Ah, the New Year's commitment to get healthy. Who hasn't made that one?

Is 2007 your year to drop a few pounds? Is this the year you put those cigarettes away for good? By December, will finally be able to wear that one dress, say no to that bad habit or walk up the stairs without breathing hard?

In any of those goals sound familiar, you're in good shape - at least you could be.

Our valley is jammed with options and experts to help you reach your health and fitness goals this year.

From exercise to hypnotherapy, dance to self-defense. From food supplements to yoga.

Take your pick ... just pick something and get started because next year is closer than you think!

Here are some options worth considering.

GODDESS FITNESS STUDIO Emma Ridley-Tyler 661-251-2831

Goddess offers what studio owner Emma Ridley-Tyler calls, "Adult dances classes for the young at heart."

Ridley-Tyler's approach is this: If exercise doesn't feel like exercise, if it's fun, people will keep exercising and will thus reach their fitness goals.

And so Goddess Fitness Studio offers a variety of dance classes from ballet to belly to ballroom, along with classes in yoga and Pilates. Throughout the week, you'll find all kinds of dance styles taught at just about every level and pace.

"This is for dancers and non-dancers alike," Ridley-Tyler says. "You can learn to dance here. It's fun. We're all addicted, but it's a healthy addiction."

HOT YOGA Christopher Kashap 661-257-9955 www.hotyogavalencia.com

When you come to Hot Yoga, come on an empty stomach and be prepared to sweat.

Hot yoga is not for the faint at heart.

Classes last 90 minutes and promise to take students through a demanding series of yoga postures designed to work every muscle, joint, ligament, tendon, gland and organ in the body.

Scared? Don't be.

Hot Yoga welcomes beginners and offers classes for all levels and ages.

It also offers prenatal yoga and belly dancing classes on Wednesday nights.

PILATES TECH Karina Lineback 661-260-1609

Pilates is an exercise technique designed to stretch, strengthen and balance the body without exposing it to the stress of regular high-impact training.

Santa Clarita's Pilates Tech offers a pair of studios to help you reach your fitness goals, one for exercise and the other for physical therapy. According to owner and trainer Karina Lineback, author of the book, "Osteopilates," the strength of Pilates Tech is its trainers. They can design the right program for you whether you're a beginner or a pro, looking for a light workout or something more intense.

"The magic is that they can make it enjoyable for people who hate to exercise," Lineback says. "And we can also have lifelong bodybuilders saying that was the hardest workout ever."

WELLNESS WORKS Guy de Boo 661-295-9580 www.guydeboo.net

What makes Wellness Works unique is its three-pronged approach. Owner Guy de Boo offers health education in the form of seminars, nutrition with a line of peer-reviewed and respected nutritional supplements, and exercise with a DVD workout that incorporates helpful techniques of self-defense.

The idea here is that you are what you eat, so to truly be healthy, you must eat healthy foods.

"We don't get the right nutrients from the food we eat," de Boo says. "We need to supplement. But that's only part of the solution."

Exercise is the other part. Hence the two-part DVD, which utilizes kickboxing techniques to isolate muscles while teaching an important skill.

SAJE WELLNESS Gail White 661-799-7722

Saje Wellness, located just across from Macy's at the mall, is all about helping SCV residents achieve wellness naturally by offering chemical-free essential oils aimed at treating whatever ails you.

Suffering from allergies or headaches? Struggling with arthritis or a recurring injury? Having trouble sleeping?

According to owner Gail White, Saje has an essential oil for you.

"The therapeutic benefits of essential oils has been known since the ancient Egyptians," she says. "But there's been a new awareness in the last 10 years. These oils do amazing things; they are for people who are conscientious about keeping chemicals off their bodies."

WEIGHT WATCHERS Sharon Nersesian www.weightwatchers.com

If you're looking for confirmation that Weight Watchers gets results, look no further than SCV resident Sharon Nersesian. Nersesian, who oversees local Weight Watchers meetings in Newhall and Canyon Country, weighed 200 pounds when she joined in 1974. She's been at her target weight for 15 years now and she's currently training to compete in a bodybuilding contest.

"Weight Watchers' meetings are important because they deal with what's going on inside your head," she says. "They help you understand the feelings that cause you to eat."

According to Nersesian, Weight Watchers is a long-term solution.

Coming from her, that's easy to believe.

FITNESS EDGE BOOT CAMP Cheryl Broughton 888-671-6500 www.fitnessedgebootcamp.com

As the name suggests, Fitness Edge Boot Camp is, well, boot camp. Only in this case, your drill sergeants are highly-trained mind/body, fitness/nutrition experts who are there to help you reach your fitness goals.

Built around the military training model, Fitness Edge trains "recruits" at an outdoor location in town that is not disclosed until you enlist.

Once you do, you'll receive a comprehensive health screening along with instructions on where your "Get Fit Mission" will begin.

Boot Camp runs three or five days a week and is designed to fit around most people's work schedules. And in true military fashion, it takes place in all weather.

IT FIGURES De Ginsburg 661-257-1245

One of the best features of It Figures - at least if you're a woman - is that it is an exercise club for women only. And exercise is precisely what you will be doing.

The club features a variety of hydraulic resistance exercise equipment that easily adjusts to your strength and level of comfort. In other words, you don't have to be a bodybuilder to feel at home.

It Figures offers a program where you and a group of other women exercise together. Lively music plays and every 30 to 60 seconds and a cue signals that it's time to move onto the next piece of equipment. No guessing. No fiddling with machines you don't understand ... and no idle time.

It Figures says that most members lose five to 10 inches in the first month.

LIBERTY FITNESS Susan Solomon 310-770-5138

The idea behind Liberty Fitness, which provides a women-only health club environment, is to make the women who workout there feel at home.

You won't find sweaty gym equipment and scattered barbells at Liberty Fitness. The atmosphere is much too clean and orderly for that.

Liberty does feature the latest equipment, including nautilus and cardio technology.

Club members are encouraged to take advantage of the personal trainers who are there to help clients get started and keep them on the right track. Advice on eating right is also at your fingertips.

THE PILATES PROS John McAdam 661-295-0700

The motto at The Pilates Pros, located on Smythe Drive in Valencia, is "Re-Invent Yourself."

And if you decide to give them a try, a re-invention may be what takes place.

Pilates, a form of low-impact strength and balancing exercises, is designed to work your muscles by using your own weight (and gravity) for resistance.

The Pilates Pros combine this form of exercise with a host of training options to help you create a new you. Take a mat class. Schedule a private session with a Pilates Pros personal trainer. Get together with friends for a semi-private duo or trio session.

Either way, come prepared to be challenged ... and perhaps reinvented.

E-HEALTH DESIGN Emelie Baquio 661-295-4664

Tired of suffering from mood swings, hot flashes, insomnia and irritability? Bio-identical hormone therapy is a natural treatment that has been shown to help women going through the stages of menopause.

And it's not just for women. Men go through a similar hormone adjustment called Andropause, which is often marked with reduced libido, weight gain and lack of energy.

After thorough testing, hormones are balanced with injections or trans-dermal gel. The result? Feeling like yourself again.

THE SANTA CLARITA ATHLETIC CLUB Newhall 661-255-3365 Canyon Country 661-254-7900

The Santa Clarita Athletic Club (SCAC) has been offering SCV residents an affordable gym membership option for years. Now they've added something new: A 65,000 square-foot facility filled with just about everything you could possibly want in a gym.

A cardio theater and a renewed skin day spa. A dedicated women's-only gym. Newly remodeled racquetball courts and a state-of-the-art tanning salon. Also for the women, SCAC now features a PACE 30 minute circuit training section with hydraulic equipment.

Of course, you'll still find enough free weight and nautilus equipment to keep even the staunchest bodybuilding enthusiast happy.

It is, after all, an athletic club.

BLANACE POINT SPA Karen Maleck-Whiteley 661-252-0650

Balance Point is all about helping its clients find a healthy, balanced approach to their lives.

Owner Karen Maleck-Whiteley, an experienced hypnotherapist, can tap into your subconscious mind and support your overall wellness by helping you break bad habits and overcome stress and anxiety.

Balance Point is also a day spa. You can come in for a choice of therapeutic massage options from seasoned professionals. You might also want to spend some time in Balance Point's far infared sauna, which uses infared technology to detoxify your body without suffocating you with steam.