Yoga teacher hosts ‘innovative’ sessions at Yorkshire farm where visitors are surrounded by alpacas with ‘intuitive powers’

Yoga instructor and photographer, Rebecca Marwood, 47, was first introduced to Alpaca Alpaca Farm in Yarm through her sister who went on a walking tour of the area.

She originally visited the alpaca farm to take photos of the animals but before she walked out the owner of the farm, Deb Pearl, asked if she could host yoga classes with the alpacas as part of an experience during the summer months.

Ms Marwood, who lives in Eaglescliffe, was already training to be a yoga teacher at the time and passed her exams just before the first Covid lockdown in 2020.

Since Covid restrictions eased, she has hosted four yoga sessions a year during summer months in May, June, July and August.

“The nice element of this is that you get the outdoor relaxation, breathing in the fresh air around the trees and the animals add a very therapeutic edge to it because they just quietly graze around you, making little noises,” Ms Marwood said.

“As we move into the more relaxation phase of the yoga class, if they feel a connection with the participants, they will come and sit or lie next to them.

“[As] they are herd animals they copy our behaviour, so it’s really nice that they become attuned to our energy and vice versa.

“They have special intuitive powers; when they go to the hospice, they will go to the people who need it the most and they will put their head next to that person.

“They will do that [during the] yoga class as well, if they feel a connection with somebody, they will sit near them and just relax. They are very beautiful, gorgeous animals.”

The yoga sessions have become increasingly popular with time.

“They have been growing in popularity as people talk and share their experiences,” Ms Marwood said.

“I find that since we’ve had the publicity, it has really helped spread the word. It’s literally just doing yoga in a field alongside the alpacas but the difference with goat yoga is that the alpacas don’t get on your body. We don’t encourage anything like that.

“It’s just all very peaceful, as it should be, the alpacas do their thing, we do our thing and if you’re lucky, an alpaca will come and give you some of their energy.

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“People come from Sunderland, an hour away sometimes, they come to celebrate birthdays, they buy it as a gift for a friend, or ladies come in little groups for a treat.

“People tend to see it as a little treat activity for [loved ones], but once you’ve attended, you are more than happy to purchase it for yourself as a treat because it’s such a unique lovely experience.”

Ms Marwood has been named as one of Eventbrite’s most innovative yogis for helping expand diversity in the practice.

According to the event management and ticketing website, there has been a 55 per cent increase in people attending yoga sessions between 2022 and 2023, when nearly 200,000 yogis attended 12,000 yoga experiences across the UK.

The brains behind these innovative yoga classes and owner of the farm, Ms Pearl, first bought the cottage and land in 2014.

“To start off, I had the farmer’s sheep on the land, but I wasn’t keen on the fact that every now and again they would disappear and I would go to market,” she said.

“We were also having trouble with foxes and the lambs so the farmer said what you should do is get two alpacas and they can guard the flock because they are very good sheep guides.

“I went and got two alpacas, fell in love with them, six months later I saw an advertisement for 30 alpacas and each of them was pregnant, that was in Wetherby.

“I saw the advertisement on the Wednesday, I rang them on the Thursday, I visited them on the Friday and I bought them on the Saturday - I ended up with 40 alpacas within six months. Then the sheep had to go. I’ve still got some pet sheep.”

Ms Marwood explained why alpacas are suitable animals for yoga.

“They are very gentle creatures and they trust you when they feel a good energy and when they feel calmness,” she said.

“They encourage us to be still and mindful and you will get more from the experience and more alpaca interaction the more you can be calm. I think that’s the perfect combination for yoga.

“They also have so many amazing properties in themselves in the fact that they are hypoallergenic, when you dip your fingers into their fur, that’s a very sensory, therapeutic lovely moment as well.

“Their fur or fibre is also fire retardant which is something they found out by accident volunteering. That’s a good quality generally, if you’ve got something in the house made out of alpaca wool you’re not going to burn into flames if you’re near a fire.

“There are so many things about alpacas that are beautiful, very peaceful and quite inspirational for us humans in the way that they live their lives.”

Ms Marwood owns a yoga company called Wild Flower Yoga and explained why she chose this name and how the farm embodies this message.

“Wild flowers grow through adversity, they grow in poor soil conditions and still become beautiful, so the mantra behind it is to grow through what you go through and you can still be beautiful no matter what,” she said.

“[The farm] is a bit of an animal sanctuary really; it’s absolutely magical, a beautiful place.

“She is very welcoming to all groups of people who have any kind of struggle. Animals are known to be very therapeutic for mental health issues, it's a really good place to come and connect.

“There have been many stories where children who have struggled with a physical disability or mental health disability and never really connected with anything.

“Yet when they get to the farm and meet the alpacas or other animals they open up in a way that has never been seen before.

“The power and magic of therapy around animals and that space she provides and how she nurtures it really is amazing.

“Once you get through those gates, everything is forgotten about. You are put straight into the present moment.”