I got a chance to practice for a couple of days in Santa Monica while I was down there (from Sacramento) visiting my younger sibling. I was able to sneak in a two-hour class on Sunday and hour and a half class on Monday at Power Yoga. Brian Kest was the teacher.
It was really fun, no music the dude just walked us through a really fast, building flow. It goes into a lunging series from starting in child’s, downdog, then warming up with vinyasa, lots and lots of cobra which was really relaxing, then beginning into the lunging series with standing splits, twists, and lowering onto our forearms. Then we went into warrior 2, reverse warrior 2, prasaritta, hugged each leg and then went into a cool-down series which would cover hamstrings and hips, then go into a nice and deep meditation. He did a gratitude meditation Sunday, talked about church and building relationships and subjects that were really hilarious. He was extremely entertaining, having tons of knowledge about yoga and general exercise and health. That’s why his flow was able to become cardio oriented at first and calisthenic.
We did the splits as the culmination and tons of things for hamstrings, thighs, back, and shoulder, and everything up to this point has been interlaced with vinyasa. Bryan turns freakin’ poetic; he literally rhymes and sings while he talks you through vinyasa and he has perfect meter for the breath. He wasn’t too intent on pushing hard at all, rather taking care of yourself and being gentle so that you can relax into the poses, and eventually into the ending meditation. The meditation was definitely the coolest part, although it was probably the hardest.
Overall extremely enjoyable and I got to meet him afterwards. His classes were extremely rehearsed, but really awesome and insightful into modern life and the complications that each of us face in our lives.
I listened to his tapes while I was in Paris and really enjoyed the rising difficulty in the tape, as I got to know it better (this was after practicing for one summer and I had no personal practice yet). It was extremely enjoyable and challenging. I would highly recommend any beginner to try his classes, they are both challenging and sweet for all levels because he can talk to anyone from a beginner to advanced student through a vigorous vinyasa flow and he does it completely safely!
Here’s his website; it looks like he has an online video library, though I haven’t bought it. I might when I start making money again. I really like his classes occasionally, not every day or every time I practice necessarily though I think his flow is amazing. I do like hand-standing, wheeling, and chairing a bit more sometimes, not to mention triangles and half moons. But hey, I’d have to practice with him all year round to know he didn’t teach that way.