Waltham Small Business Spotlight: TriYoga Boston

WALTHAM, MA — About a quarter century ago Beth "Brahmi" Gold-Bernstein retired from her high tech job to open a yoga studio on Prospect Street near the corner of Russell Road in Waltham.

And it's not just any yoga studio, she says. It's a spiritual community. She'd been practicing yoga for some 42 years, then in 1993 she started practicing something called TriYoga. She became a certified yoga therapist, a senior teacher trainer and then learned under the TriYoga method's founder Kali Ray, also known as Yogini Kaliji.

Gold-Bernstein says the systematic method that includes the full range of yoga practices (think: yoga flows, breathing techniques, concentration and meditation techniques) has helped her own health improve.

And something must be working. Expertise featured the studio as a Best Yoga Studio in Boston in 2016.

This is part of an ongoing feature: As Small Business Saturday approaches, the Waltham Patch is featuring a number of Q&A's about small business owners in the city. If you know someone we should talk to send us an email at Jenna.Fisher@Patch.com

PATCH: Will you do anything special or have any special promotions on Small Biz Saturday?

Gold-Bernstein: 10% off any pass or gift certificate, excluding monthly auto renew passes

When did the business open?
We opened our first center in 2000 across from the Library. We renovated and opened our new large center with meditation garden out front in 2011.

Tell us about TriYoga Boston?

TriYoga Boston is a non-profit organization. TriYoga promotes a complete lifestyle for optimal well-being.

All the teachers at TriYoga Boston all have decades of experience and training, and are passionate about sharing this transformational practice. The TriYoga practice moves slowly, with awareness on the breath. It is safe for all levels and abilities. We even offer a chair class. Yoga for Parksinon’s will be offered starting early 2018. We offer a free Pranayama (breathing) and Meditation community class on Sunday mornings.

TriYoga is the name of our method. There are 1900+ certified teachers (over 300 in China), and 59 TriYoga Centers and Communities worldwide including Australia, Austria, China, Denmark, Germany, India, Russia, Switzerland, Taiwan and the United States.

When we became a non-profit we chose [the name] "TriYoga Boston" because we weren't sure at that time whether we would move to Boston or stay in Waltham.

We are a sub chapter of TriYoga International. All the centers around the world are approved centers and provide TriYoga trainings, usually by bringing in senior TriYoga teachers but it is not a commercial franchise. It is a spiritual community.

What made you decide to go into this type of business? And why here?

This practice has changed my life. It has healed my back, wrists, shoulders and knees. We started with a very small center on Spring St., then built a community, became a non-profit, and opened a much larger center to accommodate more students.

What do you like best about it?

It is very gratifying to see the transformation of the students. I offer a "Free the Spine" class on Wednesday evenings. I love when students tell me they no longer have back pain and are surprised at how quickly that has happened.

Biggest struggle?

Growing our clientele, and keeping the center financially healthy.

What do you see for the future?

Expansion of our therapeutic programs. We are offering a number of therapeutic workshops including Yoga for Anxiety and Depression, and a Crystal Bed Healing Workshop.

Politics and business - how does it affect yours?

Yoga is the best antidote for stress. Politics these days are very stressful.

Name another local business you’d send customers to:

We send our clients to massage therapists, acupuncturists, and chiropractors.

For more:

TriYoga Boston, 60 Prospect Street, Waltham

This is part of an ongoing feature: As Small Business Saturday approaches, the Waltham Patch is featuring a number of Q&A's about small business owners in the city. If you know someone we should talk to send us an email at Jenna.Fisher@Patch.com

Photo courtesy of TriYoga Boston