Brighton Yoga Foundation (BYF) is committed to taking yoga to those in the community who currently do not have access to it or are unable to find an appropriate yoga class for their specific needs in a typical yoga class setting. Since we became a registered charity in 2016, we have been continually growing and developing our community yoga outreach work.
We aim to provide yoga that is appropriate to the population groups we work with, enabling us to offer a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment for our participants to explore the elements of yoga that may be beneficial for them.
Throughout the year, the Foundation works with others to provide regular Yoga Community Outreach Activity: free or subsidised yoga classes to those in greatest need and who do not normally have access to yoga. These include yoga for mental health, for women recovering from abuse & trauma, for stressed teenagers, yoga in schools, for the police and for the NHS.
At its annual Annual Festival the Foundation brings together yoga teachers from across the city and beyond to offer yoga classes and workshops. For the first six years, the Festival was the largest free-entry yoga Festival in the UK. It is open to all, regardless of age, experience or fitness levels with many specialist and beginners’ classes for those who have never tried yoga before. Since 2019, entry has been on a "Pay What You Can Afford" basis.
The Foundation also provides many services to the local yoga community These include our Directory of yoga studios and teachers on this website, a yoga mat rental service, regular discussion forums for yoga teachers, and our project to record the history of yoga in the city. It also supports the UK Community Yoga Collective that brings together similar yoga community outreach projects in the UK, and the Yoga Teachers Trade Union
