The Ekam Yoga studio is on the ground floor of the Holistic Medical Centre, located at 257 Jan Smuts Avenue. It joins other holistic health practitioners to offer a variety of treatments for a happy, healthy life.
Ekam Yoga started as a concept during my first trip to Mysore, India. I was reading Mircea Eliade's Yoga: Immortality and Freedom (a little light vacation reading). He highlighted the concept of ekagrata, a single point of focus- like drishti (gaze point), only much deeper. I had been thinking about opening a yoga studio for some time, toying with idea but wondering how I could pull it off with a full time job and a 5-day a week yoga practice. But as I started thinking about ekagrata, I started thinking it was possible. I had always had trouble focusing, I was always distracted by everything that touches us daily: work, school, family, friends, where am I going, what am I doing? But I never had that noise when I was on my mat. My yoga practice became my single point of focus, a refuge from all the chaos of daily life. And that was where I started, I wanted a space, for myself and for others to retreat into a single point of focus. And, as I was experiencing self-practice in Mysore, in a room with sixty other people, the only way out, was in.
But ekagrata seemed a bit too esoteric, too impractical for daily living. So as I thought about building a yoga studio, I was also practicing at the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute, and reading about yoga, and Ashtanga yoga in particular. And every led class I experienced began with 'Ekam...' meaning 'one' in Sanskrit. And it seemed so simple...everything begins with one- the first breath, the first posture, the first step, the first commitment- it all begins with 'one'. And so Ekam Yoga was conceived.
The road hasn't been easy. Fear, doubt, and a little voice telling me 'you can still get out of this' have nagged me from the beginning. But the desire to have a space to practice, and to share the practice of traditional Mysore-style Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga with the community, has been my single point of focus for over a year now. The practice itself is beautiful, with layers of the self uncovered and opened at the most unexpected times. The method of building the practice posture by posture is practical, and it works! I find myself, even after three years of practice, finding nuances and secrets that I would not have been ready for at any earlier point in time. Ashtanga grows on you, and grows with you. My wish is that others in the community will also discover the many layers of their practice at Ekam Yoga.
- Sarah, 7 March 2010