Bryan Kest Visits Salt Lake City

"all yoga poses are stupid; unless you'd like
to do it smart"
-bryan kest

I went to a Bryan Kest workshop and it was great. Bryan Kest, renowned yoga guru, is a breath of fresh air. He visited Salt Lake 2 weeks ago and offered a Power Yoga Workshop. A great thing to have him in Utah. He is scheduled till 2011 giving workshops all over the world. Thanks goes to Centered City Yoga who sponsored the 3 day event. I didn't know much about Bryan Kest {sorry to say I had never done his yoga videos before} so I arrived the first night without any expectations. I was just thrilled to be doing yoga for 2 or 3 hour stretches during his workshops. I wanted to completely immerse myself into this.

First thing I noticed was the gymnasium we were meeting in. I love old buildings- especially old school buildings. The Payne Gymnasium located on the Westminster College campus looked to be about 50 years old. I hadn't stepped into a gym like that since my high school days at dear old Jordan High. Once everyone quieted down it was apparent that most of the windows surrounding the gym were chipped and had holes varying in size. A lazy breeze blew in and the gentle chirping of birds could be heard. Then Bryan started to speak. In short, he believes the western world has brought their obsession with competition, judgment, criticism, distractions, and fear into yoga. When done smartly- letting go of all the aforementioned attachments and only bringing awareness to one's feelings/sensations- yoga is a tool that allows us to practice "living" on the mat. Then we can take good things we discover like attributes such as love, harmony, balance, kindness, truth, moderation, gentleness, stillness, and insight into real living.

At the end of his Long, Slow, and Deep Stretch class there's a part he calls the grand finale. He asked us to hold paschimotanasana for 10 minutes. Yup- 10 minutes! This guy was going too far. But what the hay. I focused on my breathing. When things got really unbearable I was aware of the pain shooting throughout my body. My mind screamed at me- Stop this right now! I said alrighty, and eased up a bit. Accepting the truth that I had to adjust a little bit in order to endure was the hardest part. During my quiet internal struggle Bryan announced that only 45 seconds remained. What? No way! He then said something like this... How often do we approach life's experiences and say to ourselves, "I came here for something and it was over so fast". I breathed a great "Ah, ha!" It's good to have the mindset of "sucking the juice out of every moment of life." I think I got something out of that.



















me, bryan kest, danielle

























about 200 people attended