Brenda's classes are a respite from these difficult times, and they provide skills to use off the mat as well. Her voice is calming and reassuring, evoking an aura of disciplined calm. I especially enjoy the meditation built into the exercises; I always feel refreshed and invigorated at the end. Anjali. - Juliet L.
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A lot of people have the impression that yoga is about bending into pretzel-like shapes and that it's only for certain types of bodies--it's not. Brenda's classes may trick you into thinking that the experience is mostly about what's happening on your mat but really, she is teaching and leading you into all sorts of places, places that I don't know the names of (that are deep down inside each of us), places that bring you to calmness and joy, no matter what mood you come to class with. She is a skilled teacher with a wicked sense of humor. She has made this weird, depressing, lonely year bearable and often enjoyable. The best thing about taking class with Brenda is that you get to take the good feelings, the lingering laughter at her crazy jokes and musings off your mat with you and into "real life." - Carole H
Best yoga ever...best yoga nidra ever... Brenda has a generous spirit, and she embodies the practice and shares her depth of wisdom. I know it makes a difference when I practice. - Sheila M.
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Practicing with Brenda allows one to experience and embody both the outer and the not easily accessible inner essence of yoga. - Nadine C.
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For many years, Brenda has been a solid anchor for not just myself, but for many of her students. No matter how badly I may feel going into a session, I am 100% going to feel better with Brenda's guidance. I wholeheartedly recommend Brenda to anyone seeking peace and wellness. - Lyle F.
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I always feel that classes facilitated by Brenda are crafted to help me get in touch with what I need the most, in that moment. She shares from a very deep place and guides from her heart. I am so grateful for her warrior-like sense of humility, and her extreme preparedness and dedication to this practice--she has studied with some major yoga "greats" like Rod Stryker and those at the Himalayan Institute. I am so very grateful to know this bad-ass being and to see that she found a way to offer classes during this era of Covid. Mahalo nui loa, Brenda. I love you!!! - Lala B.
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College instructor, musician, author...because you live yoga so fully and deeply, you bring to our weekly yoga practice inner peace and an escape from the day. - B.A.A.
I have been practicing yoga for nearly 20 years and have experienced a wide variety of teachers across numerous styles of yoga. When I took my first class with Brenda five years ago, I very quickly recognized her rare gift. She doesn’t just teach yoga, she teaches how to live yoga. Where so many teachers focus on powering from one position to the next or getting everyone in class to fly, Brenda focuses on finding yourself in each pose to be in tune with what your body needs in the moment. This is especially true of her virtual format on zoom. In my own living room, I am with our virtual Sangha, but I am in my own world and Brenda is just speaking to me. I leave each session feeling refreshed, rejuvenated, and reminded to live life off the mat in the same way I do on the mat. Mahalo Brenda! - Erin A.
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My nervous system was/is shot due to severe family trauma...one of my few escapes is yoga with Brenda. I was initially Zoom avoidant, but it works well enough. Yoga nidra has been particularly wonderful in allowing me to enter into state of utter and total relaxation, a place I don't easily get to these days. Thank you Brenda! - Deborah A.
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I fell in love with a dimly lit, brick-walled studio adorned with fresh flowers, two sprawling palms, and three antique windows peering out onto Chinatown’s historically romantic and tipsy Hotel Street. Brenda fit the scene like a pair of Audrey Hepburn vintage gloves. Her t-shirts and sharp angled haircut reminded me of my teenage years packing zines and cigarettes to straight-edge punk shows in Berkeley. And the sound of her voice calmed me into a state of awakened lucid dreaming. Over the months I started to pick up on her fiercely sharp wit in between Om shantis. Eventually, Kwon’s classes became as ritualistic as brushing my teeth and I have been a devotee ever since, following her from studio to studio to Zoom, showing up sometimes two...three...four times a week. It’s never too much. In fact the more the better. And I’d be quite alright if went on Zooming forever. - Sarah B.
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I saw colors during (yoga nidra) practice. They were purple and yellow. When we were going down the points on the top right side of my body, it was like the screen saver on the Mac that had the white point and the "arms’"that stream from it being purple. I'm also having clear dreams in color. - Cory W.
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Brenda’s class has been such a gift during the pandemic. I don’t miss going into the studio at all. It’s perfect mix of vinyasa, mantra, and meditation...with a bit of humor and cat cameos! - Julie R.
