Balance Requires Strength

About This Class

Bryan Kest leads a challenging, movement-rich flow built around the idea that balance requires strength. Starting in Child's Pose and warming through Down Dog, Cobra, and Plank, the class progresses into an extensive arm-balancing sequence — threading leg lifts, knee-to-elbow crunches, and "awkward airplane" variations from a tabletop base — before moving into standing and one-legged balancing poses including warrior-style leg extensions, hand-to-foot standing stretches (Bikramasana/Uttanasana), and Warrior III-like airplane balancing. Upper-body counter-stretches appear throughout: shoulder-opening backbends from kneeling (approaching Camel), interlaced-finger chest openers, and a supine spread-eagle leg stretch. The floor-based closing sequence includes half Lotus forward folds, a plow-like inversion, shoulder stand, a low leg-hover core hold with a chest-opening bridge variation, and supine twists. Bryan weaves a consistent mindfulness thread — returning repeatedly to smooth nasal breathing as both a physical tool and a metaphor for equanimity amid life's stress. The class suits practitioners who want to build functional strength, test their balance, and quiet the mind simultaneously.