You can't find this anywhere else in Metro Detroit.
Our Center Director, Christopher Briney brings 28 years of continuous study (currently under Prashant Iyengar), advanced Iyengar Yoga Teacher and Yoga Therapist certifications to his yoga students.
03/06/2026
“Yogasanas performed on the essential plane are not at all for the body.” —Prashant Iyengar
YOGA: PRACTICE AND PHILOSOPHY:
An Iyengar Yoga Workshop taught by the only Level III Certified Iyengar Yoga Instructor in Metro Detroit.
SATURDAY, MARCH 14th
2:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Center for Iyengar Yoga
Both (limited) in-person and (unlimited) online attendance options are available.
Find out what essential yoga is, and what it’s for, if not for the body. Take advantage of the expert guidance of one of the most highly trained yoga teachers in the state, move your practice to higher levels, and become more of the person you want to be. Register now because the transformation begins when you take committed action toward your growth and upliftment.
After nearly 29 years of practicing (and thousands of attempts at Parsvottanasana), I am as impressed as ever by the importance of practicing the foundational postures (such as standing asanas). Nothing exotic, just insightful and ingenious actions and positions that can take a human deeply into who and what they are, and more importantly, who and what they can become.
Explore your “essentials” in our standing and forward extension-focused asana classes this week. Stay “united with reality” in our upcoming
PRACTICE AND PHILOSOPHY WORKSHOP
MARCH 14, 2026
2:30-4:30 p.m.
Royal Oak, MI
12 in-person spots remain
Unlimited online spots are open.
02/24/2026
NEVER SAY NEVER.
Over the years at the Center for Iyengar Yoga, people have looked at photos of B.K.S. Iyengar (from Light on Yoga) and said, “I could never do that.”
Here’s what I’ve learned after nearly 30 years of practice and teaching:
Almost anyone can do almost anything.
Yoga isn’t about how far you bend.
It isn’t about strength, flexibility, age, or looking like the model on a magazine cover.
It isn’t about doing the “perfect” version of a pose.
If yoga were only physical, it would belong to the young and the hyper-flexible. But Iyengar’s practice deepened even as his physical powers declined. Because yoga isn’t about performance — it’s about perception, courage, and growth.
For years, I didn’t even attempt Gherandasana because I couldn’t do it like Iyengar. Recently, I tried anyway.
Was it his version? Not even close.
Was it transformative? Absolutely.
Here’s the truth:
Your 100% might be 30% of someone else’s.
It might be 3%.
But your 100% has 100% of the power you need.
Yoga grows you when you explore what you can do — and then gently explore a little more.
So… are you ready to find out what’s possible?
If you’re near Royal Oak, MI, join me in person.
If you’re anywhere on earth with WiFi, join me online.
Let’s discover your 100%.
02/20/2026
Accelerate your growth in yoga with this workshop covering key elements to ensure your practice of pranayama is not only safe and effective, but as transformative as possible.
A few in person spaces are still available. Online (Zoom) spaces are “virtually” unlimited. Register now via link in bio.
02/18/2026
Tame (or ride) your inner animal—the universal power or consciousness, or prana—within you in this Iyengar Yoga Workshop led my Metro Detroit’s only Level III Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher, Christopher Briney. Help your practice be all it can be by deepening your knowledge.
In person spaces are limited to 16. Online spaces are limitless!
02/18/2026
From our Director, Christopher Briney: This is the man who’s teachings I strive to follow and teach. These are the shoulders we are fortunate to stand on when it comes to learning and teaching yoga. What’s most amazing is not what he could do with his body (although that is one amazing 60ish year-old demonstration of physical prowess), what is more amazing is that his passion for—and fascination with—yoga appears to have deepened even as his 80, 90, 95+ year-old body could do less. How his yoga deepened as his physical prowess waned. What is most impressive of all is, to borrow his son, Prashant S. Iyengar: Yog insight, not how he did the “postures” or what he did with his body, but rather how much yoga he allowed the postures to turn out in him. What is most amazing is what the postures were able to do in, and to him. I am grateful for the opportunity to walk in such a light.
02/18/2026
Join us this Saturday at The Center for Iyengar Yoga in Royal Oak for this amazing opportunity! Metro Detroit’s only Certified Level III Iyengar Yoga Teacher and Center Director, Christopher Briney is offering Pranyama Essentials: An Iyengar Yoga Workshop! This workshop is for all continuing students who want to take their practice beyond the movements and actions of postures into the deeper dimensions of internal consciousness and its power. Pranayama is a feature of yoga that truly takes it beyond exercise and into realms of self-transformation and refinement. If you’re interested in empowering yourself to become more of the person you want to be, this workshop is for you! Students should have a minimum of 1 year of yoga experience and be familiar with inversions to participate.
In addition, Registered Yoga Teachers (RYTs ) through the Yoga Alliance have the opportunity to deepen their knowledge in alignment, prop usage, sequencing, and Pranayama while fulfilling their professional development requirements. This workshop is eligible to be count ed toward th RYT Continuing Education requirements for Yoga Alliance.
This workshop is o pen to both in-person and online participants.
02/11/2026
PRANAYAMA ESSENTIALS
An Iyengar Yoga Workshop with Detroit's only Level 3 Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher, Christopher Briney.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21
2:30 - 4:30 p.m.
At the Center for Iyengar Yoga
1204 E. 11 Mile Rd.
Royal Oak, MI
-and-
Online Globally via Zoom
Arden Courts sponsors the Living Well Learning More series at OPC in Rochester. As part of this series, we hosted a special guest speaker, Christopher Briney, Certified Level III Iyengar Yoga Teacher and Center Director for the Center for Iyengar Yoga. He presented Forever Better: History, Philosophy and Practice of Iyengar Yoga to an engaged group of seniors. Christopher shared ways that anyone can practice yoga and reap it's benefits. He showed how no one is too old, too stiff, too healthy, or unhealthy to practice yoga.
At Arden Courts, we value community education, healthy living, and well-being. The OPC has a wealth of programming to support these aspects of living well.
01/28/2026
Group classes at The Center for Iyengar Yoga in Royal Oak are very welcoming and great learning environments for beginners and experienced students alike. They are available both in-person and online. And, we have our own parking lot in Royal Oak! So our students park for free!
Most discerning yoga students are interested to know their teacher's credentials, so here is some information about our Center's Founder and Director:
Center Director, Christopher Briney is Metro Detroit's only Certified Level III Iyengar Yoga Teacher. He has been studying yoga for 29 years and currently takes lessons at least twice weekly from his mentor, Prashant Iyengar (son of B.K.S. Iyengar), who has spent over 70 years immersed in his father's teachings and his own in-depth studies of the yoga tradition. Christopher incorporates all of this knowledge, plus his own extensive yoga studies to each class he teaches at The Center for Iyengar Yoga. The small class sizes allow for personalized attention and focus.
For those who want to know how to practice the yoga postures not just properly, but for maximum personal transformation, this is the place to learn.
All Levels Early Bird classes: 6:30 - 8:00 a.m. (EST) Tuesdays and Fridays at the Center for Iyengar Yoga. (Online via Zoom at “virtually” any other time, depending on your time zone. Leave a request for Zoom login credentials in the comments and we will respond.)
We think it would be difficult, but if you find a better way to begin your day uplifted, please do that! The world needs more people living in a great state of mind and being.
01/23/2026
FULL EFFECT YOGA FOR HALF THE PRICE!
There are advantages to practicing yoga early in the morning. To name a few:
First, your day will begin with a practice that has brought health and harmony to countless human beings for millennia.
Second, Yoga philosophy lays stress upon being conscious of what we take into our “embodiment,” not just through food, but also experience, environment and activity. Starting your day with Iyengar Yoga will ensure that the first “intakes” of your day are consciousness-promoting, growth promoting, and uplifting. FYI: The Center for Iyengar Yoga has been carefully and thoughtfully designed and constructed to be a space that encourages uplifting, inspired, and noble states of mind. What better way to greet the challenges and opportunities of the day than with a positive and elevated mindset?
Lastly, we all know that yoga can challenge you in potent ways. We also know that these challenges help you make the best out of yourself. When you practice yoga first thing in the morning, you will often find that the most challenging part of the day is complete first thing, and you can move through the rest of the day with ease.
Come see what value early yoga practice brings to your life! Join the Center for Iyengar Yoga’s Early Bird Classes on Tuesday and Friday mornings from 6:30 - 8:00 a.m.. All levels of students are welcome. If you are willing and able to get up and get to the Yoga Center, you can handle whatever we will be working on in class.
Register today and save 50% OFF a two class per-week pass for 10 weeks! Be an early bird to save the most as, starting January 25, the percentage of savings will go down, every day until the end of January. Offer is valid for any new Early Bird student. To register, see link in bio, or click here: https://www.centerforiyengaryoga.com/class-schedule-pricing/earlybirdspecial
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Chris Briney is the Director of The Center For Iyengar Yoga. He is one of only a small handful of teachers in Metro Detroit to attain certification as an Iyengar Yoga Teacher (C.I.Y.T.) by the Iyengar National Association of the United States (I.Y.N.A.U.S.). He is also one of only seven yoga teachers in the state of Michigan to attain an Intermediate, Level III certification, and the only male yoga teacher in the state to do so. Certification as an Iyengar Yoga instructor is widely regarded as the highest standard of certification for teachers of Hatha Yoga worldwide. For more information on Iyengar Yoga teacher certification standards and the certification process, please follow this link: Teacher Certification Process
Prior to yoga, Chris received his B.A. in English Literature with a concentration in Film Aesthetics and History from Oakland University. In 1997, just as he was graduating, he began practicing yoga. It didn’t take long for his study of yoga to become the full-time pursuit it is today. His passion for and commitment to the practice of yoga has taken (and still takes) him around the country for numerous trainings and workshops with some of the most senior yoga teachers in the world.
In 2002, Chris met Laurie Blakeney, a Senior Level Iyengar Yoga teacher from Ann Arbor, Michigan, and began studying with her on a weekly basis. Though he was studying a different Hatha Yoga methodology at the time, it wasn’t long before he found a level of depth and profundity in Iyengar Yoga that inspired him to immerse himself in its practice. After 7 years of rigorous study and apprenticeship with Laurie, Chris successfully completed the Iyengar Yoga teacher certification process in 2009. In 2014, Chris made his first trip to Pune, India to study with B.K.S. Iyengar and his family at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute. In the Fall of 2017, Chris received his Intermediate Junior III teaching certificate after successfully completing the rigorous assessment and testing process. His other yogic studies have included: Ashtanga yoga as taught by K. Pattabhi Jois, Vipassana Meditation, and Transcendental Meditation. He has also participated in numerous courses through Landmark Education, and has a passion for Transcendentalist literature and the “New Thought” teachings and writings it inspired. Recently, he also had the good fortune of learning Isha Yoga from Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev. Chris began teaching yoga in 2001.
Chris’s studies have led him to become one of Metro Detroit’s most highly trained and well-versed teachers of yoga. He is quick to point out, however, that for him teaching is a by-product of his commitment to the practice of yoga as a way of life. As a result, his teaching contains an authenticity and integrity that can only come from the experience gained through devoted practice. In his classes, you’ll find this authenticity and integrity blended with playfulness and humor to yield an experience both enjoyable and deeply transformative.
Chris lives and teaches in Royal Oak with his wife, Tracy and his son, Lucas.
