Shruti ChaturLal

Euphonic Yoga was launched on 19th November 2016 under the wings of Shruti ChaturLal Sharma & Suman Kanawat Singh. The two experts, bonded together to bring back to life its long-forgotten ancestral roots in the form of Euphonic Yoga. They endeavoured to create a natural and holistic approach by putting together the guiding principles of the Indian culture, intending to help people restore harmony with their inner self, and lead a peaceful and salubrious life. Their manoeuvre of incorporating and fortifying the concept of Pranic waves (vital life forces) is a peerless feat in itself. Amalgamating the intrinsic ethos of yoga, music and dance is yet another enrapturing feature of this venture. Through these special methods the organization grails to assist individuals perceive their heart of hearts. “We came up with the idea to mould a yoga institute that bespoke of our ancestral roots. Our actual motive was to create an ambience where people would not only attain health but unearth their inner person,” says Shruti, Co-Founder, Curator & Conceptualizer.

Production Euphonic Yoga is a unique concept as it inculcates stotrams, mantras, asanas, breathing practices, therapeutic hand gestures, cleansing exercises, facial exercises, frequencies, vibrations, navrasa (the nine emotions) crafted together in accordance with the seven chakras.

The concept observes a very unique way of functioning. It is not confined to any specific or demarcated line of work. In fact, it settles its plan of actions depending on the needs and requirements of its clients. The services it provides can section off as performances, group and private services. And under these categories it organises special sessions like corporate & Skype callings, get-togethers, kids, individual & family session. In these set of programmes, Euphonic Yoga integrates the essence of classical dance, classical music and the ascetic disciplines of yoga. These programmes are fashioned using ‘raagas’ and ‘yogasanas’ which are yoked with Indian dance technicalities. These keep-fit session help people pull the plug on stress and maintain a robust lifestyle. “We change the nature and style of our offerings according to the demands of our clients. We confer our services to small as well as huge group. Apart from yoga, we also conduct learning and development techniques and deep meditation to avail our client’s good health,” avers Shruti.

She adds, “We also offer special sessions for the corporates with learning and development techniques such as communication skills, stress management, emotional intelligence, negotiation skills to name few. These sessions immersed with music, dance and yogic postures also imbibe euphonic activities which includes feeling each other vibe, discuss their perspectives, share their stories of gratitude, do role-playing, learn true essence of team building and much more.

A Passionate Leader

Shruti is the sutradhar of the production. Her dynamic role include identifying market opportunities and products that can fill a specific niche, customise the services as per the requirement, manage product development, develop business plans and forecasts, curate the new modules as per the industry change, direct marketing & promotions, develop financial estimates, build brand awareness, create business plans and documents, build and  train & lead teams.

Shruti proves to be a big-picture thinker who takes an extra mile to drive the company’s early successes.

Reconnecting with Inner self through Yoga

Euphonic Yoga is unique of its own kind. The creation of Euphonic Yoga has been very organic. It is a concept that creates an atmosphere where one can reconnect with one's inner self that tends to get lost in today's chaotic modern living. It aims at emboldening the pranic waves running through human systems, almost quadruples the positive effects, achieving a higher magnitude of an individual, resulting in overall wellness.

The institute hires and train artisans based on its stipulations and projects. It serves as a platform to all the artists who wish to project their skill and talent through their individual piece of works. Its flexible working model has enabled the institute to keep alive the freshness and creativity. Whether a national or international project, the team is framed considering the requirements.

Its alignment with Learning & Development (Health & Wellness) at organizational and personal level aims to bring awareness about the seven chakras and develop critical thinking, communication skills, emotional intelligence, creativity, social consciousness, self-awareness, health and wellness among its practitioners. Euphonic Yoga has been incepted at Ministry of Culture, Tihar Jail,  TEDx, IIT Delhi, Google, Marks & Spencer’s, Cambridge University (UK), Nehru Centre (UK), International Yoga Day at Galle & Matara (Sri Lanka), Brussels (Belgium), International Yoga Day in Taipei (Taiwan); Government of Telangana, Newcastle University (UK), Delhi University, Vedanta Industries to name few.

Remarkable Achievements

Shruti believes living with the reality we are in a world that is relentlessly pushing its limits in scientific and technological advances, and we have succumbed to a fast and hectic lifestyle, losing touch with our soul. All of us are made up of vitalizing life forces that drive us but in time, it goes due to our chaotic routine, we start to run low on that energy which needs to be replenished. Looking at the circumstances, this thought motivated her to design a concept which helps one to touch their soul.

One of the achievements for the institute is that the yogic dance curated by Euphonic Yoga has been validated by Conseil International de la Danse at UNESCO, Paris and also listed as the TOP 10 Best Wellness Start Ups 2019 by Silicon India Magazine.

“We maintain the flexibility of being fresh and keep the door open for creativity. As said, with different requirements and budgets we design the projects. For instance, UK tour has been completely based on performances, workshops and lecture demonstration concerts whereas the one in Sri Lanka was truly based on workshops and carrying International Yoga Day. Similarly, Euphonic Yoga caters to the option of three Indian classical dance forms i.e. Kathak, Bharatnatyam and Odissi, that too depends on the specifications. Another instance from corporate was with Google India being more vibrant and open to creativity in comparison with another MNC. However, whether at National or Global level, the team is devised as per the demands. We believe every workshop/performance is a learning milestone and thus, I often say, wear your success as a t-shirt and not a tuxedo.”

Certain stereotypes persist, however. “Women are more careful.” “Women don’t want to oversell themselves.” “Women are more empathic.” These tendencies, unfortunately, are often misconstrued as lack of confidence. According to Shruti, the challenge is also how we have perceived leadership over all these years.

“I always aspire to role-model collaborative, creative, and confident behaviors and the ones geared for continuous learning and growth reflecting on my cross-cultural journey.”

The lesson learned always turns the lens to individuals and understand what exactly is the root cause of what you’re struggling with? When you dig deeper, you try and understand the actual scenario.

Overcoming Challenges

For Euphonic Yoga seed money and a launchpad was the biggest hurdle. Euphonic Yoga being a bootstrap venture was not willing to compromise on core values and thus launching it at the desired scale was a big challenge. Other problem is the ‘red tape’ in corporate and HR department. Many of the organizations and schools wanted free classes and it took us some time to understand that offering free stuff is not scalable. People do comment on social media platforms but when it is time to pay for service, only handful of companies remain on our side. Thus, the modules were designed keeping in mind the various structures affordable to all and at the same time special considerations for institutions who are working for the underprivileged section of society.

Second major challenge Shruti feels that the wellness industry face is overcrowding with too much of information. This industry mostly works on skill and knowledge with less capital requirement. Thus, it becomes all the more important to maintain client trust and stay up-to-date with their problems and solutions. Thus, Euphonic Yoga is designed in such a way that it caters to a variety of people. It changes its nature, style and practices with the audience. It can be designed for a small group or a huge mass of people; for corporate office environment to retired officials; for kids to housewives to college students. This variety is the USP of Euphonic yoga. The institute has opened yet another avenue in this industry and has brought Indian classical dance, music and yoga on a single platform with attributes of learning and development techniques. Never before a workout has been designed which includes health benefits of our Indian culture as a conception.

Shruti said for an entrepreneur, the rules should be simple: take risks, think big and daring, explore the unfamiliar, avoid compromise and tell stories through yogic dance that are compelling and relevant, with artistic integrity.

The Future of Yoga

The world, since 2014 when India’s Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi reintroduced yoga, has gradually realized the value of yoga and the role it can play in keeping the global population healthier in a cost-effective way. Although in the western world yoga is viewed as more of a weight loss program, in India masses are getting acquainted with other aspects of yoga plus people have started exploring different classical ways to make yoga more interesting & effective. It has widened the scope of yoga immensely.

Now it is being aggressively taken up by various health institutes, sports institutes, recreational institutes and even rehabilitation institutes all over India. The Indian wellness market is worth INR 499 billion, of which 40 percent is wellness services. With the advent of Ayush Ministry, yoga studios and other related startups have found a new place in the economy.

In the past 4 years, the market of yoga has increased almost thrice to its original size. It has made hundreds of young people employable and even entrepreneurs to start with their own thriving yoga studios.

Thus, Euphonic Yoga is an effort ahead. It not only aims to make people employable in yoga but helps with the emergence of Indian Classical Music and Indian Classical dance which in other words can be said as the Indian culture as a whole.

Advising Emerging Leaders

On advising to emerging leaders, Shruti said if your knowledge is pure and deep, you cannot go wrong.  Be ready to welcome everything, because it’ll be a bumpy ride. And always have a plan B. Then, with self-consciousness and confidence, take the leap, because only then your wings will open up and you will fly.