Read below for the wonderful review of Mel’s Monday 6:30pm class that Brette Popper wrote for Yoga Sleuth. Yoga Sleuth is a super fun article on the fabulous Yoga website www.yogacitynyc.com. Here it is:

Strong, confident adjustments is what Yoga Sleuth liked most about Mel Russo’s Level 2 class at Yoga High on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Or maybe it’s that Russo and her business partner Liz Buehler, who was also in the class, love teaching yoga. Or maybe it’s that the studio is chock full of serious students who don’t take themselves too seriously. Or perhaps it’s Russo’s playlist that mixes “Sympathy for the Devil” with Air.  Or maybe….

Whatever it is, Yoga Sleuth is now smitten. Even though the studio charges a premium price of $18 for class and $2 for a mat rental, it’s well worth it.

Russo starts the class by allowing students to warm themselves up in whatever ways they feel comfortable. This is a smart technique as it allows her to scan the room and see what kind of flexibility and range of motion she has in the room that night. There are about 25 of us tonight and the studio, which has a capacity for 34, feels spacious. After stretching out in downward facing dog, we begin flowing through combinations of lunges, Chattarungas, cobras, cat/cows, simple twists and extensions over straight legs. Then we move to warrior 1, 2 and peaceful warrior all perfectly timed to a lively (but not too loud) soundtrack.

Russo extols us to draw up our abdominal muscles and pay attention to our breath. She doesn’t spend a lot of time discussing alignment but instead uses her words to encourage all the students around the room, telling everyone how beautiful their poses are, and how serene they seem. She clearly loves asana practice and she eagerly and energetically transfers that love to every student in the room.

Her adjustments are excellent. She is careful to watch your breath before putting her well-trained hands on your back or shoulders or hip. Yoga Sleuth is so grateful because in excellent adjustments she finds length, comfort and easier breath.

Russo and Buehler tell me after class that they make it a point to adjust every student at least once. What those adjustments represent is Russo’s desire to make sure each student knows that she has paid attention to their personal practice—so that the student will know that the love of yoga is passed on through the hands and the heart.