13/06/2021
Interview with
**Latest Article**
Having practiced yoga in Perth since 2001, I have come to know various schools around the city and teachers that are knitted within each community.
Jean Byrne PhD (Jean Byrne) was a teacher I had never had the opportunity to meet but one that I had watched from afar. Her online presence always reflected one that inspired my curiosity and revealed a very interesting, scholarly teacher.
Jean is also the studio owner of the The Yoga Space Perth, Australia a longstanding studio which, unlike so many of the other studios around town, also opens its doors to those much less fortunate.
This caught my attention.
Attending a yoga class, seeking out experienced teachers, is a wonderful, supportive wellbeing practice but, sadly, one that not all can afford or possibly are physically unable due to chronic disorders. As a sufferer of an inflammatory, bowel disease I have a small window of insight into the lives of some where even going out of one’s door presents large amounts of anxiety.
I was excited to ask Jean about her journey into yoga, especially as a woman who had studied under many teachers nationally and internationally. I also wondered how her university studies inform her yoga teaching.
No matter how far along you are in your yoga practice, Jean offers wonderful insights into a yoga practice that has “leapt from the rubber mat” and rippled out to create a supportive community.
I hope you enjoy!
https://simpleaspi.yoga/a-thirst-for-knowledge/
20/05/2020
Podcast!
Together with Chandrika Gibson and Wisdom Yoga Institute we are delighted to bring you the Peaceful Embodiment podcast...
Peaceful Embodiment Welcome | Peaceful Embodiment Podcast
Welcome to the Peaceful Embodiment Podcast: Yoga, Mindfulness and Living Well.. Brought to you by Wisdom Yoga Institute this podcast explores the intersection of research and practice.
08/04/2020
Free Your Mind: Practical Philosophy
Free Your Mind: Yoga Philosophy & Psychology - The Yoga Space
Free Your Mind Click the link above and listen to a talk by Jean Byrne PhD on the intersection of Yoga, Buddhism and Western Psychology. Identify some unhelpful thinking styles and learn about samskaras, deep ...
05/03/2020
What to do when a pregnant woman comes to class?!
Pregnancy Yoga is not covered on most trainings - but there are definite contraindications to be aware of.
Registration Page
Mindful Birth offers in person Yoga Alliance and online Yoga Australia accredited training to yoga teachers and health professionals worldwide. We create communities of educators who support woman through yoga and mindfulness based classes and workshops. Our trainings are evidence based and informed...
25/02/2020
Italy Retreat Planning
An intimate and grounding Ashtanga and Cultural Retreat in Italy. Early Planning stages for this journey in 2022.
Sicily: Yoga & Cultural Retreat
Elena and I are planning an exquisite retreat in a medieval town surrounded by orange groves in Sicilia - an island in southern Italy near the majesty of volcano of Mount Etna. It is the early planning stages but this will be an intimate yoga and cultural immersion. Elena was born in Italy and I am delighted to be creating this experience with her!
September 2022.
08/01/2020
Women, Yoga & Divinity
Finding a spiritual practice outside of patriarchal traditions, is it possible when all of the world's religions are deeply patriarchal, male centred with misogynistic tendencies? What do you think?
For me spiritually I live in a world which has a deep forgetting of the maternal feminine, in religious and philosophical traditions the search for higher self, enlightenment, god includes a forgetting or debasing of immanence. As a women I am reminded of my fluidity, my immanence regularly with the rhythms of my body. Mainly it is hard to articulate and experience divinity or whatever one might call it in traditions which are patriarchal. The origins of yoga are deeply and painfully patriarchal in Hinduism, as in all major world religions.
I grow tired of hearing about the trauma male teachers in positions of power have created. I know that is a privileged position to be in. I know this is just one woman's story. But I also know there are many stories like her, about many male yoga teachers.
Moreso, I grow tired of the way in which women are not taught to resist and become so deeply immersed in surviving in patriarchy they are unable to truly support other women.
For me the litmus test for spiritual teachers is their ability to be in healthy relationships. Sustaining relationships over time. That requires presence, steadiness, unconditional love and compromise.
What is your litmus test for a teacher?
Jean
Breath to Speak
To see a certain predatory yoga patriarch thrive on denouncing that of which he is guilty troubles me. Until recently, I felt my…
23/12/2019
Loving Kindness Meditation
Freely available to all who would like to use it.
Festive Metta (lovingkindness) Meditation
Loving Kindness Meditation
12/11/2019
There are no words...
She expresses her opinion, she is patted on the head.
How Did I Get That Yoga Story? You Really Had to Be There
As I participated in a workshop, the story came to life right in front of my eyes, right in front of the TV camera for “The Weekly.”