Yoga A Professional & Personal Trend For This Bhubaneswar Family

Yoga A Professional & Personal Trend For This Bhubaneswar Family

“Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self,” Dr Prativa Shree, Yoga teacher, said quoting from the Bhagavad Gita.

But Prativa is no ordinary Yoga teacher. She and her husband, Dr Dinesh Prasad Swain, are professors of this ancient Indian science at Sri Sri University as well as visiting faculty to international institutes.

Besides being a profession, Yoga is also ingrained in their family tradition. Their daughter Dishashree Swain (a student of Class IX) and nephew Dibyanshu Swain (Class X) have been participating in Yoga competitions at the national and international levels.

Prativa’s 70-year-old father, Purushottam Gochhayat, is working as a Yoga teacher at KIIT, while her younger brother, Bubu Shree, is also a Yoga teacher in Vietnam. Her sister, Tiva Shree, who has done a post-graduation in ‘Yoga Psychology’, was also engaged as a Yoga teacher at KIIT earlier.

On the occasion of International Yoga Day, My City Links caught up with Dinesh and Prativa to know more about this family dedicated to Yoga and of course some more facts about this ancient science of staying physically and mentally fit.

Personal & Professional

A gold medallist in her PG batch (year 2000-2002) in Munger, Prativa has been practising Yoga since her childhood as her father was a sports teacher at school. “My father made me, my sister and brother practise Yoga from our childhood. But I was never aware that I was going to choose it as my career.”

In 1997, her father joined Gopabandhu Academy in Bhubaneswar and the siblings started attending sessions at Satyananda Yoga Vidyalaya.

Meanwhile, Dinesh, who was working in the construction sector, also joined the Yoga school following some health issues. On the advice of their Guru, the two were married and started a shared journey in Yoga.

“After completing my PG in Yoga from Munger in 2005, I also completed PhD along with Prativa from Utkal University,” shared Dinesh.

Alongside their teaching commitments, the couple also trains people at leading organizations and corporate houses. They also started their own Yoga centre named ‘Satyam Yoga Academy’ at Unit-6, Bhubaneswar in 2005.

They are also working as guest faculty at Mahidol University, Bangkok. Every year, they take classes and also work as examiners there.

So will their kids also choose the same path? “Yoga is a part of life and that is our only motive of making them learn it. Whatever profession they choose in their lives, it is up to them. But Yoga can definitely make their path easier,” averred Prativa.

Spirituality & Yoga

“Actually the main purpose of Yoga is to connect ourselves with spirituality,” said Prativa. She explained that it makes us disciplined, keeps us fit physically and mentally and also makes our lives easier. “If Yoga is considered as the first floor, then things like Asana, Pranayama and Mudra, etc. are its primary steps. To reach the ‘Samadhi’ state, we should learn the ‘Ashtanga Yoga’, where we can experience the connection between ‘Atma’ and ‘Paramatma’,” she added.

But that does not mean you have to be a believer of god to start doing Yoga. “After doing yoga regularly, you may come closer to spirituality. Here it is notable that we are not talking about any particular religion. The almighty can be Ram, can be Jesus or can be Allah according to our own preferences. But spirituality is the same for all of us, which makes us relaxed and also makes us feel heavenly,” she said.

Beneficial For Students & Patients

Yoga is also very effective for students as it includes Asana, Pranayam, Mantra and Meditation, making it a complete process. “If a student does ‘Bhramari Pranayam’, it increases his/her memory power,” Prativa said.

Even if a pregnant lady does the same Pranayam, it increases the memory power of the baby and also helps in easy delivery. 

Prativa can assert this from her personal experience. Her daughter weighed 3 kg when she was born and it was a natural delivery with no complications. Today when 90% of mothers-to-be opt for Caesarean delivery, there are specific pelvic and abdominal exercises that make it easier. There are even exercises for post-pregnancy. 

Diabetic patients also can get benefited after regular practice of certain exercises; they can control their sugar level without medicines. Other health issues like obesity, constipation, asthma, etc. can be controlled or cured. “There are specific exercises that we prescribe for these diseases. Even for non-curable diseases like cancer, Yoga gives a moral boost and also increases immune power, mental strength and positivity, which can reduce the pain,” she added.

Quantity & Quality Of Food

“Yoga is not only about doing exercises; it also changes your whole lifestyle. So yes, there are certain diet plans for this, including the quantity, quality and timing of food intake,” Dinesh explained.

The history of Yoga lies in our ancient scriptures like Shreemad Bhagavad Gita and Vedas especially in ‘Atharva Veda’. Even Lord Krishna himself is known as ‘Yogeswar’. In Gita’s 17th Chapter, he has explained about the diet. Although non-veg is prohibited in Yoga, it’s not mandatory for all, as many people can’t leave it.

Managing Stress & Depression

Regular practice of Yoga improves blood circulation to the brain. “Only while sleeping, our blood circulation in our brain happens more effectively, as our body remains parallel. So we feel fresh when we wake up after having a proper sleep. Nowadays, people are becoming very ambitious and that is troubling them while sleeping. Which later turns into depression,” Dinesh explained.

“You need to sleep at least for 6-8 hours a day. There is an exercise in Yoga called ‘Yoga Nidra’, this is a practice of 30 minutes in which the practitioner lies completely still with eyes closed and listens to our instructions with zero body movement. This is very effective in stress management,” he added.

Six Karmas

There are 6 types of Karmas in Shatkarma, some of them are:

Nasal Cavity Cleansing — Water taken through a cavity comes out from another cavity.

Stomach Cleansing — You have to drink 6 glasses of warm water and vomit.

Intestine Cleansing — You have to drink water repeatedly and do certain exercises, which will make you egest repeatedly.

Vastra Dhauti — You have to take a cotton cloth into your stomach through your throat and bring it back with the help of the other end remaining outside your mouth. It cleans your throat and stomach area.

Every Sunday their students practice these steps at the university.

Healthy & Happy Family

There are no serious health issues in their family. And being in a joint family, there are no misunderstandings between them. And always there is a very good environment surrounding them with a lot of positive vibes.

Yoga As A Career

Prativa said, “When I started my career in 2002, Yoga had no scope as a career option. But now we are witnessing that our students are even getting more remuneration than us, and we are very happy about that. More than 50 of our students are now working abroad. The demand has increased so much that we are doing regular online classes now.”

(Pictures: Rakesh Kumar Roul)