Whether you want to fly with it, drink a beer along, or perform an aasana on water, young Indians are repackaging yoga to find their way back to the roots that can be traced back to 5,000 years. For millennial Indians, yoga is no longer just a traditional practice, but a way to bring in zest and fun into their routine by mixing it up with exciting props and taking it a notch above what we have been taught yoga is.
Chennai is certainly nowhere behind in embracing this all new yoga with its own touch by making it fresh, trendy, fashionable and not to forget, Instagrammable!
Sarvesh Shashi, the founder of Zorba Studios which have their presence across the country, became one of the first such young propagators of reformed yoga by introducing around 25 different forms of yoga — from those that lift you up (aerial yoga), take you under the water (aquatic yoga) or take you paddle boarding (paddle board yoga). “Although I’ve been practicing yoga since I was six, I noticed how the traditional form never appealed much to the younger crowds.
The most commonly existing misconception is that yoga is only for old people. People didn’t care much if it was presented as a hatha yoga, but were impressed by that yoga form that came along with catchy pictures that they could share with the world. From basketball yoga, to paddle board yoga, we are mixing yoga with other physical activities, which makes it exciting for people of all ages. One could say it’s just old wine in a new bottle,” Sarvesh tells us.
He adds that although this social-media-appealing yoga has had many takers than yoga in its true form did at his studios. “The essence of yoga is not lost, but Instagramming it with props makes it fun for those performing the aasanas. Although we see many setting world records on the International Yoga Day, these innovations to yoga can help people interested, in making it their lifestyle,” the 25-year-old entrepreneur and yoga expert says.
As someone who has travelled across the world teaching yoga, Chennai-based Joshna Ramakrishnan says although yoga has its origins from India, the novelty that comes through these re-imagined yoga forms are what current days’ Indians are interested in. “We’ve seen yoga right from our school days and a majority of us don’t look at it as a form of workout. The evolution that’s happening to yoga right now in India in various forms is certainly for good, since it’s drawing more people to take it up. I’ve been teaching yoga in China for the past five years and there are many more people willing to take up a traditional yoga class there than in our country, which brings us to the need to reinvent the practice,” Joshna explains, adding that while for the West, yoga is an exciting workout, it could take a little westernisation for our people to realise the value of it! As a dancer and fitness enthusiast, Preethi Ravikumar found a way to incorporate yoga into her ballet routine.
When it was a part of our curriculum in schools, we never found fun in doing yoga because schools made it very formal. By adding a little variety and spin to it, we make it casual while also pushing our body to different levels. The greatest thing about aasanas is that they are modifiable and can be easily customised, that makes it possible to add a new technique to them. This new yoga is the one that has gone for an export and has come back in an exciting form and is surely effective at the way it’s catching up,” Preethi says.
Are you one of those who like to step outside the home only when lured through alcohol? Dhara Vaccharajani has found just the perfect way to bring together a fun-filled yoga session while letting you have your favourite beer with it. Mumbai-based Dhara has been offering beer yoga workshops across the country and her last session she offered along with the social networking platform ‘Uactiv’ in Mumbai sold out like hotcakes. The pictures are certain to make you want to grab your bottle too! “As someone who’s been practicing yoga for the past 20 years, I’ve seen how young people would never turn up for yoga classes. Beer yoga has been a popular practice in the West and after hearing of how it’s been a big hit there, I thought of taking it across our country too. The aasanas are all just the same as a traditional yoga practice and are followed to the T. The only thing we add is a bottle of beer that is consumed throughout the session,” Dhara says. The 33-year-old will soon be holding a workshop in Hyderabad too.
For Fharzana Siraj, yoga can be one of the most effective therapies in healing the body. “Yoga is all about the union of mind and the body. By performing the variations of aqua yoga, aerial yoga etc, could help one improve their stamina, but it tends to become just another exercise as people aren’t mindful of their movements, as one is during a traditional yoga aasana. People may want the new, but I wouldn’t call these variations as yoga and I feel it tends to corrupt the age-old science,” says Fharzana, the managing director at Orange Ray therapeutic yoga and healing concepts. “What we do is to enable the bodies to heal through props like pillows and bolsters while practicing Iyengar yoga. What yoga can do transcends beyond entertainment,” she believes.
