CHRISTY BROWN, E-RYT 500
Teaching yoga since 2000, Christy has studied in India with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois (Ashtanga yoga) and S.N. Goenka (Vipassana meditation) and in the U.S. with Sarah Powers, Paul Grilley, T.K.V. Desikachar and H.H. the Dalai Lama. Prior to the pandemic, Christy taught full-time for 20 years in Marin County and San Francisco and has led (and co-led) 200-hour Yoga Works teacher trainings, Yin Yoga teacher trainings (of her own curriculum), workshops, immersions, yoga and music collaborations (and festivals) and international retreats. She has also been leading and co-leading yoga and meditation retreats annually at Tassajara Mountain Zen Center since 2011. Christy is a Yoga Works certified teacher trainer and has written an unpublished book entitled Yin Yoga & The Art of Letting Go (copies available upon request). Currently she teaches weekly livestream classes and once/monthly in-person half-day yoga and meditation retreats in Marin and Sonoma counties.
Emphasizing mindfulness, breath and alignment, Christy draws on yogic, Buddhist and Taoist philosophy, "sacred ecology" and other indigenous wisdom traditions to weave a creatively flowing, invigorating yet calming, centering yet expanding exploration of Self through Asana—dedicated to social and racial justice and highest wellbeing of the Earth and all beings, for the next seven generations and beyond.
Christy teaches two principle styles of yoga: Yin Yoga (a meditative and restorative style practice that focuses on calming the nervous system, quieting the mind and gently/safely opening muscle and connective tissues throughout the body) and Vinyasa Yoga (a moving meditation wherein the practitioner coordinates movement to breath to safely build strength and flexibility evenly throughout the body). Christy enjoys teaching these two styles of yoga separately as well as weaving them together in a way that always prioritizes safety and honors each student's level of experience, ability and vastly different skeletal and muscular structure and constitution. She also enjoys supporting students in trusting and following their heart, manifesting their dreams, feeling empowered and fulfilled, and being of service to the greater good through their unique set of interests, capabilities and talents.
Christy has volunteered time to guest teach with Prison Yoga Project at San Quentin Prison; has a background in cultural and language studies with U.C. Santa Barbara and Harvard University; spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Bolivia working with indigenous basket weavers in her late 20's; and has been living in tiny-house nature retreats (sometimes off-grid) since she began teaching yoga.
Christy's deepest hope is that we individually and collectively consider the impact of our every deliberation on the next seven generations and beyond—and that through wise thought, wise speech, wise action, wise livelihood, wise effort, wise mindfulness and ongoing self-reflection, we may co-create a more enlightened global collective consciousness so future generations of all plant and animal species can thrive.
All Christy’s offerings qualify for Continuing Ed units for yoga teachers certified with Yoga Alliance.