Cayla Buettner

Summer had arrived just in time for the long Memorial Day weekend, but as Yoga Sleuth likes to say, there's no holiday from yoga. So I hipstered over to the intersection of Morgan and Thames in Bushwick for the Friday Night All Flow with Cayla Buettner at Jai Yoga Arts. Cayla welcomed us by reading a passage from Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now, about the importance of living in the Guess What. "I'd at first resisted reading this because it was my mom recommended it!" she quipped. Cayla's class, while providing a strong workout, concentrates on much more than the third limb. The asana practice was preceded with three "Om"s, and followed by nadi shodona (alternate nostril breathing) and seated meditation. But in between we flowed, and the newly arrived summer heat was a welcome complement. We woke up the spine in cat and cows and then reared back into downward dog. My first dog of the day is always a bit off, and Cayla put me to rights with a gentle adjustment, easing my hips to where they needed to be.

We proceeded to jump backs into chaturanga, then warrior twos and triangles, first facing the front of the room and then the back. We grabbed for our toes and folded over for a deep stretch, then slid our hands under the heels to take it a step further. Cayla has what I li