Yoga Buffet

I’ve probably taken a thousand classes or so in the seven years I’ve done yoga, but I’ve never belonged to a pure yoga place. Not anymore, I joined the new yoga center in Westport - Kaia.

I’ve taken classes at such venues, so I had an idea of what they were like, but until you have access to the depth and frequency of classes only a specialist center can offer, you don’t realize how quickly your practice improves.

I’m at a yoga buffet with the ability to sample as much as I want. I’ve taken Iyengar, Yin, and Vinyasa style classes, at the basic and intermediate levels. In some ways, I get more out of the basic, because that beginners mind allows me to fine-tune postures. For example, I’m now have my pinkies off the mat in downward dog. The widening of my hand placement opened my shoulders, making it easier to experience this as a resting posture. Before, early in a session, Dog was difficult and painful to hold.

But the most important progress made to date has been mentally, the ability to quiet the mind. The trick is to replicate that focus outside of class. It’s what enables me to wear many hats, from writer, to executive, to musician, lover, friend, or yogi.