jena Wellness is not just about making you feel great and getting you to live better but it extols this same principle on the furnishings and design of the center by working towards a healthier planet.

All of the cabinetry in the center is made of a product called wheat-board, a renewable material created from the stalks that are left after the wheat for bread and pasta is harvested. Unlike many materials and varnishes, wheat-board does not ”off-gas,” or release toxic gases to the environment, which you end up breathing. So as you take those deep inhalations and exhalations during your yoga class in the center’s 100% wind-powered rooms, you can be sure that you are filling your lungs with air that is clean and pure.

Also, as you relax in sivasana, relish in experiencing the feel of all bamboo floors underneath your body and mat. Bamboo spares the decimation of the rain forests. And as you dine on a sumptuous and nourishing meal after your cooking class, chew each bite with the knowledge that all of your meal’s ingredients were made and harvested organically and/or locally-grown.

If you are looking for a mini oasis that will take distract you from the doldrums of winter or get you back on target with your abandoned New Years goals, the Jena Wellness Center offers a host of services to charge you back into a state of renewal.

For more information, visit: www.jenawellness.com or call (212) 260-6064.

HEATHER ASHARE, MPH is a writer specializing in holistic health, wellness and women’s issues. She holds a Master’s degree in public health from the University of California, Los Angeles and a Bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Michigan. Heather has also been a dedicated ashtanga yoga practitioner and instructor for the past five years.