Pragya Bhatt took up yoga to lose weight. Which she did—15 kilos in a year. Yet for Pragya, yoga is not longer simply a weight loss tool. “Yoga is today a way of life,” she says adding that her practice is far more balanced than any other form of exercise. “It doesn’t just address the physical but also the emotional needs of the body,” she says.
Born in Delhi, Pragya travelled all around the world with her diplomat parents. Her first brush with yoga was at six in Brazil, “My parents were friends with many locals who were also yoga practitioners. It was there that my interest was kindled.”
Pragya’s interest in yoga stayed with her and she continued to practice through her days as a student but when she started working, things changed, “Corporate life was eventful but it brought its own share of problems like caffeine addiction, bad posture, sleep problems and weight gain,” she says.
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She tried the tested route of gymming and dieting but, “The weight always came back,” she admits. That was went she turned to yoga, “The transformation I underwent both physically and spiritually instilled in me a desire to help others also afflicted with lifestyle problems, which are a product of our stressful and competitive times.”
So she chose to undergo a month long Yoga Instructors Course at S-VYASA (Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana) which helped her delve deeper in the philosophy. She also took up courses in Vipassana meditation and breathing.
Yoga had by now become such a vital aspect of Pragya’s life that she chose to quit her job and take up teaching the art full time, “My husband was posted in Wellington for some time so I taught yoga to the wives and officers at the Defence Services Staff College there.”
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Based now in Bangalore, she now teaches at the Parachute Regiment Training Centre as well as the Namme CrossFit Training facility in Bangalore. She also conducts classes at client homes and wants to set up her own studio some day.
“My journey has enabled me to see yoga everywhere and in everything,” she smiles. “And I discover something new about myself every day.”
Contact Pragya at 9686233003 for more details.