“I am Aarti Karve, a software engineer by profession. I came across Shani’s Instagram profile while I was following a few hashtags for Yoga. Exactly what I needed during this pandemic, to keep my mental and physical health in check by not stepping out. I was into fitness on and off with outdoor sports, treks, gym or yoga (Iyengar style).

But in the year 2019 till Jan, the fitness took a back seat for various reasons like bike fall injury on ankle or work travel. I earlier learned yoga for almost 6 months by Iyengar style in Pune. Those classes mostly focused on postures which helped me learn about my body limits and when to use support or props.

I mainly struggled with strength especially core and shoulders, also where to focus when holding a particular pose. Always thought I lacked strength and needed to go to the gym, but thanks to regular routines and details about poses given by Shani, now i can hold my planks or downward dogs or many other poses with much more ease. The energy and passion Shani brings to the virtual class, in-depth knowledge, and just post-class feeling of achievement with the noticeable results.

I was following Shani’s online posts for various reasons such as the lower back, postures, etc. I knew exactly what to expect and this class turned out to be beyond my expectations. Hoping online classes continue even after the pandemic. Mental health with chakra’s basic introduction, physical strength especially legs and now progressing to the core, recovery from ankle soft tissue injury, the confidence that I can get to the level of advance poses were some of the ways these classes benefited me.

My belief about yoga was about gaining more strength that might be necessary to hold poses stronger, but that that has changed with practice. Not to mention the toned body which I thought might need additional training. I have been taking classes for almost three months now, and what I particularly appreciate about your style of teaching is your personal attention on each student while correcting the pose, how you tend to work out with us which makes it easy to understand the pose, the step by step explanation to an extent where we know what area to focus and what to feel in each pose, the fun element you add by adding a challenge to some of the poses and finally, the simple passion you have.

If online classes can make such a difference can’t imagine getting trained by you in person. Thank you so much for introducing me to Vinyasa flow and looking forward to being an advanced level student under your guidance. Keep inspiring and thank you so much for what you do and the way you do it.”