The ExerScience Center Approach Is Whole-Body Wellness

Dr. Lauren Leiva has used her own past physical adversities to forge a plan for clients dealing with a myriad of injury reghab and chronic pain issues at The ExerScience Center in Lutz. That plan often includes the Neubie machine from NeuFit, which uses electrical stimulation to help re-educate your neuromuscular systems.(Photo: Charmaine George)

Lauren Leiva is not just an experienced personal trainer, passionate yogi and certified nutrition expert, she also is a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT). That means she has the knowledge, expertise and advanced degree to help ensure her patients become healthier, stronger and pain-free.

At her ExerScience Center in Lutz, Dr. Leiva offers physical therapy, personal training, nutrition, group fitness and yoga, all with the goal of helping people to feel their best.

Dr. Leiva earned her DPT degree from Nova Southeastern University in Tampa. Prior to that, she earned Bachelor of Science degrees in both Biomedical Science and Biomedical Physics from the University of South Florida, also in Tampa. In addition to her degrees, she is certified by the National Academy of Sports Medicine as a Certified Personal Trainer and a Fitness Nutrition Specialist, among other certifications. 

Dr. Lauren Leiva

She also is a registered Yoga Teacher (or RYT), a designation given by the Yoga Alliance U.S to an individual who has completed the 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training Certification. (Lauren’s was earned through YogaFit Training Systems, which is recognized by the Yoga Alliance U.S.)

While Dr. Leiva originally launched The ExerScience Center in 2015, she opened the doors of her first brick-and-mortar location on S.R. 54 in Lutz (less than two miles from the Tampa Premium Outlets) just this past November. Previously, Dr. Leiva traveled to her patients and to community centers, where she taught group fitness and yoga classes.

She says that the road to her doctorate degree was winding, with a detour when she had to leave school to care for her mom, who had lung cancer and suffered a stroke. Then, she suffered her own medical crisis.

A lifelong survivor of Crohn’s disease, Dr. Leiva’s second pregnancy put her in the hospital, where she stayed for nine months. She says at that time, yoga saved her life.

 “Yoga is not a class, it’s a way of life,” she says. “Posture and pose movements are only one part of yoga. It’s a mind-over-matter philosophy.”

With both her own and her unborn baby’s lives in danger, and even when Dr. Leiva was intubated and then later had to use a colostomy bag, she says she had a strong belief she was going to be okay.

“It was yoga, and the ability to have that mind-over-matter spirit when surgeons and everyone else told me I can’t and I won’t,” she says. “I always believed that I could, and I did. I feel I can triumph over anything.”

She shares that spirit with her patients, who appreciate her energy and optimism.

But, Can She Help You?

Dr. Leiva says she treats and trains “everyone,” from people who are paralyzed or have a spinal cord injury, all the way to elite athletes, including Olympians. She currently is working with Raj Dhesi, known as Jinder Mahal or “The Maharaja,” a former WWE wrestling champion.

“I grew up as an athlete — a figure skater, and I played volleyball,” Dr. Leiva says. “But, having been completely disabled myself at times gives me the compassion to treat others. I have a connection with patients who are not able to walk, talk or find their breath.”

She says that helps her to successfully treat people who haven’t been able to find solutions elsewhere, from eliminating chronic or injury-caused pain to avoiding surgery.

 Dr. Leiva (with her new purple hair) provides a variety of exercises and yoga to help clients recovering from injuries or surgery regain their strength and full range of motion.

In part, she says, that’s because of her well-rounded education and doctorate in physical therapy, but also her background in both personal training and yoga.

“Prior to (physical therapy) school, with everything I’d studied, I had a lot of knowledge,” she says. “I thought being a DPT would make me stand out as a personal trainer.”

She says her goal was to open a gym and have her business focus on personal training and yoga, and that she never considered being a DPT in a hospital or other traditional setting. She also had a drive to finish what she had started after facing so much personal adversity.

But, what Dr. Leiva also found was that she fell in love with physical therapy, too. Now, she says most of her business is physical therapy.

She says her specialty is neuromuscular re-education, such as treating a spinal cord injury or an athlete’s torn tendon, or helping people recover from surgery.

“We make the body its most functional form possible, whether you’re paralyzed, or an elite athlete, or anywhere in between,” she says. “Anybody can become their best self by training their nervous system. We can strengthen everyone’s muscles, whether they have pain or not.”

The ExerScience Center offers memberships, where patients spend an hour each week at the center, working on different modalities. This may include biohacking — which she describes as tapping into your own biology to manipulate certain variables for optimal results — or electrical stimulation, vibration therapy, infrared sauna, halotherapy (aka salt therapy), or other types of treatment.

The center offers the latest technology in PT, including a machine called the Neubie by NeuFit, a patented electrical stimulation device to help re-educate your neuromuscular system.

Perhaps most important of all, she says, is that she treats everyone with empathy, respect and honesty. “We respect the body and the mind,” she says. “‘No pain, no gain’ does not apply in my center.”

To help patients who can’t afford regular memberships, Dr. Leiva also hosts community clinics once a month with opportunities for low-cost physical therapy evaluations and second opinions. 

In February, Dr. Leiva says she will become certified in dry needling (similar to acupuncture, but used by physical therapists). “I’m an innovative therapist,” she says, “and I think it’s important to always be learning all of the newest and best therapeutic methods. So, I am always studying, always learning.”

Melenda Watzke has been a patient of The ExerScience Center for several months. 

“I’m a dancer, and I hurt my back,” Melenda says. “I live about 45 minutes away, but that first time I met with Dr. Leiva, I knew the drive was worth it.”

Melenda says she’s seen a lot of change in her body, and not only has she been healed from her pain, but Dr. Leiva has treated other problems that Melenda didn’t know she had.

“She’s very intuitive and she listens,” says Melenda. “She looks at you holistically and listens to everything you say.”

In fact, Melenda says she had no idea that she didn’t know how to breathe properly. “No one pulls you aside and says, “This is how you breathe,’” Melenda explains. “But, she doesn’t assume you know anything. She watches, and then she starts correcting.”

Melenda says the instruction has helped her to dramatically reduce stress. 

“She is truly a healer in my eyes,” says Melenda. “After my back pain went away, I just kept going and everything is starting to change on me physically. I didn’t know how weak I was in certain places because I’m so strong in other places. I can’t wait to see what we’re going to work on next.”

Gazelle Stevens is another happy patient of Dr. Leiva’s. She has been going to The ExerScience Center for about two months.

“I’ve had a great experience,” she says, as Dr. Leiva has treated her for pain stemming from several herniated disks in her back and neck, and a labral tear in her hip.

“I’m a fitness instructor, so it’s very taxing on my body when I have these issues and I can’t teach,” Gazelle says. “I had tried a bunch of other methods and nothing was helping. But, I felt a huge difference (with Dr. Leiva) within the first two weeks.”

Gazelle says she’s done physical therapy at other offices, but it’s been totally different, and that she gets much more individual attention at The ExerScience Center.

“Dr. Lauren is very knowledgeable, and also very understanding, from that patient perspective,” explains Gazelle. “She understands what it means to be in pain and not get answers. I try to be more holistic, with a wellness approach, not, ‘give me a shot’ or ‘give me surgery.’ A lot of people are in that mindset, and she’s really good for that.”

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, The ExerScience Center has paused all in-person group fitness classes and switched the focus to online classes. The staff follows all cleaning and precautionary procedures set in place by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) & Prevention, as well as state and county guidelines. The center does not currently accept walk-ins, and anyone with an appointment is screened, including a temperature check, before they come in.

The ExerScience Center staff includes not only Dr. Leiva, but also office manager Elizabeth Sanchez, and receptionists Marilu Sanchez (not related to Elizabeth) and Jennifer Barrett.

Dr. Lauren Leiva is married to Jonathan, who owns Leiva’s Jewelry in New Tampa. Their two sons are Elijah, who is 13, and Alexander Joseph, who is four.

The ExerScience Center is located at 24706 S.R. 54, in Lutz, less than two miles west of the Tampa Premium Outlets. For more information, call (813) 803-7070, see the ad on pg. 23, or visit TheExerScienceCenter.com.

HGE’s Amanda Palmer Among Final Four For Hillsborough Award

Amanda Palmer

Of the nearly 250 nominations that came in to the Hillsborough Education Foundation for the Ida S. Baker Diversity Educator of the Year award, Hunter’s Green Elementary (HGE) teacher Amanda Palmer was named one of just four finalists considered for the award this year.

And, although she didn’t take home the prize on Jan. 21 (at a ceremony held at Blake High School in Tampa with a mostly virtual audience), she says she was thankful just to be considered.

“I feel so honored and grateful,” she says. “First, that the Hunter’s Green staff nominated me, and then to know it went to the District level, it blows my mind.”

Palmer teaches students with varying exceptionalities (VE), working with students in the regular classroom who need additional support because of a diagnosis or disability. The students are part of a regular class, and Palmer comes in to their classrooms to help them be successful in that inclusive classroom environment.

“I’m like their biggest cheerleader,” she says.

Palmer says that she was completely shocked back in December, when Mike McCollum, chief advancement officer with the Hillsborough Education Foundation (HEF), and a parade of administrators and others told her the big news that she had been chosen as a finalist.

“When they came to the school to surprise me, I said, ‘Is this real life?,” Palmer says.

The Ida S. Baker Diversity Educator of the Year is one of three awards given out each year by HEF. 

The foundation explains that Ida S. Baker became Cape Coral High’s first principal in 1977 who went to on to become the first African-American to serve as Deputy Superintendent for the Florida Department of Education (DoE). She was known for her efforts to support diverse students and encourage academic success and, after her passing in 1992, the DoE created this statewide award in her honor.

For the award, each school in Hillsborough County may nominate one teacher who “embodies the pioneering spirit of Ida S. Baker by going above and beyond to meet the needs of our diverse student population.”

The other two annual awards given by HEF are Teacher of the Year and Instructional Support Employee of the Year.

All 11 schools in New Tampa submitted a nominee in each category (see next page). This year, Palmer was the only New Tampa nominee to be chosen as a finalist.

When Palmer was a student at the University of South Florida, she interned at HGE as a first grade teacher. She then filled in temporarily as a VE teacher, and says she fell in love.

“I never knew this position existed,” she says. Palmer got certified in order to be the school’s VE teacher, and even went back to USF to earn a Master’s degree in Exceptional Student Education. She has spent her entire teaching career — nine years now — as the VE teacher at HGE.

She says she loves the way her job allows her to work with not just the 22 students currently included in her caseload, but also with the other students in the classrooms she supports.

While Palmer was able to bring a limited number of guests to the awards ceremony with her, all her other supporters, family and friends watched online in a virtual watch party “room” just for her. Each of the other finalists had their own watch party rooms, too.

About the whole experience, Palmer says, “I think it’s pretty amazing. All for just doing something I love.”

Townhomes Seem Headed For Cross Creek Blvd.; Apts. Open In Hunter’s Lake

A rezoning ordinance for a pair of proposed townhome projects towards the eastern end of Cross Creek Blvd., which would bring about 100 new residences to the area, sailed though first readings (with a few concessions) during a late night Tampa City Council hearing on Jan. 21, by a 5-1 vote.

A second reading, followed by what seems to be a likely approval, is scheduled for Tuesday, February 19, at 9:30 a.m.

The two communities are in the District 7 represented by Luis Viera, the only Council member to vote against both projects. District 2 Council member Charlie Miranda did not attend the meeting because he has Covid-19.

SDD Trust, Inc., is seeking to have the two properties rezoned from PD-A (planned development-alternative) to PD (planned development).

One parcel is located at 10801 Cross Creek Blvd, east of the New Tampa Dance Theatre and directly across the street from the entrance to the Heritage Isles community, and will have nine buildings with 60 attached single-family residences. 

A little further east, a second parcel will have six buildings and 35 single-family residences. The city’s Development Review and Compliance staff found the rezoning requests inconsistent with City of Tampa Land Development regulations, but SDD Trust sought waivers to remedy those inconsistencies, mostly related to building separation requirements, the removal of three grand live oak trees and retaining less than 50 percent of the existing trees on the property.

The waivers were granted on the first reading by the City Council.

The projects also were determined by city planners to not meet some Mixed Use Corridor policies. Mixed Use Corridors are areas that, among other things, are expected to improve the pedestrian experience, but because the front of single-family residences will face away from Cross Creek Blvd., those requirements weren’t being met. However, there is no other way to reconfigure the homes, so a six-foot-high simulated wrought iron fence (actually made of aluminum) with landscaping will need to be added to the design before the second reading.

Viera suggested the fence for safety reasons and the general aesthetic look, even though he voted against the project.

After some debate about the cost of adding a fence and how it would impact the amount of landscaping, the first reading was moved along with a vote at 1:25 a.m.

The Trails At Hunter’s Lake

Speaking of more New Tampa residences, The Trails at Hunter’s Lake, which promises “Naturally elevated living,” is open and already filling up.

The apartments, which offer 15 floor plans, are behind the new Village at Hunter’s Lake shopping center. The Trails, according to its website, has a private lake and lush walking trails, a billiards lounge and pub, and its location — in the heart of New Tampa near plenty of shopping and eating destinations as well as being just a mile away from I-75 — makes it an attractive place to live. 

It also is just feet away from the New Tampa Performing Arts Center, which is expected to be completed by Jan. 2022, and a large dog park.

The Trails has 1BR/1BA floor plans ranging 659 square feet to $798 sq. ft. (with prices ranging from $1,365 to $1,792), 2BR/2BA floor plans with 1,100 sq. ft. and prices from $1,776-$1978, two 3BR/2BA floor plans (1,291 and 1,393 sq. ft.), for $1,951 to $3,958, and a studio floor plan of 506 sq. ft. (no price listed).

For more info, call (813) 497-4889 or visit TrailsAtHuntersLake.com.

Yes, We VidaCann!

The sign is up for VidaCann, New Tampa’s first medical cannabis dispensary, which we are told will be open by the end of this month. New Tampa’s VidaCann (17631 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., in the former The Mattress1 store next to MIT Computers), will be the 19th VidaCann dispensary in Florida. For more information, visit VidaCann.com.

Viera Takes It To The Streets To Address Concerns

Luis Viera brought along four City of Tampa Water Department employees to Arbor Greene for a Jan. 20 meeting to discuss unusually high water bills. (Photo: John C. Cotey)

Tampa City Council member Luis Viera has always enjoyed scheduling community meetings in his District 7, which includes the City of Tampa communities in New Tampa.

Sometimes, Viera meets for a cup of coffee, or in a clubhouse meeting room or even at someone’s home. He says his favorite form has been the local townhall meeting, of which he has hosted a handful in New Tampa alone.

However, Covid-19 has changed all that, forcing Viera to, well, take it to the streets…or yard…or cul-de-sac.

His latest stop was to address the concerns of his constituents in Arbor Greene, where about a dozen residents met with Viera on a perfectly manicured patch of grass beneath strung lights behind the Community Clubhouse’s tennis courts.

Their primary complaint? Water bills they say that spike for a month for no reason and then return to normal.

Viera also remembered to bring face masks & disinfecting wipes to his meeting outside the Arbor Greene Community Clubhouse. (Photo: John C. Cotey)

As he usually does when attending this new brand of community get-together, Viera brought with him a police officer — who thankfully had no salacious crime stories to share but reminded everyone to lock their car doors because some areas in New Tampa have seen a recent rash of burglaries — as well as four employees of the city’s water department.

“I’ve been hearing a lot about the water bills in Arbor Greene for a year now,  and it’s hard to say anything without doing an analysis of the bills,’’ Viera said. “So, I brought along some people who could. This meeting was about making those connections.”

None of the residents with a water bill beef got exactly the answers they wanted to questions like this one: 

“How was my water bill $307 in December when we weren’t even home for two weeks, and then back to $69 the following month?” (Not to mention the few days in early December the city had a water boil notice that kept the spigots at home mostly turned off).

Eli Franco, a spokesman for the City of Tampa Water Department, said mistakes are sometime made, but so rarely, the chances are that the bills reflect a leak somewhere, or an issue with a running toilet or an irrigation system.

“We read 140,000 meters a month,” Franco told the Arbor Greene residents, “and our error rate is less than one half of one percent.”

Franco said anything outside a normal meter reading is read a second time, and then a third time. Then, a picture is taken and sent to billing to see if there might be an explanation.

Franco said the city does work with residents if there is a problem with a running toilet or potential leak. He says the city has one of the most generous leak adjustment policies in the country.

“We want to make sure you’re getting a fair bill,” he said.

However, residents like Frank Burke, who has lived in Arbor Greene for 23 years, said leaks or running toilets don’t explain how his bill went from $68 to $160 before going back down, without any leak or toilet repairs at his home.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” he said.

Burke is one of dozens of Arbor Greene residents who have experienced what they say are unusually high water bills. Burke says his wife has seen plenty of complaints on Facebook, while others have taken to social media sites like NextDoor to complain. 

Viera said the goal of the meeting was to put Arbor Greene residents in touch with the right people to help and, to that end, his aide Brannon Lazo took names and handed out business cards to make sure the concerns were addressed by the right people.

 “We’re in the middle of a pandemic and a lot of people are frustrated,” Viera said. “As an elected official, we should be there to take the heat, catch the questions and find some answers.”

While he still prefers his townhalls, Viera started his outdoor tour in October, and the stops have included Forest Hills and the Busch Blvd. area of North Tampa, which also are in his district, a meeting in a cul-de-sac in the Tuscany community in Tampa Palms over concerns about new apartments, a meeting with residents of the Promenade Apartments in Tampa Palms about crime, and the Arbor Greene meeting.

Bucs-Chiefs: Who you got?

Tom Brady (All-Pro Reels Photography)

When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers went out and signed quarterback and six-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady last year, they did it with one purpose in mind:

To be the first-ever NFL team to host a Super Bowl in its home stadium.

And now, here they are.

On Sunday, the Bucs (11-5 during the regular 2020 season) will meet the Kansas City Chiefs (14-2) at 6:30 p.m. in Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

Yes, this will be the first time in 55 championship games that a team will be playing the Big Games in its home stadium. Will that make a difference? Maybe. Due to Covid-19, only 22,000 fans, including 7,500 vaccinated health care workers, will be allowed to attend, and there will be little of the usual pre-game hype. In fact, the Chiefs opened as 3-point favorites.

It will be the 10th Super Bowl for Brady, and just the second for Bucs, who beat the Oakland Raiders 48-21 in 2003 in their only other appearance.

Brady threw for 4,633 yards and 40 TDs this season and is widely considered the greatest quarterback of all time. He will face off against the guy many feel is his heir apparent in Patrick Mahomes, who led the Chiefs to their first Super Bowl victory in 50 years last year.

Mahomes (4,740 yards, 38 TDs, with only six interceptions) has the NFL’s best QB rating against the blitz, which may neutralize one of the Bucs’ defensive strengths. He has dangerous pass-catching weapons in WR Tyreek Hill (1,276 yards, 15 TDs) and TE Travis Kelce (1,416 yards, 11 TDs), and a stable of running backs are talented but have been banged up this season. The offense is probably the most explosive in the league, so the Bucs will have to expose a Chiefs offensive line that has not looked great at times this season and has a slew of injuries.

Mahomes will be trying to win his second consecutive championship when the Bucs host the Chiefs at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday. (Photo: Jeffrey Beal)

Like Mahomes, Brady has a talented host of weapons to throw to, like WRs Mike Evans (1,006 yards, 13 TDs, but two big drops in the NFC title game) and Chris Godwin (840 yards, 7 TDs), and tight end Rob Gronkowski (623 yards, 7 TDs), who is no stranger to catching touchdowns from Brady in Super Bowls when both were with New England.

The Bucs’ offensive line has looked better as the season has progressed, but running backs Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones have been inconsistent.

However, the Bucs’ defense, led by rising star linebacker Devin White, has come up big this season, and managed to hold the Green Bay Packers to three-and-outs after all three of Brady’s interceptions in the NFC Championship game win.

It may sound cliché, but with both offenses clicking on all cylinders, it could come down to whichever defense makes the most stops, like it did when the Bucs stopped the Packers three times inside the 10 to force a field goal late and seal the win.

By making the Super Bowl, the Bucs have already capped the best year in Tampa Bay sports history, joining the World Series-runner-up Rays and Stanley Cup champion Lightning in making their league championships. 

A victory in America’s popular sport on the biggest stage of them all would only make it sweeter.

Can they do it? We’ll see, but go Bucs!

OUR PREDICTIONS:

JOHN: It’s going to be a shootout, and I thought Brady looked a little shaky in the NFC Championship game. I’ll take the best quarterback and most dangerous receivers. I feel dirty, but Chiefs 33-22. 

GARY: Both defenses played great football in their respective championship games, but I’ll take Brady’s experience over Mahomes’ youth this year, as long as Mike Evans doesn’t keep dropping passes. Bucs 34-27! 

WHERE TO WATCH IN NEW TAMPA

The Super Bowl party is one of the great American traditions of the Big Game, but with Covid-19 still rearing its ugly head, we suggest taking great care. If you insist on watching the game with other fans and don’t have a party to attend, here are some local suggestions:

Peabody’s Billiards & Games: After 21 years, the longtime Tampa Palms hangout has been completely renovated and has a fresh, modern look. It is offering $3.25 pints of beer and $5 Jameson Whiskey shots for the Super Bowl, as well as specials on buckets of beer bottles and a wing and pitcher combo special. They tell us there will be plenty of giveaways and swag, too, including a couple of folding lawn chairs and a cooler. There will be strict adherence to CDC guidelines, including a limit on capacity. For more information, call (813) 972-1725 or visit PeabodysTampa.com.

Glory Days Grill: One of New Tampa’s most popular gathering places for Sunday football games is having a $25 all-you-can-eat special menu, but you need to make reservations. There will be drink specials and giveaways between quarters, but you better hurry because they tell us they are almost all booked. For more information, call (813) 513-7550, or visit GloryDaysGrill.com.

The Fat Rabbit: Fat Rabbit will open at 11:30 a.m. on Super Bowl Sunday, but the festivities won’t begin until 4 p.m. The Tampa Palms favorite usually has happy hour until 5 p.m. but will be extending it through the game. There also will be wing specials —  even for those ordering pickup! — all day. For info, call (813) 252-3004 or visit “The Fat Rabbit Pub” on Facebook.

Stonewood Grill & Tavern: Stonewood is known for being a great restaurant, but the restaurant and its fun bar normally aren’t open Sunday nights, but it will be open for the Super Bowl. Brunch is 11-2:30 a.m., and happy hour will run until 7 p.m. Catering also is available for anyone hosting their own Super Bowl party, too. 

For more information, call (813) 978-0388 or visit StonewoodGrill.com.