Originally published in the Winter + Spring 2020 issue.
“It’s amazing every time,” an older woman shared to a fellow classmate outside the doors of Kaiut Yoga Boulder. “That’s why I keep coming back.”
Students leisurely leave the doors of this school, a place where many feel accepted, healed and empowered; it’s a place many call home.
Kaiut Yoga, co-owned by Kristin Savory, Craig Heneveld and Darvin Ayre, moved to a new location in Boulder this past September. The new space is equipped with a plethora of props the Kaiut method uses and now has a lobby large enough to hold the growing community before and after classes. The new space is light, beautiful and the yoga room has plenty of wall space (used commonly in Kaiut classes).
At Kaiut Yoga, the practice is not kept to just the mat, it’s all the time and space between where transformation is also at work. The Kaiut method was created by Francisco Kaiut; it teaches people how to take care of themselves. It’s biomechanical yoga built for different kinds of mobility, meeting everybody and every body exactly where they’re at. It’s about longevity, clarity of mind, happiness and allowing people to keep doing what they love in life.
“My body literally feels like it’s aging backwards,” Francisco says. “I think we’re tapping into something very solid in terms of result and development of yoga. The testimonials from my students are impressive; sometimes we even have a hard time communicating it with the public because it sounds too much.”
INTELLIGENCE OF THE SYSTEM
As our environment shifts, how can we continue to stay aligned with nature?
It’s simpler than we think.
“We want to pretend we are smarter than nature and control it — we don’t allow the nature within us to do what it’s good at doing, which is aligning,” Craig says. He explains it’s not about reaching outside the self for answers, it’s about tuning into the intelligence of each individual’s system.
“We all bring these different patterns or habits into the room,” adds Darvin. “By rebooting from within, our natural intelligence becomes available.”
Kaiut classes are like an organism — living, adapting and evolving. It depends on the time of day, student’s energetic states and all other subtleties that make each Kaiut class unique. Kristin, Craig and Darvin say they’ve never taught the same class twice, but they also take it a step further: if in one class 25 people are present, the teacher is leading 25 different classes in one space at one time, referring to students by their name.
THE BENEFITS
“People are really good at taking care of themselves externally … but this is cleansing internally, having the internal mechanics of your system functioning properly, and that was the original intent of yoga,” shares Kristin.
The spiritual and emotional benefits from this practice come from self-inquiry. Because the simplicity of the method is accessible to everyone, allowing students to individually see how the practice feels for them and not how it should feel, they find spirituality because it’s on them, not the teachers delivering it to them.
“There is the practice, but it’s about building relationships and reading them, understanding them and using all that to help the practice reach them where they can receive it,” Craig explains of Kaiut students. The support of the Kaiut community increases everyone’s well being, it nurtures the nest. Cultivating that nest — feeling comfortable, taking care of, being fed — is the energy being built at Kaiut, he adds.
Kaiut Yoga Boulder is hosting their first level of teacher training called The Concept beginning January 10. The training is meant for students looking to develop a deeper understanding of the practice and potentially offer it to others.
“This training is going to be about the Boulder community,” Francisco says.
Photo by Mary Pantier Photography.
After experiencing a yoga ashram nestled in the mountains of Colorado, Lexi became enthralled in the practice of yoga and meditation, and earned her yoga teacher training at the sacred space. Originally from Chicago, Lexi loves the holistic lifestyle she found in Colorado, and combining this passion with her writing is what makes her truly happy. As a Journalism and English major at the University of Colorado Boulder, Lexi spends most of her time reading novels and writing for her poetry and reporting classes. Besides this, you can find her hiking or traveling. Follow her @lexi_reich.
