Kitchen Tune-Up Can Give Your Home A Whole New Look…For Less! 

If you can dream it, Al and Zein Aita’s local Kitchen Tune-Up franchise can make it a reality quickly. (Photos provided by Al Aita) 

Many homeowners look at their outdated kitchen cabinetry and long for a fresh, new look, but want to avoid living in dust, disruption and noise for a month or longer while their kitchen is being remodeled in a major renovation. 

The good news is that a much faster and more affordable alternative is available. 

Kitchen Tune-Up is a hassle-free way to update any kitchen without all of that the chaos. The local franchise was opened in 2021 by Tampa Palms residents Al and Zein Aita, who serve New Tampa, Wesley Chapel and the surrounding areas. Al says they were inspired to open the franchise location because, during the pandemic, most people were not buying new houses. Instead, many were upgrading their existing homes. 

“The demand was there, and this was something we could be passionate about,” Al says. “We want our customers’ kitchens to look good for their families and visitors. The kitchen is the heart of the house. To us, that was one of the selling points. Plus, we wanted to be part of a strong franchise. We are locally owned and operated, but we have the support of a large, well-established company that’s been around 35 years with a presence in 50 states and nine locations in Florida. Having that credibility was very important to us.” 

In fact, Kitchen Tune-Up today has more than 180 franchises serving nearly 300 protected territories throughout the U.S. and Canada. The company’s website — KitchenTuneUp.com — offers a design tool to mix and match the desired design and options. 

“It’s a way for the customer to get their imagination going, to get them to follow their initial idea,” says Al. “We use it initially to start the conversation. We explain the process from A to Z and give each customer a quote on the spot.” 

Working with Kitchen Tune-Up has many advantages over a traditional kitchen renovation, as it can transform any kitchen in as little as five days, with minimal disturbance to the home and lifestyle. The process begins with a free in-home consultation that lasts about 45 minutes. 

Al and Zein’s technicians are trained and certified, and use only high-quality materials and products. Their customers also get a warranty on the workmanship and materials, as well as a customer service guarantee. 

Best of all, a Kitchen Tune-Up offers considerable savings off the cost of a complete kitchen remodel, depending upon the products and services you choose. Customers also can finance their projects with low monthly payments and no interest for the first twelve months. 

Available Services 

Among Kitchen Tune-Up’s available services is Cabinet Re-dooring, which replaces your old cabinet doors and drawer fronts with new ones while keeping the existing cabinet boxes. Customers can choose from hundreds of styles and colors to match their taste and budget. 

Cabinet Refacing covers the existing cabinet boxes with new wood or a laminate veneer and installs new doors and drawer fronts. Customers can change the style, color and material of their cabinets and add new features like soft-close hinges, pulls and knobs. 

“Cabinet Re-dooring and Refacing are quick ways to upgrade the kitchen without the demolition and the mess,” Al says. “We keep the shape of the kitchen, but we update it. We give your cabinets new functionality and a beautiful, new look. (During construction, our) customers still have access to their cabinets, fridge and oven. They can function around us as we install and do the work.” 

New features, such as built-in trash cans, spice racks and other items, also can be added to make the kitchen more practical. 

Customers also can transform their cabinets with Cabinet Painting. This service upgrades your existing cabinets with a durable, professional-grade finish. You can choose virtually any color and add new hardware and accessories to complete the look. 

All it usually takes to get started working with Kitchen Tune- Up is one 45-minute consultation in your home.

“Painting is a cost-effective way to upgrade the kitchen without changing much about it,” Al says. “You just upgrade the color. The cabinets will look new and factory-painted without breaking the bank.” 

Al recalls customers who called him after someone else painted their cabinets and they didn’t like the outcome. 

“I’ve heard this story so many times,” he says. “Yes, we can even re-paint your already-painted cabinets to be something that still looks new.” 

Kitchen Tune-Up also designs and installs new custom cabinets for any kitchen. You can choose from various real wood types, finishes, door styles and storage solutions to create your dream kitchen at your initial consultation, where sample doors are brought in so you can see and feel the quality of the doors and decide upon the services you want to select. 

“If you have a special area of your house where you are looking to add a cabinet, a bar area, or something that does not fit the standard-size cabinet boxes, we’re able to custom-build something that will look nice and blend in with the rest of the house,” says Al. “That’s a unique service that we offer.” 

Kitchen Tune-Up also offers countertops and backsplashes as an accompanying service to refacing, re-dooring and painting. 

Client F. Lopez compliments the service he received in a 5-star Google review. 

“I did not like the color and shine from a previous painter. (Kitchen Tune- Up) stripped, refinished my current kitchen cabinets, and they came out great. No complaints, and the work was done timely and professionally. The gentleman doing the labor took pride in ensuring everything was neat, clean and looking its best. Communication was also wonderful! Would highly recommend their services.” 

Once you select your products and services, the doors are returned for their second confirmation, measurements are taken and the details and goals are finalized. The timeline from initial consultation to scheduling and ordering to completion averages between five to no more than 30 days. 

Kitchen Tune-Up can offer many affordable solutions that full kitchen remodeling companies may not provide. Al and Zein and their technicians are hands-on with their customers, instead of turning them over to some third party. 

“We take the customer step-by-step,” Al says. “If there are any issues, we can take care of them immediately. We try to do these services quickly and professionally because everyone is busy, and their time is limited. We know some people have kids and pets. We don’t want to be in their way for too long.” 

Visit KitchenTuneUp.com/tampa-north-fl or call (813) 822-5911.

InnerVision Psychiatry — For Psychiatrist-Led Outpatient Ketamine Treatment

(L.-r.) Amanda Thompson, Dr. Joseph Pullara and Dr. Simon Chamakalayil of InnerVision Psychiatry, which is located in the Summergate
Professional Center behind Sam’s Club north of S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel. (Photos by Charmaine George)

Isn’t it frustrating to feel like you’re out of options or settling for an incomplete solution to a problem? Many people with treatment- resistant anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are in that boat. However, Drs. Simon Chamakalayil and Joseph Pullara of InnerVision Psychiatry, in the Summergate Professional Center behind Sam’s Club in Wesley Chapel, may be able to offer these patients another treatment option — Ketamine.

What’s Exciting About Ketamine?

Ketamine was approved in 1970 by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) as a general anesthetic, but also has been used off- label (without formal approval yet from the FDA) for short-term pain relief and sedation, chronic pain management and migraines. In recent years, Ketamine has been increasingly studied for use in patients with psychiatric conditions, such as anxiety, depression, PTSD and even suicidal ideation.

The exact way that Ketamine works to help patients with psychiatric conditions is not completely understood, but it is believed to be related to the drug’s psychedelic properties, which can cause feelings of detachment or disconnectedness. Since this is a new treatment approach, it can be helpful in patients who did not receive enough relief from more traditional treatments.

Unfortunately, because Ketamine has been available for more than 50 years, it is no longer protected by a patent and can be sold by any pharmaceutical company. This greatly reduces the potential profit that a pharmaceutical company can make off of Ketamine, even for a new use, and has eliminated those companies’ incentives to pursue the large- scale clinical trials required to submit for and receive FDA approval for Ketamine as a psychiatric treatment.

In 2019, Janssen Pharmaceuticals did successfully get FDA approval for one form of Ketamine called Esketamine, under the brand name Sparavato®. While this helped legitimize the use of Ketamine for psychiatric conditions, Esketamine was only FDA approved for treatment-resistant depression and depressive symptoms in adults who have acute suicidal ideation or behavior. Also, it is only available as a nasal spray that must be given under the supervision of a healthcare provider.

But thankfully, barriers for pharmaceutical companies do not stop independent research. In fact, it was while reading promising findings about Ketamine in medical journals when Dr. Pullara first became interested in Ketamine.

Is Ketamine safer than other anti-depressants or anti-anxiety/PTSD medications? It, like other psychiatric drugs, has side effects and potential for abuse if used in high (more than medically required) doses. Drs. Chamakalayil and Pullara are aware of this and take measures to minimize these issues.

As both doctors explain in a variety of posts and videos on Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms, they use only low-dose Ketamine in their clinic, as that is the dosing that was mainly studied and supported by the medical community. In order to ensure patient safety and deter potential abuse, they only give Ketamine by intravenous (IV) infusions in their clinic under healthcare provider supervision, as opposed to oral Ketamine that could be given at home. “Monitoring is important,” says Dr. Pullara. “We don’t support at-home or oral Ketamine because it can be risky without monitoring.”

He adds that many of the main side effects of Ketamine — including nausea, vomiting, dizziness, drowsiness and increased heart rate and blood pressure — are often temporary and can be monitored and improved upon by adjusting the infusion rate.

A plus for IV Ketamine therapy for anxiety, depression and PTSD treatments is that it does not need to be given every day. The initial treatment — aka, the loading doses — are usually six doses over a two-week period. After that, if the Ketamine is helping, the patient will continue on maintenance treatment, which is based on managing symptoms.

Dr. Chamakalayil explains on InnerVisionPsychiatry.com that after completing the initial six treatments, they recommend bi-weekly treatments for the following month. After that, the frequency depends upon each patient’s need, ranging from every other week or monthly, every two to three months, or even every six months.

Perhaps the best part is that patients can experience an improvement in their symptoms much faster than they can using older treatment options.

“Ketamine works more quickly and differently than traditional anti-depressants,” says Dr. Chamakalayil. “With other drugs, it usually takes at least four weeks just to see an effect. With Ketamine, you can see a benefit within a few days to the first week.”

The Matthew & Maya Cases

There have been a few public cases in which Ketamine has been associated with bad outcomes, such as with “Friends” star Matthew Perry and locally, with Maya Kowalski.

Maya Kowalski did not suffer harm from Ketamine, but her healthcare team was concerned about her Ketamine use at a young age, and at her mother’s insistence. However, they initially did not know that Maya has a rare disease called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) and Ketamine was medically prescribed at higher doses to manage her pain. As stated earlier, for psychiatric conditions, only low-dose Ketamine is recommended.

Maya’s mother Beata ultimately committed suicide herself when doctors at All Children’s Hospital in Tampa feared she was abusing her daughter. The Kowalski family successfully sued the hospital in the now- famous “Take Care of Maya” case, which will reportedly be appealed to a higher court.

As for the unfortunate death of Matthew Perry, the doctors explain the circumstances behind his Ketamine use.

“By now, we have all seen the headlines… “Matthew Perry died of the ‘acute effects of Ketamine,’” says Dr. Pullara. “The level of Ketamine found in his system was consistent with that of someone undergoing high-dose anesthesia. These high doses, combined with the sedative effects of buprenorphine, lorazepam and clonazepam found in his system, put him at a significant risk of sedation and respiratory depression. This is why the autopsy listed drowning as a ‘contributing factor’ in his death.”

He adds, “It was reported that Matthew was indeed undergoing IV Ketamine infusions for depression, similar to those offered at InnerVision Psychiatry. But his last infusion was about 1.5 weeks before his death, and as the autopsy report itself points out, the Ketamine in his system ‘could not be from that infusion therapy, since Ketamine’s half-life (time required for 50% of the drug to be eliminated by the body) is 3 to 4 hours or less.”

The Doctors Behind InnerVision

Dr. Pullara was born and raised in Lutz. After completing a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Biological Sciences at Florida State University in Tallahassee, he attended medical school at the American University of the Caribbean in St. Maarten and received his Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree in 2015.

Dr. Pullara’s dedication to research-guided treatment advances led him to co-found The Journal of Psychedelic Psychiatry with some of his colleagues during his four-year psychiatry residency at the University of Kansas in Kansas City, MO, where he also served as chief resident. He currently serves as one of TheJournal’s deputy editors.

After finishing his residency in 2020, Dr. Pullara returned to Florida and began working at Lakeland Regional Hospital as a psychiatrist, where he met Dr. Chamakalayil, who was similarly interested in Ketamine for use in his psychiatric patient population.

Dr. Chamakalayil completed a combined BS/MD program in 2015 at the Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, PA. Afterwards, he was a general psychiatry resident at Temple University Hospital, also in Philadelphia, where he also served as chief resident.

Discovering a passion for helping children and adolescents, Dr. Chamakalayil obtained further specialization in child and adolescent psychiatry by completing a two-year fellowship at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC, where he served as clinical chief fellow, in 2021. After completing his training, Dr. Chamakalayil relocated to central Florida to work at Lakeland Regional Hospital.

While working at the hospital together, both doctors saw difficult cases of patients requiring hospital admission for psychiatric care — and experienced exciting success when using Ketamine to treat these patients.

Dr. Pullara, who eventually moved from Lakeland to Wesley Chapel with his wife and two children, felt strongly that patients in his hometown area shouldn’t have to travel all the way to Tampa or Clearwater for psychiatrist- led Ketamine treatment.

Looking To The Future

Together, the doctors opened InnerVision Psychiatry in Wesley Chapel in November of 2021, becoming the first clinic offering IV Ketamine infusions for anxiety, depression and PTSD in Pasco County.

Converting a former Sylvan Learning Center location from the bottom up, they creating a tranquil, state-of-the-art facility for their patients. Working with their office manager Amanda Thompson and a team of four nurses, the clinic is open by appointment only during the weekdays to offer Ketamine infusions.

All patients must complete a screening form to ensure that they are good candidates for Ketamine treatment. It’s important to note that InnerVision does not treat pain, so any patients looking for Ketamine for pain relief are referred to pain management providers.

The doctors do not believe in a quick, walk-in treatment approach. They always provide a one-hour consultation to new patients to learn their treatment and medication histories and the symptoms they are experiencing before starting Ketamine treatment. If necessary, they will touch base with a patient’s primary care provider and psychiatrist. Then, on each appointment day, there is a pre- and post-treatment check-in to make sure patients are comfortable and feeling well before and after receiving Ketamine.

Even though the office just hosted a ribbon cutting event in January, the doctors estimate that they’ve already helped about 50 patients. Even better is that they’ve already heard great feedback from several of those patients.

One of Dr. Chamakalayil’s first patients at InnerVision was struggling with severe anxiety and PTSD since childhood. Like all of the clinic’s patients, this patient had already tried several different treatment options in the past and was therefore diagnosed with treatment- resistant disease.

After receiving the loading dose Ketamine treatments, Dr. Chamakalayil recalls that the patient said, “This is the calmest I’ve felt in my entire life. Now I understand what calm means.”

Later, after completing the loading doses, the patient provided an update. With the guidance of the patient’s psychiatrist, the patient stopped taking the two oral anti-depressants that the patient was previously taking. In the patient’s own words, “Ketamine saved my life.”

Right now, the doctors are focusing on Ketamine infusions. But, they believe strongly in evidence-based medicine and are keeping up with the latest research on other psychedelics. They are hopeful about offering patients new treatment options for difficult to treat psychiatric diseases in the coming years.

“There are promising clinical trials for mi- domafetamine or MDMA (the active ingredient in the street drug ecstasy) in PTSD treatment,” says Dr. Pullara. “It’s possible that by the end of this year, MDMA could receive FDA approval. Currently, there are only two FDA-approved treatments (for PTSD), so this would be the third. We would be interested in providing MDMA treatment to patients upon FDA ap- proval and the release of more research data.”

Dr. Chamakalayil also is looking to make a change. His family is still living in Lakeland for now, but they hope to make the move to Wesley Chapel soon, so they can be closer to the clinic— especially since he and his wife are expecting to welcome their first child in May.

InnerVision Psychiatry is located at 27774 Cashford Cir., Suite 102. The clinic is open by appointment only, Mon.- Fri., 9 a.m.–5 p.m. For more info, call (813) 428-5420, visit InnerVisionPsychiatry.com. The website also has links to the clinic’s social media pages, which are regularly updated with easy-to-follow, informative posts and videos.

Updating Three Of The Stories That Ran In Our Last Issue

Wharton High grad Gabriel Hassan lost his battle with Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome after receiving his diploma.

Because of the fact we only have an issue every four weeks in each of our markets, sometimes the stories that appear in our issues are or become “old” even before (or shortly after) that issue arrives in your mailbox.

In our Feb. 6 issue, we had two such stories that really needed to be updated in this issue and a third that was an event that took place after that issue hit mailboxes.

The most important, and saddest, of these was the fact that Gabriel Hassan who was on the cover of our last issue for receiving his diploma for graduating from Wharton High on Jan. 22, while he was still at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital — passed away less than two weeks after that event.

Gabe, who was suffering from terminal leukemia, succumbed to his cancer and was buried by his family on or the day before Valentine’s Day. We also learned that his specific form of leukemia is called Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome, or SDS.

When we posted the story that Gabe had passed, his father Mahmoud Hassan commented on our Facebook page:

“He was my beloved boy — a precious soul who loved people and life.

He loved service to others, EDM music, Roblox, Video Games, Going to the movies.

He was our proud Eagle Scout and graduated HS despite all of his challenges.

Gabriel was a sweet angel and he will be missed dearly. We are grieving for our angel in heaven. We miss him so much.”

Although I never met Gabriel or his family, we join the Hassan family in their grief. Rest in Peace.

To help those afflicted with SDS, please search“Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome Alliance” on Facebook.

Suzy Tkacik Falls Short Of Award

We also knew that our story about Pride Elementary media specialist Suzy Tkacik (photo) being a finalist

for the Hillsborough School District-wide Ida S. Baker Diversity Educator of the Year award would be old news by the time the Feb. 6 issue reached your mailbox.

Even so, we still felt it was important to highlight Ms.Tkacik in these pages, as she was the only finalist for any of the District’s “Excellence in Education” awards from a New Tampa school.

Well, at the District’s award gala on Feb. 1, this year’s Ida S. Baker award went to Dr. Ilfault Joseph, the community resource teacher at Jennings Middle School.

Congratulations again, Suzy. You’re still a winner in all of our eyes!

Wharton Tournament Nets $6,400!

The third story we needed to update was the second annual Wharton High Cornhole ithloma. Tournament, which was held on Feb. 10 and ended up raising more than $6,400 to provide teacher grants and classroom needs for the school.

Our congratulations go out to Wharton teacher Matt McKernan (left in photo, left) and his partner (and fellow former Wildcat) Tate Wheeler, who outlasted 28 other teams to take home the top prize, after finishing as the runners-up in last year’s inaugural Cornhole Tourney. The second-place finishers were Benito Middle School teacher Christopher Taylor and his uncle Shawn Quinn. Both winning teams left with prize packages worth more than $700!

Tasty Namaste Express Is Open; Qdoba May Be, Too

Although we didn’t even find out about it until we went to press with our Feb 6 issue, OishiExpress, a decent fast-casual Japanese place, lasted only about a year in the spot at 17503 Preserve Walk Ln. in Highwoods Preserve — between Taste of New York Pizza and Lapels Cleaners (behind EggTown) — the new fast-casual Namaste Express(or XP) has already replaced Oishi.

I’ve only visited once since Namaste opened, but the new eatery can be summed up pretty easily — it’s a small place with a huge and what seems to be a very tasty menu.

On my visit, I enjoyed the chicken stir-fry bowl (left), which had just a hint of spice, with lots of chunks of chicken and clearly fresh vegetables. The savory sauce tasted like a completely unexpected cross between the curry flavors so prevalent in Indian cooking with a nod to Szechuan Chinese cuisine. I told the chef (I sadly forgot his name) that I would be back to try his biryani, the delicious-sounding Apollo fish (a fish filet tossed with ginger, garlic and a spicy sauce, which is specialty of Hyderabad) and the marinated, fried (but not breaded, because they’re gluten-free) chicken lollipops shown here.

Namaste has menu options from every region in India and even offers a unique “Grab & Go” menu that the restaurant’s website says is “meticu- lously crafted through cutting-edge flash chilling processes.” It definitely sounds unique.

Although there is clearly a sizable Indian population in New Tampa, considering how many Indian restaurants there already are in zip code 33647 — including Saffron, Minerva, Raaga, Dosa Hut, Bang-Bang! Bowls and the café inside the Taaza Mart (as well as the Nepalese Gorkhali Kitchen, which also offers Indian specialties) — we hope that Namaste Express will be able to find its footing in what has so far proven to be a difficult location.

For more information, call (813) 866-1300 or visit NamasteXP.com.

Update On Qdoba

At our press time, Qdoba Mexican Eats,which we told you last issue was getting ready to open in the same plaza in Highwoods Preserve as Namaste (at 17509 Preserve Walk Ln.) last issue, was still not open, but co-owner Liz Montante says that she and her husband and co-owner Mike were expecting the New Tampa Qdoba to open “on or around March 1,” or a few days before this issue hits your mailbox.

In other words, if you’re a fan of Moe’s Southwest Grill (which Qdoba is replacing in Highwoods), Chipotle or any other fast-casual Mexican fare, you definitely should check out Qdoba, too.

“It’s been a long struggle, but we’re finally almost there,” Liz told me the day before I finished this issue. “We can’t wait for New Tampa to experience our fresh Mexican eats.”

For more information about Qdoba Mexican Eats, call (813) 761-0005 or visit Qdoba.com to check out the menu online.

Army Vet’s O.M. Yoga & Training Teaches Mindfulness, Mobility & More 

Alan Torres (Center) of O.M. Yoga & Training is certified as both a personal trainer and a yoga instructor, and he is happy to come to your home or office or a park. (Photo provided by Alan Torres)

Alan Torres was studying business at Cleveland State University in Ohio in 2014 when he says moving in with his uncle changed his life.

Alan’s uncle talked about his days in the U.S. Army, and it inspired Alan to “be all that he could be” by enlisting, as well.

“I always cared about people and I wanted to serve,” says Alan, “and I wanted to max out my own potential and give myself a challenge.”

The Army gave Alan the opportunity to do just that. He served in field artillery with the Army from 2014-18.

Alan was based out of Fort Bragg, NC, and was deployed for nine months to northern Syria.

“It was the biggest experience of my life,” he says. But, he decided one deployment was enough for him, so he left the Army when his contract ended.

Alan says that time in his life, after his service, was difficult. He didn’t have any direction, started gaining weight, didn’t want to leave the house and noticed changes in the way he was handling himself. He says he had a lot of fear and aggression and began boiling over at simple things.

He realized that he was navigating the difficult experiences he had while deployed, and he wanted to change.

“When I came back to yoga, it was a last resort trying to manage myself,” he says. “It gave me the ability to manage my emotions and thoughts, and space to heal.”

Alan had been introduced to yoga back in his college days, and when he needed it most, he says yoga helped him learn to turn his reactions into response.

Three years ago, he moved to Fort Myers, FL, to live near his mom, then decided to continue his studies at the University of South Florida in Tampa. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Communication in 2021.

“I had no plans at all post-graduation,” he says, “but somehow, it all lined up.”

He realized his passion for yoga could help others like himself who wanted to be more mindful.

He began taking classes and eventually was certified with a 200-hour yoga instructor certificate from My Vinyasa Practice in Austin, TX. He also earned a certification in Pranayama, which is an ancient Indian practice that focuses on breathing techniques.

Alan also earned a personal training diploma and certification from the National Personal Training Institute (NPTI) in Tampa in 2022.

The yoga and personal training certifications, along with his communication degree, made his next step feel natural.

He launched an insured mobile business offering one-on-one and group yoga instruction, mobility training, traditional personal training sessions and workout programs.

Why Is It Called ‘O.M.?’

Alan says his business is named “O.M.” Yoga & Training for multiple reasons. One is the military term, “Oscar Mike.” When used as a call sign, “Oscar Mike” is interpreted as code for “On the Move.”

“Being that we are a mobile and veteran-owned company that promotes holistic wellness through intentional body movement, staying ‘On the Move’ is a vital part of our mission,” says Alan. “Addition- ally, O.M. also pays tribute to the roots and history of yoga. In the yoga realm, ‘om’ is recognized as the highest vibration and purest energy that connects all things in existence. ‘Om’ symbolizes the positive experiences and meaningful connections we aim to cultivate.”

He brings his classes to you, whether you want to practice in your home, office, or a nearby park.

“I bring everything you need,” he says. “If you don’t have a mat, I bring the mat. I bring props, bolsters, straps, a speaker, my playlist, even aromatherapy. I bring a full yoga studio to your location.”

He says this is especially helpful for people like him, who don’t feel they fit in at the typical yoga studio.

“I want to help people who want to gain confidence and build the fundamentals,” he says, “then they can do their own thing, if they want.”

Besides the mindfulness that yogis learn, the practice of yoga offers other benefits, as well. Alan says his instruction also focuses on stress reduction and the need to decompress through everyday life. Every class opens and closes with meditation, which helps yoga practitioners come into the present moment, leaving behind the chaos of work or traffic or whatever their lives have just thrown at them.

He says yoga also helps with mobility. He teaches people to have better movement quality so they set themselves up to age more gracefully. He is careful to teach the correct alignment for every yoga pose so his clients don’t risk being injured.

Alan says he typically first works with people once or twice to be sure he’s a good fit, then offers packages of eight classes.

Most people prefer classes once or twice a week. After they’ve finished their packages with Alan, they might feel more comfortable going to a local studio or practicing yoga on their own.

He also offers group lessons for anyone who has a group of friends or family members who want to learn together, but emphasizes that individual lessons go much deeper.

“I pride myself on connecting,” Alan says, “especially when it’s one-on-one. It’s amazing to watch people change.

Sometimes when I first meet them, they’re down, they’re quiet, but, in a month or two, there’s a big change. That’s so rewarding.”

He says his prices are based on how far he has to travel from his home, so while he travels as far as Sarasota, clients in the New Tampa and Wesley Chapel area will find his fees more affordable.

Although O.M. Yoga & Training is a fairly new company that doesn’t have many Google reviews yet, every single review Alan has received is five out of five stars.

For example, Jessica Washington says, “Alan can change your life, whether it be in gaining strength, learning to breathe and release tension, setting intentions or simply learning mobility through his well thought out yoga classes.”

Aaron Baca’s review says Alan is a “phenomenal teacher. (His) explanations during each session (are) second to none. Five stars each time he comes out and gives a class!”

It’s incredibly meaningful for this Army veteran to connect with people who benefit from learning yoga.

“I’m very passionate about what I do,” says Alan. “I’ve learned how to manage my- self and I want to share that with people.”

For more information about O.M. Yoga & Training, visit OMYogaandTraining.com or email AlanatOscarMikeYT@gmail.com.

You also can call or text him (813) 334-6336.