Eka Yoga Institute
Yoga Studies | Yoga Therapy | Vedic Chanting
Which Yoga
We teach the yoga of Professor Krishnamacharya and his son, Mr TKV Desikachar.
Yoga originated in India over 4000 years ago.
It is a self-empowering healing system that helps one to maintain or restore health and to pursue a journey of growth and personal transformation. A broad range of powerful methods are available, to be implemented under the supervision of a competent teacher.
Some of these tools are:
Our Work
Yoga Studies
Overview of our programs:
Mentoring
Who is it for?
Apart from graduated teachers and teachers in training, mentoring is for anyone sincerely committed to yoga and wanting to make it a part of their daily life through practice and reflection.
How does it work?
Meetings with your mentor are always one-on-one. You will be given a personal practice and it will be adjusted over time. Your mentor guides you in your studies, and gives you support in other areas of your life, if needed. This relationship will strengthen over time and may last for many years or even for life.
Each mentor has their own mentor, and so on. Because we are still first and foremost students of yoga ourselves, we treat our students with the same respect, care and friendship that we experience with our own mentor.
Yoga Therapy
One to one customised practice
This individualised approach targets any ailment or existing condition, or simply helps to keep you in good health. Typically, yoga therapists in Kirshnamacharya’s method are yoga teachers certified at the 500 hours level who have completed at least another 3 years of rigorous training to achieve this level of certification. They learnt how to combine a full range of tools to design a unique practice customised only for you, to evolve with you. Since you do your practice on your own, some supervision and adjustments will be necessary from time to time.
Retreats
Next retreat in Mysore, India, will be in February 2028, co-hosted with Anne Poirier from France. Next autumn retreat at the St John of God Conference and Retreat centre, Safety Bay, WA, from April 21 to 25, 2027 (15 students max ). Watch this space for more information.
Valerie Fimat – Faneco
About Valerie
Valerie is a reputed teacher who started to practice yoga in 1994. She began teaching in 1999 in the USA after taking a 200-hour course and then went on to complete more than 8 combined years of training in the tradition of Krishnamacharya with her mentor Frans Moors in Belgium and at the KYM in India with Mr Desikachar and other senior teachers.
Through these long studies and decades of personal practice she has gained expertise in all tools of yoga: postures and their modifications (asana), breathing techniques (pranayama), energetic seals (mudra), energetic locks (bandha) the use of sounds and mantra in yoga practice, visualisation (bhavana), meditative techniques (dhyana), Yoga philosophy, and the pedagogy of teaching people of all ages and abilities, including seniors, pregnant women, children and athletes.
Since becoming certified as a Teacher Trainer under the direct supervision of Mr. Desikachar in 2007, she has been conducting teacher training courses and mentoring yoga teachers on an ongoing basis. Her 600 hours program has been rated as one of the most in-depth and comprehensive courses in the Asia-Pacific region.
Valerie followed the 4-year Yoga Therapist Training Program in the tradition of Krishnamacharya in India and graduated at the KYM in Chennai. She teaches one on one with a therapeutic approach, helping students incorporate realistic yoga programs in their daily life, dealing with all sorts of health conditions or simply giving them tools to stay fit.
Throughout her career she has also taught athletes, including swimmers, outrigger canoe paddlers and deep-sea divers. Her experience brings her referrals by word of mouth and from the medical community.
She has lectured and conducted workshops for The Society of Yoga Practitioners in the UK (https://www.tsyp.yoga/), in Singapore for the Singapore Air Force, the Singapore American School, True Yoga and Touch the Toes. In Australia she has taught workshops and post graduate programs at Āgama Yoga Centre in Melbourne and at the Yoga Australia Annual Conference in Byron Bay (2024). She currently sits on the Education Committee of Yoga Australia.
Valerie’s passion is Vedic chanting and the study of yogic texts, especially Patanjali’s Yogasutras. In March 2012, she translated the book Liberating Isolation: the Yogasutra of Patañjali, a commentary of Patanjali’s Yoga-Sutra by Frans Moors, which was published in India. She occasionally contributes articles to yoga magazines in the region. An avid student of the Sanskrit language, she completed a four-year course in Sanskrit with the Australian National University in Canberra and is currently doing working on a translation of the Mahanarayaṇa Upanishad for a Master of Philosophy at ANU.
After 17 years in Singapore, Valerie moved to Perth with her family in 2021; she teaches locally in Fremantle as well as a large circle of international and Australian students through online studies.
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Yoga Australia Level 3 | Registered Senior Teacher
Yoga Alliance | Continuing Education Program Facilitator (YACEP)
Yoga Alliance E-RYT 500 | Senior Yoga Teacher
1991 | Master’s degree, Mandarin Chinese, INALCO Paris
1999 | Kripalu Centre for Yoga & Health, USA| Yoga Teacher (200 hrs)
2005 | AAYA, Frans Moors, Belgium | Senior Yoga Teacher (600+ hrs)
2007 | KYM Chennai, India | Certified Teacher Trainer
2015 | Certified Yoga Therapist (4-year program – KYM India – 1200+ hours)
2020-23 | Study in Sanskrit language (ANU, Canberra)
2024 | ASIA 3108 program for M.Phil. proposal (ANU)
2025 – current | Annotated translation of Mahanarayana Upanishad for M.Phil. (ANU)
Classes & Workshops
Vedic Chanting Classes
We teach non-religious chants from the Vedas and the Yoga-Sūtras. Instruction on chanting techniques and accurate pronunciation is given, and the rules of chanting are taught. Participants are encouraged to come as often as possible and to practice on their own with the support of our recordings, and improvement will soon be made.
Day and time: by appointment
Location: North Fremantle
Investment: 90.00 AUD single class | 750.00 AUD 10 classes
Workshops and Workshop series
We run workshops on a variety of topics, such as the chakras, prānāyāma, meditation, Sanskrit for beginners, Vedic chanting for beginners, Vedic chanting workshops for advanced and intermediate students, etc. The next workshop series will be on the Katha Upanishad.