Every now and then, we get fan mail that is just too good not to share. This student’s name is withheld per their request.

I started 2023 wanting to add yoga into my life. I needed to improve my physical flexibility, but I chose Kaiut to balance and heal my nervous system as well. Practicing Kaiut for the past 7 months has benefited me in so many ways, and I must thank all of you!

Practicing Kaiut is an act of self-love and self-care unlike anything I’ve ever done before. It’s connected and enriched my mind-body relationship. It’s allowed me to experience embodiment and to listen to my body in a different way.

I’m used to using my body…

I’ve participated in competitive and/or endurance sports much of my adult life. Anyone who’s done that knows there’s physical pain involved. I was very adept at powering through. My motto was: “It’s ok. Give it 10 minutes. That pain will change and something else will hurt.” I was able to disembody, disconnect. That’s great when you want to finish an event, but I didn’t recognize the cost of walking through life like that. And I didn’t understand the beauty of honoring my body in a different way by nurturing my mind-body connection. Now that I’ve experienced that joy, as well as the calm of accessing my parasympathetic nervous system, there’s no turning back!

A Wish To Summit Long’s Peak

I wanted to summit Longs Peak again this summer, so I’ve been working on my conditioning all year. I’ve done it several times, and I know the kind of shape I like to be in to feel confident on the mountain. I work out on my elliptical, walk and hike with my border collie Riley (who you’ve met virtually ‘cause he loves doing yoga with me), and this year I added Kaiut. Late this spring I felt some plantar fasciitis flaring in my right heel – likely from the elliptical. I had it a few years ago, and it took about 10 months of rest to heal. But the amazing foot, leg, hip, pelvis and strap work we do in class has kept it at bay, and Riley and I have enjoyed many long hikes this summer!

The Results

I summited Longs Tuesday. I noticed some real differences this time. Because I’ve been well-conditioned for each Longs summit (including mountain biking in past years), I know for certain Kaiut gets the credit. This time I took extra good care of myself nutritionally, so I never bonked or got dehydrated (more connected self-care). I moved more nimbly and quickly through the technical sections. My balance was remarkably improved navigating the large boulders on the descent from the keyhole to the boulder field. That really surprised me, but it makes perfect sense that Kaiut would yield that result. And the final 6 miles of trail from the boulder field to the parking lot – which historically have been tedious and painful after such an already long day – were not! I used the smoother sections to “walk and reset the system” and had a lovely and faster walk down.

Thank you for your mindful, knowledgeable, caring and humorous teaching. I look forward to sharing many more years in class with you.