Meet our teacher trainers
Stephania Bejma
Stephania Bejma lectures on Yoga for Seniors in the teacher training course and has had thirty years’ experience in aged care. She graduated with IYTA in 2004 and has been teaching ever since. There are increasing numbers of older people who are discovering the benefits of yoga for their health and wellbeing and her lecture provides a practical and theoretical insight into the aspects of yoga that can have the greatest influence. Stephania is also a Life Coach for Seniors.
Cheree Price
Cheree Price has studied, practised and travelled extensively for the past thirty-five years throughout India, Asia, America, Europe and Australia in her pursuit of knowledge and Teachers of all aspects of Yoga and Healing Techniques. This includes the practices of Laghoo Shankaprakshalana. These Hatha Yoga Cleansing Practices or Shatkarmas are part of the original teachings of yoga and in ancient times were considered a vital prerequisite to asana, pranayam and meditation practice. For the past fifteen years Cheree has been running international and local workshops, private counselling and yoga therapy sessions for adults and children. Cheree is the Director of Yogatopia has a BA Dip ED, PG. Dip. Sci (Psy), IYTA, IKYT. Aurasoma Colour Therapy, Dip. Spiritual Healing, Buteyko/Capnotrainer. She is an experienced Yoga/Relaxation and Meditation Facilitator, an Intern Psychologist, Counsellor, School Teacher, Breath Retraining Practitioner, Colour Therapist and Spiritual Healer. Cheree lectures on cleansing practices and guides students through practical experience as well as theory.
Janet Stevens
Janet Stevens has been practicing yoga for over twenty years. She has studied with T.K.V Desikachar, Kausthub Desikachar, Judith Lasater, Rodney Yee, Angela Farmer and Donna Farhi. Janet often assists Donna Farhi in workshops across UK, China and Australia. She is a Master Practitioner of Neuro Linguistics. Janet’s Yoga philosophy is teaching yoga to suit the individual needs of the student and draws inspiration from integrating the breadth of yoga philosophy and practice in her teaching. Janet studied Yoga Sutras, pranayama, meditation, Vedic chanting and yoga therapy at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram (KYM) in Chennai. The experience has advanced her incorporation of these elements into her practice. Janet lectures on Asana, Meditation, Vedic Chanting and Yoga Philosophy.
Mary Durkin
Mary Durkin began her yoga journey in Saudi Arabia when a Princess she was working for gave her the book “Yoga and Common Sense” as a gift. Back in Sydney, Mary graduated from the IYTA Teacher Training Course in 1989 and in 1995 as a Teacher of the Alexander Technique. Over several years Mary attended a weekly ‘yoga class for teachers’ conducted by Karyn Chapman, and credits these classes with giving her a thorough understanding of practising and teaching yoga safely. Mary teaches yoga classes in Sydney and runs classes for teachers specialising in “safety” in practice and teaching. Mary lectures on Asana, Backcare and Observation and Correction in Class. Mary is Membership Secretary and also a member of the Committee of Management.
Bernadette Arena
Bernadette Arena specialises in Oncology Yoga, deep relaxation, and other gentle practices to support people going through illness and life transition. Using the tools of gentle yoga, self-care, and relaxation, she has helped thousands of people who face cancer, HIV, auto-immune disease, depression, anxiety, or grief and loss to find calm, inner relaxation and strength in the face of difficulty. Bernadette has taught yoga and meditation internationally for more than twenty years. For the last seven years she has been program facilitator of yoga and life-skills classes at the Petrea King Quest for Life Foundation in the Southern Highlands. Bernadette lectures on the Chakras.
Wendy Batchelor
Wendy Batchelor likes to inspire people and to be inspired. This is why journeying is so important to her and leads her to take many of her own and to support others to do the same. She realized that taking a journey is a way of opening to something new, to the unknown and the unexpected, not just in the outside world but in the inside world as well. She was drawn to sacred places on the earth of ancient mysticism, spiritual importance and beauty and discovered the ancient art of pilgrimage. She is an experienced group leader who has facilitated many group courses and sacred journeys. She is a specialist in facilitating transformative process or change and holds a Masters Degree in Education. (M.Hlth.Sc.Ed). She is also a somatic therapist and yoga teacher and is fully trained in Hakomi psychotherapy. Wendy lectures in History and Philosophy of yoga, Relaxation in yoga, Communication in Adult Learning One and Two.
Swami Kriyatma
Swami Kriyatma was initiated by Swami Satyananda into the Dasnami Order of Sannyasa in 1983. In 2001 Swami Niranjananda appointed him Director of Education for Satyananda Yoga Academy Australasia. His primary responsibility over the last decade has been to raise the mainstream profile, understanding and creditability of yoga in the west. He he has played a pivotal role in gaining from the Australian Government formal recognition for yoga training as a legitimate educational pathway and qualification. Swami Kriyatma is a faithful disciple of his guru under whose direction he has been practicing and studying now for many years. His teaching has been informed also by the many great teachers that live and have lived at Mangrove Mountain Australia where he resides. His teaching style is clear and down to earth. For these reasons he has been and continues to be invited to teach on many yogic topics in many parts of the world and is currently IYTA’s Pranayama Lecturer.
Karen Nicoll
Karen Nicoll commenced yoga in 1972 and has been on a truly transformative journey ever since exploring the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of yoga. Karen graduated from the IYTA Teacher Training Course in Sydney in 1984 and teaches regular yoga and meditation classes in Newcastle. Karen leads yoga retreats and workshops throughout Australia for yoga students and teachers. She has contributed articles to the Australian Yoga Life magazine. Having also trained as a massage therapist, herbalist and counsellor contributes to her understanding of the various factors influencing wellbeing. Karen has a Bachelor of Health Science (Complementary Medicine). Both wellbeing and education are a passion for Karen (her first career was Primary School teaching). As an educator, Karen enjoys bringing together the ancient teachings of yoga and the modern scientific understanding of how the body and mind function. Karen believes yoga to be a holistic practice that enables us to flourish as we integrate mind, body and spirit.
Leigh Ridden
Leigh Ridden BA, Grad Dip VA obtained the IYTA Teachers Diploma in 2003. In the last decade Leigh has seen yoga become an everyday choice for many teenagers and Yoga Education being offered as an Elective and a core component in the PDHPE Syllabus. She has seen the demand for private classes and workshops grow for teachers and parents of teenagers. Leigh practiced movement, relaxation and visualisation throughout her early childhood years and was introduced to Maharishis Transcendental Meditation at age nine, Asana practice with dedication began at age twenty. Certifications include; Massage, Reiki 1 & 2, Pilates, and Body Harmony. Leigh practices Agni Hotra; Ayurvedic therapy for the environment. In 2005 Leigh toured India and was instructed in ‘The Art of Living Part One -Sudarshan Kriya’ and in 2009 completed Part Two Yoga Kriya in Sydney and Melbourne. Leigh currently teaches Yoga in Sydney High Schools, Municipal Council, Westmead Hospital Breast Cancer Institute, ‘The Circle Yoga’ studio and facilitates Corporate Development Yoga upon request.
Liz Kraefft
Elizabeth Kraefft Dip IYTA, Dip Teach, B. Ed. completed her training in 2003 and since then has been teaching yoga on the North Shore of Sydney. The first yoga class she attended was at high school. Then in her early twenties yoga became a necessity supplement to the hectic hospitality industry. Yoga became a method of finding ‘the quiet’ that was needed to relax, re-energise and find clarity. During the last ten years Liz has followed the teachings of Judith Hanson Laster, TVK Desikachar, Kausthube Desikachar, Donna Farhi, Dr Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani and acknowledges her peers in the IYTA including her teacher Margaret North, of which she believes provide such a great source of knowledge and wisdom. Liz is a firm believer in sharing knowledge, providing honest and loving encouragement to students by mentoring and helping them find and develop their own yoga journey.
Mary Shellens
Mary Shellens began yoga in the early nineties on the advice of her chiropractor who said yoga should help her to relax. She enjoyed the physical challenge and precision of Iyengar yoga classes for seven to eight years, then tried Hatha yoga with an IYTA teacher and was amazed to find true relaxation! A few years later in 2003 Mary enrolled on the Teacher Training Course. Since then Mary has been teaching yoga to teenage girls and at the gym where she first discovered Hatha Yoga. She loves introducing people to yoga, encouraging them to become more aware of many aspects of themselves and helping them to relax. Mary is President of the IYTA, is a member of the Committee of Management as well as the Teacher Training Committee.
Patricia Wigley
Patricia Wigley has been practising yoga for over twenty years and teaching since the early nineties. Her first teacher Matthew O’Malveney inspired her to take the IYTA training course and shortly after, she gained a Graduate Diploma in counselling at ACAP. She has been influenced by the teachings of Swami Satyananda and TKV Desikachar and she completed her studies of Ayurveda at Naturecare becoming an Ayurvedic Lifestyle Counsellor. At the same time she studied Nutrition at Naturecare along with Anatomy & Physiology. Patricia lectures on Ayurveda and how it relates and supports the teaching of yoga as well as being on the Asana team of teachers. Patricia is also a member of both the IYTA Committee of Management and Teacher Training Course Committee.
Lydia Dyhin has been studying and practicing Meditation and Yoga for over forty years, initially training for fifteen of those years at the Yoga Education Centre in Melbourne, Victoria followed by Meditation Studies and practice over these years at Ashrams in Sydney, Melbourne and most recently in upstate New York. Lydia has been a Full Member of the IYTA since 2002, and has a Meditation Facilitator’s Certificate from Naturecare. Lydia is currently on the Meditation Lecture team, is the Administrator for the Teacher Training Course, Flexible Course Manager and chairing the Strategic Planning Committee. She is a Board Member of the Australian Teachers of Meditation Association (ATMA). Lydia’s passion is to foster and support the Inner Journey of each individual student while maintaining a high standard of support for the day-to-day organisation of the Teacher Training Courses.
Katie Brown
Katie Brown has been practising yoga since she was a teenager and later found it provided a great balance to her job as a newspaper and magazine journalist. She completed her IYTA training in 2001 and is a qualified massage therapist (IYEC), doula (Optimum Birth) and infant massage therapist (IMA). Katie lectures on Media and Marketing for Yoga teachers and Pre and Post Natal Yoga. She is also a lecturer and committee member on the Diploma of Pre and Post Natal Yoga Teaching course.