Barn Yoga

Kaiut Yoga Online and in Person Classes in Boulder

What’s In A Name?

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Ever wonder why we are called Barn Yoga?

As the “old-timers” know well, we offered our very first Kaiut Yoga classes at Kelly’s Barn, a one-of-a kind landmark in north Boulder, located just a few blocks from our current location.  We didn’t have an official name back then; everyone just referred to us as “barn yoga”.  When the time came to choose a legal name for our business, we decided to make our unofficial name official — and thus Barn Yoga LLC was born.

Then came the pandemic. The barn closed and we became a “virtual barn”, literally overnight, and remained so for more than a year. When we reopened in our new location above Lucky’s Bakehouse in June, 2021, we had already established a reputation for ourselves as Barn Yoga, and we also still felt a sentimental attachment to the place where it all began.  And so we decided to keep the name Barn Yoga, no doubt to the puzzlement of some of our newer students.

Nowadays it is likely safe to say that we the only “barn” in the entire world which is located upstairs above a bakery!

Reflections On Teaching… Five Years In

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On May 17, 2017, a few friends were kind enough to come to the barn to take the first Kaiut Yoga class I ever taught — and thus Barn Yoga was born!

The first anniversary of Barn Yoga’s creation was celebrated with great fanfare, likewise the second and third anniversaries.  The fourth anniversary slipped by almost unnoticed in the midst of the pandemic, and the fifth might easily have done the same, but five years into this great adventure, it does seem appropriate to mark this milestone with some reflections on teaching…

I believe I was originally drawn to Kaiut Yoga because it was an embodied experience of principles that I already felt to be true.

What seems to have happened as I have continued to explore Kaiut Yoga is a strengthening of my belief in these principles, belief based on the lived experience in my mind/body of these principles, and belief based on the observation of these principles operating in the minds/bodies of my students.

These are some of the understandings I hold with greater conviction as a result of my exploration of Kaiut Yoga:

As a human being, I am not separate from nature, but rather am an intrinsic part of nature.

Nature is lawful.

The laws by which nature operates are highly intelligent; these laws are wise, kind, economical, efficient, and oriented toward restoration, preservation, and growth                                                                               .

Because nature is abundantly kind and wise, I can trust nature as it expresses itself in my system. 

To align with nature is of necessity an act of kindness toward myself, kindness that expresses itself not only in my yoga practice but also my way of being in the world.

To the extent that I can align not only my yoga practice, but my entire way of being in the world with the laws of nature, I can benefit from this wise, kind, economical, efficient way of being and can experience optimal restoration, preservation, and growth.


Although the dis-ease may be presenting in my body, the primary agent of restoration, preservation and growth is my nervous system.  The most efficient gateway to my nervous system is often my body.  For this reason, in my practice I am always aiming for the nervous system via my body and from the nervous system back to my body via a feedback loop.

Just as is the case in all aspects of my life, when I oppose the forces of nature, this causes me harm; when I am able to align with the forces of nature, those forces can be powerful allies.  

One of the most elemental  forces of nature is gravity, which when engaged with intelligently, can be a great ally in restoration and healing, but when engaged with improperly, can be a source of degeneration, injury, and illness.

All of these are things that I bring not only to my personal practice but to teaching my students as well.  The underlying principles are the same for all of us because we are all a part of nature and are therefore all subject to these these same principles. 

Having had all of these convictions strengthened by the direct experience of them in my Kaiut Yoga practice, and having a nature that is inclined toward being both a teache and a healer, how could I not want to share this practice with others?

And that is exactly what I am doing — now five years in, and with the good fortune of being able to continue to study and teach this beautiful practice.

 

Meet Our Student – Brad Silsby

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Two and one-half years ago, at age 71, the back pain Brad had been living with for most of his adult life was getting worse.  Many everyday activities, longer car trips, and even the commute by bus from Boulder to Denver had become difficult.  An avid long-distance hiker, Brad found that he had to limit himself to shorter hikes because of his back issues.

At the encouragement of his daughter, Brad started coming to Barn Yoga classes twice a week.  The teachers supported him by providing many accommodations, including working from a chair, supporting his back leaning against a wall and adding extra bolsters when needed.  After just a few months of practice, Brad experienced modest but definite improvement.  Encouraged by his results, he invited his wife Angela to come to class with him and they have been coming to class together ever since.

Angela and Brad in Sukhasana

Last year, while spending the winter in Arizona, Brad was able to continue his yoga practice by coming to class online. He increased his attendance to three times per week which greatly accelerated his progress.  He found that he was able to move from needing to practice many poses seated in a chair to practicing almost entirely on the floor.

 

This year, now back again in Arizona for the winter, Brad is practicing Kaiut Yoga almost daily, and the results have been dramatic. His back is much more agile, and he is experiencing very little back pain.  He is able to go on six-mile hikes, his blood pressure has dropped to the point where he has been able to discontinue his blood pressure medication, and his sleep has improved.

      

Brad is also very excited to report that just within the past few weeks, he has been able to come down from a chair and practice 1/2 virasana on two bolsters!

1/2 Virasana!

Whether he is on his yoga mat or out and about in in the world, Brad  is committed to living by what he is learning from his Kaiut Yoga practice: engaging with his body from a place of greater kindness, applying sincere effort, but only when effort is needed,  backing off before sensations start to become aggressive, and resting when that is what his body needs.

These days, when he is hiking in the Arizona high desert, he has taken to stepping off of the trail from time to time to lie down and rest by the side of the trail, stopping not because he Is in pain, but rather to replenish and reset so that pain doesn’t even show up.

After two minutes lying on my back, everything relaxes…
it puts everything back together.


And after resting, Brad gets up and he carries on down the trail…

 

Life As It Is

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Life As It Is  

2022 was supposed to be the year when things got easier. While it’s only January, and we can still hope that there are better days ahead in 2022, right now there is a lot that feels just plain hard.

Amid all that life is delivering, we come to yoga class…and it usually feels pretty great. But however great it might feel, our practice of Kaiut Yoga doesn’t merely provide an hour of escape from the press of life. It actually affords something much more profound:  nothing short of a deep transformation of our bodies and our minds. Cultivating strength and flexibility in the body, calm and focused awareness in the mind, kindness and steadiness throughout, our practice educates us from the inside out to better meet the challenges of life off of the mat.

While we sincerely hope for those brighter days ahead, we can also take heart from knowing that our practice of Kaiut Yoga not only feels great, but is helping us to engage with greater ease with life as it is, however it is, in 2022 and beyond.