Our Story
Bristol Yoga Roots Project (BYRP) began in 2017, founded by a group of yoga teachers who wanted to make the benefits of yoga more accessible to communities across Bristol. Our focus was on reaching people who are often underrepresented in mainstream yoga spaces, and yet are paradoxically often the very people whom stand to benefit the most from these empowering practices.
Over several years, BYRP operated as a Community Interest Company delivering outreach yoga classes in partnership with local organisations. We worked across the city with a wide range of communities, teachers, and partners, learning about what it means to offer yoga in ways that are responsive, inclusive, and accountable. As well as offering yoga classes, this work included: providing training, supervision, and reflective spaces; carrying out research; reflecting on our own social location; and gaining meaningful feedback from students to shape our offerings together.
Where we are now
BYRP has since evolved. We are no longer a delivery organisation offering outreach classes or employing teachers. Instead, we now operate as a small, grassroots project that shares the learning, wisdom, and experience gathered through many years of community-based work.
We do this by offering:
-
Resources for inclusive and accessible yoga
-
Training, and mentorship for teachers
-
Consultancy, training and reflective spaces for studios and organisations
-
A voice for critical conversations around accessibility, equity, and the decolonisation of yoga in Bristol and beyond
Our intention is to support others to do this work sustainably, ethically, and in relationship with the communities they serve.
Our values and approach
We work from a decolonial and anti-oppressive lens, recognising that yoga is an ancient and ever-evolving practice with roots outside of dominant Western culture, and that modern yoga spaces are shaped by wider systems including capitalism, racism, patriarchy, colonisation, and white supremacy. Our work is underpinned by a belief that yoga can support agency, belonging, and collective wellbeing when offered with care.
We have learned that meaningful access to yoga requires:
-
Ongoing reflection and learning
-
Cultural humility and accountability
-
Practices that are equitable, culturally respectful, and co-created
-
A willingness to listen, adapt, and be challenged, recognising intention is not the same as impact
We do not position ourselves as experts in all of these areas. Instead, we are committed to uplifting and collaborating with other voices, particularly those that have historically been excluded or marginalised within yoga spaces.
Our legacy
While BYRP no longer delivers outreach classes directly, we remain deeply proud of the network that grew through this work. Over the years, BYRP has collaborated with many dedicated teachers, board members, and partner organisations, many of whom continue to offer powerful, inclusive yoga across Bristol and beyond. We see this as part of our ongoing contribution: helping to seed and strengthen a wider ecosystem of community yoga.
You can explore and connect with some of the people and organisations who have shaped BYRP’s journey here:
Board Members
Teachers
Classes & Partners
We encourage you to follow, support, and collaborate with them if you feel called!
Looking ahead
​We envision a Bristol where the benefits of yoga are genuinely available to all; where offerings are responsive to lived experience, grounded in relationship, and shaped with care. Through training, mentorship, consultancy, and shared resources, we hope to continue supporting a connected network of practitioners and organisations working towards that vision.