Yoga faithful find home at new gym

      Three months ago, Jan Winters was in pain. Today she says she feels fine.
      Was it a wonder drug or faith healing that relieved the Southwest resident of her ice-pick-stabbing migraines and nagging back aches?
      Neither. She says it was plain old yoga. Three times a week, every week.
      "I think in three or four months I'll be totally healed of my ails," said Winters, an executive recruiter. "It also helps me to focus and concentrate. It helps me just accept life."
      Winters currently takes yoga classes at the new Fit City gym at 2595. S. Cimarron Road, No. 106. The gym is owned by fitness trainer Jodi Fonfa and yoga instructor Sherry Goldstein.
      Beside the peace of mind so many yogis swear by, Winters said the stretching exercises help her keep in shape.
      "You spend so much time in front of a computer you get flabby pretty soon," she said.
      Before going to yoga she tried aerobics and working out at the gym, but she said she prefers the long, lean muscles yoga exercises produce.
      Winters and other yoga students with purple foam mats tucked under their arms chatted like morning birds in the lobby of Fit City as they waited for their Saturday morning class.
      Jane Holman stomped her foot to emphasize her need for a yoga fix quick.
      "I'm running too fast," she said. "I've got to slow down. Boy I need this."
      Holman said she took yoga classes the entire nine months she was pregnant.
      "I wanted to barf and everything," she said. "But yoga helps me keep calm and relaxed. My pregnancy was easier because I took it."
      Soon the students fill the 25,00-square-foot wooden studio floor and follow Goldstein in breathing exercises and sun salutations.
      "I like the soft music, soft and flowing. It's not like that loud aerobic thump, thump," Goldstein said. "Yoga brings your spirit and body in the same place. I can't believe everyone isn't doing it."
      The tranquil atmosphere of Goldstein's class is in sharp contrast to the rigorous exercise regime Fonfa led her class through only an hour before with the pounding beat of loud, energetic music.
      Both Goldstein and Fonfa have worked in Las Vegas fitness clubs and both have cultivated a high profile celebrity following.
      Fonfa, who produced a fitness video titled "No Excuses" two years ago, has been a personal fitness trainer to Sharon Stone and Bette Midler.
      The former Ms. National Fitness Champion also has her own television show "Fitness Fridays" on local ABC affiliate, KTNV-Channel 13.
      Fonfa, 35, grew up in Las Vegas and graduated from Chaparral High School and later became a UNLV cheerleader. She spent a year working as a personal trainer working for upscale fitness centers that cater to celebrities in Los Angeles.
      That's where she met Stone and later rekindled her friendship with the movie actress when she came to Las Vegas to film "Casino." Fonfa spent two years as Stone's personal trainer and traveled with her throughout the world.
      Fonfa is a mother of three children, ages 18 months to 7 years. She's gained 40 pounds during her pregnancies, facts she said should help dispel the myth that all fitness trainers are "a lot of hard bodies in their 20s."
      "I want people to know it's obtainable," she said. "I know what it's like. I've been there."
      Goldstein said the two women together have formed a "unique setting to offer fitness for every body and soul."
      Goldstein, who moved to Las Vegas from New York three years ago, has taught yoga for 15 years and was certified to teach by the Sivananda Yoga Center in New York City.
      Since relocating, Goldstein has taught yoga classes to The Rockettes, Siegfried & Roy and the performers at Cirque du Soleil.
      Though both women have become fitness instructors to the famous they said their center is open "to everybody of all ages and levels of fitness."
      After spending years in the area gyms, the women have customized workouts and routines. Fonfa teaches body sculpting and body blast, routines she's specially designed for the center.
      Goldstein teaches yoga for beginners and, for the more advanced, power yoga. That's something Madonna made famous by announcing on television it was her choice for fitness. Power yoga is a continuous flow of poses that require great strength and endurance, Goldstein said.
      The two also culled what they feel are some of the best fitness instructors in the city to teach Tai Chi and other fitness classes. They also lease space to Studio One Dance Annex for jazz and ballet dance lessons most evenings.
      Plans for a juice bar, retail corner and fitness and health lectures are on the drawing board, the women said.
      Classes cost about $12 each and packages are available. To register for classes call 240-7666.