Serenity and Class :: Exhale Yoga and Spa

Exhale is a spa and wellness experience devoted to taking clients out of their hectic workday lives and conducting them to a place of balance, focus, relaxation -- wellness, in a word.

Exhale has locations across the United States, and a plan to expand beyond the nation's borders. The newest addition is a second Boston, Massachusetts, location, at 2 Battery Wharf in Boston's historic North End. The new location opened in February, and counts among its clientele residents at the Fairmont Hotel next door. To judge from the morning I spent there recently, Exhale is the full spa experience: A therapeutic, and aesthetic, experience and, for its members, a way of life.

Not that a membership is required. While membership does have its privileges, those interested in dropping by for a session of yoga (or Core Fusion) are welcome to do so, as are those who wish to book a session with one of Exhale's staff of healers and other professionals. Massage, facials, manicures and pedicures, acupuncture -- it's like one-stop shopping for the body and spirit alike. Exhale even offers groups of friends and family looking to gather and celebrate a little differently the chance to book en masse and make the occasion a shared experience.

Introductions

When I arrive at Exhale, I find myself in a spacious lobby. A sweeping stairway leads upstairs, where I enter a retail space and meet a friendly receptionist named Tracy.

Once I have filled out my initial paperwork, Tracy conducts me around the premises. The tour includes a yoga room, exercise room where Exhale's signature Core Fusion classes take place, a group meeting room with a view of Boston's harbor, and a low-lit, soothing relaxation area where I'll have a chance to relax between the yoga class I'm signed up for and a "hammam treatment" set to follow. I also catch a glimpse of a mani-pedicure room, and Taylor tells me that massage and acupuncture are offered on-site. It's clear that this is a spa dedicated to a full range of services.

Dark hardwood floors, serene low light, pale yellow walks: everything spacious, neat, and organized; Tracy points out the men's locker room, and I prepare for the hourlong yoga session.

Strength and Flexibility

Exhale offers several different kinds of yoga. The Core Fusion classes combine yoga with cardio training, but that's not the plan for today. There are also Yoga for Beginners, Music Yoga Flow, and Vinyasa.

I've done some yoga before now, and I think I recognize this style as Vinyasa. I'm one of two men in a class of five. The instructor, Amanda, is as serene and orderly as the surroundings. The class size allows her to provide plenty of individualized attention as she guides the group through an effortless flow of poses.

I've never done some of the moves Amanda guides us through before, but she makes it all easy to do. At the end of the hour I feel lightly wrung out and focused.

A Pause and Refreshments

I have half an hour or so between the yoga class and the hammam treatment, so I head to the locker room for a shower.

The locker room is a marvel. There's no need to bring a lock; the hi-tech lockers let you set your own combination on the built-in touch pads. Once the combination is entered and the cubby is locked, only the combination the user has entered will open the locker again.

I'm used to the hot room style of yoga, which always leaves me soaked. Amanda's class hasn't done that, but I have perspired enough that I figure my therapist will appreciate it if I shower. While I'm accessing my locker, I have a chance to chat with the other man from the yoga class. He's a hotel manager, and he tells me that the mental clarity he derives from the class helps him stay in top form on the job.

He also tells me about the privileges he enjoys as a member of the spa. For less than $200 per month, he can take as many yoga and vote fusion classes as he likes. He also gets 5 guest passes per year, and a discount on spa services such as massage, acupuncture, and Exhale's signature Hammam treatment. Plus, he receives one free spa service of his choosing each month.

After a shower a straight-down-on-you shower from a big daisy head, with a collection of body wash, shampoo, and conditioner at hand, I slip on a pair of sandals (provided), put on the gym shorts I wore to the yoga class, and don a soft bathrobe (also provided), then head to the relaxation area and settle into a comfy chair.

Music plays here, as it does throughout the spa; soft jazz, easy listening, maybe a little New Age. And there's a selection of teas available: In addition to green tea ("Some people like that caffeine kick," Taylor told me earlier) there are two herbal choices.

One herbal blend is called Water; the other is dubbed Fire. I tend toward fiery pitta energy, so I seek balance with a cup of Water tea. It has the medicinal taste of many herbal teas; it also tastes of spearmint.

The flavor seems to be there as a way of allowing the palate to relax into the infusion's flavor. Fire tea is similarly flavored with peppermint, and there's also a Metal tea, tasting of cinnamon, that my therapist, Kristen, offers me after the hammam session.

The Hammam Experience

In Turkey, a "hammam" is essentially a sauna. It's a place for socializing, relaxing, and sweating out toxins.

Exhale's hammam treatment is a little different, but it's aptly named. In the ancient bathhouse tradition, the treatment includes both cold and hot water; there's also an exfoliant treatment that's half skin care and half massage.

The hammam treatment space is kept at 104 degrees. The air is humid, and the space done in dark and white stone. The very look and feel of the space invites a Zen calm.

Kristen directs me to a platform where I take a seat as she prepares the water. I've brought gym shorts for the session; if I had had swim trunks, those would have worked better because I am about to get seriously wet.

The session starts off with six rinsings, the first of which is cold enough to trigger a wince and a gasp, and is doled out using a ladle. The second rinse is also shockingly cold, but the water is a little warmer and I've become a little more accustomed by then.

"In Turkey they'd just douse you," Kristen tells me. "But we don't want to do that!"

By the third rinse the ladle is no longer necessary, and the water is merely cool. The fourth rinse is actually warm, which is a pleasant relief. Already, My muscles are letting go of whatever tension they managed to hold onto in the yoga class.

The water of the fifth rinse is hot, and sixth, final rinse, hotter; again, there's shiver, but it's very different this time. We're back to the ladle for the sixth rinse, it's so hot, but it's also a lovely sensation.

Next is a sugar-ginger exfoliation. Kristen applies the exfoliant and works it into my skin with two passes on each limb. There are warm rinses in between times. She then turns to my back, and I can tell from her touch that she's a skilled massage therapist.

I ask whether the hammam treatment requires much special training, and Kristen tells me that Exhale does train its therapists in the technique. She clearly knows her stuff: It's amazingly relaxing.

If the hour-long yoga class flew by, the half-hour hamman treatment feels longer. Maybe it's simply the case that when you let go of worry and tension, time stops feeling like a hammer and starts to feel like a hammock; it doesn't matter how long you've been here, because you feel suspended, deliciously so, between moments.

I'm well ensconced in that feeling of blissful wellbeing when Kristen applies green tea bags to my eyes -- a final touch that addresses puffiness but also means I have to keep my eyes shut for a couple of minutes longer. It's like being given permission to relax and enjoy that much more.

When the hamman treatment is done, Kristen leads me across the room and invites me to rest on another raised platform. She brings me Metal tea, and checks in with me. How am I feeling? The short answer is, I had forgotten it what it felt like just to be in the present, free of aches and pains, with a sense of health permeating me.

I head back to the locker room, but I don't rinse off the final application, a soothing oil that enhances the new softness imparted by the exfoliation treatment. Still, I take a moment to look again at the array of products provided by the spa: Shower rinse, body lotion made with "natural white tea," shave gel, hair gel, mouthwash, razors, shower caps. It's all here.