Barn Yoga

Kaiut Yoga Online and in Person Classes in Boulder

Meet Our Teacher – Pam Novotny

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Pam had already been practicing Kaiut Yoga when she ran into Barn Yoga student Barbralu Cohen who recommended she try some classes at the barn. Pam was just at the point where her Kaiut Yoga practice was helping her ankle improve dramatically after many surgeries and many months off her feet.  Seeking even more of the calm that  her yoga practice was bringing to her nervous system and more of the healing it was bringing to her body, she was increasing the number of classes she took each week.

Someone told me once that it’s easy to come to crave Kaiut Yoga, and that’s what was happening to me.

But something was still missing.

I wanted to practice closer to the source, closer to Francisco Kaiut’s influence, to really understand what made the practice work.

When she came to the barn, Pam found a community that filled that need.  When Francisco came to Colorado that year,  she signed up for his teacher training, thinking that it would only be an opportunity to continue to deepen her understanding.  By the time she finished 100 hours of training, Barn Yoga’s founding teacher Wendy asked her to consider teaching at the barn in the future.  A light bulb went off for Pam.

I’d always taught the things I loved.  I’m a writer with a long career writing books, and writing for newspapers and magazines.  For decades I’ve taught magazine writing, non-fiction book proposals and the writing of those books, journalism and reporting.  Now I’ve become a developmental editor, helping writers more clearly visualize and write what they desire.  And loving language as I do, I also teach English to immigrants through Intercambio, a fine Boulder organization.  Why wouldn’t I teach Kaiut Yoga?  

Pam has lived in Boulder with her family for more than 30 years.  She and her husband have five grown children, two of whom live with their families in Fort Collins.  Pam and her husband are in the process of moving there to be closer to kids and grandkids, and she is especially happy to be able to continue to teach Kaiut Yoga on Zoom.  If we are ever able to meet in person again, she looks forward to bringing Kaiut Yoga to Fort Collins — where there is not yet a single Kaiut Yoga class!

Meet Our Teacher – Aprille Jordan

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“Playgrounds are wonderful places to practice. Love this bench. Really lets my shoulders open!”

 

When  Aprille walked into a yoga studio in 2016 and signed up for a Kaiut Yoga class, she had never heard of the Kaiut Yoga method before.  Although she had practiced other types of yoga for many years, she found herself “wowed” by her very first Kaiut Yoga experience.

“There was something really quite unique about this practice, the way your eyes are closed and you’re not looking at anybody.  Your experience is just very internal.”

Aprille’s career in the technology sector, her passion for rock climbing and two pregnancies, had all taken a toll on her body, resulting in chronic back pain and shoulder issues, but she found herself surprised by the impact of Kaiut Yoga in these areas.

I was surprised by some of the connections I was feeling. The arm work was totally different from anything I had experienced before. Having the fingers clasped underneath the bolster was really profound for me because I was also feeling that in my low back. Also, as a person who generally tends to be labeled as flexible, I was surprised by the things that I couldn’t do and really curious about that.

 Although she had always thought she would become a yoga teacher someday, Aprille had always assumed that would happen after she had retired from her career in technology.  But after her introduction to Kaiut Yoga, she became so interested in the method that she decided to do a year long training with Francisco Kaiut, not with any intention of becoming a teacher, but simply to learn more about the method.

And then all of a sudden it just swept me away.  I quit my job in technology and I realized that I had to follow what is my nature.  I needed to make Kaiut Yoga the priority in my life.

 

As a Barn Yoga teacher for the past two years, Aprille has had an opportunity to work with many students over the course of months and even years of practice:

I really appreciate how dedicated our students are…It’s been wonderful to see the consistency in their practice and to see the transformation over time of their bodies.  And it’s not just the transformation in their bodies; sometimes it’s the transformation in the mind or in the nervous system. To be able to witness that… has been one of the things I love most about teaching.

And to those who haven’t yet tried Kaiut Yoga, Aprille offers this encouragement:

I think people who are not familiar with this method will be really surprised by this style of yoga because it’s not very yoga-ish.  The things that people associate with yoga that they don’t like, Kaiut Yoga is not. People don’t have to wear their Lululemon pants… they can come as they are, any body type, any mind set, they can just come.  And every pose is approachable and customized for them and for their unique body and experience.