Danielle O’Donoghue –
I fell in love with Ryoho Yoga from the very first class I attended. Its transformative, holistic approach — blending seasonal awareness, therapeutic movement, and food as medicine — immediately resonated with me. Now, more than 20 years later, I feel incredibly blessed to be sharing this powerful healing system from our beautiful, intimate studio, The Octagonal Space. Welcoming my community into a safe, supportive space where we can explore, heal, and play with these elements continues to be deeply fulfilling.
I’ve been teaching yoga for over two decades and hold a Diploma in Ryoho Yoga Therapy, having studied with its founder, Andzej Gospadarczyk. My movement journey has also taken me to Japan for Oki-do Yoga retreats, as well as intensive trainings with Donna Farhi, Yoga for Kids teacher trainings with Lorraine Rushton, and exploration of complementary practices like Qi Gong, Tai Chi, Nei Gong, and Feldenkrais.
My passion for holistic wellbeing also extends into the realms of women’s health, food, and earth-based wisdom. I’ve studied with the School of Shamanic Womancraft and am deeply committed to supporting women to reconnect with their sacred, cyclical nature — embracing their rites of passage as empowering and life-enriching experiences.
Food is another of my great loves — especially the healing and delicious kind. I hold a Diploma in Traditional Herbal Medicine from Dorothy Hall and have spent a lifetime immersed in wholefood nutrition and natural health. I’ve co-owned wholefood cafés, run a yoga retreat catering business, and now share all this knowledge through seasonal cooking classes, wholefood degustation dinners, and by weaving it into my yoga classes, cleanses, and one-on-one sessions.
Steve Penn –
As Co-Founder of The Octagonal Space, I offer a range of courses, classes and one-on-one coaching in functional breathing and functional movement.
I began practising martial arts as a child. This early attraction to the Eastern Arts developed further when I was introduced to yoga in 1983 and completed my first teacher training, shortly after. Since then, I have gravitated more and more to the internal energetic disciplines of Tai Chi, Qi Gong and Nei Gong which I continue to practice and have practised in some form for more than fifteen years.
As I have grown and developed in these practices, I have come to understand in greater depth that what connects all these disciplines is the breath.
Inspired to explore this further, I completed the Oxygen Advantage® Functional Breathing Instructor Training and later the Oxygen Advantage® Advanced Instructor Training with Patrick McKeown, in 2017 and 2022 respectively.
My courses and classes now integrate functional breathing with functional movement. These tools help support my clients to move themselves out of their heads and into their bodies. Together these practices can help improve quality of life, alleviate stress, anxiety, activity-induced asthma and sleep disorders; enhance sports performance and endurance; and strengthen overall health and wellbeing by increasing circulation of energy (qi), blood and oxygen throughout the body.
I also work one on one with clients, creating and guiding them through individual programs.
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Photographs of Danielle, Steve and
The Octagonal Space by
Hayley Melrose – Soul Photography &
Elizabeth O’Donnell Photography
We acknowledge the Darug and Gundungurra peoples, as the traditional custodians of the Blue Mountains, the area where The Octagonal Space stands. The Darug and Gundungurra peoples have a rich and long history of deep connection to and care of country and we honour their cultures and customs that continue to nurture this land. We pay our deep respects to elders past, present, and emerging.