The SunFyr Story
A gathering space for wisdom, wellbeing, creativity, science and community. Here we meet. Born from a vision shared by Jax, Nicki, and Jess — three women walking deeply aligned paths in holistic health, yoga and wellbeing — SunFyr Barns grew from a shared calling to create a space where whole-person healing could truly take root.
Together, we are weaving a gathering space where connections, community and healing can flourish — for individuals, families, and the collective.
Sun (a symbol of life, energy, and renewal) + Fyr (Old English for fire, an ancient gathering place) :
a space of warmth, community and transformation.
Our vision
We envision a world where health is whole, healing is authentic, and communities co-create opportunities for thriving mental, physical and emotional wellbeing, for all.
We advocate for the transformative power of holistic therapies and see a future where green prescriptions and sustainable, embodied wellbeing is commonplace.
Our mission
We are educators, practitioners, changemakers, creatives, researchers and therapists supporting holistic health and wellbeing through intimate gatherings and events, yoga and movement, training and education and clinical treatments and therapies.
We bridge ancient wisdom and modern medicine, Eastern practices and Western science, self and community, rooted ritual and evidence-based research to nurture holistic wellbeing in our community.
Meet the team
Jax Heffer-Cooke
Yoga Educator, Trainer, Bodyworker & Space Holder
500 hr senior yogi, MA
Jax Heffer-Cooke is a yoga educator, massage therapist, and founder of Freedom Yoga & Retreats. With a Masters in Global Social Development and nearly two decades of experience, Jax brings a unique blend of academic depth, soulful embodiment, and grounded wisdom to everything she does. At SunFyr Barns, she leads her 200 hour yoga teacher training programme, offers therapeutic and holistic massage, and curates retreat experiences that combine movement, mindfulness, and meaningful connection.
Her path into yoga came after leaving a fast-paced career in television and beginning searching for answers to some big questions. That search led her across Asia, and was amplified through her journey to motherhood - an experience that left her in awe of the body’s innate intelligence. Since then, she has trained extensively in massage, meditation, and various yoga disciplines, teaching everyone from new mums and children to teenagers and teachers-in-training, not to mention guiding hundreds of people in beautiful settings around the world through Freedom Yoga & Retreats.
Jax is also the founder of the Freedom Wellbeing Project, a social initiative offering fully funded training for wellness practitioners, empowering them to deliver free or low-cost yoga classes within their communities. With this work, she hopes to make yoga truly accessible to all and create a world of thriving mental, physical and social wellbeing. Jax can also be found facilitating corporate wellbeing workshops, where she provides tools to help support productivity, manage stress and promote resilience in the workplace.
At SunFyr Barns, Jax envisions a studio space that nurtures inquiry, growth, and belonging. Her approach is inclusive, dynamic and always evolving - drawing from both modern science and ancient wisdom. Through joyful community connection and soulful self-enquiry, she invites us all to breathe a little deeper, listen more closely, and expand into the fullness of who we are.
Book Jax Freedom Yoga 200 hour yoga teacher training here
Book Jax Massage treatments here
Book Jax ‘Freeedom Flow’ class here
Book Jax ‘Yoga for Daily Life’ weds evening class here
Book Jax Freedom Yoga Retreats here
Nicki Stroud
Integrative Counsellor and Psychotherapist, Yoga and Bodywork Therapist
Nicki brings over twenty years of experience in the field of health and wellbeing to her role at SunFyr Barns. With a rich and diverse background in hospital social work, NHS occupational health, clinical research, and exercise rehabilitation. She holds a well-rounded view of all things health.
As a health graduate and accredited counsellor and psychotherapist, her true passion lies in supporting, empowering, and enabling people to access their own capacity to heal. Her added trainings in yoga teaching, massage, reflexology, and acupuncture help her to look outside the box of the traditional, western approach and integrate more holistic, eastern practices into her work.
Discover Nic’s Therapies here
Jess Wilcockson
Barista, Herbalist and Pregnancy Yoga Teacher
Jess has always been drawn to spaces that feel like a warm hug – filled with good coffee, beautiful plants, and a gentle sense of calm. As the founder of a much-loved coffee and plant shop in Poringland, she’s spent years cultivating community and connection, and now brings that same nurturing energy to SunFyr Barns.
Here, Jess runs our café – a place where nourishment goes beyond what’s on the plate. With a deep respect for nature, local ingredients, and the healing power of herbs, she’s dreaming up a herbal medicine garden and creating wholesome, toxin-free recipes that help people reconnect with what truly supports the body and soul.
Alongside her work in the café, Jess is a massage therapist specialising in holistic, intuitive treatments that focus on energetic connection and deep relaxation. Her approach honours the body’s natural wisdom, using touch as a way to restore balance, calm the nervous system, and invite gentle healing.
Her yoga teaching flows from that same ethos of care and awareness. Each class is crafted to help students ground, energise, and find ease. Monday mornings begin with Yoga for Awakening the Week – a dynamic vinyasa to build strength and intention. On Thursdays, early risers can join Yoga for the First Light, followed by Yoga for the Daily Spark, a bold, breath-led flow for focus and vitality. In the evening, her ZenMuma Pregnancy Yoga offers nurturing movement from 14 weeks onward. And on Fridays, Yoga for Shaking Off the Week helps release tension and reset before the weekend.
A busy mum herself, Jess understands the importance of slowing down and reconnecting. Through her coffee, herbs, massage, and yoga, she creates spaces that nourish both body and spirit.
Here, we meet.
Here, we meet.
Get in touch
Got a question for the SunFyr team? Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.
