Barrie Risman

Barrie Risman is widely regarded as one of Canada’s most highly skilled yoga educators, teacher–trainers and mentors. She is well known for her ability to convey the essence of the wisdom teachings of yoga with exceptional clarity, insight, and relevance to students of all levels and from all walks of life.

Barrie is the creator of The Skillful Yogi, a thriving online practice and study community of yoga students and teachers with members from nine countries on four continents. Her best-selling book, Evolving Your Yoga: Ten Principles for Enlightened Practice with foreword by Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, is a guide for teachers and continuing students to deepen, expand, and integrate the benefits of yoga in their lives.

Barrie teaches with a remarkable combination of rigor and challenge balanced with sensitivity, humor, and compassion. Her events weave together the technical precision of refined alignment-based practice with an ever-present awareness of the great wisdom of yoga philosophy distilled from decades of intensive study and practice.

Teaching for two decades, Barrie shares the depth of her experience and knowledge to reveal a uniquely accessible, authentic and integrated approach to yoga. She empowers students with tools to deepen their understanding and inspires them to embrace asana as a path for expansive self-discovery and inner growth.

A seasoned trainer and mentor of new teachers, Barrie serves on several teacher-training faculties including HappyTree Yoga in Montreal, PranaShanti Yoga Centre of Ottawa, and Shakti Yoga in Geneseo, New York.

Barrie is the proud Co-creator and Co-director of the World Spine Care Yoga Project, whose mission is to bring the benefits of posture, breathing and mindfulness as a tool for pain management and active self-care to low mobility populations around the world.