Teachers

Jean Byrne PhD
She/Her
Co-owner of The Yoga Space B.A.Hons, Grad Dip Ed, Dip Childbirth Education, PhD.
Jean began practising yoga at the age of 19 while completing a Bachelor of Arts in World Religions and Philosophy. Her study of world religions led to an interest in yoga and meditation and she spent many years intensively studying yoga and meditation in India, Thailand, Malaysia and Australia. For many years she practiced Iyengar Yoga and was part of a dedicated Zen group. Her academic and personal journey into Eastern philosophy and practice led her to Mysore, India. Her teaching encompasses Restorative Yoga, Intuitive Flow and Vinyasa classes. Jean is dedicated to sharing the transformative power of Yoga and loves working with students and carefully and safely watching the way in which both mind, body and spirit open and unfold through practicing steadily.
Jean has lectured in Eastern philosophy at various Australian universities and has a PhD in Eastern Philosophy & Feminist Theory. She is a qualified primary school teacher, Childbirth Educator, a Yoga Alliance E-RYT500 and Registered Pre Natal Yoga Specialist Teacher, and a senior member of Yoga Australia (YA). Jean is also a certified Yoga Therapist. Jean co ordinates the YA Teacher Training course at the Yoga Space and works with trainees over the year both in class and workshops to facilitate their pathway into becoming a loving, competent and kind yoga teacher. For her this can only happen with time, and thus the Yoga Space Hatha Vinyasa Teacher Training is run over 12 months (minimum). Jean is co-editor of the book, Yoga in the Modern World: Contemporary Perspectives (Routledge 2008). She writes for yoga magazines, yoga websites and academically her work is published in books and peer reviewed journals. She has undertaken the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Professional Training retreat with Dr Jon Kabat Zinn and conducts Mindfulness-Based research projects. She is mum to two beautiful boys, Jamie & Jesse, and is passionate about women’s spirituality and the benefits of yoga for pregnancy, birth and beyond. Parenting is for her the ultimate practice of taking her yoga off the mat.

Rob Schutze PhD
He/Him
Rob Schutze is a Senior Yoga Australia Teacher, Ashtanga Teacher, Yoga Therapist and Clinical Psychologist. He is a Post Doctoral Fellow at Curtin University and explores the intersection of pain, psychology, physiotherapy and mindfulness. Rob runs the Psychology practice Wisdom Health Psychology.

Stephen Byrne
He/Him
Stephen is Senior Yoga Australia teacher, Yoga Therapist and a 4th year Physiotherapy student at Curtin University. He is very experienced in working with injuries in a Yoga context.. He was introduced to Yoga at the age of 16 and immediately felt a connection to its benefits. After some years of exploring the practice he dedicated himself to the system of Ashtanga Yoga. Stephen has made many study trips to India for Asana, Sanskrit and chanting studies and is very passionate about teaching Ashtanga Yoga. Stephen is also dedicated to Yin Yoga. Stephen completed Yin Yoga & Anatomy Teacher Training with Paul Grilley and finds Yin a wonderful complement to his daily ashtanga practice. Stephen teaches both Ashtanga and Yin at the Yoga Space.

Saam Renton PhD
He/Him
Saam started doing yoga and meditation in 1991 and spent several years in Asia practicing intensively during the 90’s. He has practiced a wide range of hatha yoga styles and meditation techniques, primarily Zen and Vipassanna. Saam has spent extensive time practicing meditation and yoga in monasteries, centres and ashrams in Thailand, Malaysia, India, Australia and California. He began teaching in 1995 and his dynamic classes incorporate yoga and meditation techniques from all of the traditions he has studied. He is particularly interested in the links between mindfulness meditation and hatha yoga. Currently Saam is an associate professor at UWA and teaches Vinyasa classes and meditation workshops at The Yoga Space. He is a Senior Member of Yoga Australia and has 3 young children.

Dimithira Jani
She/Her
Dimi began practice in her home country of Malaysia at 23. Initially falling in love wiht the physical aspects of the practice yoga has become something much deeper for Dimi. I explored many styles until I found Iyenagr yoga, and then upon moving to Perth I commenced an Ashtanga Yoga practice at The Yoga Space. I find a different kind of strength from my current practice. One where I can show up find softness and space even on a difficult day. The yang nature of ashtanga yoga has also allowed me to appreciate stiller practices a lot more, this includes meditation, yin and restorative practices which I am enjoying exploring. My yoga practice has really become a part of me, riding the highs in life and supporting me in my lowest lows. I have always found a way back to myself through my practice in the changing phases and circumstances that life has thrown at me. This is really why I practice and why I am passionate about giving the gift of yoga back to others.

Elena Pinto
She/Her
Elena Pinto is the mother of two grown children and has been practicing Ashtanga Yoga diligently for over 15 years. She is a registered teacher with Yoga Australia and Authorised Ashtanga Yoga teacher and has completed additional studies in Sanskrit, Chanting Pregnancy and Yin Yoga.

Rosie Ryan
She/Her
Rosie is an experienced teacher and provisionally registered Psychologist with an Honours degree in Philosophy & Psychology. She interweaves Eastern & Western Philosophy in her classes to help student find a loving relationship with their mind, body and heart. Rosie has taught all over the world and Yoga Space is her Perth yoga home. She is passionate about mental health and also studying to be a Yoga Therapist. Rosie has completed Post Graduate Yin Yoga teacher training and teaches both deeply restorative & dynamic classes. See her classes on our timetable.

Eva Moreira Ebisawa
She/Her
Eva first started practicing Ashtanga Yoga in 2011 when she was still living in Brazil working as an audiologist. Since her move to Perth in 2013, she has deepened her personal practice and in 2018 embarked on the journey of becoming a qualified Yoga Teacher with our Intensive Yoga Teacher Training. Since then, she has been teaching regular Vinyasa and Mysore classes at our studio. Eva is also currently studying to be a Yoga Therapist. With her education and experience, her hope is to provide support to others. She want to empower people in their physical, mindfulness and spiritual practice journeys – to find their onw inner voice and needs, strengthening stillness and balance in life. For Eva, Yoga is a practice that integrates care for herself, others, nature and our environment. It helps to align thought, word and action, therefore creating a meaningful life that embraces and deals with everything that shows up.

Dr Tricia Cheah
She/Her
Trish started practicing yoga after graduating from medical school in 2013, and came to the Yoga Space a few years later where she learnt the Ashtanga series.
She completed her Yoga Teacher Training in 2018 through the Yoga Space, and has since taught Vinyasa, Yin, and now regular Ashtanga and Mysore classes.
Trish works as a General Practitioner and regularly prescribes yoga and mindfulness practices to her patients. She hopes that her students can enjoy the challenge of cultivating a regular practice and seeing it’s affects on the body as well as the mind.

Imara Grace
She/Her
Imara is a passionate and dedicated advocate, change maker, mentor, educator, community shaker and yoga teacher.
This has led her into purpose-driven work across a diverse breadth of the youth and community sectors since 2012. As an advocate for forging more inclusive and well considered spaces, Imara works diligently as a community development and mental health consultant, and embraces avenues to teach about culture, particularly in the context of healing through yoga/movement.
Imara combines her unique lived experience as a first/ninth generation mixed raced African-Australian as well as her professional sector experience to support Yoga Space and Wisdom Yoga Institute as a teacher and trainer. Imara’s classes are grounding, welcoming and uplifting

Kerry Holborow
She/Her
Movement has been an integral part of Kerry’s life having studied dance and classical ballet for over 15 years growing up and Kerry has been dedicated to exploring different forms of movement practices since. In her 40s, after joining a local yoga studio, she began to feel more at home in her body which inspired her decision to become a Yoga Teacher.
Kerry is passionate about the benefits an embodied yoga practice has brought to her life, and about sharing the wonderful life-changing tools that yoga and meditation offer.
Kerry completed her 350hr foundational Yoga Teacher Training through the Yoga Space in 2021 and has post-grad trainings in Pregnancy, Yin, Restorative, Yoga Nidra, Wise Mind Meditation, Children and Teen Yoga, and Chair Yoga for the Elderly. Kerry is also currently studying Yoga Therapy with Wisdom Yoga Institute.

Lauren Rolfe
She/Her
Lauren came to yoga in search of relief from the stress of her career, starting off with a Beginners Hatha Course in a local church. She used this as a tool to find time in her day to pause, manage stress, regulate her nervous system and become more in tune with her body whilst also gaining physical strength, mobility and flexibility. Since then, Lauren has developed her practice with a variety of yoga styles including Vinyasa, Yin, Hatha, Hot and Ashtanga and embarked on her own Yoga Teacher Training journey.
Lauren is now a registered Vinyasa and Yin Yoga teacher with Yoga Australia and teaching regular classes for adults and children at Yoga Space.
