AC:  So Baya, give us the reader’s digest version of what you’ve been up to since the show, and how you stumbled upon a passion for Yoga?

BV: After the show wrapped, I was still dancing. Then, the mentor I was studying with, Jeff Amsden, moved out to L.A. and the competitive nature didn’t sit well with me once he was gone. As a result I slowly fell away from that type of movement and started entering into yoga to express myself instead. I was going through a lot of personal struggles after the show was through, I needed some clarity and I turned to yoga for that. I turned to yoga to heal. Since yoga is much more about a personal practice than a group of people moving together, I didn’t need to think about the competitive edge and I could really focus on my own personal growth. For me, the physical benefits were second to the spiritual benefits.

AC:  So what type of Yoga do you specialize in?

BV: I do Vinyasa as my philosophy. Its flow-based yoga, so it’s more movement oriented rather than something like Hatha or Bikram, which is much more pose-to-pose with less of a flow.  In that way, Vinyasa is much more like dance.

AC:  And, I caught on Facebook that you recently went on a pretty hardcore yoga retreat!  What was involved and do you recommend it to others?

BV: I went to “Yoga To The People” at Menla Mountain Retreat in the Catskills.  We were there for an entire weekend wherein we did The Master Cleanse (lemon juice with cayenne pepper, 8 oz glasses, 6 glasses a day, and that’s all you have), hiked all around, practiced yoga, participated in a Native American sweat lodge ceremony, and remained in complete silence the whole time. And this was right after we heard about those ten people dying in that sweat lodge in Arizona.  The most nerve-wracking part was that I’m claustrophobic (I mentioned this briefly on “the reunion” episode of The Real World). I cried the whole time but I stayed in for the full 3 hours.  At the end of the day, I would recommend the retreat.  If you’re ready to be on a level where it is just you, completely alone with yourself and your thoughts, then it can be quite powerful. It’s an introspective journey, really.

AC:  And you’ve decided to open your own yoga practice here in NYC.  Tell us about it?  What services do you offer?

BV: Because yoga is a very personal practice for me, I like to connect to the person I’m working with.  I do one-on-one sessions or groups of friends, the number of people doesn’t matter. I come to you, I make house calls, and I offer in-studio options as well.   I’ve found that this works well for people who want a customized approach to their yoga, for example Brides-to-Be (and her bridal entourage) or busy professionals that can’t make the typical morning or post-work classes that most gyms solely offer.

AC:  How would you describe your sessions in one sentence or less?

BV: My sessions are really the union between breath, body and mind.  It really focuses on how your breath relates to the body and how your mind relates to the universe.

AC: That’s two sentences! Kidding.  So what will people get out of your lessons? What do you want them to walk away with?

BV: A deeper more honest and compassionate sense of self.  A yoga teacher once said to me that yoga is the constant confrontation of oneself, and that really resonated with me, that’s what I want to bring to the table. I really want to confront a rawness to somebody that they might not recognize otherwise about themselves and be able to show them how beautiful the poses can be in opening up these chakras and opening up that type of emotion.

AC:  So the spiritual and mental benefits are clear.  Tell me about the physical benefits?

BV: Yoga is not all about the mushy part, I’m going to seriously kick your butt too!  The way I run the class is based on the client’s individual goals, so if you tell me about a problem area, we’re going to work it out!  It’s so much about core strengthening.  Once your core is strong, your body really starts responding in a positive way. It’s all about finding your body in space, and having a different level of body awareness.

AC:  Tell us something about Baya Voce that most people don’t know?

BV: I go to yoga classes daily and I’m learning from all different teachers, who all have a huge impact on my practice.  Yesterday, I took a Bikram class (the one where its 100 degrees in the room), and I had to lay down because I kind of felt like I was going to cry, and I didn’t know how.  The teacher straddled me and told me to get up and do the routine.  As I went through the motions the tears came.  I was in hysterics, and I didn’t even know why or how to name the emotion.  All I know is I felt it, I let it go and now it’s gone.  And that’s ok.  I don’t have to suppress it or store it somewhere so that it can pop up somewhere on my body or resurface at an unexpected time.  In yoga, I can let it go.

AC:  What is the end goal in all of this for you?

BV: The most important part in this personal practice is making sure the yoga resonates with you.  That’s why the conversation we have before we go in to class is so important because I want to know where you want to go or the emotions you want to release or the core strength you need, and that’s what I’ll give you.  I just want to make sure that you are getting what you want and that’s why a core practice and a personal practice is so important to me.

AC: How can people get in touch to book a session?

BV: They can shoot me an email at BayaVoceYoga@gmail.com.

Well, I’m looking forward to my one-on-one classes, and for you to whip me into shape .   For more information on Yoga with Baya Voce, check out the soon-to-be-launched www.BayaVoceYoga.com.

[All photographs courtesy of Allen Murabayashi; Baya’s wardrobe courtesy of HeidiBottoms, available on heidihat.com]

[Alyson Campbell for It's All Very PR]