Nixa DeBellis featured in “Best of New York City”

Nixa DeBellis, one of our teachers at Round Hill in Jamaica this winter, had her class at Exhale reviewed in “Best Yoga of NYC”. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and can personally attest that Nixa teaches a thought-provoking class, blending in a flowing sequence of powerful poses with a deep understanding of how our practice and even how we approach individual poses, relate to different areas of our lives, and how we can use it as a tool to explore our holistic nature and way of being in the world.
Her knowledge of tantra and yoga philosophy is a gift to all who are able to practice with her – she is the real deal.
Join Nixa at Round Hill in Montego Bay, Jamaica this January 20-24, 2010 for a memorable weekend immersed in yoga and Caribbean luxury!

Optimal Practice, Optimal Life with Nixa DeBellis
Exhale Spa
980 Madison Ave, 2nd Floor
Thu 5:00 PM to 6:15 PM
Intermediate
www.exhalespa.com

As I sat facing the Buddha head in the Zen-like studio of Exhale’s Upper East Side location, Nixa DeBellis walked in, a true picture of summer with her blonde hair, flowing white yoga pants and purple tank top.

We began class in supported bridge using the yoga block. Nixa added the first of many twists on a traditional pose by having us bring one foot at a time back alongside our block, pressing the top of our foot into the floor in a Virasana-type leg variation. As Yoga Sleuth struggled to breath evenly into her slightly contorted toes, Nixa introduced us to the idea of “optimization.” She explained that we must constantly reevaluate what is most effective for us from pose to pose, practice to practice, and year to year.

We quickly built heat with a tricky transition of twisting high lunge to twisting crescent, followed by alternating straightening and bending our front leg as we synchronized our arm movements and our breath. During several rounds of this unique sequence, Nixa expanded on the idea of optimization to our lives off the mat, namely our relationships and our jobs.

Our final challenging standing sequence had us moving from standing split to Parivrtta Ardha Chandrasana and then gracefully stepping back to the twisting crescent pose we had visited at the beginning of class. By this time, we were more than ready to find our way down to the mat for some less vigorous asana. We cooled down with Salabhasana, Vishnu’s pose and then, an inversion of our choice.

As we floated into a deliciously long Savasana, Nixa reminded us to reevaluate our optimum for that moment to find the deepest relaxation possible. Once Nixa slowly and gently brought us back to sitting, we closed with a single “Om.” It made Sleuth noticed how, at the end of class, the collective “Om” is always perfectly in tune and optimized for that particular group of yogis in that exact moment.

-Alison Richard for Yoga Sleuth