A serene spot amidst city chaos: Samadi Yoga Studio

How do we satiate a soul that is tired of city iving? Samadi Yoga Studio — a dedicated yoga place, that opened its doors on 5 April, 2019 in Gulshan, Dhaka, might be the perfect answer.  An initiative of Eza Chowdhury in partnership with Aamra Active, Samadi aims to be the space to achieve that perfect harmony between soul and body. 

"Samadi yoga is the highest level of consciousness. As a yoga practitioner and teacher, I really wanted a dedicated yoga space so that we can have different kinds of yoga for people," Eza said.

This studio is meant to be a place where everybody feels comfortable, without judgement.

Eza Chowdhury has been dreaming of a studio since coming to Dhaka more than a year ago. For the past year, she has been teaching at Aamra Active gym, but the combination is not ideal. It changes the aura and throws off all the energy. A yoga studio must be clean, and spacious.

Eastern culture used to be very involved in practicing yoga and understanding energy, but the culture started to fade, Eza said.  "We became very westernised and now westerners are doing more yoga than we are. They are adapting more into energy breathing," she said, adding that we need to find the balance again. 

Samadi offers yoga customised for different ages, body weight, and even with injuries or pain, through dedicated facilities and certified expert trainings in three different forms of yoga: Beginners, Kundalini, and Power Vinyasa.

Beginners —

People with pain, injuries; those who are starting yoga or restarting after a long time.

Kundalini —

A lot of deep meditations along with breathing exercises accompanied by bodily movements.

Power Vinyasa —

For those looking to strengthen their body, toning up — lots of cardio involved. 

Rumana Akter, the yoga instructor for beginner's class added, "Students come to my class, feeling insecure and thinking that they need to be very slender to practice yoga. People come with back pain and other problems; my job is to make students feel comfortable, ease their body and make it gradually flexible over time."

She shared the remarkable story of a lady in her late fifties, who came with complaint of not being able to sit properly or having balance. Nevertheless, over the series of classes, she is now fit and flexible enough to be able to jump!

"We practice inhaling positivity and exhale the negative energy. With this, people become more aware of their soul. In addition, after yoga, we conduct the Shavasana — the resting pose — for 5 to 15 minutes.," Rumana added.

Class schedules are flexible and caters to all kinds of people, so even if you are working 9-to-5, there are classes afterwards as well.

To learn more about Samadi Yoga and their class schedules, visit their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/samadiyogadhaka