Go For Your Potential at O2 Living

As a fan of all things yoga, one of my favorite past times is the yoga road trip. Each week I choose a studio somewhere in Westchester, find a class that fits my schedule and away I go.  This week my yoga road trip took me to Yellow Monkey Village and O2 Living.

I'm not from the nearby area and had never heard of Yellow Monkey Village so I wasn't quite sure what to expect…let's face it, it's an odd name. I had to call the studio for a more official street address since Yellow Monkey Village was not recognized by my GPS but once I worked out the kinks and pulled into the parking lot, I new I was in for a treat.

Yellow Monkey Village is a collection of old barns and 18th century buildings that have been turned into little shops and the O2 Wellness Center. I walked in to O2 and was greeted warmly by a lovely woman at the front desk, located in a classy shop filled with yoga gear, Buddha statues, and holistic skin-care products.

I took a quick tour of the space and was delighted to find three pretty spa rooms (I'll be back!), the yoga studio and a fabulous organic, vegetarian restaurant (more on that in my next column!).

I walked upstairs and entered one of two yoga rooms, both with beautiful barn-wood floors.  The teacher, Jane Beltz, greeted me at the door with a friendly smile and I promptly rolled out my mat and took a seat. This was a quiet class of five people; our ages and experience-level was mixed but it didn't matter.

I turned myself over to the teacher as she took us through what she called a liver-cleansing exercise; we sat cross-legged and rolled our rib cage in circles, both directions. I had never done this before and it felt good, I'm going to try and do it at home from time to time.

The class schedule said this was a beginner-level class and I was a little worried that I might not feel challenged but I was wrong. Beltz later told me that she realized the group was more advanced so she improvised her class plan and sprinkled in harder moves.

Now I've taken a lot of yoga classes in my day and I have to say we did some odd twisty-things that were new to me. It was challenging and felt good on my body. Throughout the class, Beltz gave individual adjustments and constantly encouraged her students to "go for their potential." She wasn't pushy but she did encourage us to really give 110% to each pose. It was nice to have a teacher encourage everyone to hold nothing back.

Beltz's style was energetic. She held the room with her contagious passion for yoga. I found her style to be unique, and it's no wonder: She told me she's been studying yoga for over 15 years, including multiple disciplines like Jivumukti, Iyengar, Kundalini and Vinyasa. Her eclectic classes are a mix of all of her influences.

Beltz teaches primarily at O2 Living and said that she likes that the space is truly organic.

"You're in a barn, and the studio adheres to the landscape and embraces it," she said. 

I have to agree; there was something special about being in this very natural environment, partaking in an age-old practice, while standing on an old wooden barn floor.

With 29 classes each week (Beltz teaches the majority of them) at $20 per class (you can buy a class card to get the price down a little) there are many opportunities to fit in a class with Jane or one of the other accomplished teachers.

If you like to sweat, check out their hot yoga classes, you'll experience a good post-yoga-detox feeling. When do you go to O2, factor in some extra time to stop by the café for a fresh-squeezed juice, you won't be disappointed. 

My next column on Patch will include a review of the cafe.