YOGA PASSBOOK REVIEW #6: Exhale Spa
2009 June 22
Where&When: Central Park South, 1/2 block from (my) Q train! Wednesday 17 June. 7:30 PM. www.exhalespa.com
Overall impression: This is the fanciest yoga spot in the city. No joke calling it a spa– I lounged in the sauna, tried all the complementary lotions and soaps, etc. And I could actually feel it in my core the next day and a half, which I loved!
Type: Vinyasa
Level: II
Duration: 1:15, but it ended up more like 1:30
# of Yogis: 15
Teacher: Elitza Datcheva. She said, “It’s always better to over-sacrilize your practice than to over-mundane-ify it.” I could tell that a lot of what she offered us came from her own experimentation in her practice and I appreciated that. I also noticed that she seemed to know almost all of her students.
Temple or gym? Spa– so it was a little of both. Has a bit of the bath-as-temple-to-Aphrodite going on, a bit of the body-modification obsession of the overpriviledged.
Front Desk: There were six girls working, and none of them wanted to actually stop chatting and sign me in. I was really early so there was nobody else around.
Boutique: Too fancy to believe. Pretty Free People maxidresses tempting me. Nail salon, lots of beauty products. Yikes.
Coat/ Shoes/ Valuables: Lockers with keys were free! And came with a private coat hanger. And they provided free flipflops!
Bathrooms: 3 stalls in the ladies changing room.
Changing Rooms: Massive, luxe. Lots of lockers, large mirrors, pretty lighting, free hair products, tampons, shampoos, lotions, q-tips, etc etc etc. Sauna!
Showers: There were like 10 showers in there! And the doors were made of pretty frosted class with dried grasses, wooden mats on the floor. And sauna!
Towels: Free & unlimited! So generous! Also, bath robes, free!
Practice Rooms: There were two, underground, with heavy wooden sliding doors. The yoga studio was pure, dizzying white with a dark wood floor, a recessed circular altar in the wall held a dark wooden figure of the Buddha’s head that appeared to float in the dim light. I could not keep my balance in this room. But it was so serene and floaty for savasana.
Props: Soft large white blankets, cork blocks.
Overall impression: This is the fanciest yoga spot in the city. No joke calling it a spa– I lounged in the sauna, tried all the complementary lotions and soaps, etc. And I could actually feel it in my core the next day and a half, which I loved!
Type: Vinyasa
Level: II
Duration: 1:15, but it ended up more like 1:30
# of Yogis: 15
Teacher: Elitza Datcheva. She said, “It’s always better to over-sacrilize your practice than to over-mundane-ify it.” I could tell that a lot of what she offered us came from her own experimentation in her practice and I appreciated that. I also noticed that she seemed to know almost all of her students.
Temple or gym? Spa– so it was a little of both. Has a bit of the bath-as-temple-to-Aphrodite going on, a bit of the body-modification obsession of the overpriviledged.
Front Desk: There were six girls working, and none of them wanted to actually stop chatting and sign me in. I was really early so there was nobody else around.
Boutique: Too fancy to believe. Pretty Free People maxidresses tempting me. Nail salon, lots of beauty products. Yikes.
Coat/ Shoes/ Valuables: Lockers with keys were free! And came with a private coat hanger. And they provided free flipflops!
Bathrooms: 3 stalls in the ladies changing room.
Changing Rooms: Massive, luxe. Lots of lockers, large mirrors, pretty lighting, free hair products, tampons, shampoos, lotions, q-tips, etc etc etc. Sauna!
Showers: There were like 10 showers in there! And the doors were made of pretty frosted class with dried grasses, wooden mats on the floor. And sauna!
Towels: Free & unlimited! So generous! Also, bath robes, free!
Practice Rooms: There were two, underground, with heavy wooden sliding doors. The yoga studio was pure, dizzying white with a dark wood floor, a recessed circular altar in the wall held a dark wooden figure of the Buddha’s head that appeared to float in the dim light. I could not keep my balance in this room. But it was so serene and floaty for savasana.
Props: Soft large white blankets, cork blocks.
Comments on the Practice: Pleasing warmups, kapalabati during plank– that was very strenuous but I’m glad for it. Surya into crow– very armbalancy class. Crow into tripod, flying crow. The standing poses didn’t start until halfway through. It was just really hard to balance in there for me.
I noticed that bound extended side angle without also doing bound trikonasana just didn’t feel fair! But overall the practice was challenging in a way I crave, and I loved that I could feel the difference in my body for the next few days. It was also incredibly relaxing– take the usual calm after the agni fire, combine it with a sauna and lots of free scented lotions! I missed the New Surreal show entirely because I was still bathing.
So glad I have another free pass to this place… It’s $21 for a single class! But it is totally the classiest, schmanciest yoga in the city.
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