Blogs by Guruji Bryant

Guruji Bryant Francesco has been teaching in the US. India,  Italy, a few cities in the US and a couple of stints in Rio, Brazil, Toronto, Canada, and Munich, Germany. He has taught Power yoga teachers, vinyasa flow yoga teachers, and hatha yoga teachers, he has taught yoga in almost every segment of society in the United States. He has travelled to many caves in Italy, and the central Himalayas, and has been inspired by many life-and-death experiences. He has synthesized these practices and experiences and after quitting a high-paying job in Digital Radiology in the United States in 2006, allowed his love for humanity to spread. The fruit of this is his

continued teachings, whether to a beggar on the streets of India or the wealthiest in the United States.

He teaches his students to stop waking up and looking at their cosmetic beauty but to see their cosmic beauty. He teaches his students when ‘your life force is not flowing freely you feel pain in your body, you feel stiff, you feel old. He tells students there is no such thing as beginner yoga or advanced yoga, there is just yoga. The reason you feel you are a beginner is that you are disconnected from your body, you are disconnected from the reality of LIFE within you. Most of the Western world pumps pills for pain management, while there is a time to take pain medication or any medication for that matter. What if for many there was a way to ‘wake up the life force within, wake up your own ‘painkilling tranquillizers’ What if there is a way? He says ‘If you are willing, to take charge of your ‘SELF CARE’, I have the way. The problem with humanity is it is structured like a vertical ladder, even in India  ‘people feel the need to rise the corporate ladder, mothers spend their whole lives taking care of everyone else, it’s a never-ending thrust on the outside, gives one a false sense of fulfilment. It’s never-ending as there is always something to do, something to possess, some next thing to own or diet to try…  humanity misses the point, that all of what you call ‘your life is happening on the inside. You experience it from within. So if yoga is going to serve humanity it must be practised and experienced so you can get blissed out’ from within” and not from without.

Ardha pawana mukhtasana

Ardha Pawana Mukhtasana (Variation)

Forward Bends ( Or medical- Flexion of the spine) are the single most common group of Yoga Asana that if done incorrectly WILL cause lower back pain in your yoga practice.

2. Firstly if you have ANY lower back pain – e.g. the case of Sciatica ( as the sciatic nerve is getting pinched) – YOu SHOULD NEVER Bend forward from an upright position. It will put pressure on the disc, and it will push the disc to the front ( anterior), where the spinal cord is sitting in the foramen of the spine.
3. Even if you have no lower back pain- if one does a forward bend incorrectly you will progressively cause disc issues or lower back pain.

Ardha Pawana Mukhtasana (Variation)

The best thing you can do, in the event you have Sciatica is:

1. A modification of ardha padmasana lying on the floor
   (picture)
   ——-
   And for lowerback pain in general you should do:
   2.Ardha pawana mukhtasana
   3.or Pawana mukhtasana
   ( picture).
   ❤🙏
   Experiences of a yogi

Past 50 or more with muscle cramps and stiffness, pain in the leg

The causations are:

1. Older people have mostly never used their god-giving “will” of contracting and paradoxical stretching of antagonistic muscles for maybe 40 to 60 years.
   So What happens then, is the electric current in the neurons gets very weak, which prevents the flow of “nerve electrical energy- what is pranic shakti” to move freely in muscles, nerves, tissues and cells Especially of the lower body.

Also:
Keep in mind that 95 or more per cent of the World does not invert the body “ e.g. sirsasana, and sarvangasana, and its multiple variations- the most powerful inversions. So when you don’t, your weight is always bearing down on the lower limbs, this increases hydro-static pressure and makes for sluggish clearance of the lymphatic system. Hence nerves which are sheathed in flexible connective tissue never stretch. This will cause pain and constriction, to mention just a few long-term problems of not inverting.

Few Older people and even younger have kidney issues. This affects the Blood Pressure and vice versa. High blood pressure issues are never permanently resolved with meds, but the meds do help to suppress the problem. But is suppression a cure?

Now, If you add salt to your existing diet drink or salt to water to up your electrolytes you set yourself up for the aggravation of your pressure and kidneys.
——-

Older people,
Have to find someone who knows
proper :
Alignment-based asana with the ability to modify as needed.

Older people and youth need to drink :
1.
Water

2. Water with lemon juice (through a straw)
3. my favorite: is coconut water.

IF One has to make specific recommendations for anyone’s health, the teacher or guide
Has to consider many important attributes.

1. Age
2. ⁠ health issues- existing medical complications and prior surgeries if any
3. ⁠genetic predisposition
4. ⁠what food on average person consumed for say a 15-year period
5. ⁠what is the muscle tone, or basic fitness level of the individual
6. ⁠what is the attitude of the person with the problem
7. ⁠most important: the willingness on the part of the student to work “with IN”‘themselves
8. ⁠and lastly a commitment to continuing growth and development of overall health

————-
Truly I tell you “ the doctors and healers of tomorrow will
NOT prescribe medicine only, but will look at causes, lifestyle modifications, diet ( new and ancient( which is Ayurveda), nutritional supplementation of modern science, and preventative modalities like yoga.
And lastly quality exercise systems.
(one has to respect one’s age, prior or existing injury and not be in a competitive spirit, but
Introspective).

Finally:
We have to teach ourselves our students, And our families to be full “
Conscious”, in the Eternal Now- which is the realm of living in the present!
❤🙏
Life of a Yogi

While it is true that a beginner in martial arts or yoga or any sport hesitates, thinks, even doubts oneself as to what the right action in the moment
And
An advanced athlete seems to always move with a unified movement, thought and appropriate response in the moment.
A beginner must never feel that they will not be able to have this ‘disposition’ of being as an advanced athlete. A beginner must remember that the advanced athlete was ONCE a beginner too.

What is required?

These are key principles.

1. Consistency is more than how much you do, act or train. But rather in making a regular time for your training.
   ( Set aside time every day for consistent practice of your art or sport.)
2. ⁠Allowing yourself to be ‘fully present in the moment’ aka – Am I Now ? ( Yoga sutra for this is: Ata….) Learn how to be a ‘human being, not a human doing’ by focusing your mind and cutting off extraneous distractions. You will awaken within yourself the ability to? Respond appropriately to many situations. Keep reminding yourself not to jump back into the past or to keep holding anxiety for the future. Learn how to embody the moment fully NOW.
3. Bring your attention to your breath.
   When you embody how the vibration of life moves within you by fully being attentive to your breath, you will not only fully ‘respond’ to the need of the moment, but you will have more space to entertain all loved ones and address all the pressing things that come up in your life.

This dimension of space, called ‘akasha tattva’ is primordial to every thought, action and feeling in your life.

It is present in all: beginners and advanced martial artists, yogis, and athletes. It is present in all humans and in nature.

Advanced yogis, master teachers, and seasoned coaches continuously feed off this space dimension within themselves, and so can you as a beginner.

You now have the last, most important principle:
Just say ‘yes I AM willing’, and watch magic take over your integrated state of being.
❤🙏💥
Life of a Yogi
Sensei & Guruji

Guruji Bryant :

Most Indians, too have become so overweight they can barely walk up, bend their knees whenever I have traveled on any international flights example Air India, which is scary to travel nowadays I have noticed that the amount of wheelchairs that come out of a plane is the highest of any other nationality in the whole world so not only being bigger may not necessarily mean you’re stronger but one has to be careful, especially in India, and the US where obesity is rampant and people are not even exercising properly.
Knee problems are almost always because you’ve been overweight for too long. There are causes, too.

Prof. Abhijeet Gole:
Yes, obesity is indeed a significant global concern. However, according to the World Health Report published in 2022, India ranks 172nd in obesity prevalence, with only 7.2% of adults classified as obese.
Source: Wikipedia – List of Countries by Obesity Rate

That said, despite the relatively low national obesity rate, India still faces a growing number of lifestyle-related health issues. Factors such as genetic predisposition and sedentary habits contribute to the early onset of knee problems, cardiovascular conditions, and other related health challenges.

Guruji Bryant:

Dear Professor,

Thank you for your response.

To clarify, my earlier message was not intended to rank India or the US in terms of obesity. Rather, it was a factual observation based on over 21 years of full-time teaching yoga to a diverse cross-section of people in both countries.

Additionally, over the past 27 years of international travel, I have witnessed firsthand the alarming number of Indians in wheelchairs at airports, not just due to being overweight, but clinically obese, where chronic weight-bearing stress on the knees leads to degeneration of the meniscus and joint issues.

I respectfully suggest we move away from attributing such health issues primarily to genetics. As Dr. Bruce Lipton highlights in The Biology of Belief and in his work on cell regeneration, the notion that we are victims of our genes is a misconception. In my own practice, I’ve developed methods to support telomere (DNA end-cap) preservation and mitochondrial regeneration, which are critical to cellular health.

In my experience, consistent and mindful movement through the yoga I teach—and, in select cases, Ketsugo—can prevent or even reverse many musculoskeletal issues, including those involving the knees. Whether one begins early in life or at any age, the benefits of such practices are significant. A sedentary lifestyle is certainly a contributing factor, but it’s also a modifiable one.

We are now seeing knee problems among the youth, even those who are not overweight. These often arise from sports like skiing, running, tennis, soccer, basketball, and golf. The root cause frequently lies in tightness across the hips and leg muscles, particularly the 11 muscles of the leg and the 2 calf muscles.

Accidents, of course, do happen. But with God’s grace, physical resilience, and a well-trained body—especially through yoga—recovery is possible. I’ve personally fully rehabilitated two serious knee injuries from ski accidents in Austria and the US without the help of Western therapists.

As for cardiac issues, I would gently argue that these, too, cannot be solely blamed on genetics. Lifestyle plays a powerful role—and both Indians and Americans could benefit from losing excess weight, reducing sugar and deep-fried food consumption, improving sleep, and adopting scientific, consistent exercise routines.

Warm regards,
❤🙏

Here is 69-year-old man who met me 8 months ago, and I could restore his health significantly.
Mr. F