Hi there…I know it’s been a few days since you’ve heard from me but I spent the weekend in the yoga studio. I had the amazing opportunity to attend an Inversion Flow Weekend with Briohny Smyth and her husband Dice Iida-Klein. Briohny is a well-known yoga teacher who is famous for her Equinox yoga video which has over four million views on YouTube.
It was a huge treat for the Charlotte yoga community to have Briohny and Dice for the weekend. We started with a two-hour master class on Friday night that focused on hip opening to get us into eka pada galavasana. To give you an idea of the intensity of hip opening in the class…we started in double pigeon. My hips are still sore today…it was so hard but so good.
Saturday morning was a three-hour inverted backbend practice. We worked on tons of backbends from forearm balance with our pivotal pose being full handstand scorpion. Here are a few pictures from that practice.
Dice demoing tick tocks, photo credit Wanda Koch.
Briohny demoing a prep for hollow back.
Practicing hollow back, photo Wanda Koch.
Another angle of hollow back. The focus is to learn how to back bend from your upper back and not all in your lower back.
Saturday afternoon was a three-hour acro/partner workshop. I was feeling pretty exhausted and sore from Friday night and Saturday morning and the combination of eating a brownie and a pumpkin cupcake for lunch at a baby shower but I rallied. This workshop was so much fun. We worked on partner stretches and acro yoga. We warmed up Rockette-style in a straight line and went through a flow together and held each others shoulders for a lot of the poses.
Photo Wanda Koch.
Photo Wanda Koch.
And then we got into the crazy acro yoga stuff. This is where I learned that despite my cheerleading background and spending years being thrown up in the air…I have major trust issues. 😉
Briohny and Dice demoing. Amazing. Photo Wanda Koch.
Photo Wanda Koch.
Photo Wanda Koch.
It wasn’t just guy/girl. We are strong too!
I had to miss the handstand workshop this morning because I had to teach but I was so grateful for the time that I did spend with Briohny and Dice. It is so inspiring to be taught by such incredible yogis who have so much knowledge to share.
I love yoga.
This is intense on so many levels. WOW! Kudos to you!
Such beautiful pictures Jen! Love this post.
Sounds like an absolutely wonderful experience. Workshops really transform my practice and understanding of postures. Rest your back, lady!
Holy Crap. This is intense yoga! You look amazing!
Dice and Briohny are coming to a studio about 3 hours from me…you may have convinced me to make the trip! Rest up!
These pictures are so inspiring. I have been practicing Bikram for years but went to my first Vinyasa class today and it was so different and new to me. I felt kind of lost in the beginning since the instructor didn’t explain any of the postures he was announcing but after a while I caught on. I am going to try to start going every Sunday now!
This is awesome and inspiring! I’ve been going to hot yoga about 4 times a week now and I am lovingggg it. Question…my studio is having an arm balance and inversion workshop next month and I’m trying to decide if I should go or not and just wait for the next workshop after I’ve been at it for a little longer? I don’t know if I have enough experience although they just recommend bringing “a desire to take a leap and some yoga experience.” Thought I’d get your input!
PS—I have your coconut pumpkin chocolate chip banana bread currently baking in my oven! SO excited!
This is so beautiful. It’s way beyond what my body can do right now, but I love looking at it. I just graduated from yoga teacher training today. 🙂
I’ve seen that video before and her practice is amazing and she is crazy talented… but it was weird to me as to why she was in her underware. I like the videos by Koni McGregor as well.
Thanks for sharing about your weekend. Those are some crazy moves/photos!
Kino MacGregor — Bah! It’s too late for me to be commenting. 🙂
Holy cow–talk about super inspiring and super challenging! Looks like a great yoga-filled weekend, Jen!
This is probably one of my favorite posts! What a beautiful, inspiring weekend… Things like this always remind me how dynamic my practice is. Yoga is endless! And I’m so excited you had the opportunity to work with Briohny Smith! Can you tell us more about hollow back?
The picture are fantastic. You have such a strong practice. Keep growing!
Thanks for sharing this, so cool! What a neat opportunity, you are one strong lady! Strong spirit and strong body, inspiring! Way to persevere, sometimes pumpkin cupcakes just happen 😉 I’ve been making batches of homemade pumpkin puree. Oh dear…
Wow these pictures are stunning! I have never seen yoga that has incorporated so much partner work, but I am always glad when yoga teacher do incorporate those rockette-style poses into a series. It spices thing up, and is great to actually feel the presence of your yoga neighbor.
Loved watching the video! And what a treat for you to work with them. Awesome!
What an awesome opportunity! I need to seek out workshops like these to expand my skills/knowledge a little more. We don’t have an awesome yoga community in my area so it would involve some travel, but I’m sure it would be worth it!
What cool photos! Thanks for sharing. 🙂 I only do yoga in the comfort of my own home, but I bet I’d like a studio if I ever gave it a shot.
Wow and Wow!
Amazing! Thanks for sharing!
I love hip openers!
Pam
This is so incredible! I’d love to get to this point one day…practice practice practice.
I’ve never seen Briohny’s video before but it is absolutely beautiful! The workshop sounds like an amazing experience! Arm balances and inversions are definitely things I want to work on more.
Love the energy that radiates from these pictures!
What amazing pictures! It must have been a great experience.
AMAZING!!!!
Oh my gosh, this looks AMAZING!!! I am SO jealous that you got to do a workshop with Briohny and Dice, I love them both! This looks like a big challenge and a lot of fun, thank you for sharing! Your scorpion looks awesome!
Wow that video is amazing! And this experience sounds so incredible! Shows how much strength yogis all have! Totally inspiring.
This is incredible! I loved the video. Your skills are sick my dear- you should be super proud! As always, I’m so inspired. xoxo
Oh my word! I do yoga at my home from an online site called yogaglo.com where Dice is a teacher. And not just any teacher, MY FAVORITE TEACHER!!!! I 99% of my practices from him. He’s amazing. I’m so jealous that you got to meet him. I’m sure you learned so much. He’s such an inspiration. And so are you!
Looking strong, Jen! Briohny is my yoga crush, haha.
thank you! she is AMAZING!