Teacher profiles

Penny Cuthbert

Penny was introduced to Hatha Yoga as a child by her father who taught in Sydney in the early 1970s with Acharya Upendra Roy. She began regular yoga classes in 1989 with Eve Gryzbowski and Colin Rivers at the Sydney Yoga Centre and gained her Introductory Iyengar Yoga Teacher's Certificate in 1997.

From 1992 Penny taught in the Iyengar method at various schools in Sydney and traveled regularly to India to study with BKS Iyengar and family. In 1993 Penny began classes with Zhander Remete, founder of Yoga of the Shadow School with whom she continues to learn.  Penny has also studied with Sri K Pattabhi Jois of Mysore, TVK Desikacher of Madras and Simon Borg Olivier of Yoga Synergy in Sydney.

Penny taught at Yoga Synergy from 1998-2003 and then founded the Hatha Yoga Desha in 2003 to teach Shadow Yoga.

Natasha Almeida

Natasha’s practice of yoga began in 1998 during her final year of an Exercise Science degree at the University of Sydney. Soon after, she began practicing with Simon Borg Olivier and Bianca Machliss at Yoga Synergy and in 2001 was introduced to Zhander Remete and Shadow Yoga.

Since then, Natasha has attended numerous Shadow Yoga workshops, taught by Zhander Remete and Emma Balnaves, and now has a dedicated practice under their guidance. In 2008 Natasha completed her teacher training with Penny Cuthbert, Director of Hatha Yoga Desha, and is continuing teacher training with Zhander and Emma. She is also studying Polarity Therapy - a system of healing branching from Ayurveda.