--- title: The Actor Who Played Barney Is Now a Tantric Sex Therapist description: David Joyner, the actor who played jolly purple dinosaur Barney on 'Barney & Friends' is now working as a tantric sex therapist. canonical: https://time.com/5116627/barney-actor-is-now-tantric-sex-therapist/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-24T18:01:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:50:02.083Z og:title: The Actor Who Played 'Barney' Is Now a Tantric Sex Therapost og:description: "The energy I brought up in the costume is based on the foundation of tantra" og:url: https://time.com/5116627/barney-actor-is-now-tantric-sex-therapist/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57357c34f3b4923d/6988f94f0a4a22b60d9d1834/barney-actor-now-tantric-sex-therapist.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: The Cable Show 2011 - NBC Universal VIP Party og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Actor Who Played 'Barney' Is Now a Tantric Sex Therapost twitter:description: "The energy I brought up in the costume is based on the foundation of tantra" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57357c34f3b4923d/6988f94f0a4a22b60d9d1834/barney-actor-now-tantric-sex-therapist.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # That Actor Who Played Barney Is Now a Tantric Sexual Healer Because Love Is Love > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jan 24, 2018 6:01 PM UTC  Barney the Purple Dinosaur and Chica attend the NBC Universal VIP party during the Cable Show 2011 at Privet Nightclub and Lounge on June 15, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Lyle A. Waisman/FilmMagic) Barney the Purple Dinosaur and Chica attend the NBC Universal VIP party during the Cable Show 2011 at Privet Nightclub and Lounge on June 15, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Lyle A. Waisman/FilmMagic)Lyle A. Waisman—FilmMagic  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jan 24, 2018 6:01 PM UTC It turns out that the actor who brought the eponymous purple dinosaur of [_Barney & Friends_](http://entertainment.time.com/2013/10/29/these-five-songs-have-all-been-used-to-torture-people/) to life has found a second career calling as a [tantric sex](http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/29/does-yoga-really-drive-people-wild-with-desire/) therapist, something he says is based on the same philosophy as the tender-hearted Tyrannosaurus Rex he played on television for nearly a decade. In an interview with [_Vice_](https://www.vice.com/en%5Fca/article/zmzgbw/the-guy-who-played-barney-the-dinosaur-now-runs-a-tantric-sex-business), David Joyner, who played Barney from 1991 to 2001 while actor Bob West provided the voice for the purple behemoth, said that he now owns a tantric massage practice, where he works as a tantra massage specialist and spiritual healer with around 30 clients (whom he refers to as “goddesses”) who come to him for $350 sessions where he helps them release energy and balance their chakras. According to Joyner, this tantric training came in handy when he would have to be in the 70 lb. Barney costume – which could reach up to 120 degrees at times; he also felt that both practices informed each other. “A lot of the elements of Barney were a lot of the things I was training within tantra,” he said. “I always said it was never an accident, and that I was meant to do this character. The energy I brought up \[while\] in the costume is based on the foundation of tantra, which is love. 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