Teachers
All our Ashtanga Teachers have studied at the KPJAYI in Mysore, India.
Dr Jean Byrne (co-owner)
Authorised Ashtanga Yoga Teacher
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 the home of Sri K Pattabhi Jois and she became one of his students. She was blessed with his Authorisation to teach this method, and is dedicated to sharing the transformative power of Ashtanga Yoga taught in the traditional manner. She loves working with students and carefully and safely watching the way in which both mind body and spirit open and unfold through practicing in the traditional manner. For her if we follow the teachings of Jois without change, without engaging in opinion or conjecture, but with faith the benefits are manifold!
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 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 also an Honorary Research Fellow at UWA in Women's Studies and 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 a beautiful boy, Jamie, whom she gave birth to drug and intervention free at the Birth
Centre. Jean 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 Schütze (co-owner)
Authorised Ashtanga Yoga Teacher Level 2 & Psychologist (Clinical)
BA, BJourn, GradDipPsych BSc(Psych)Hons, MPsych(Clinical)
Rob is a dedicated student and teacher of Ashtanga Yoga and is also one of the very few Australians with Level 2 Ashtanga Yoga teaching Authorisation. His guru, Ashtanga Yoga Master
Pattabhi Jois granted him permission to carry on this precious lineage. He returns regularly to study in Mysore India, deepening his knowledge of Ashtanga Yoga, Sanskrit, Chanting and Indian Philosophy. For Rob the Ashtanga Yoga practice is an amazing exercise in letting go, surrender and meditation in movement. It isn't always easy or enjoyable, yet each day he returns to his mat he is grateful for having shared the teachings, and been in the presence of Sri K Pattabhi Jois. His Level 2 Authorisation enables him to teach Ashtanga Yoga with a deep understanding of the exact vinyasa counts, and personal understanding of the joys and difficulties on the lifelong journey of Ashtanga Yoga. He is currently teaching the Sanskrit counted led classes on Friday mornings for the Mysore students.
While working as a journalist in Asia Rob furthered his interest in meditation by undertaking silent retreats at various Buddhist monasteries and now as a Clinical Psychologist (Registrar) he integrates yoga and mindfulness meditation with traditional psychological therapies. His research
is focused on mindfulness and chronic pain and he co designed the Mindfulness Based Functional Therapy Program for chronic lower back pain. Rob is an Associate Member of the Australian
Psychological Society and offers counselling to individuals and groups. He is also has the highest level of membership with Yoga Australia and is registered as a Yoga Therapist
with the International Association of Yoga Therapists. Rob is dad to Jamie, and when not doing or teaching yoga is at the par with Jamie and Ebony (puppy) and seeing clients privately at Wisdom Health.
Dr Michael (Saam) Renton
B.A. Hons, Gradp Dip Ed, PhD
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 years on retreat in Thai, Malaysian and Californian Buddhist monasteries. 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 academic at UWA and teaches vinyasa classes at The Yoga Space. He is a Senior Member of Yoga Australia and has 2 young children, a girl and a boy.
Marina Boni
Marina began her practice of Ashtanga Yoga in Adelaide with Certified Ashtanga Yoga teacher David Roche. Upon relocation to Perth she found her 'yoga home' at The Yoga Space and began to practise in the Mysore program with Jean & Rob. Marina is a dedicated Ashtanga practitioner and in January 2008 she traveled to Mysore, India to practice under the guidance of Sri K Pattabhi Jois. She loved the experience of practicing at the source and undertook a second pilgrimage to Mysore to practice in November 2008. Her visits to Mysore inspired her practice and teaching so much she made a third visit for three months to thoroughly delve into the Ashtanga method, taught in the traditional context. Along with her commitment to daily Ashtanga Yoga practice she is also a student of meditation and has completed a Hatha Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training course at The Yoga Space. Marina has an interest in anatomy and has undertaken extensive study in this area. She is a qualified Yin teacher and continues to undertake further formal study of Yin Yoga both with Yin Yoga founder Paul Grilley, but also Victor Chng. Marina is a member of Yoga Australia and also studies post graduate psychology at ECU.
Samantha Briatico
Sam began the practice of yoga in 2002 in the USA. She felt drawn to yoga and connected with the flow of vinyasa practice and then later Ashtanga Yoga. She is a dedicated student in the morning Mysore program and made her first trip to the K Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute in 2010, where she studied Ashtanga Yoga, Sanskrit, Sanskrit chanting and anatomy for two months. She also has a a background in meditation and pranayama. Having completed her Hatha Vinyasa Teacher Training at The Yoga Space, Sam qualified as a pre natal and kids yoga teacher and enjoys teaching yoga to kids, adults and families. She is also the vibrant and friendly manager of Yoga Space. For Sam the most important aspect of yoga is its value off the mat, in helping her work with the ups and downs of life and live more fully in the present moment.
Stephen Byrne
Stephen was introduced to yoga at the age of 16 and immediately felt a connection to the benefits of yoga. After some years of exploring the practice he dedicated himself to the traditional system of Ashtanga Yoga. On his first trip to Mysore, India in 2006 he practiced with Guruji (Pattabhi Jois) before he passed in 2009. On Stephens 3rd and most recent trip to practice under Sharath Jois he delved deeper into the study of traditional chanting and sanskrit. Over this three month period his knowledge of Ashtanga Yoga deepened both in theory and practice. Stephen is passionate about teaching Ashtanga Yoga in the traditional format as taught to him by his teachers, Guruji, Sharath and in Perth Jean and Rob. He teaches the evening Ashtanga Led and co teaches the morning mysore classes. He also finds Yin Yoga a complement to his daily ashtanga practice. Stephen is registered with Yoga Australia and has completed Yin Yoga & Anatomy Teacher Training with Paul Grilley. He is currently a student of Physiotherapy at Curtin University and is very experienced in working with injuries in a Yoga context.
Laila Mahmud
Laila began the practice of yoga while at high school and found the benefits to be so great that yoga became a regular feature of her life. Laila began with a flowing vinyasa style of yoga, before she was drawn to the practice of Ashtanga Yoga. She is a dedicated student in the Morning Mysore program and has completed a Hatha Vinyasa Teacher Training course at The Yoga Space. In 2011 Laila made her first trip to the K Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute in Mysore, India to undertake intensive Ashtanga Yoga, Sanskrit and Sanskrit chanting study. Laila is also a specialist kids and pre natal yoga teacher, assisting Jean in the Yoga for Pregnancy Baby and Beyond Teacher Training Program. She has undertaken Yin Yoga teacher training and enjoys sharing the quiet practice of Yin yoga as a complement to more dynamic practices. Laila's is the main vinyasa teacher at Yoga Space and her classes are playful and accommodate all level of practitioners. She also teaches the Tuesday Ashtanga Beginners course and works as The Yoga Space training manager. She co ordinates all the trainees and her previous job as a Youth Worker helps her in her work organising our hundreds of Not for Profit classes each year!.
Michelle Papa
Michelle has began yoga in 2004 in Los Angeles to balance out her stressful job establishing and managing her own Information Management consulting company. Through yoga she was able to connect with a part of herself that she thought she had forgotten due to the busyness of her life. Her interest in a love for yoga has grown exponentially since 2004 and upon moving to Perth in 2007 she found her 'yoga home' at The Yoga Space where she practices in the Mysore program. Michelle has undertaken the Hatha Vinyasa Yoga teacher training at The Yoga Space and has a particular interest in pre and post natal, and yoga for Active Birth. Michelle has completed specialist pre natal yoga teacher training with Dr Jean Byrne and has completed a Diploma of Childbirth Education to become a certified Childbirth Educator with Childbirth International. She is also furthering her learning through workshops with Active Birth proponent Dr Sarah Buckley. Michelle teaches pre natal, post natal and sometimes The Yoga Space corporate classes. Michelle also delivers the Yogaspace Yoga Alliance Registered Pre Natal Yoga Teacher Training course in Australia and Asia. She is mum to a baby girl, Cassy, born in early 2010.
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