Known professionally as Bex Joy, Bex Bridgford has been the resident yoga and Aquasana teacher at The Gainsborough Bath Spa since the hotel first opened in 2015. Her unique sessions span two very different but equally evocative spaces: in the serenity of the hotel’s Chapel and the mineral-rich thermal waters of Thermae Bath Spa – each offering an invigorating, restorative and distinctive path to wellbeing for participants.
Bex’s Aquasana sessions, held in the naturally warm waters of the spa, are a fluid fusion of Tai Chi, yoga and karate-inspired movement. Practised while immersed and gently supported by the water, the experience is grounding, therapeutic and deeply sensory. The buoyancy of the thermal waters allows the body to soften as it strengthens, making the practice especially beneficial for those with joint or mobility issues, while also calming the nervous system and improving balance and mobility.
The classes take place in the Thermae Bath Spa’s iconic rooftop pool at 8am – before it opens to the public, these intimate sessions are limited to just 16 participants. Surrounded by Bath stone and open sky – the experience not only connects them inwardly, but to the elemental qualities of water, stone and air. “Wherever there is water, there is magic,” as writer Loren Eisele notes.
Bex’s yoga classes in the hotel’s Chapel – attended mainly by local residents, offer a more dynamic yang-to-yin journey. These bi-monthly, two-hour sessions blend yoga with EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), also known as ‘tapping’, before softening into slower, more restorative practice. Group tapping creates a shared yet deeply personal experience, helping to calm the stress response and release emotional blocks, while still being held within the energy of like-minded people. From here the practice softens into yin. The Chapel’s beautiful, dramatic setting is the perfect place to close with the resonant sounds of crystal bowls, allowing the nervous system to soften, settle, and send participants home feeling truly blissed out and, quite literally – tapped to joy.
Alongside movement, Bex offers bespoke one-to-one sessions for hotel guests, tailoring each experience to individual needs. These private offerings may include yoga, Aquasana, breathwork or Emotional Freedom Technique, all delivered with care, discretion and a deep understanding of the body, mind and soul connection.
Bex Joy also brings one of the world’s most sought-after modern wellbeing modalities to Bath through her EFT practice. This integrative approach places Bath firmly on the map for contemporary luxury wellness – while honouring the city’s centuries-old tradition as a place of healing and restoration. Bex sums it up perfectly: “Yoga for the body, tapping for the mind, water for the soul.”
With a new website, taptojoy.co.uk Bex offers further insight into her work. She can also be found on Instagram at @iambexjoy – where she shares reflections, practices and moments of joy from both water and land.
To book tickets for Yoga in the Chapel visit: Gainsborough Bath Spa Eventbrite. To book tickets for Aquasana at Thermae Bath Spa visit: Thermae Bath Spa Eventbrite
Main photograph by Joe Short, an award-winning photographer based in Bath. joeshort.com
