The rigors of a home yoga practice. ⠀
Messy hair, ⠀
sweat stained clothes. ⠀
A little music, ⠀
an old mat.⠀
Props strewn around. ⠀
A useless mirror.⠀
My sister spotted my book at the Delhi International Airport.
Over breakfast with my boyfriend today I mentioned I have my book club meeting tomorrow evening. It got me thinking about reading and those who read. I said to him, “Reading is a bit strange. We all know how to read, but very few actually read.” Those who aren’t bitten by the reading bug as soon as they learn how to read, can never catch the reading disease. For them reading a book will depend on literary awards and bestseller lists. They will never know the pure joy of a juicy historical Walflowers romance followed by the heartbreak of a volume on partition and its consequences. They will never relate to, and therefore never benefit from the existential crisis of a desperate vampire. They won’t know the thrill of hours spent digging through piles of dust motes to unearth treasure in a second-hand bookstore. Their shelves will forever be prey to awards, notable mentions, even popular opinion.
I read ‘God of Small Things’ in high school. The book was one long beautiful breath-taking poem. Last year the magic reappeared in ‘The Ministry of Utmost Happiness’. To have my book next to hers is a little like being close to her energy.
I read a little known book called ‘The Gin Drinkers’ around the time I started college. I was smarting from culture shock, felt like a fish out of water on most days, wondered if things would ever get better and like most young people looked for familiarity that I never really found. (Have I found it now?). As clichèd as it sounds, I recognized a bit of myself in the characters of this book. When Sagarika Ghose spotted her book at the airport, I wonder if she registered the book next to her.
If you spot ‘Beyond Asanas‘ anywhere, do send me a picture!
Thank you @zzeehphotography and @makeupbyhennaanbaree for this amazing shot.
When I was writing ‘Beyond Asanas’ my aim was to write a book which would give readers insight into little known stories about the asanas. This is an aspect of yoga practice which is never emphasized, so most practitioners only understand the asanas superficially.
Little did I know that through the book I would come in direct contact with people near and far, known and unknown. People who would read my words and appreciate them. And then take the time out to give me feedback, and share my work with others. So many of you have reached out to me on social media and through other means to express your thoughts and emotions regarding my work. You have no idea what it means to me. ??????⠀
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‘Beyond Asanas’ was published this year on June 21st. The publisher, Penguin Random House felt that would be the apt day to publish a book such as this. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. The beautiful photos have been shot by Joel Koechlin. The insightful foreword has been written by Kalki Koechlin.
Do get your copy now, and please don’t forget to share your feedback. It helps.
Available on Kindle too!
A snapshot from the first Instagram live session I did showing my own morning practice. Didn’t manage to save the video for this one, but other videos are up on www.youtube.com/PragyaBhatt
This week started with another event, this time for the FLOH Network. FLOH is a singles network which has an interesting modus operandi. Unlike other dating sites, FLOH actually plans meetups for their members. You can then actually meet people face to face, and figure out if you vibe well. And if you do, then you can explore your options to your heart’s content. As part of the event, I shared my personal journey with yoga and how yoga has impacted my personal and professional life.
Sometimes I get out of the yoga pants and into some fancy gear.
Check them out on: https://www.floh.in/
It’s been so cold in Bangalore that I spent an afternoon to dig out all my winter clothes. With the sun disappearing on us for days on end, I designated some time to fish out warm sweatpants and hoodies, sweaters and jackets. It’s so cold that I actually layer for class!!! And usually the layers don’t come off until after at least 10 rounds of Surya Namaskars. What can I say? I’m cold blooded? I filmed a small warm-up routine while waiting for students to show up, and here it is. When it’s cold, I can’t be bothered to take the hoodie off.
I listen to podcasts pretty obsessively and am constantly on the lookout for interesting new ones. This week I stumbled upon this on and found it fascinating. I usually end up listening to this stuff while I drive, cook or even during a shower! Do you have any interesting podcasts that you listen to?
Since many people ask me about my personal practice, I decided to start going live on Instagram. Still a little new to it, I couldn’t save the first live session I filmed, but here’s the second one. The video is kind of grainy and there’s annoying noise in the sound, but it will get better! Follow me on Instagram for quick updates on everything I’m doing.
Also this week I was sad to hear that Toni Morrison passed away. I read ‘Song of Solomon’ in high school and fell in love with her writing. RIP.
Also, ‘Beyond Asanas‘ is now stocked in all the major bookstores and is also available internationally. A friend of mine in Germany and the UK have received their copies. Also – my high school English teacher also got her copy and uploaded this adorable picture. Order your copy now!
Can you spot Beyond Asanas?
Three times a week I have a student coming home early morning. For an hour we work with all our props and what follows is a deep, delicious savasana.
The first post of the week was a snapshot of my hand balancing practice. I’ve been trying to invert for many years now. Some days it’s good, some days not so much. But I do a certain amount of inversions daily. I find using blocks for pincha mayurasana and a bolster for adhomukha vrkshasana helps to activate, stimulate and access my core muscles.
On Wednesday, the 31st I had an amazing book talk hosted by Carrots Restaurant. Carrots is my default go-to for such events because their food is amazing and the vibe of the place is just the right amount of holistic health meets real life people. Geetanjali, a friend of mine since college, also attended and relegated us all with anecdotes of me from college. She reminded me that I was a huge fan of the Khadi Bhandar even back in college when such stuff wasn’t ‘cool’ like it is now!
All writers dream of when they will be signing their books. It still feels surreal.
Grateful for friends who partake of and enjoy your success.
In other new, I spotted my book ‘Beyond Asanas‘ at Higginsbothams on MG Road and was quite kicked about it. As usual I took a million pictures of it.
In the run-up to my book launch, RJ Grisha, a lovely lady based in Chicago reached out to me via my Facebook page to see if I would do an interview for her radio should called ‘Life Aaj Kal’. It was great because I got a chance to analyse myself and introspect a bit. After all, it’s when we come across major breakthroughs that we think most about the meaning of everything in our lives. When I listen to the interview now I smile in spite of myself. I sound excited and nervous, happy and cautious…a young girl on the brink of the greatest event in her life. You can listen to the interview here on the RadioPaaniPoori site.
Yesterday (4th Aug) I was kicked about doing an event for a company called Floh. My talk was about how yoga has helped me with my personal and professional life. I spoke about how our relationship with ourselves pretty much determines our relationship with others. Therefore, it’s imperative to work on that relationship. When I became more conscious of how I treat myself, talk to myself and perceive myself, then miraculously, others also became conscious of it.
But the best part of Sunday is my weekly runs at the Ulsoor Lake. Yesterday I clocked 5 km and followed it up with some stretching and hanging upside down.
Favorite thing on this planet – loads of time to practice, run, stretch and monkey around Ulsoor Lake.