BLACK LOTUS STUDIOS

Black Lotus Studios is an excellent yoga school.

I am a long-time student with the studio and throughout the years I have experienced a consistently high quality of yoga teaching; the teachers are skilled and intuitive, they teach the whole class and yet are able to give students individual attention. My own yoga practice needs have varied greatly over the years and I have had unwavering support from all of the teachers and also the necessary instruction to develop more insight and understanding of Iyengar yoga. The studio space is beautiful and well equipped, allowing for a calm and rewarding yoga practice.

For many years, I have enjoyed the benefits of attending Iyengar yoga classes at Black Lotus Studios.

I feel fortunate to have found Sue-Ellen. She is an exceptional teacher.

Black Lotus has been a calm oasis in a wild world.

Over the years, and throughout the Covid crisis, Sue-ellen at Black Lotus has steered the students, the classes with a light touch. Her teaching is deep and disciplined. Her understanding about the body in general, and my body in particular has allowed me to experiment with movement, action, strength and flexibility in a way that has advanced my yoga practice.

I've been going to Iyengar yoga classes at Black Lotus for around 10 years.

It's a special place: a beautiful, peaceful, purpose-built studio in the inner West under the guidance of the superlative teacher Sue-ellen Koehler. All the members of the team are highly-skilled practitioners who're caring and encouraging and always make the time to consider any injuries and current difficulties and provide alternatives or support. There's a real sense of community and a shared vision for growth in practice and in self.

I have been practising yoga with Sue-ellen for over 20 years.

She has kept me fit and healthy and will continue to do so well into my 80s which will be next year. Sue-ellen has the ability to essentially care for each individual, being aware of any personal difficulties or injuries and ensuring that we all manage to enjoy and improve our strength in mind and body. I couldn’t imagine ever stopping yoga practise. Her zooming classes have been invaluable for all of us. She has created a supportive atmosphere and her purposely built studio is a pleasure.

I’ve been attending yoga classes at Black Lotus since the studio first opened in 2007.

I’ve benefited enormously from Sue-ellen and the other teachers sharing their deep knowledge and love of yoga. Over the years, the classes have nourished my yoga practice and nurtured my curiosity about what’s going on physically, emotionally and mentally when I’m doing the asanas. I really value the sense of being part of a supportive yogi community at Black Lotus, the encouragement for developing a home practice, and the intensive short courses where students have the chance to explore the practice more deeply. Black Lotus has a great set-up for delivering both face-to-face and online classes. The beautiful, well-appointed garden studio is such an inviting and delightful space to do yoga!

I started taking yoga classes with Sue-ellen in my early sixties.

My main reason was to slow the loss of flexibility that comes with old age. It worked! I am now 82 and continue to benefit from the wisdom and teaching skills of Sue-Ellen in twice weekly classes. I only wish I had taken up yoga with her when I was younger.

I have been attending both the studio and zoom classes over the past two years.

Sue-ellen came highly recommended by another Iyengar yoga teacher, who had to leave Sydney. Sue-ellen definitely lives up to the recommendation. I find her classes beneficial to my yoga development and enjoyment. She gives excellent descriptions of asanas and corrective feedback. I highly recommend Sue-ellen and Black Lotus to any yogi, whether a beginner or experienced.

I've been going to Iyengar yoga classes at Black Lotus for around 10 years.

It's a special place: a beautiful, peaceful, purpose-built studio in the inner West under the guidance of the superlative teacher Sue-ellen Koehler. All the members of the team are highly-skilled practitioners who're caring and encouraging and always make the time to consider any injuries and current difficulties and provide alternatives or support. There's a real sense of community and a shared vision for growth in practice and in self.

Sue-ellen has detailed and accurate knowledge of human anatomy

and an exceptional ability to read each individual body with all its idiosyncrasies and temperaments, and always finds a way to communicate directly and delicately to the mind within. I am grateful to have found her, and with her patient and skilful teaching, I am remembering the joy of aligning mind and body in the true spirit of Yoga. I look forward with great anticipation to the resumption of classes in the lovely studio in the garden.

The yoga I do with Black lotus yoga is soooo good for me

I am very grateful I am very appreciative Thank you, one breath and one asana at a time

This is an outstanding yoga studio.

The teachers have a deep knowledge and precise understanding of what they are doing and teach with warmth, humour and sensitivity to the different needs of the students! I come out of the classes feeling more aligned, more aware of my posture, stronger, uplifted, grounded and peaceful! It has helped me tremendously and in all honestly I have found more benefit through these classes than any others I have attended. This studio is a hidden gem.

Excellent yoga school. The teachers really know what they're doing, and the classes are small and personal.

You'll be challenged but looked after at the same time. The other great thing about it is that it's not 'same old'. I've been going for years and I can honestly say I've never considered going anywhere else because the yoga is endlessly interesting. Nice crowd of students too.

I am proud to be counted as a student at Black Lotus

When I first came to Black Lotus, I was impressed by the number of students who’d been coming to this school for years and years. Decades later (literally), I am proud to be counted as one of them. As someone with a chronic injury, I found Sue-ellen brilliant at adapting lessons to work around this and she has always respected my limits, without compromising on quality in the slightest. Her classes are always mentally and physically challenging, at whatever level of skill or emotional state you bring to the class. Black Lotus classes have a different theme or focus each time. I have never felt that we are repeating moves for the sake of it, nor have I ever been bored (!!) - which is no easy thing to achieve consistently.

There are so many studios in Sydney offering different forms of yoga, but for me, this is the best in town!

The teachers are highly experienced and supportive, and really care about each and every member of the school, no matter their level. At Black Lotus, yoga is taught with a high emphasis on doing poses safely, with intelligence, and with the encouragement to develop a personal practice at home. I think it’s a unique place.

I first did a yoga class with Sue-ellen when she was teaching on William street in about 2003 and have been following her ever since. When she first opened Black Lotus in Newtown, I had a moment where I thought I couldn’t fit the classes into my schedule, so I tried to find another teacher. All the ones I tried just annoyed me because they weren’t her. I love the way Sue-ellen teaches, there is a beautiful balance of deep work and a joy for yoga that is tempered with a little silliness. Her classes are ever evolving, always interesting and even after all this time she still changes and adapts with new poses and different ways of looking at something you may have down many times before. The studio space is a delight as well, it’s nestled into the garden and feels very calm and welcoming.

I've been coming to classes at Black Lotus for a few years now and have felt honoured to be taught by Sue-ellen, whose careful and considered approach to yoga instruction has supported me to feel safe and strong in my practice. I also enjoy practicing in the beautiful purpose built studio in a thriving garden setting.