Books Wellness

Butter by Asako Yuzuki (An Unusual Book Review)

June 30, 2025
Body positivity versus health and fitness journey reflections.

Butter, Body Positivity & Balance

I recently finished reading Butter by Asako Yuzuki. Originally in Japanese, it is inspired by the true story of a woman accused of murdering several men by seducing them through delectable, home-cooked, gourmet food. Rika Machida is a journalist investigating the case. She manages to get an interview with the enigmatic Manako Kajii, the woman accused of these crimes, who is on death row. As Rika digs deeper and gets increasingly entangled in Kajii’s narrative, she’s forced to confront her own beliefs about beauty, desire and gender roles. The book explores themes of femininity, power, body image, and how society polices women’s relationships with food, pleasure, and autonomy. It challenges us to ask ourselves: are we truly free? And this question hit me hard because it helped me articulate something complex and uncomfortable about what the body positivity movement has become.

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Pregnancy/Parenting Notes Prenatal

Acupuncture for Fertility: How It Can Help Prepare Your Body for Pregnancy

June 15, 2025
Acupuncture for fertility is an effective alternative healing modality.

Infertility drives women to despair. It changes how you perceive yourself and changes your world view. All of a sudden you’re obsessed with how to ‘fix’ your body. This often leads to unhealthy thought patterns, which lead to unhealthy decisions – which can change the trajectory of your life. This is when my practice of yoga, meditation, journaling helped me centre myself and act from a space of intention, rather than defeat and despair.

I was reluctant to over-medicate my body and I inherently believe in alternative therapy, which is probably why I decided to try holistic healing modalities before throwing in the towel and schedule an IVF appointment.

One of the more interesting modalities I discovered was acupuncture, a part of TCM – Traditional Chinese Medicine. I’ve always seen acupuncture as an exotic treatment. To be honest, I didn’t know much about it until I heard about it in a podcast about conception.

I discovered Dr. Beena Mathew on the internet and found out we had SVYASA in common. During our first appointment she asked me detailed questions about my lifestyle, examined my medical reports and infused me with the kind of positivity only holistic health practitioners can.

Now that the journey is behind me, I decided to reach out to Dr. Beena with a few questions about how acupuncture can support women who are trying to conceive.

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Books Pregnancy/Parenting Notes

Ashtanga Teacher Mariela Cruz on Yoga and Motherhood

May 24, 2025
The perfect capture of yoga and motherhood.

When I was pregnant with Kalindi I experienced a sense of universal sisterhood. Suddenly women could relate to me, even women who had never been pregnant. Suddenly everyone cared about my comfort – from messages on Instagram to doing whatever possible to make me comfortable in restaurants and other public spaces.  For my part I appreciated this experienced, and looked for stories of other women who could help me approach this beautiful and special time in a healthy and balanced way. Most pregnant women do the same.

In particular I wanted stories from other yogis. How did they approach their practice when they were pregnant. What was the impact this experience had on their pregnancy and later motherhood. Was their practice changed forever? Does the body ever go back to the familiar shapes and contours of ‘before’? Although I found a lot of information on the internet, there was surprisingly little about the pregnant yogi’s experience. I decided to change that.

I came across Mariela Cruz’s story in a book called Yoga Sadhana for Mothers (which I’ve reviewed in this post.) Her story was intense, she was in and out of pregnancies for 21 years…

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Pregnancy/Parenting Notes

Are Inversions Safe During Pregnancy?

May 16, 2025
I stayed active throughout my pregnancy, going for long hikes, practicing inversions and eating healthy.

Inversions During Pregnancy: What You Need to Know

When I started yoga I looked at the headstand with the longing of a noob. It seemed like an impossible pose and the pinnacle of physical acumen. I did my first headstand during my YIC at SVYASA, after about three years of yoga practice. Since then I’ve come a long way – progressively getting stronger and more confident in my practice. I didn’t know then that inversions like the sirsasana and sarvangasana would become the backbone of my prenatal yoga practice, but they did and today I teach these to other expecting mothers.

So should you practice inversions during pregnancy? The short answer is yes, but read on for all the details on when, how, and why they might work for you

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Postpartum Pregnancy/Parenting Notes Wellness

Postpartum Healing with Acupuncture: Boost Energy, Balance Hormones, and Sleep Better Naturally

April 29, 2025

As a yoga teacher I knew that after I had a baby, I would have to be extra careful with the healing process. To rush to ‘get back’ could lead to nagging aches, chronic weakness, and a disconnect from my practice. But simply waiting for things to sort themselves out was also risky — a slow drift away from the strength and vitality I had worked so hard to build.

To answer my queries I caught up Dr. Shruthi Rao at the Bodhsara Wellness and Salt Studio. Our conversation focused on the benefits of acupuncture for postpartum women. From hormone support and emotional balance to better sleep, lactation, and pelvic healing — Dr. Shruthi Rao breaks it down beautifully.

Keep reading to learn what happens in a typical session, how it complements pelvic floor therapy, and how you can begin at home.

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Pregnancy/Parenting Notes Prenatal Wellness

Yes, You Can Get Pregnant with Low AMH — I Did

April 22, 2025
Attending a wedding in Bhopal during my first trimester. We had just started telling everyone.

“If you sleep more Pragya your AMH will come up on its own,” said the man who sat in front of me, a doctor in one of Bangalore’s most famous maternity hospital.

I looked at him unconvinced. None of the research I’d read connected sleep to AMH. And in any case, wasn’t it natural for AMH to decline with age? I had a sneaking suspicion that this man was misleading me, using his authority as the ‘expert’ to say whatever he wanted to a woman grasping for straws of hope.

I’ve spoken extensively about my journey to conception. It was circuitous, confusing and daunting. In retrospect, what helped was understanding and appreciating what I had control over. So I committed to practicing yoga more diligently, reminding myself of the miracles it had brought into my life. I made space for rest, journaling, and time with friends—and above all, I refused to let science and medicine intimidate me.

Here’s how I dealt with my low AMH, and you can too.

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Postpartum Pregnancy/Parenting Notes

Pelvic Floor Health After Childbirth: Why Every Woman Should See a Specialist

March 28, 2025
diagram of pelvic floor muscles postpartum

The pregnancy and postpartum journey have been eye-opening for me.  My fitness and yoga journey have been about building strength and flexibility.  Post pregnancy I found myself in the somewhat daunting position of having to re-build my body, muscle by muscle, sinew by sinew. And like most women, pelvic floor health was the last thing on my mind.  Sure, I’d heard about it on Instagram, but at the rate Instagram is devolving into a quagmire of sensationalised, fear mongering false news, who pays attention? Post delivery the focus is largely on regaining strength, losing ‘baby weight’, or simply getting through the exhausting newborn phase, but what about our pelvis – the part of our body that has endured immense strain and stress during pregnancy?

Unfortunately pelvic floor health is often overlooked in postpartum care worldwide. Whether you’re weeks or months after childbirth, seeing a pelvic floor specialist can significantly improve recovery and long-term well-being. I was also not sure of when to see a pelvic floor specialist after childbirth, but when my friend Shruti told me about her experience and recommended Dr. Anuja, I decided to book an appointment.  My consultation with her was eye-opening, and I walked away with insights I feel are valuable for all women – regardless of whether you’ve had a baby or not.

I decided to delve deeper into the mysteries of the pelvic floor as an integral component of a woman’s overall health.  In this conversation I had with Dr. Anuja Chandrana, we delve into the significance of pelvic floor health for a woman’s overall wellbeing.

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Postpartum Pregnancy/Parenting Notes

10 Overlooked Postpartum Symptoms You Shouldn’t Ignore

March 17, 2025

The three of us at Kalindi’s cousin Kai’s first birthday party. Attending this was poignant, as we were also about to reach this milestone.

When I had my daughter, I expected the usual postpartum struggles—sleepless nights, sore muscles, and a rollercoaster of emotions.  As a new mum, the tendency is to focus on the baby’s well-being more than your own, so you largely write these off as “normal”.  However, when my metatarsals began to ache, I was caught off-guard and promptly scheduled an appointment with my doctor.

Although it was nothing to worry about (she prescribed a calcium supplement), I realised that there are many symptoms that are typically ignored, and deserve more attention.

Here are ten commonly overlooked postpartum symptoms that you should discuss with your healthcare provider.

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Postpartum Wellness

My Journey to Aging Gracefully

March 8, 2025

I turned 43 this year.  43 looks different today than it did, say 10 years ago.  At 43 women are now starting families, changing career paths, finding love….question and challenging their world views.  I certainly found myself re-evaluating long held beliefs, thought and behavioral patterns.  Including my approach to my yoga practice.

I’ve written extensively about my conception and pregnancy journey and the role yoga played in it.  In retrospect I feel it’s important to point out that it was only the allopathic medical fraternity (“Western medicine” as many would say) that used the words “geriatric” or “old”.  Alternative health practitioners, including my yoga teachers, never once saw the idea that I was too old to become pregnant as credible. To them, my body’s potential mattered more than my age.  The irony is that many people think that this means according to yoga age doesn’t matter – but it’s quite the opposite.

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