Anamika Kothari ,hailing from the ‘Pink City’ of India has got an extra ordinary talent in the field of yoga who has made history with Limca Book of Records 2018 for having a ‘Revolving Body’. She developed her unique skills under the guidance of her father and accompanied by Manish her younger brother, she managed to revolve the body 43 times in one minute It is the Domestic root that uplifted her persona. Anamika is on her way to add her name in two more books of records and also break her own world record.

We are really keen to know, how did your journey begin?

I was in 7th standard when my younger brother Manish was very fond of doing Yoga asanas in school.  This Motivated me to do yoga and decided to become a skilled yoga specialist and make everyone feel proud. I asked my father about what I should do then he insisted me to join Yoga with him and Manish. Steadily my father started pushing me towards Yoga. After a while I urged my father to teach me something exceptional, never performed by anyone, so he taught me how to apply eyeliner through the knife, nobody ever did this before.

(We urge our readers to not to try this because such activities are performed after rigorous training and under expert’s supervision)

Know me beyond Yoga

Then after practicing more, I auditioned for India’s Got Talent and surprisingly I was shortlisted for its TV Round. Even though doing so well in Yoga, sometimes I felt like I don’t want to work out due to tiredness and lack of sleep, so I stopped Yoga for a while. Then suddenly after watching Mary Kom’s biopic and I retained the interest in Yoga, “now I have to do this to make my family and my country proud”, such kind of spark hit my mind.

What is your success mantra?

To achieve something and make my nation proud.

What were the hardships/hurdles you’ve encountered and how did you overcome them in your journey?

Back in the day, we used to live in a rented apartment. There wasn’t enough room for us to practice moves such as cartwheels and flips. The neighbors were getting disturbed due to noises of our body dropping against the floor. We moved to six different apartments because wherever we use to live, there were many inconveniences to face on a daily basis, we even had to practice in gardens. But we never gave up, we were focused on our goals and our parents never let us down, they have always supported us through every thick and thin. In my village, a girl is supposed to do the household chores when she turns nine, people in my village always tell my parents that there is no scope in whatever you daughter is doing because after all she has to marry and work as a housewife all her life, but my parents did not force me in  such conservative traditional practice and everybody’s mouths were shut when I achieved success. It is very saddening to see nine-ten years old girls of my village are being forced to sit at home and do the household chores, marry at a very young age even though they have so much talent in them. Their parents don’t even bother about their talent at all and that is when their passion gets buried. Even I have faced similar problems before.

Success is incomplete without its share of setbacks. What advice do you give to others about handling failures?

I feel if one wants to achieve success, then they have to fail in their journey. I have faced a lot of failure in my life, but I made it clear that if not this time then it will surely happen next time. If you wish to achieve something then don’t lose hope when you fail, keep practicing. Whenever I lost a competition, I always kept in mind to practice much harder and I never demotivated myself. Never think about your weaknesses and always believe that you are the best.

Do you think Yoga and its learnings can be helpful in life even if one does not want to consider it as a career goal?

There are innumerable benefits of Yoga. Almost every physical work such as dance or any other activity is begun by doing Yoga so as to improve our flexibility and most importantly, we become healthy by doing it.

Which was “that” moment when you considered yourself as “I Am The 1”?

I have not come across this feeling yet, but I remember I was overwhelmed and shocked at the same when I was shortlisted for the television round of India’s Got Talent as I never knew I am going to experience such a great platform. I was so excited when I visited my dream ‘Mumbai’, I can never forget that experience. People appreciated me a lot and above all, my parents were proud. The best moment of my life is when my name was announced at the Limca Book of Records because I never thought of my name being added in a book as I just followed whatever my father advised and never imagined such a great feat.

Did you get any formal training and how was that journey?

All these years, I have been practicing at home with my brother under the guidance of my father with the help of YouTube, Google and other such internet mediums. I have recently attended a one-month training of Yoga from MDNIY University in Delhi, where I explored lots of new things about Yoga. To avoid fatal internal injuries, such training is necessary.

Could you reflect on the importance of systematic training in Yoga?

In Yoga, your ability to stretch and overall flexibility of your body is considered a lot, along with the breathing pattern. During my training period, I used to refer to many online videos to learn different kinds of breathing patterns and apply them in our moves. Breathing helps us in maintaining good health and Yoga is all about inhaling and exhaling in a correct manner.

What are the pre-coaching essentials e.g. Right age, mindset or anything else?

Age doesn’t matter in Yoga, because anyone can do it and it is beneficial for every age group and if you want to do it then learn from a skilled and certified instructor so that the training sessions would be fruitful for you.

What qualities must one look for in a ‘Guru’ for training in Yoga?

Firstly, their confidence, knowledge, the way they’re training and people liking them or not are the essential factors.

If you were to bring one big change in the way people get trained in Yoga, what would that be?

Everyone should be doing Yoga because it is beneficial for all and a person from any age group can do it. The lives of people living in metros have become so hectic that they hardly get time to exercise but at least we should give 30 minutes for Yoga and I’m not talking about doing the asanas, but meditation also works and plays a very important role in calming our minds.

I would personally urge everyone for all ages group to do yoga on a daily basis because it increases flexibility, improves respiration, energy and vitality, maintaining a balanced metabolism, weight reduction. Also, I suggest the people from metro cities having a hectic schedule that if you are unable to do yoga asanas, then meditation also works and plays a very important role in calming our minds.

One thing which you feel you want to change from the past while you walk down the memory lane…

If my parents would have supported me at an early age, then I would have achieved much more in my career.

How can one identify & encourage talent in the family?

Whenever I visit my village, I guide the children and tell them to follow the principals of yoga. They follow and do exactly what I advise them. Most of the parents fail to judge their child’s talent and always put forth their counter views on making a career in the extra curriculum. They shouldn’t demotivate their child, they should let their child follow their passion. I feel very happy when I see those children very keenly interested in learning Yoga from me.

Any other thoughts you want to share??

Only one thing, never give up in whatever you want to do. Failure has to come in life and great things take time to happen. Have that motive and spark in you to keep going on and on once you’ve set the aim.