Meet Christina

It all started when…

Christina was fortunate to discover yoga while working in Costa Rica as an elementary school teacher in her early 20’s. There, she took yoga and meditation classes from an Indian monk. They had no common spoken language, so the instruction was very intuitive, quiet, and focused on finding peace and serenity. Following her return to the States, she was introduced to a more Westernized, athletic-oriented style of heated Power Yoga in Cambridge, MA.

When pregnant with her first child, Christina incorporated a number of practices, from prenatal yoga to working with an incredible doula. In her 30’s, she suffered several hip and lower back injuries (including several herniated discs), which made even the seemingly simple act of walking a challenge. At the time, she did not think she would ever be able to return to the mat . As part of her recovery, she explored several paths, from doctors pushing back surgery, to a variety of “alternative” efforts. It was not until she found her way back to yoga, under the guidance of Claire Este-McDonald, that her healing began. The journey taught her much, and one of the most important lessons was that yoga can be healing on many different levels; she wanted to share this with others. She pursued her 200 hour yoga certification under the singular instruction of Natasha Rizopoulos, and then continued on with Natasha in her 300 hour at the Down Under School of Yoga in Brookline.  While there, she was fortunate enough to study under some of yoga’s leading lights, people like Patricia Walden, Barbara Benagh, Kate O’Donnell, and Julie Gudmestad.

Her teaching style is a compassionate, authentic, fun but challenging alignment based practice rooted in the Ashtanga & Iyengar schools – working from ‘skin to soul’. She brings in trainings from the Gokhale Method of posture, encourages her students to see yoga as an integral part of their life, on and off the mat, and is a constant learner who weaves new learnings into her lessons.

“It is through the alignment of the body that I discovered the alignment of my mind, self, and intelligence.”  – B.K.S. Iyengar

Christina Gardner-Burns, RYT 500, PRYT, CYT, and M. Ed., is a certified yoga teacher in the Vinyasa style as well as certified kids yoga teacher. She is a student of the human anatomy, nutrition, and fitness. And – most importantly – she is an authentic person, a mother of two who has experienced first-hand the power of yoga as a path to recovering from injuries & pain.