I am Madhav and I live in Mumbai. I am a Chartered Accountant by qualification and work with Group HR at the Aditya Birla Group. Given the lockdown, the regular gyms, yoga classes, etc were shut from March this year.

I discovered Shani’s Yoga classes on Instagram in late April. I was impressed by watching some of her posts on Yoga Training. If you watch Shani’s training videos you will experience that she is someone who was genuinely interested in spreading the goodness of Yoga to everyone without judgment on where they are on their journey.

My fitness routine before I started Yoga included running and bodyweight exercises. I had started with Yoga classes in Jan 2020. Including Yoga in my fitness routine was a to-do list in 2020. In the first week of classes with Shani, I realized that I have met a teacher who has deep knowledge of Yoga, is a practitioner who is continually trying to up her own game. I felt charged and energetic after the class right from the first few classes. I look forward to the class and have made it a point to be regular with the practice.

I experienced that each class is carefully designed. Shani is an expert in various Yoga forms like HIIT Yoga, Yin Yoga, Vinyasa, Power Yoga and she incorporates all these styles and her own experience to blend it into an awesome outcome. At the end of class, I feel energetic, relaxed, and challenged all at the same time! Each yoga class is different and demonstrates her passion and the hours of deliberate practice she has put into her craft. I had not realized that one can incorporate the different forms of yoga, to make it a complete fitness regimen.

Yoga has helped me improve my posture, muscle strength, flexibility, cardio capacity and be more mindful. The lesson of breathing through a difficult pose stays with me and I try to practice the same in difficult situations during the day with great results. Some of the things that stood out for me – Shani is very punctual she has never been late to a class time she committed to. The class starts with Om Chanting and ends with the Gayatri mantra making the whole experience sacred.

The classes are very safe with a structured warm-up routine customized to the muscles and body parts targeted during the specific class, focus on the correct techniques and sequencing of the poses to get a maximum impact, and lastly a very relaxing cool down or the Shavasana practice.

Shani makes it is a point to connect and give everyone personalized attention even in a Group class and her inputs on small corrections make all the difference. She notices when some students have become comfortable or are struggling in the pose and give variations that are right for where the student is in the journey.

Yoga with Shani is a great addition to a fitness routine of any level. Be regular with the practice and watch yourself grow.