Meet Jason Ray Brown

I didn’t set out to do the work I do today.
I set out to become an actor. 

When I moved to New York City at 26, I arrived with a suitcase, a few thousand dollars, and a dream that felt bigger than my life. I bounced from one survival job to another, auditioned constantly, and lived in that familiar cycle of hope, pressure, and financial stress. I was always one step away from losing the job that kept me afloat — and one step further from the peace I desperately needed.

After five years of living that way, something unexpected happened.

My mom invited my sister and me on a trip to Mazatlán, Mexico. One afternoon, I was lying on a lounge chair, listening to the rhythm of the waves. Something quiet opened inside me. For the first time in years, my body softened. My breath deepened. And a profound stillness washed through me — a kind I hadn’t even realized I’d been starving for.

I thought:
“I want this. More than the next role, more than the next breakthrough — I want this peace.”

When I returned to New York, I went straight to the self-help section of Barnes & Noble, searching for whatever might reconnect me to that inner steadiness. A yoga book caught my eye — Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness by Erich Schiffmann. I had never taken a yoga class in my life, but I sat on the floor and read the first five chapters right there in the aisle.

Something in me said:
“This is the path.” 

I found my way to the Integral Yoga Institute on 13th Street. My first Hatha class felt like coming home. I began practicing every night by candlelight — breathing, moving, lying still, listening inward. It gave me the same peace I felt on the beach in Mexico, only this time it came from within.

Six months later, I enrolled in the Hatha I Teacher Training. And when I began offering my own classes — “Yoga for Actors,” then “Yoga for Beginners” — something clicked. An acting teacher once told me:

“If you ever find something you love as much or more than acting, do that. Because acting is a hard life.” 

I realized I had found that something.

So I let go — of auditions, of the hustle, of the identity I’d clung to for years. And within one month, I was earning more teaching yoga than I ever had pursuing acting. More importantly, for the first time in my adult life, I felt aligned.

Over the next several years, my path kept unfolding.

I went to massage school at the Swedish Institute to deepen my understanding of the body. I became an anatomy educator, teaching yoga teachers across New York, Europe, and beyond. I discovered Buddhism and Zen — practicing at Fire Lotus Zendo, visiting Zen Mountain Monastery, attending retreats with Thích Nhất Hạnh. My yoga practice evolved too, blending mindfulness, functional conditioning, meridian theory, and Zen philosophy.

Over time, this integration became something of its own: Zenyasa® — a mindful, strength-based movement practice rooted in anatomy, Zen, and embodied awareness. For years I taught at Reebok Sports Club, Pure Yoga, and eventually opened The Zenyasa Yoga & Wellness Studio on West 72nd Street.