Author Archive | Christina Bryza

I am not supposed to be writing this. I am supposed to be taking a 6 p.m. class and then attending a workshop on consciousness and art and creativity. I have been looking forward to the workshop for a week, and planned to write a post about my (presumably) enlightening experience there. But instead I […]

I picked up a flyer on the lower east side and thought I’d let everyone else know about this free meditation and spirituality festival. It already started, but there are still events every night this week, culminating in a weekend workshop. The website says reservations are required, but I called and you can just show […]

Just a quick heads up that now when you tell people about my yoga journey, you can send them directly to ThisIsWheretheHealingBegins.com! The web address with “.wordpress” still works, but I figured my blog title is long enough as it is….  

This evening I took advantage of one of training’s biggest perks: access to an empty studio. An empty studio means that instead of orally rehearsing my dialogue while strolling the streets of Manhattan, I have the opportunity to try my hand at verbal instruction in a designated space, with real-life students, aka fellow teacher trainees, […]

One of the biggest differences I’ve noticed between Bikram yoga and vinyasa is something my studio calls “the flow.” Vinyasa encourages fluid movement and you don’t often stay in a pose for more than a breath or two. This, I’m discovering, is a useful and rewarding way to practice, but I’m finding it as initially […]

I realize I pretty much renounced Bikram in a previous post, but I’d like to revisit some of my words. Because while I still have some major philosophical quibbles with the guy and don’t plan to ever attend his teacher training, I’m finding it impossible to separate his yoga from my own. I thought I’d […]

Just be you–how many times have I heard that advice? Feels like it’s a common theme of the last few years of my life, and never more reinforced than this afternoon. Plenty of books have told me how I’m entirely worthy exactly as I am, and I know I’m a unique snowflake, and I’ve heard […]

It always perplexes me when I leave a yoga class feeling worse than I entered it. Especially because I was in particularly high spirits today. I even had an impassioned afternoon conversation with a coworker who’s considering starting a yoga practice. I (think I) helped her absorb a valuable concept, which is that loud noises, […]

I’ve been thinking about language and definitions a lot lately. A big part of the challenge ahead of me lies in describing yoga postures effectively, in learning how to ask for exactly what I want from my students. It will be my responsibility to safely guide any number of people through an hour-long physical meditation, […]

So my goal with this blog is to share an honest account of my journey. Which is pretty easy to do when I’m feeling positive, as I have been lately. Of course I didn’t think the roses and rainbows mentality would last forever, but I also didn’t expect to feel so overwhelmed after, um, the […]

I’ve read that when you start to follow your own inner compass and live toward your life purpose that things fall into place with synchronicity. My personal experience in the last few months confirms this assertion, and it’s exciting to feel confident that things will work out, that it’s safe to have faith in the […]

I get my first taste of teacher training tonight, and I am so excited! I am keeping my heart open and my expectations flexible, but after planning for this since November, it’s hard not be tingling with anticipation. What will it feel like to officially be taking yoga seriously? Who are the other people in […]

Tonight I found myself in need of some asanas but without the willingness to attend a yoga class. I’ve spent the last three days with my immediate and extended family, celebrating the 100th birthday of my great-grandmother, and I was awhirl with emotions by the time I returned home. One of the best ways I […]

Reading about yoga requires attention and concentration. I have the Grammys on in the background in my living room and I really like music, so it’s a struggle not to skim Light on Yoga, even though light reading it is not. And although I may give it more study later later, I suppose my current […]

I like to be high and some seem to prefer low but all of us have set points. Weight, happiness, tolerance for bullshit–everyone’s internal thresholds are hard-wired into our neural networks. It’s not that we can’t change the patterns, but have you ever tried rewiring a home? It’s a lot of work. Of all the […]

I struggle with discipline. I don’t like to be told what to do and I have a hard time sticking to new routines. I have no trouble indulging. It’s not only children who benefit from structure and discipline, but ever since becoming an adult I’ve taken far more pleasure in pleasing myself than I have […]

I can’t believe I’ve only known about Snatam Kaur, or, more accurately, her entrancing and soothing song “Ong Namo,” for only a week or two. I haven’t heard anything so beautiful since Donna DeLory’s “He Ma Durga” or maybe my first taste of Enya. But this track is the best of both worlds because the […]

Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip-drip-drip-drip. I try to be patient as I wait, my head tilted slightly to the  left, my chin tucked into my chest. I have the spout of what looks like a gray plastic genie lamp wedged into my right nostril. The genie’s lamp is halfway full of salt water that I’m pouring […]

I have told a few people to check out this blog, which means there’s a chance you already know that while I continue to practice hot hatha yoga, I’ve decided to stop practicing at the studios licensed by modern guru Bikram Choudhury. But I thought I’d go ahead an include the quote that tipped the […]

I am going to get my 200-hour certification, which is a pretty standard achievement in the yoga world. It’s a generalized pre-req that may or may not carry weight or meaning, depending on where you go and who you talk to. (According to this New York Times profile of Tara Stiles, certification is worthless. I […]