Ekaminhale came about almost accidentally, I would say. I wasn't happy with some of the yoga clothes out there for guys. None of it really resonated with me. I was like, "This isn't what I would like," so, I was like I'm just going to make my own tank top. I literally just went to the store, bought a tank top, and then went down to the screen printers and then found the Sri Yantra and I got this put on. I made the shirt and then I just started wearing it around town. That weekend, I had probably 15 people ask me if they could buy one.
When I first started making the shirts, I was making them all for guys but then my girlfriend, Franceska, she started to get involved and she was like well, girls would like this and girls would like these types of shirts. It's funny because most of the people that buy Ekaminhale or that wear Ekaminhale right now is largely women and there's no way that I would have been able to make clothes specifically for them if I hadn't had the help of Franceska. She's been very supportive, behind the scenes, in helping me, as a guy, make sure that I take care of some of the smaller details and things. It's interesting.
Ekaminhale, the t-shirts and the clothing and everything that goes with it, is actually just a reflection of the community that I'm a part of in Vancouver, which is the Ashtanga community and the people that I know and the people that we practice together and everything. Everything that has been coming out of Ekaminhale has just been a result of me having this lifestyle and this practice.
None of it has been forced. It has totally grown organically. One of the biggest reasons that it's gotten spread around was just the support of AYV and Fiona and all the teachers there and all my friends there. That was one of the first things that happened, was, after I started making the shirts, Fiona wanted to sell them at the Shala. All the teachers started wearing them and all the students started wearing them.
It felt really good to know that the community that I've been a part of was supporting Ekaminhale and helping me do that. I'm forever grateful to those guys, because they were really a catalyst in helping getting it going.With Ekaminhale, I just want to see it grow as a resource for people to learn about yoga and to have an insight into some of the amazing teachers that we have. That people understand where yoga comes from, that there's a lineage, that there's a method. If anything, I'd just like to see Ekaminhale help maintain the integrity of the teachings.