The Open Mind Space is for the student, the teacher, the soul searcher.
A place to connect with a conscious community and grow into your full potential.
We offer yoga, meditation, movement classes, events and personal healing. Our intention for The O.M. Space is to approach self-development, wellness and spirituality with an open mind, making its tools and concepts, simple, approachable and accessible to all.
We could say the sky is the limit… but it’s really not. Together, let’s look to the edges of the Universe and beyond.
Our teachers and practitioners are all on their own journey of growth, and are here to hold space and welcome you to explore inner and outer worlds.
Click through the links below to meet our people, view the timetable, and read more about how The Open Mind Space came to be.
Our Manifesto
No matter your age, gender, income, world view, beliefs, what you wear, who you love, where you live, why you’ve come… The Open Mind Space is here for you. Whether you’re not quite sure about the whole ‘woo-woo’ side of things, or you wholeheartedly accept the existence of unicorns and dragons (they are both totes real), you are welcome here. Let’s experience, share, connect, learn and grow together.
Our wish for the Open Mind Space:
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To create a safe environment that is free from judgement, welcoming everyone (or everything!)
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To support each other through learning, teaching and sharing
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To understand that everyone is equal, and each human adds value to the space
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To create a shift in the wider community, by uplifting the individual
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To support the growth of conscious community, in Newcastle and beyond.
Video content created by One Stop Productions.
Our teachers are passionate about sharing and learning.
They bring their own unique life experiences to their teachings and are here to ensure you have a safe and supportive environment for your open-minded explorations.
Murray Smith
Co-founder
Coming from a background in construction with a passion for surfing, Murray totally understands the need to maintain a healthy body. On a deeper level and through his own life experiences, he also knows how important it is to maintain mental wellness.
Murray is extremely passionate about men’s mental wellness, connecting people to nature, aiding people in rediscovering their true selves, and cultivating a safe environment in which people can continue to build a healthy relationship with their mind, body, and spirit.
Murray spent his early years in and out of jail with a life of crime, drug and alcohol addictions. He knows what it takes to create great change and knows that if he can do it with , at the time, limited support and resources, you can do it too.
Bookings are now open for Spiritus Somatic Breathwork with Murray. Sessions available Wednesdays & Thursdays Click here for the info and to book.
Renée Wilkinson
Co-founder
Renée has been working in areas of complementary therapy and healing since 2008. In 2014, yoga became Renée’s go-to moving through PTSD. It helped her re-connect her mind and body, and she is now honoured to share and create a similar experience for you.
In 2017 she started The O.M. Space as a market stall, in 2019 with Husband Murray, she opened the doors to The Open Mind Space as a home for those looking to connect with other like minded, spiritually curious people.
Renée is also a Kinesiologist and Energy Healer, offering sessions in our upstairs treatment rooms on Wednesdays & Thursdays. Find out more about & book in to her Kinesiology practice here.
Our People
Jacqui Rose
Teacher
Jacqui is a fun and passionate yoga and movement teacher/teacher trainer, who is deeply inspired by energetics, the elements, and living in alignment with nature. Jacqui comes from an extensive and classically trained dance background and as a result has a strong awareness of body conditioning and expressive movement. She also has a unique flair for spicing things up by incorporating many different flavours into her yoga classes.
Jacqui is a prime example of how you can turn your life around from struggling with mental health and fighting to survive, to thriving and living with passion, purpose and wellbeing. Her authenticity comes from her ability to be open and honest about her life and support others on their journey to embrace all parts of themselves with power and unconditional love.
Jacqui has practiced yoga since 2009 and taught for nearly a decade, as well as having practiced, trained and taught globally. She has a deep respect for traditional yoga and the fundamentals of human movement and spiritual practice. Jacqui also consistently continues to educate and expand her knowledge on yoga, energy, trauma-informed modalities and breath-work.
Jacqui brings an attitude of self-discovery, challenge, fun and consciousness to her teachings. Her distinctive approach to yoga will leave you feeling educated and inspired.
Tara-Lee Bagnall
Yoga Teacher
Tara, the founder of Ohm Wellness, started her yoga journey more than 11 years ago. At the time, she was a busy single mother of her three beautiful children.
Her life came to a rapid halt when she found herself hospitalized requiring heart surgery. Quite a big shock! Life delivered her the experience that caused her to really pause and examine the path she was on, for her and her children. It was made quite clear to her that she needed to start to really take care of herself.
She had always wanted to try yoga, but had never found the time. Now was the time!
She found her local community yoga and simply committed to a weekly class. The benefits mentally were amazing. She continued just with a weekly class for years and then after a break when she had her fourth child with her husband, she finally returned and was ready for more.
Tara completed her initial training with Karl Jaross, the founder of Yoga Body Works in Newcastle. Training in Yin & Yang Yoga, following the lineage of Baron Baptiste’s Power Yoga and Paul Grilley’s Yin Yoga.
Tara is also constantly absorbing and learning from mentors such as Eckhart Tolle, Thich Nat Hahn and Dr Joe Dispenza.
Her personal practice is ever-evolving, adding much richness and personal experience to her teachings.
Kai Fahrig
Yoga Teacher
Kai has been practicing yoga for several years and has
explored various types over this time. Kai says that practicing yoga gives him a deep present feeling in his body and he likes to classify it as a moving meditation that makes it easy to stop thinking and start feeling.
“After practice I feel energized and relaxed, overall, more balanced within and that helps me to tackle the daily life challenges with more ease.
Over the last 2 years I felt like that I would love to share
this tool with others, so I started to teach yoga to friends
or at events. Now I have completed my formal 200hr YTT
to be able to expand sharing this beautiful tool of yoga
with the world around me."
Jessica Schmutz
Yoga Teacher - on maternity leave from July 2023
Jessica began experiencing the power of breath and embodied movement from a young age, having been taught by her mother to ‘meditate’ by candlelight and 'stretch' before bed.
Jessica began to consciously develop a Vinyasa Yoga practice in her teenage years during a period of disembodiment, pain and grief. Eleven years on, after dabbling in different styles and lineages of Yoga, she continues to find solace, connection and awareness through a strong Vinyasa Flow practice. Patanjali's Yoga Sutras are her guiding principles for life and she finds great joy in interweaving yogic philosophy with modern neuroscience – a credit to her clinical background in mental health Occupational Therapy.
Jessica brings a dynamic energy to her classes with a focus on fluidity, creative sequencing and stoking the fire within. Her passion for a trauma-sensitive practice allows her to hold a safe space for collective growth and transformation.
Find out more about Jessica and what she offers here.
Marco Schmutz
Yoga Teacher
I have been practicing yoga for over 10 years. It has been a journey of self exploration through connecting inwards during these deep practices and avenues of spiritual, mental, emotional and physical development.
Delving into this pathway has been an incredible experience of self awakening.
With every practice, I continue to explore the ever unfolding layers of meeting myself.
My background as a professional Chef has supported the development of a conscious mind-body connection.
Through yoga, self connection is found within conscious movements. This conscious movement gives 'flow' a unique meaning to your life - a solid base to grow into the new you.
My teachings go beyond postures, offering self study to allow for shifts in consciousness ultimately leading to expansion and growth.
Change is inevitable, and with every shift a new obstacle appears. Through yoga we develop the necessary skills to overcome challenge and embrace change for the blessing it is for us on a personal level.
We cannot become who we want or need to be by remaining who we are.
There will never be a better time to begin this lifelong exploration than now.
Find out more about Marco and what he offers here.
Brooke Barrett
Yoga Teacher
"I believe we fall in love with this practice for the strength of the warriors and the softness in child’s pose. But what keeps us in love, is on the days that we practice, we notice that there is something different about how we view ourselves and the world around us."
Brooke is a devoted yoga student, storyteller and seeker of all philosophies that inspire more depth to love and life. Brooke has completed over 1000 hours of yoga teacher trainings including Hatha, Ashtanga vinyasa, Traditional Mysore, Ayurveda, Tantra and yogic philosophy studies. Her passion is to bring yoga to life off the mat through mythology and story and creating yoga journeys that ripple beyond body and shape.
“This practice has always shown me what is possible. It has taught me to dig deeper into the dwelling space of my heart and to take great responsibility of how I spend my precious time here in this life."