old sitar

Yoga Jam but NOT Jam Band

“Don’t miss this.” These words, this phrase: whispered, yelled out, barked, snarled, growled, simply stated, clearly and authoritatively, in a yoga class. What do they mean? I’ll elaborate to provide some context…don’t miss even one single second, focus on this very minute of your life, this exact moment. With whatever the tone of voice these words are uttered, quietly or loudly, they’ll get inside your head. What you choose to do with them once they are there is up to you. The first time they passed through my ears in a yoga studio, I heard them. They found a place in the active parts of my brain, not tucked away for toying with years from now, I reflect on them regularly. Daily. Outside of the studio.

So, this blog isn’t and very much is about these specific words. They were said in a Friday night live-music yoga class many months ago by quite an intriguing instructor, a wild boar of a man, and they have stuck with me ever since. Most times these words, don’t miss this, are yelled out loudly to an entire class of yogis. Other times, the instructor calls you out with them. Sometimes, he whispers them quietly, almost in your ear, as he walks through the crowd, passing by as you hold Virabhadrasana II WARRIOR TWO for what feels like too long, stretching your fingers forward, reaching for the front of the room, the pain exploding in your burning thigh and hamstring muscles, bending at your knee farther than you ever thought possible, moving deeper into the pose, you hear these words echoing somewhere in the room, somewhere in your head, and instinctively sink into the posture just a little bit more, when you didn’t think you could. What’s most important about these words is not the words themselves. It’s not the pose. It’s not the yoga. It’s the life that you live.

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A wild beast

Where to meet this boar of a man yoga instructor? Saturday afternoon, at Kindness Yoga on South Broadway, come take an all levels Vinyasa Flow Live Music Class with Justin Kaliszewski instructing and KenK on guitar. It’ll be a fun. And when I say fun, I mean it’ll be exhausting exuberance. A seventy-five minute live-music yoga class followed by a kick-off-summer BBQ with Watercourse Foods and Great Divide Brewing beer.

I take Justin Kaliszewski/KenK live music classes every Friday night—and this is what you’ll get Saturday afternoon at Kindness on South Broadway—I have not had the energy or desire to go out on a Friday night in years, but even if I did, I’d go to this yoga class instead. It is a party: live music, pounding vibrations, people talking to each other, getting to know one another by name, laughing. KenK, the musician, guitarist, vocalist, rocks the house—some covers, some of his own tunes—his song, “Wonderful Day,” is one that you’ll eventually know the words to, similar to how you used to sing along at Friday Happy Hour in college, a bunch of drunk idiots singing along to “Sweet Caroline,” except this is different: KenK’s music will get into your heart. It’ll make your yoga move. You’ll be intoxicated, but without the Happy Hour Long Island Iced Teas. You’ll be inspired. You’ll look forward to hearing “Wonderful Day” at the end of the grueling hour of yoga, not only because it’ll signal the end of class, that the last hour of your life has been a work in magnificent, brutal physicality, but also that your life is a work in progress. The lyrics, the harmony, the beats, the guitar, the voices, the yoga: it’s all just good feeling. The class is through-the-roof energy. A physical ass whooping. A trek through mindfulness. Questions, insight, life. Fun. The combo of the duo—Justin and KenK—will affect you.

kenk

KenK, KenK

It’s all happening at Kindness Yoga, South Broadway location, on Saturday afternoon from noon to 1:15 pm. Come join. Get on your mat. Experience an incredible live music class. Afterward, eat delicious veg-head food at a yoga inspired BBQ. Drink beer.  Mesh with and taunt a wild boar—he may hunt you out; it’ll be a hunt you enjoy if you are strong at heart. Meet people who love yoga just like you do. Meet people who are trying out yoga for the first time just like you are. Don’t miss this. Don’t. Miss. This.