Student Interview With Esty Kurti

What brought you to the Bindu?
At 5’8” and 175 lbs, I am a BIG girl. I was never athletic and my talents were concentrated on sitting down and doing art projects. While I was growing up and while raising kids, I tried to lose weight and in the process got into walking and  jogging. Soon my knees started to hurt and I had constant back problems. Fast forward to 1993. I moved to NC and met Lucy Ravich who was an avid Yogi. We became friends and finally in 2002 she convinced me to take my first Yoga class with Kelley. At the time, my schedule allowed me to practice only once a week on Sundays and so for years it was Yoga once a week for me with different local teachers. It was Lucy again who said that it was time to go to the next level and that I should try the Bindu and Kelley’s class.

What keeps you coming?
I love Yoga and the benefits I get from practicing. Since I joined the Bindu, I feel that I am being challenged every class and that I am getting stronger by the week. My body is moving in ways that I did not know it could. I feel that I walk straighter and I am thinking about the Yoga principles such as; keep the side body long, pull your shoulders back, soften the upper palate. I also find that the classes are fun, because you never know what Kelley will ask us to do next, and although the basic principals are the same, we practice them in so many different ways.

What do you get out of your practice?
In addition to feeling really good physically (how many 60+ year olds can do all the things we do in class?), I use the breath work to calm down and even go to sleep. I can center and calm my thoughts in stressful situations. I can focus better.

What challenging pose are you growing to love?
Balancing poses are very challenging to me. I am starting to love them now that I understand the principal of pulling everything into the center and firing up my legs. I hope to be able to do Eagle with the same ease that I do a Downward Facing Dog.

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