Dedicating life to yoga post-retirement, ultimate goal for this Odisha man
BHUBANESWAR: When 70-year-old Raghunath Reddy sits back on his heels and exhales, he inspires people of all ages to embrace yoga as a way of life.
Post-retirement, he has dedicated his life towards making people live a healthy life by practising Yoga. And, this trainer charges no fees for sharing his knowledge on the kriyas or asanas.
His ‘gurudakshina’ is simple. At the beginning of any session, he says—‘if Yoga has benefitted you, bring another person in distress to learn the art.’
As a member of Bharatiya Yog Sansthan and resident of Sailashree Vihar, he has travelled across Odisha to teach people Yoga.
He has taught Yoga to 4,000 people in the various villages across the state. In Bhubaneswar, he has trained at least 2,000 people, including Government officials and bureaucrats.
Along with 9 other members of the Yoga group, he runs ‘shibirs’ at Athagarh, Mundali, Chhatia and various schools in eight districts of the State.
He has also travelled to Jammu, Delhi, Srinagar, Rishikesh and Haridwar to participate in various ‘Yog shibirs’ as a trainer.
In Bhubaneswar, he conducts Yoga classes in various parks and localities. His faith on Yoga was bolstered in 2007.
He was suffering from chronic spondylitis of the neck for almost a year. Not just that, he was put on medication for two years to lower blood pressure.
Like any other individual, his post-retirement life was filled with ailments.
But, an accidental tryst with Yoga empowered him to live a healthy life. While he was jogging in a park, he met some Yoga trainers who had come from New Delhi.
Inspired by them, he joined a yoga camp. In three to four months, he started experiencing Yoga’s benefits.
“My pain in the neck started subsiding after three to four months. After a year, there was no pain left in my neck, knees or hips.
Moreover, my blood pressure is absolutely normal now. I don’t take any medicines,” he said. Today, Raghunath often drives 500 kms to reach Visakhapatnam from Bhubaneswar by road.
As he claims, he climbs stairs to reach the 6th floor of any building. “There was a time when most of my body parts were covered with belts and guards. I had to use a walker for movement. But, Yoga transformed my life,” he added.
Yoga is his passion, now. He wakes up at 4 am every day to start his day with 1-hour of self-practise.
Then, he visits all the parks in the City to train others. Watching him perform the asanas can be an awe-inspiring sight for many.
He performs 12 poses of Surya Pranam without taking any breaks. Some of the most difficult asanas that he performs include Akarna Dhanurasana, Setu Bandhasana, and Konasana.
Even at 70, he performs the balancing asana of tree pose or Vrikshasana for at least 15 minutes with ease.