Be it the perfectly toned muscle of Salman Khan or the size zero figure of Kareena Kapoor or the luscious curves of Katrina Kaif, these celebrities often elicit envy on account of their gorgeous figures. And the man behind their toned, fit bodies is none other than yoga guru and fitness expert Bharat Thakur.
So do celebrities come to him with the sole objective of wanting to look great?
“Ultimately the reason is that, but once they start practising yoga, they discover the other hidden benefits of yoga, namely that it helps them deal with stress, and keeps them away from many ailments.”
Bharat Thakur’s first Bollywood client was Sridevi, followed by a string of them like Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Anil Kapoor, Kailash Kher, Lara Dutta Malaika Arora Khan and Neha Dhupia. The list also includes industrialists Sunil Mittal, Ratan Tata to name a few. His international clientele has actor Michael Douglas, singer Norah Jones, tennis player Boris Becker and cricketer Shane Warne.
Ask him who his favourite celebrity is among all and he says, “Kareena Kapoor takes yoga very seriously and practices regularly.”
Thakur, the creator of ‘Artistic Yoga’, explains, “Artistic Yoga’ is an innovative, dynamic and powerful system that affects the body like no other form of exercise. While traditional yoga focusses on flexibility, artistic yoga brings a qualitative change to the body. It combines ancient yogic techniques (asanas, pranayam, bandhas, kriyas & mudras), with modern cardiovascular-training and partner-stretches that works on the individual at every level.”
Bharat Thakur brought ‘Artistic Yoga’ with him in 1999. Ask him how it all began, and he says, “After returning from the Himalayas, I was shocked to see that the ancient 5000-year old science been reduced to just a few asanas practiced in a slow manner. And people who had been practicing yoga were still pot-bellied and unfit. Thus was born the idea to develop a new form of yoga by combining traditional yoga and modern exercise physiology. In our centers, no class is repeated again.”
‘Artistic Yoga’ which has more than 200 centers all over the world has plans to start new centers in Kerala too. “By this month end we will start three yoga centers in Kochi and in the coming year we have plans to extend it to 30 to 40 numbers,” says Bharat who is the disciple of Guru Sukhdev Brahmachari.
Bharat Thakur choosing a unique field like yoga as his passion and profession is not surprising when you hear of his unusual childhood story.
“My parents remained childless for many years after their marriage. And it was with the blessings of Guru Sukhdev Brahmachari that I was born. However, the guru had a condition - I would have to be under his care. So at the age of four he took me with him to the Himalayas. Here I stayed till I was 14, and the Guru taught me yoga, Sufism, Buddhism, Hinduism and much more,” says Bharat who was chosen as the next heir of his Guru.
Bharat feels that yoga should be promoted more. “I feel more youngsters should take yoga as a career. And my aim is to present yoga as a new export exclusively from India,” says Bharat who married actress Bhumika Chawla a few years ago. Apart from yoga he also likes writing poetry and is the author of eight books on yoga. Presently he is working on his novel. “It is my first novel and is titled ‘Firdosh’.”
Ask him about the theme, and he says, “Readers can expect a joy ride. It will be an inspirational book like ‘The Alchemist’. And in the line of yoga I am writing ‘Bible of Yoga’, which will be a complete guide to learn and teach yoga.”
Comments
0 comment