Grant
Receiving the Yoga For Good grant felt like a quiet wind finally catching my sails. After years of dreaming and sketching, this support allowed the Eco-Yoga Portal — now known as SWAHA Hub — to take its first real breath.
The early phase was deeply personal. I was building not just a website, but a sacred space — one that weaves together the threads of yoga, ecological living, and indigenous wisdom into something rooted yet expansive. The vision was (and still is) to create an ad-free, focused, empowering digital space — a gentle rebellion against mainstream platforms flooded with noise.
How the Grant Helped
The funding was spent with care and intention, supporting each phase of the portal’s growth:
- Almost half (around 45%) was invested in custom website development — including backend structure, design, and integration. This laid the foundation for the entire Eco-Yoga platform.
- About 10% went toward ongoing internet and data costs. As I’ve been building this from a rural location, reliable connectivity has been essential to staying consistent.
- Roughly 12% supported essential business software — including hosting, CMS tools, collaborative platforms, and project management subscriptions.
- Close to 40% has been reserved for the next stage: building the mobile app version, launching a modest promotional campaign, and maintaining the software subscriptions required to keep everything running smoothly.
At first, I faced real challenges — multiple false starts with developers from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The communication gaps and misalignment cost both time and energy. But eventually, I found a developer from Belarus whose clarity, precision, and resonance with the project turned everything around. Since then, every step has felt aligned — and finally, joyful.
Why This Grant Was Visionary
It was unusual and refreshingly open-minded for a yoga-focused charity to fund a primarily online project — and that’s exactly why it was powerful. In today’s reality, especially post-COVID, digital space has become central to how people connect, teach, and heal.
By choosing to support a community-driven digital platform, Yoga For Good made a conscious investment in future-accessible wellness. The portal now offers instructors a rich, functional, and extremely low-cost alternative to mainstream course platforms — with group spaces, forums, member profiles, messaging, and event tools, all integrated into a supportive ecosystem.
This makes online teaching more accessible than ever, especially for women, Indigenous knowledge-keepers, and grassroots teachers who have neither the funds nor the desire to navigate algorithm-driven commercial networks.
Outcomes & Community Growth
The desktop site is now live. We’re ready to start gently onboarding early members — yoga teachers, indigenous leaders, and sustainability enthusiasts. The feedback has been heartening. One yoga teacher from Melbourne wrote, “I’ve been waiting for a platform like this where I can offer what I do without having to fight against distracting video-reels and 20-second content.”
The eMag section (Enlightened Earth) is also taking shape, slowly but soulfully — designed for meaningful storytelling, not content churn. I’ve also had interest from a yoga teacher in northern NSW with deep knowledge of history and a regenerative landscaper from Queensland who both want to contribute when we open for wider content submission.
The Support I Received
YFG team’s approach has been rare — human, generous, and intuitive. I felt held, not monitored. The freedom to take my time and adapt the project as I learned more about what it needed (and what I could realistically deliver alone) has been invaluable.
Moira’s personal support meant a lot to me. This has not been a cold funding experience; it has felt like a warm, real friendship beyond time.
Reflections & Future Vision
Would I change anything about the grant process? Only that I would’ve asked sooner for mentoring or volunteers! A few bright minds at the early stage to help seed the forum and groups would’ve made all the difference. If YFG knows of anyone who’d like to help co-create from the roots, I’d love to hear from you.
As for the future — I feel confident. Quietly so. The foundations are set, the design is elegant and responsive, and the energy feels fertile. The mobile version, upcoming marketing campaign, and expanding course creation tools will form the next wave.
Thank you, again, for believing in this project when it was still just breath and intention. With this grant, you helped me turn sacred vision into form — and that, to me, is the true yoga.
With warmth and deep gratitude,
Matarishvan
Founder,
Eco-Yoga Community
ecology.yoga
