Yoga Activism and cutting to the heart of women’s yoga training.

In the ‘western’ world our value of what ‘yoga’ offers can be tainted by an ever-increasing amount of self-promoting Instagram fanatical yogis, branding new levels of transformation with highly ranked hashtags. In pole opposition, a more traditional perspective on ‘yoga’ are the thoughts of India where lineages of teachers and yogic philosophy are shared in Ashrams. But what of the ‘yoga’ happening in between? Would you consider women's yoga and Yoga Activism as a vehicle for change on a global scale? If you take a moment, imagine how yoga activated in the heart of those championing the causes of the oppressed can transcribe into specialist yoga training courses and self-care women’s yoga training. There are in fact potent experiences offered in specialized yoga workshops that are proven to soothe-say past trauma, activate self-love, heal and empower men and women from all walks of life.

Bali Yoga Workshops and Women's Yoga at The Yoga Barn

Bex Tyrer, a much loved and long-term teacher at The Yoga Barn now specialising in women's yoga and has carved a unique path from beginning a career as an activist and walking the front line with humanitarian ideals to holding sacred space in the studios of our tropical oasis. She is a force for a good, and has always responded to those in need, those she has been called upon to support. Led by her studies in Development at Oxford University.

Her history tells of an activist passionate about humanitarian rights who wound up in locations of war affected conflict. A warrior for good who was re-educated by the very people she went to support, facing the reality and adversity of life that no university presentation or essay research could teach. The outcome of which was the resilience of humanity and the power of love and compassion. She learnt that every human has the capacity to focus on uprising, not lose themselves to the cruelty of poverty and desperation. So, from a journey with visions to save others from the outer conflicts of the world she explored and expanded her inner world for deep restoration. The cultivation of self-love teaching her how to nurture oneself to sustain the support of others.

Her front-line work drawing her to the embrace of mumma Bali. Her studies of yoga, her dedicated practice and the support of a conscious community reorienting her path on a more sustainable course, and ultimately to the creation of healing women's yoga and restorative Bali yoga workshops.

Bex established that ‘yoga’ has the powerful means to bring people together, to connect and to heal, specifically where women were concerned, allowing love, kindness and mutual experience to heal one’s wounds for the up rise of the collective.

You need not be on the war-torn streets of Palestine, or experiencing yoga in the brothels of Calcutta to feel the draw of gathering in circle. The sharing of stories and the need to be heard is a universal process for empowering women and humans in the cultivation of much needed resilience, in a world seemingly gone mad. Life throws every one of us challenges relative to our circumstance, culture and environment, as Bex knows all too well. Having been an activist in areas of Palestine, a researcher of ‘children in conflict’ in Nepal and a supporting member of localized humanitarian women’s groups in the slums and streets of Calcutta she has come a long way to be sharing her interpretation and heartfelt expression of women's yoga as yoga activism. She herself not knowing that it would all culminate to researching and curating her very own specialized self-care courses that further ‘bridge the gap’ between her global activist roles, extensive yoga teaching and personal journey back to Self.

“And I rise my arms to the sky
Saluting to the power of this sun
I plant my feet in the golden sand
Bow down to the beat of this land
With each breath, the hearts of all breathe with the heart of all.”

- Bex Tyrer -

8 Day Immersion | Living Wisdom – Where Yoga Meets Activism

In December this year she invites both men and women to commune in her 8 Day, ‘Living Wisdom | Where Yoga Meets Activism’, Dec 2 to 9. Spots are still available. Find out more here.

Bex shares “Yoga gives us a way to be responsible for our own physical, emotional and spiritual well-being.  Often times, the challenge is how to put the theory into practice. Once “activated”, yoga gives us a way to really get to know ourselves. It is a way to move from being at the mercy of old survival strategies and core wounds to revealing our most intimate desires, hidden talents, our wildest dreams. Yoga is a way to become deeply engaged with our life from the level of our work, relationships and inner world.”

Her spirit holds space for inner exploration through movement, weaving in accessible and applicable yoga philosophy and practice, a reflection of her journey and courage to overcome life’s challenges and live beyond her fears. Her intimate sharing of the world at large is refreshingly compassionate and real, encouraging you to tackle a whole spectrum of emotions from pain to love in relationship with the Self. In this 8 Day Living Wisdom | Bridging the Gap between Yoga and Activism workshop she keeps it simple by teaching you to respond to life as it unfolds.

Womens Yoga Training

As a gracious and active recipient of invitations from women’s groups in poor and challenged countries Bex has traversed to be of service for those in need. For anyone that has been led in practice in our studios, met Bex in yoga teacher trainings, or danced into the daylight with her at a yoga festival knows she does it all with commitment and passion. Authentically and vulnerably she is the sum of all of her parts on a path that keeps her heart and teachings in Bali.

The focal theme of her career and activism being the courageous embrace of the needs of the feminine, emotional self-care and wellbeing as a means for self-empowerment and transformation. All of which now results in her new women’s yoga training course, Unwind the Feminine: Specialised Yoga Training, Dec 13 to 20, 2019.

This course offers a totally different perspective on Yoga and the way in which we can gear our practice and teachings to modern women and support optimum health in the body-mind system as practitioners and teachers. Aspects of the curriculum that will be studied in the context of yoga therapy include topics and practices relating to menstrual health, healthy self-esteem, body positive image and the ability to embrace the cycles of life. Self-leadership in the context of truly overcoming eating disorders and addictions will allow yogis to face real issues plaguing modern generations of women. Gain inspiration and guidance on how self-care and yoga teaching philosophies can be applied to uphold the courage required to make brilliant choices in life. The objective of this training is to treat the feminine with respect, instil the wisdom of our mother’s mothers and learn to soften and be receptive to our cyclic needs. If we heal ourselves, we heal the generations to come.

Freedom Through Movement Yoga

Bex’s fascination of Yoga History and Philosophy has helped to inform her understanding of the wisdom tradition of Yoga beyond the modern-day yoga studios.  Her trips to Tibet, Nepal and India leaving her with a reminder that much of what is now sold and advertised has little in common with the wealth of Yoga awaiting each individual as a means to activate and become intimate with life. Her education, life journey and love for Yoga has equipped her to move into the field of Yoga Activism, establishing Freedom through Movement Yoga projects in Kolkata, Kathmandu and Palestine. She knows everything is in constant motion and transformation.  She invites you to journey with her as you find your Self through yoga and into beyond. For more about Freedom through Movement Yoga see here.