Bend It Like Nicole Brown

You often see her with her two beautiful daughters (and her long wavy hair), strolling around LowerTown.

Or cheering on her hunky husband Nathan Brown at one of his honky tonk performances as part of Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers, and more recently, the Solid Rock’it Boosters.

Or twisting and turning her tiny muscular body into all sorts of gorgeously ridiculous yoga postures and poses.

Nicole Brown of the Paducah Yoga Center (PYC) is beautiful. Inside and out. She even has a beautiful yoga name: Nirmala.

She’s recently returned from several weeks in India (including a dip or two in the Ganges River) and she’s ready to bring us into her beautifulness at this weekend’s LowerTown Art & Music Festival!

Here’s Nicole’s schedule of free festival classes: 

SATURDAY, MAY 23

9-10 a.m.
Morning Yoga on the Grass at the Main Stage Area
(moderate) Basic morning sequence.
 
11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
Vinyasa Flow Yoga at PYC Tent
(vigorous) Likened to a dynamic dance, postures or asanas are connected through the breath for a transformational and balancing effect.

2:30-3:15 p.m.
Meditation Class at PYC Tent
(moderate) Meditation is for stress reduction, relaxation and spiritual awakening. Sitting for just a few minutes can bring about a well-needed time for rejuvenation and clarity in body, mind and spirit. Preparations and variations of sitting comfortably will be taught.
 
5:30-6:15 p.m.
Temple Tai Chi Class at PYC Tent
(gentle) A series of slow moving postures coupled with meditative techniques are used to empower the practitioner with the ability to achieve a relaxed and focused condition.
 

SUNDAY, MAY 24

10-11 a.m.
Morning Tai Chi on the Grass at the Main Stage Area
(gentle) A series of slow moving postures coupled with meditative techniques are used to empower the practitioner with the ability to achieve a relaxed and focused condition.
 
11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Purna Yoga Class at PYC Tent
(moderate) Purna Yoga teaches alignment-based asana, meditation and pranayama, along with nutrition and yogic living. Purna Yoga is the art of loving yourself by living from the heart.
 
1:30-2:30 p.m.
Temple Tai Chi Class at PYC Tent
(gentle) A series of slow moving postures coupled with meditative techniques are used to empower the practitioner with the ability to achieve a relaxed and focused condition.
 
3-4 p.m.
Social Yoga; Drum Circle at PYC Tent
Percussion instruments provided, but definitely bring your drum if you have one! Reiki healing sessions available upon request all day Sunday.

Beautiful Nicole
Nicole is a certified, registered yoga teacher and Reiki Master, with yoga playing a key role in her beautiful life for more than 15 years, and Reiki for more than four. She’s been teaching since 2000, and continues to study the science of yoga.

Nicole’s eagerness to keep learning led her to an ashram in North East India for several weeks in March to study with Ramanand Patel and Mukesh Desai — two yogis who teach Yoga and Sound, a program that combines singing with body postures.

“It just resonates with my nature — I love to sing,” Nicole says. “When I allow the space for singing, it becomes a beautiful expression of freedom.”

Nicole lived at the Swami Dayananda Ashram in Rishikesh, taking classes, meditating, drinking chi and dunking herself in the Ganges River.

“The Ganges is a sacred and auspicious river, and the tradition is that you go in the water to purify yourself,” Nicole says. “It felt so amazing. The only description of amazing that I can come up with is that when I came out of the water, I felt shiny.”

Not surprisingly, Nicole’s time in India confirmed that her way of life here in Paducah — daily yoga, eating right, caring for her family and herself, caring for others — is right on target.

“I was a little hesitant to go at first because it meant leaving my children and my husband and my job, you know, all these ‘identities’ that we’re supposed to uphold,” Nicole admits. “But living life to the fullest is the best example we can give our children and each other. It was a beautiful experience.”