Like many people, Tessa Estreito has tried working out at the gym but couldn’t stay motivated. Her mother-in-law had taken Zumba classes, and a couple of months ago, Estreito decided to give it a try as well.

She searched for a Zumba class in Bremerton, where she lives, and found Kristen Lopez, who teaches it four times a week at the ARC. Since she started going to class three or four times a week, Estreito said she’s been in a much better mood and has already lost weight. read more »

Yoga studios around the Kitsap Peninsula range from an austere storefront in Bremerton to a spacious setup complete with a comfortably furnished living room in a woodsy setting on Bainbridge Island.

But regardless of where you roll out your mat for yoga classes, the instructors share essentially the same view of what yoga offers: a way to relax, focus and find a deeper connection with yourself physically and mentally. Your motivation for trying yoga may be a desire to lose weight or cope with stress; same as with some instructors for whom yoga was a lifeline to wellness when they started.

“Weight loss is probably the number-one reason people start yoga,” says Carla Charters read more »

When Pat March’s mother, Carol, showed signs of dementia about four years ago, healthcare providers were “reluctant to put the cards on the table” about what was happening. After a neurological evaluation, they diagnosed Carol with mild cognitive impairment.

“They were giving her arcane descriptions,” said March, who lives in Poulsbo. “A mild cognitive impairment is a way to not say dementia.”

Carol moved this past fall into the newly opened memory care section of Madrona House (see story here) on Bainbridge Island, where March and her sister can visit regularly. read more »

Bainbridge Senior Living opened a new premier assisted-living and memory-care community on Bainbridge Island in November called Madrona House. The 50,000-square-foot, four-story facility includes 21 luxury assisted-living units on the first two floors and four pods, or “neighborhoods,” on the top two floors. Each pod can accommodate up to 15 people. read more »

For the past year, many West Sound residents who cannot afford health care have been receiving a variety of medical services, thanks to volunteer physicians and other medical providers operating under the auspices of West Sound Free Clinic.

The mobile West Sound Free Clinic — what may be the first-ever free clinic in Kitsap — opened in October 2012 under the umbrella of Christian Medical Response Team, a Silverdale-based nonprofit founded by local physician Dan Diamond. read more »

Patients who get customized prescription medications from Cascade Specialty Pharmacy don’t necessarily get new drugs, but they may get the drugs they need in a different form. Instead of a standard capsule, the medication might be mixed into a salve or cream to be rubbed directly on an affected area and absorbed through the skin.

“Some of the newer things we’re doing are topical pain management, which delivers medications transdermally,” says Brandon Knott, the certified compounding pharmacist who owns the longtime Poulsbo business. read more »

There’s a different vibe at Kitsap Lake Storage and U-Haul center in Bremerton, and it’s not just because you walk into a space that looks more like a stylish retail site than a typically drab truck rental office.

It’s literally a vibration.

Owners Chuck and Patty Bair recently added a new element to their business at 6400 Kitsap Way, clearing out a storage area to install two Proellixe whole-body vibration machines. They are touted as providing a 10-minute, sweat-free session that can give users the equivalent fitness benefits of an hour or more of exercise or conditioning workouts at a gym. read more »

Discover the many benefits of meditation in a six week class: Mindfulness Meditation for Health and Well-Being. The class will be offered at the Kitsap Arts building at 3425 NW Byron, in old town Silverdale for 6 Tuesday evenings beginning Jan. 10th. Meditation has been proven to reduce stress, relieve pain, improve focus and concentration, enhance immune function and increase compassion for self and others.

For more information contact the instructor, Susan Sweetwater at sasweetwater [at] gmail [dot] com or 360-616-1491.

Riley Chase and his wife, Jennifer Fetterplace, were looking for a way to get in shape more than a year ago when they decided to enroll into a body boot camp offered by Olympic Fitness (www.olyfitness.com) in Port Orchard. The first two weeks, the couple were so sore, Chase said they could hardly even put their arms up above their heads. read more »