Is 2026 the year you start something new? Let Jayne Nicholls inspire you as she celebrates 25 years of her Freestyle Yoga brand and shares some of her secrets to success.
FitPro: Jayne – congratulations on 25 years of Freestyle Yoga (FY)! When you started FY in the year 2000, what gap did you see in the fitness world that made you feel something new needed to exist?
Jayne Nicholls: There was little cross over between yoga and fitness. Pilates had exploded onto the fitness landscape and dragged yoga with it. There was no desire for traditional yoga to adapt to a fitness audience – quite the opposite – but yoga was not an attractive proposition for your regular gym member. Classes were not formatted the same as their regular timetable; they did not understand what they were going to get when they entered a class. Often the yoga content was way too extreme for their palette. I wanted to take the yoga postures and translate them into the language of fitness, stripping back the more esoteric aspects of the traditional practice, focusing purely on the benefits of physical movement.
FP: You describe FY as a yoga-based programme with the soul of fitness. What did that mean to you back then and how has that vision evolved over 25 years?
JN: I have never wavered in what I wanted to create. I took the physical postures and looked at how fitness instructors could make them more accessible to a wider audience using evidence-based understanding of anatomy, physiology, biomechanics and audience engagement. This alone made the prescription of yoga as exercise totally different to the prescription of yoga based upon its traditional values.
FP: When you first launched Freestyle Yoga, did you anticipate the impact it would have on the UK group exercise industry?
JN: No not at all, nor on how it would impact me as a fit pro. I have never experienced such a reaction and doubt I will again.
FP: What makes Freestyle Yoga fundamentally different from other yoga-fitness hybrids?
JN: There were no other hybrids then. Others that followed encroached on yoga in a different way. I have never used the language of yoga; the gestures of yoga, for example, I made it mandatory that all learners do not use Sanskrit or Sanskrit translation when teaching. They had to prove they could teach people why they were doing the postures, not cue them into the shape of yoga. I took out mudras, bandas, meditations, anything that required a deeper understanding and lengthened study into true and traditional yoga. I was and still am adamant that Freestyle Yoga instructors use a skilled and technical approach to teaching, proving they have the knowledge, background and experience to take any physical practice presenting as exercise and improve it for the end user.
FP: Over the past 25 years, what moments stand out as defining milestones for Freestyle Yoga?
JN: It’s recognition as the go-to gateway experience for its target market. Virgin Active using it to create its Nova brand in South Africa and UK; David Lloyd using it to underpin the creation of their Spirit brand. The very fact that it has endured 25 years and proved itself to be more than an industry fad. When I released it, REPS demanded that I stop. It is now recognised by CIMSPA at its highest level of endorsement.
FP: How do you maintain authenticity and standards of excellence in an industry that’s constantly changing?
JN: I change with the industry. When I started, I could not claim either authenticity or standards as there was nothing like it. I had to create standards that resonated with my business ethics and my personal ethics. Now it is 25 years old, I have much more experience to create true brand standards. It has reached adulthood and retains its USP, making it authentic within the parameters I set for it. Personally, I have moved deeper into the world of yoga, providing Level 4 training which helps me to keep the boundaries between the two ongoing.
FP: More than 3,000 instructors have trained through your programme – what qualities do you hope every Freestyle Yoga instructor embodies?
JN: This is really important. The brand works if instructors embrace their unique skills and stick to the prescription of exercise-based yoga. It goes wrong when they try take on the tone, language and intention of traditional yoga or confuse it with BODYBALANCE. I want every FY instructor to hold their heads high based upon the unique quality of the programme.
FP: Why was one-to-one support so important for you to include in the training experience?
JN: Everyone learns differently and every instructor needs to be able to voice their concerns and opinions. I want to make sure each individual moves forward in their own unique way. Our industry has been entrenched in third party content that does not allow the instructor to be free. Freestyle Yoga is an opportunity for them to honour themselves and create an audience based upon their own interpretation of yoga.
FP: What do you think new instructors find most transformative about Freestyle Yoga – physically, mentally or professionally?
JN: I think it does two important things. One, it really highlights how they are spoon-fed fitness tropes that they pass on without question – for example, “pulling the abs” in and “keeping the knees soft”. Freestyle Yoga takes a critical look at everything and endeavours to create a more informed approach led by what the instructor sees in front of them and modern study. Our teaching mantra is “look-see-think-speak”, encouraging them to react to what they see happening in front of them, rather than relying upon a preconceived notion. Two, if they embrace this level of thinking and type of teaching it liberates them and allows them to trust in their own opinions and ideas. This to me is the very essence of a great teacher – bringing individuality into the industry.
Jayne Nicholls at FitPro LIVE
FP: Freestyle Yoga holds CIMSPA points and recognised scopes of practice – why is professional recognition so important for fitness professionals today?
JN: In today’s industry we need it, especially when you are taking on the title of yoga. Instructors need to see that this short course which is so very different to the training and philosophy of traditional yoga is not a gimmick or an imitation of the traditional practice. 25 years has also cemented the fact that we stand alone on a unique path, offering a gateway to our current audience with teachers they can trust and understand.
FP: How does your course prepare instructors not just to teach safely but to build long-term, sustainable careers?
JN: The course is only available to instructors qualified at Level 2 and upwards. They learn the basics and safety in their prerequisite training. Freestyle Yoga transfers what they know onto physical yoga making it super effective.
FP: What role does flexibility in learning play in helping instructors succeed in modern fitness education?
JN: We are in a unique crossover period at present. Post pandemic has forced the industry to accept online study where they were reticent before. GXT was lucky in that I had embraced online pre covid and was set up to host all of my courses online. The learner is reluctantly moving across from face to face due to its convenience but the mindset for online study is still not embedded into our audience. Online needs a proactive mental attitude. Learning needs to be planned, structured and self motivated. We are in the fall out of group content being spoon fed via video and script where it requires copying rather than constructing. Freestyle Yoga is the opposite of this. Every day the landscape changes.
FP: With fitness trends constantly emerging, what do you believe the future of yoga-based fitness looks like?
JN: In 2025 yoga took a nose dive. It literally stepped aside and let reformer take the mantel. It will always be here and you can see that the traditional models have morphed their product into fitness. We have to be careful not to be sold what we already know as new. It has happened before and it will happen again. The fitness instructor needs to start cherry picking what they do next with advancement in mind, rather than the next new thing.
FP: What excites you most about the next chapter of Freestyle Yoga?
JN: I am looking for someone to take it over. I have done my best work over the past 25 years and it needs new blood. Someone young and innovative who has passion and vision to take it to its next step.
FP: Looking back over 25 years of Freestyle Yoga, what are you most proud of?
JN: That I actually did it. When I started it, everyone said “no you can’t” and this delivery was often brutal by the traditional yogis. They presumed it to be disrespectful to yoga when my intention as it has evolved is quite the opposite. I am proud that I had the balls and the knowledge to create a sustainable brand that has helped, influenced and brought joy to so many people.
FP: If you could give one piece of advice to someone considering training as a Freestyle Yoga instructor, what would it be?
JN: Just do it! Everything you learn on this course is transferable into your other sessions. I want every fitness instructor to be able to teach or cover all kinds of yoga with confidence that what they offer is an advancement of older techniques.
FP: Finally, what does being the future of fitness personally mean to you?
JN: Very little in 2026. I now carry a broad spectrum of courses and CPD that I hope will help cultivate the next generation of innovators. I want to sit back and enjoy the rewards the tenure has provided.
Read more of Jayne’s expert advice in this FitPro blog post on the rise of somatic practices in the yoga industry.
Jayne Nicholls is creator of the Freestyle Yoga brand, a multi-award-winning presenter and director of GXT. Find out more about Freestyle Yoga here: Freestyle Yoga Certification – Group X Training
