My Yoga Journey with Ekam Yogashala

I work as a writer and have to sit whole day in front of my computer screen working and working, I had never thought about my health issue. Eventually, unexpected happened, my health started getting deteriorated. At this juncture, my parents suggested me I should join Yoga. I started my research and found 200 hour yoga retreat program of Ekam Yogashala quite intriguing. First, I thought I would only join yoga to restore my health but when I studied their website and talked to their representative, I was so impressed that I decided to take up complete yoga teachers training (YTT) course. To start with I was suggested I join 200 hours Yoga teachers training program and from was the start of my yoga journey.

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I would love to share with you my experience at Ekam Yogashala?

I am currently staying in London, but I reached Delhi and from there commuted by bus. It took me around 5 to 6 hours to reach Rishikesh. As soon I arrived at  Ekam Yogashala I never expected the warm welcome that I would receive from the staff at Yogashala. I was surprised to see students had come from different parts of the world. We all greeted each other with equal excitement and enthusiasm.

The school is located on the banks of the river Ganges, nestled between the Himalayan ranges. It is really a lovely and peaceful abode.

After the completion of all formalities, they gave me complete schedule that we need to follow every day. I went to my room, took rest for few hours and studied the routine.

• Our day would start at 5: 30 in the morning when we are given morning green tea or hot lemon water to drink.

• At 06:00, we are ready to start the yoga class with Hatha yoga which is divided into different sections to give us the better understanding of its postures and forms.

• At 07:45 sharp, we would start Pranayama for breathing practice to rejuvenate our mind and soul.

• At 0:900, we are given breakfast which included fruits and porridge, toast and my favorite cup of masala chai (Natural Herbal Tea). There would varieties in breakfast every day.

• We then learn about our physical body that includes knowledge of bones and muscles in Yoga Anatomy class which is conducted at 10: 30 a.m.

• At 12.00 pm we would do Mantra chanting which was though difficult for me to learn as it is in Sanskrit but I was able to quickly grasp it.

• By 1:00 pm we are back to the dining hall for lunch. In lunch is included Ayurvedic prepared rich nutritious food. Meal included rice, pulses, vegetable, curry, salad (Beetroot, Radish, Cucumber, Peppers or carrots).

• 3: 00 pm was our time for yoga philosophy class which was quite inspiring as I learned something new in each class. 

• 4: 15 pm was our time for Ashtanga yoga class. Yogi Ashish who took our class had been inspiring as well and passionate about sharing his knowledge. As I enjoyed learning from him I arranged some private classes with him to improve my Yoga practice.

• At 6:15 pm we would meditate. Our teachers taught us different Meditation techniques which in the long run would help us to unify our body with the soul.

• At 7:00 we had a dinner time. Again dinner included vegetables, rice, pulses, salad, and fresh fruits.

On Sundays, we would be taken on excursion trip on the Himalayas and in between adventure tours like water rafting and trekking. It was really very exciting. We were also made to explore and visit Himalayan temples. More than me, these were the foreigners who were more excited to visit temples.

After dinner, we would often stroll for few minutes and maybe grab a cup of masala chai, a bit of chit chat and went to bed.

Let me tell you my personal experience on it:

These 200 hours were amazing for me, as not only I learned a lot about yoga, but I made many friends too. Each session was very interesting and appealing as never our teacher made our session/s boring that could make us sleep even in theoretical sessions. During the practical sessions too our teacher made each pose comfortable for us, and helped us to play safe with our body, so I never get injured. So whenever I would get stressed out, I would often get perked up with a bit of rejuvenation exercise. I also learned that in yoga is more about our ability to pay deeper attention towards our bodies and learn to be still through the pose and still in our lives.