TIRUPATI: For the past two years, S Pratima Reddy has helped hundreds of pregnant women learn better ways to take care of themselves and their growing babies.
The 41-year-old from Tirupati city, considered one of the top prenatal yoga instructor in the State, has taught yoga postures to over 300 women who were referred to her by local gynaecologists. Around 90 per cent of the women who trained under her have undergone normal delivery, Pratima claims.
Born and brought up in Chittoor, Pratima completed her graduation from Sri Venkateswara University in Tirupati. Inspired by her yoga guru Subba Reddy, under whom she underwent training for over two years, Pratima completed her diploma in yoga from Sanskrit Vidya Peetham, Tirupati in 2008, and then masters in Chennai in 2010.
With more than 16 years of experience as yoga guru, Pratima has also helped people with stress management, memory power enhancement and yoga nidra. She also offers online classes to close to 120 people from abroad.
Besides working as a prenatal yoga instructor, Pratima has also been a faculty member of Sri Padmavati Mahila Visvavidyalayam, Tirupati for eight years.
She trains students during evenings and offers her services to women self-help groups every Sunday.
“Health issues I suffered from as a child convinced me to take up yoga. People as young as 10 years and even elderly persons have sought my help. Many of those who I teach are software employees who want to learn stress management through yoga. Housewives approach me for weight loss,” Pratima said. She added she was an average student but yoga helped her improve memory power and concentration.
“I am a gold medallist in Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS), which I did in Chennai in 2010.”
She is also skilled in Yoga Nidra, a form of guided meditation that allows one to tap into a state of relaxed consciousness. Often people with sleep deprivation undergo the course.