Learning to fly: New wellness space Nirvana opens in Northampton

NORTHAMPTON — As a child growing up in Springfield, Kelsie Dwight imagined she could take flight. She’d stand on the pavement in a parking lot, her sneakers rooted to the ground, while before her, in that vast space between the cars, was a spiritual runway.

“I felt like I could push myself off the ground and I would fly,” she said. “For some reason that never really left me.”

The inner energy she sensed empowered her, but there were things that were outside of her control. The way the wind came in gusts. The ground trembling beneath her. She had to be aware of what lifted her, and what held her down.

Now the executive director of Nirvana, a wellness space on South Street in Northampton, Dwight is sharing a lifetime of intuition and experience with the community. The 1,600-square-foot space opened on Feb. 3 and functions as a creative hub where people can “move, make, work, reset and connect.”

A massage therapist and Reiki master, Dwight teamed up with her partner Noah, a lifelong musician, to create a space that honored all the loves of their loves, including their two children, who are eight months and 3 years old. Nirvana offers programs for kids up to age 10, as well as a flex room for parents who want to work out or meditate while keeping an eye on their children in the enclosed space next door. There is a gym, a full kitchen, and ample space for all ages to craft and create.

Years ago, when Dwight’s family would visit her grandmother, she and her siblings were relegated to the basement to play while the adults commandeered the kitchen table and gossiped over dominoes.

To be included in the dishing upstairs, Dwight offered the adults shoulder, foot and hand massages. “I automatically had a sense of where the tension was,” she said. “I could just feel it.” Accordingly, she got to hear “all the tea,” and while no one caught on that she was listening, she was always attuned to the needs of their bodies and the sound of their voices.

But by the end of high school, she planned to go into the United States Marine Corps.

“I was just looking at my yearbook the other day, going through while crafting things, and I had never read any of the comments people wrote me,” she said. “So many were saying, ‘I’m going to miss you! Have fun in the military!’ And I’m cracking up.”

Dwight has a lilting, lingering laugh, like the contrails a plane leaves in the air behind it, clouds that hang momentarily in the sky.

She thought the military would be protective and expansive. “I wanted to go places, I wanted to see the world,” she explained. “I had been in messes my whole life. My family came from a long line of drama and trauma. I knew if you stay in one space forever, sometimes your mind can be very small and you’ll forget to care about anyone, even yourself.”

Her intuition told her to return to her hands. She enrolled at the now-shuttered Branford Hall Career Institute in Springfield and worked as a massage therapist for eight years. 

Eventually, her empathy and her physicality got the best of her. The heaviness of people’s burdens, and the pain in her own hands, led to her pursuit of Reiki, an energy healing practice centered on light touch.

After ending a romantic relationship with someone who made her feel small, Reiki helped Dwight stand in her own light. She understood that when the wind howled and the ground shook, she couldn’t change the terrain but could take a step back from it. Trauma couldn’t be undone, but flying gave her new perspective and expanded her world. Now she would help people see themselves through the lens of possibility. 

After studying with Lucie Charles in Enfield, Connecticut, Dwight became a Reiki master in 2021. In the meantime, she met her fiancé, Noah, and they began talking about merging their interests. In addition to their creative space, Nirvana offers gaming hours, band rehearsal, moving meditation, spoken word poetry and drop-in kids’ play. In the privacy of her own office, Dwight provides spiritual life coaching and self-Reiki classes.

The organization offers solo, duo and family memberships ranging from $65 to $115 per month. Attendees can opt for daily drop-in, weekly drop-in, or monthly drop-in passes ranging from $25 to $365. The space can be rented out for events for about $100 per hour, but Dwight is open to negotiating based on individual needs.

Located in the D.A. Sullivan School building in the Old School Commons, Nirvana is currently in “Phase One,” said Dwight. She and her partner hope to develop the other side of it, which would add another 1,500 square feet and house a recording studio, a larger playspace, and a community gift shop where people can sell the art they craft. 

“We want Nirvana to be a space where people can learn about why they’re called to do what they do,” said Dwight, “to be themselves and learn what that is all about.”

Learn more about Nirvana at nirvananoho.com. Melissa Karen Sances can be reached at melissaksances@gmail.com.

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