Draft:Pragya Bhatt

Pragya Bhatt is an Indian yoga teacher and author. She is the author of Beyond Asanas: The Myths and Legends Behind Yogic Postures and In the Womb of the Goddess. She is known for her work as a popular yoga teacher as well as her work in academia in the field of yoga studies.

Early Life and Education
Bhatt was born in New Delhi, India. She grew up in different countries due to her father's work as a diplomat in the Indian Foreign Services. She credits living in 11 different cities across 7 continents during her formative years as being the single most important factor shaping her personality. Bhatt attended various international schools which is where she developed her love for literature. She claims she has wanted to be a writer ever since she learned how to write. Pragya completed a B.Tech in 2004. In 2011, she did a Yoga Instructor’s Certification from SVYASA and in 2022 completed a MSc in Yoga from the same university.

Career
Bhatt worked as a software engineer for companies such as Infosys and Accenture. While working in Accenture she was awarded the Gold Standard for Contribution to Productivity Improvement through Quality and Continuous Improvement in the Accenture Excellence Awards FY11. Bhatt claims that the sedentary corporate life she led at the time led to many health problems and weight gain, which encouraged her to explore a holistic lifestyle. Although she had always practiced yoga, she formally enrolled for a class in 2009 and claims she has been practicing regularly since then. Her interest in yoga philosophy led her to write Beyond Asanas: The Myths and Legends Behind Yogic Postures. This book was awarded the Best Health and Fitness Book at the Gurgaon Literature Festival in 2019. Her 2022 collection of poetry, In the Womb of the Goddess explores the imprint of the divine feminine in our everyday lives. In 2019 she was handpicked by her Vedanta guru to study under her in the traditional guru-shishya parampara. In 2023 she was given permission to impart the teachings to her students.

Bhatt started teaching predominantly online during the worldwide pandemic in 2019 and focuses on women’s health and her writing work. She contributes to various publications and writes on yoga and holistic health. She has been interviewed for a number of podcasts as well.

Books

 * Beyond Asanas: The Myths and Legends Behind Yogic Postures (2019, Penguin Books).
 * In the Womb of the Goddess (2022, Book Street Publications)

Personal Life
On 11 March, 2020, Bhatt married indie developer Animesh Jain in Roorkee. The wedding was a small garden wedding attended by close family and friends.

Awards
In 2011 Bhatt was conferred with the Gargi Yogini Award recognising her role and contribution as a woman in research in the field of yoga.

In 2019 she was Awarded the Woman Achiever award by Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association on International Women’s Day 2019 for entrepreneurial work in the health and fitness domain.