Bryce Delbridge: The modern medical system condemned me to be in a wheelchair

Bryce Delbridge got into Yoga on his way to overcome a severe case of adolescent scoliosis and to become pain free.  Being recovered with a big help of constant yoga practice, Bryce has felt the calling to help other suffering people recover their bodies and souls through the teaching of Ashtanga Yoga and Yoga Therapy with his unique method. It includes interweaving asana, full body & hand mudra, pranayama, chakra, vayu & kosha awareness, prana vidya & visualizations, self massage, muscle isolations, somatics, deep relaxation & yoga nidra. Here, in the interview below, you can get known with the detailed path of Bryce’s life.

Hi Bryce! How did you start with yoga? What were your personal needs, questions? Did yoga satisfy your request? 

Hey Dasha. I began practicing yoga at the age of 15 to avoid full spinal fusion with titanium for severe scoliosis. Fortunately, my family friend’s Andrew Eppler & his father Ray Eppler found out about my health situation & reached out to my parents suggesting that I try yoga. During my first class with Ray, a beginner Ashtanga class, I couldn’t touch my toes or do a push-up. But I felt so amazing afterwards, I knew I would never have surgery and began researching as many alternatives to surgery as I could find. The modern medical system condemned me to be in a wheelchair by the age of 30, if I did not get the surgery. All I wanted was to feel better, to straighten my spine, prevent surgery & prevent the doctors prediction from happening.

Every single one of my teachers over the years, simply encouraged me to practice. I wanted to know if it was possible to straighten my spine. There was no guarantee from anyone that I could accomplish what I desired. I was in foreign territory with guides who saw my determination & devotion to healing. Yoga satisfied my request, by focusing on healing the Whole Person and not just on the symptoms. You see, we’re all suffering from the same primordial disconnection from Source, Self, God/Goddess, Unconditional Love… though our symptoms are unique unto ourselves. Yoga brings us into a state of union, and from there healing any symptom is much more approachable.

Оn your website https://ashtangakrama.com/ you mention that you study from Iyengar and later other great masters. Tell please about your further yogic path. 

Thank you for sharing my website with everyone. Yes those stories are true. I started my studies with Sri B.N.S. Iyengar in 2008 at the age of 20 & continued from there with many other great Yoga Masters. From living in a cave doing intense pranayama to practicing advanced asana in the heart of Manhattan, I’ve continued to expand my studies. 

Correct, not every teenager who has scoliosis turns to yoga. Not everyone who is suffering turns to yoga, but everyone who turns to yoga is suffering & deeply desires to end that suffering. Yoga was the only element in my life that made my body feel better. So it kept my interest because that was the only time of my day, for many years, that I was not suffering in physical agony. When I was a teenager, I would wear a full body back brace for 18 hours per day. Yoga was one of the few moments in my day that I could breathe fully & move without restriction. Which dramatically helped me emotionally to stay connected with the feeling of freedom and hope.

 If I am not misunderstanding your words (from the website), you were living your yogic life (as a practitioner, student and teacher) while working as a DJ. Despite giving more flexibility than “9-5 job”, and thus providing with time for practice,  it seems that DJ’s life could be a challenge for a yogic routine? How did you manage connecting these two?  

Hahaha yes almost.. it was the other way around actually. I had no idea what I wanted to do for a living the whole time I was growing up. I did construction work with my father, as that was always a skill that I had inherited. But it completely wrecked my body. I kept praying & asking for clarity as to how I could cultivate abundance in a way that actually facilitated my healing. Gradually it dawned on me that Yoga was the only thing I could do for a living that wouldn’t be detrimental to my health, that would actually encourage my healing. 

So, I was a working yoga teacher having fun with DJing on the weekends. You see, my first love was music. I began playing percussion at the age of 5, on my father’s 1969 Ludwig drum set, the same style that Ringo Starr from the Beatles had. I played percussion all through school. It was the first glimpse I had of meditation, being able to merge oneself with the moment, without thinking of past or future. So, when I was in my late teens I met a new friend at the yogashala who was a famous DJ in the 80’s & 90’s in the local music scenes. Through that friendship I became exposed to the world of electronic music & DJing was simply an extension of playing percussion. You see, to mix records together, it’s all about counting the beats as you layer them seamlessly. Which to me is very similar to counting the breaths in vinyasas, and synchronizing the movement with breath is very much like syncing dancing with music, or music with other music. It’s about union, connection. DJing is the Yoga of music.

It is obvious that you are really good at teaching and practicing yoga, having grateful students worldwide. But if to speak about you as a person, what are you and are there any flaws you are struggling (or are pretty ok) with?

Thank you so much, that’s very kind of you to say those things. I struggle just as much as every human being does with dramas that arise in life, and our reaction to the changes that arise, the Kleshas. I used to struggle with balancing taking care of myself with taking care of others, but it’s getting easier with time to create those boundaries. I could definitely eat less chocolate, go to sleep earlier & drink more water.

What Bryce Delbridge’s usual day is like? 

Wake up before sunrise. Drink warm water. Practice for 4-6 hours (meditation, chanting, prayers, pranayama, kriyas, somatics, self massage, strength training, asana, more pranayama & more meditation). Eat. Teach. Eat. Shower. Sleep. Repeat.

Your FB bio claims that  “Love is closer to your essence, than your own breath” and that Yoga is this Love. Could you please explain this a little? What you meant by Love and what you meant by Yoga?

So, the yogi’s say “You are that which does not change”. Purusha is consciousness. Prakriti is matter. Purusha is eternal, and Prakriti is changeable. 

Purusha is our true nature, pure consciousness, pure awareness, this to me is synonymous with Unconditional Love. Yoga is the Union with this state of pure love, pure awareness. Yoga is your true nature. Being in a state of total bliss & total love is simultaneously the goal & the journey of Yoga practice. It’s a remembrance. It’s not something we have to seek, it’s something we have to remember to relax into, on a moment to moment basis. 

What non-yoga experiences shape you mostly?  

Near death experiences, playing music, being in nature, spending time with loved ones and traveling.

If you were to create a list of most important books for you, which books would you add?

• The Living Gita — Swami Satchidananda
• Autobiography of a Yogi — Paramahansa Yogananda
• Anything by Theos Bernard
• Tales of Don Juan — Carlos Castaneda
• Mudras for Healing & Transformation — Joseph & Lillian LePaige
• My Search for Yoga — David Williams
• Ashtanga Yoga: The Practice Manual — David Swenson
• Be Here Now — Ram Dass