Welcome to Episode #45 of the Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast! This week, I welcome Nicky Barnes onto the show. She is a yoga teacher from Vanuatu and she's also the co-founder of the leading Yoga Association in Vanuatu. It's donation based and, it has been for 13 years. My conversation with Nicola Barnes, a yoga teacher from Vanuatu was so delightful as we took a deep dive into the world of her yoga association in Vanuatu. And we also discussed how yoga is an art and an act of coming home. I hope that this conversation made you curious about balance and movement and expression, as well as the act of coming home to yourself without pressure without ego, without ambition, just coming home. Tell me more about Nicola Barnes Nicola Barnes started yoga seriously while living in London in the late 1990s. She became a yoga teacher in India at Neyyar Dam Sivinanda Ashram in 2003. Since then, she has taught in the Cayman Islands and in Vanuatu. She is the co-founder of the leading Yoga Association in Vanuatu, which is entirely donation-based and has been for 13 years. All of the yoga teachers in the Vanuatu yoga association volunteer their time. She teaches a mixed Hatha style, which is mostly asana based, but does involve pranayama. She has been teaching yoga for 19 years. The Vanuatu Yoga Association was set up so that yoga in Port Vila would have a sense of community and longevity.  It also gives a forum for those who love to share their passion for yoga with others to instruct classes.  The Vanuatu Yoga Association aims to support the local community by offering classes that are welcoming and affordable. What to expect in the Yoga In Vanuatu episode of the Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast I loved how Nicola highlighted how yoga exists in the real world— it’s not a cartoon or a Hollywood creation. It exists in the raw, unexpected, natural way of life and of living. She pointed out how Instagram yoga with perfect hair, lovely beauty, and being picture-perfect isn’t how yoga should really be viewed or considered— it’s messy, raw, and includes all the hiccups and bumps in life! We also dove into how Nicky, along with two other co-founders, dreamed up the Vanuatu yoga association and decided to make it a nonprofit, volunteer based organization. Nicky expressed that, “It's just been amazing that trusting in the goodness of people and trusting that something that doesn't seem to be commercially logical can work.” For the skimmers - What’s in the yoga in Vanuatu episode? Why found a yoga association in Vanuatu Let yoga be a natural evolution, don’t push too hard Hollywood-style, glamorous Instagram yoga isn’t the messy, raw, yoga of the real world Yoga and kitesurfing: balance, movement, expression The challenges of studio ownership on a small island Connect with Nicola Barnes https://web.facebook.com/PortVilaYoga/?_rdc=1&_rdr https://yoga.vu/ Want more? Head on over to my website https://wildyogatribe.com/thepodcast/ Questions? Comments? Let's get social! https://www.instagram.com/wildyogatribe/ https://www.facebook.com/wildyogatribe https://twitter.com/wildyogatribe Everything you need is just one click away! Check out all the resources here: https://linktr.ee/wildyogatribe --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/wildyogatribe/message