Peta Keaney
Peta is the Director of Redfern Yoga Space. She has been a passionate Iyengar yoga practitioner for over 40 years. She balanced her passion for yoga with career and family responsibilities for many years, before obtaining her Iyengar certification in 2014.
Peta taught at the Yoga Centre, East Redfern for 8 years until it closed in 2021. Not wanting to lose the strong connection with the community of that school, Peta took on the lease and established Redfern Yoga Space in the same studio.
Peta has a light humorous approach to teaching, although it is also demanding and instructional. The rigour and detailed instructions of Iyengar yoga interest her and she sees them as an important part of the Iyengar method …. helping us to hold mind in the body, in the moment, enabling increasingly fine sensitivity, energetic connection and insight.
Peta did teacher training with Alan Goode and Caroline Coggins. She has studied with the Iyengar family in Pune, attended conventions in Australia with Abhijata Iyengar and other senior Australian and international teachers, and studied yoga therapy with Stephanie Quirk. She loves the continuing process of learning that teaching enables and demands.
Suzi Chin Silicz
Suzi Chin Silicz is an experienced Level 2 (Ji) Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher and has taught extensively around Sydney for over 30 years. She first discovered the benefits of yoga in her early 20’s after a back injury and hearing that yoga would help. Initially it was the concept of alignment and symmetry in the Iyengar methodology that greatly appealed to her graphic designer mind and helped her fully heal. Learning that yoga could also make a real difference to many aspects of life was such a revelation it eventually led her to becoming a teacher, originally training with Caroline Coggins. Suzi has studied with the Iyengars in India and also some yoga therapy with Stephanie Quirk. She philosophises that ultimately the greatest teachers are the very students that she has the opportunity to teach.
Suzi brings to Redfern Yoga Space around 4 decades of yoga and teaching experience based in the Iyengar lineage. She teaches regular weekly group classes, individual private & corporate classes, intensives, workshops and retreats in Australia and overseas.
Off the mat Suzi is a freelance graphic designer and social media creator with years of experience working in advertising and marketing, and has worked in this capacity and as administrator at various yoga centres across Sydney.
Suzanne Waplington
Suzanne has practised Iyengar Yoga since 2006. She joined Caroline Coggins’ Teacher Training Program in 2017 looking to further deepen her yoga practice and develop herself as an Iyengar yoga teacher. She obtained her Iyengar Yoga teacher certification in June 2021. Suzanne has a particular interest in the techniques of Iyengar yoga to improve physical and emotional strength and overall health and well-being in an increasingly busy world.
Off the mat, Suzanne combines a corporate role with raising three daughters.
Tracey Kessler
Tracey has been practicing yoga since 1994 and discovered Iyengar yoga in 2009. It was then that the yoga penny dropped for her and everything started to make sense. With a background in computer science and IT, the Iyengar principles of peeling back the layers of asanas to establish precise and aligned foundations resonated with her and she has never looked back. In 2015 Tracey went on to train with Pixie Lillas and received her certification in 2017. She began teaching in 2016 and has spent time practicing at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Institute in Pune, India.
Simone Ellis
Simone is a deeply experienced Iyengar Yoga practitioner and Level 2 certified Iyengar teacher. She has had the privilege of studying in India under BKS and Geeta Iyengar, and continues to learn with many living luminaries, including Patricia Walden. She studied under Faeq Biria from the mid 90s until his recent passing, and from his joyful teachings developed a love of precision and alignment – not for their own sake, but for what they bring in terms of mental clarity, increased awareness and the ability to live life more fully. Simone is a highly observant teacher, dedicated to uplifting and enabling the potential in every student. She offers inspiration and insight into both stillness and movement, drawn from an early career as a contemporary dancer and more than 30 years of disciplined practice. She has taught in Sydney, Tokyo, and Wellington and has served on the Board of the Iyengar Yoga Institute of Greater New York.
Jeff Steel
Jeff has practiced Iyengar Yoga for 31 years and has taught for more than 20 years. He is an Iyengar Yoga certified teacher and has attended the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune, India. Jeff participated in both the Australian conventions taught by Geeta Iyengar. Yoga is a integral part of Jeff’s life and he loves to share his passion for yoga practice with students. Jeff lives in Noosa Heads and conducts on-line yoga classes via Zoom. He is a retired civil engineer.
Romina Sesto
Romina does not teach regularly at our school, but we are very fortunate and grateful to be able to call on her to relief teach every now and then.
Romina was initially drawn to yoga in the early 1990s for its stress-relieving benefits, providing a much-needed balance to her demanding corporate lifestyle. In 2007, she embarked on a 6-month intensive Yoga Teacher Training program in India under the guidance of Bharath Shetty, who was strongly influenced by the Iyengar method. Later that year, she deepened her exploration of Iyengar Yoga, gaining a profound understanding of its effects on injuries, misalignments, and posture whilst assisting in medical classes.
Upon returning to Australia, Romina became Studio Manager at Yoga To Go in Sydney, and began formal teacher training and ongoing education in the Iyengar method under the guidance of Simon Marrocco, Caroline Coggins, and Tamar Kelly.
Her teaching journey has led her to work with a diverse range of students, from beginners to advanced practitioners, in studio settings, online platforms, and on-site classes. She has also collaborated with The University of Sydney in research programs, local councils, corporate groups, and led various workshops and retreats.
Romina continues her professional development both locally and internationally, regularly studying with the Iyengar family at Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune, India, and with Senior Iyengar Yoga teachers. She currently holds a Level 2 Iyengar Yoga Certification (formerly Intermediate Junior Level 1).
Kate Oliver
Kate is our Digital and Graphic Designer. Kate has worked as a designer for the last 25 years in the marketing, publishing and charity industries. She has practiced yoga in various forms on and off throughout her adult life but became completely hooked when she discovered Iyengar yoga 5 years ago and started practicing several times a week. She plans to keep practicing until she is in her nineties. Kate provides support to the school in many much-appreciated ways.