Brands
Discover
Events
Newsletter
More

Follow Us

twitterfacebookinstagramyoutube
Youtstory

Brands

Resources

Stories

General

In-Depth

Announcement

Reports

News

Funding

Startup Sectors

Women in tech

Sportstech

Agritech

E-Commerce

Education

Lifestyle

Entertainment

Art & Culture

Travel & Leisure

Curtain Raiser

Wine and Food

YSTV

ADVERTISEMENT
Advertise with us

International Yoga Day: This fitness enthusiast aims to set a Limca Record with largest online yoga class for women

Minu Margeret, who runs the Bliss Club, an online community that showcases fitness stories on Instagram, is attempting to create a Limca Record with the ‘Largest Online Yoga Class of Women’ on June 21.

International Yoga Day: This fitness enthusiast aims to set a Limca Record with largest online yoga class for women

Friday June 19, 2020 , 4 min Read

After spending a number of years working in corporates like Goldman Sachs, Wipro, and Unilever and following a stint at PhonePe, Minu Margeret decided it was time to do something on her own.


The 30-year-old, a fitness buff since childhood and an Ultimate Frisbee player since her Indian School of Business (ISB) days, started Bliss Club, an Instagram community in March this year, to showcase fitness stories, body positivity, and the need to embrace well being as an important part of life.


Minu Margaret

Minu Margeret runs the community Bliss Club

She is hoping to culminate this enthusiasm and commitment into a far-reaching initiative on June 21, Yoga Day. Minu, in partnership with ISB, is hoping to enter the Limca Book of Records with the “Largest Online Yoga Class of Women”.



Taking her interest in sports further

“When I quit my job last November, I wanted to do something on my own and was figuring out what to do. Fitness as a space has been very close to me, and that’s how the whole idea of Bliss Club came about,” Minu tells HerStory.


Being an Ultimate Frisbee player was also one of the biggest motivators for her to take her interest in fitness further.


However, Minu wants to change the whole narrative centred on women’s fitness in India.


“We all know fitness is aspirational for all women. Women’s fitness, as portrayed by a lot of brands, is not very inclusive and 99 percent of Indians are not looking for six-pack abs. Fitness can be you walking your child to school, moving around, or pottering in your garden. Bliss Club started as a community on Instagram to talk about inclusive fitness for everyday women,” she says.


On the Bliss Club Instagram page, Minu chronicles stories of women and their journeys with fitness, body positivity, and well-being.


“I thought about why were we talking of Jacqueline Fernandes’ fitness goals and not what normal women are doing. Also, fitness is overall well being and includes your mental state as well. It’s co-related, and science has proven that movement releases endorphins that make you happy. So, it was important to focus on this aspect as well,” she says.

Positive stories

View this post on Instagram

I was a teenager when I saw Alla Kushnir belly dancing. I was awe-struck by her strength, she could do ANYTHING with her body effortlessly. She instantly became my superhero - my ‘Batman’. I decided I wanted to train my body to do this even if it took a lifetime to get there. I started my quest to become ‘Batman’ with my equally enthusiastic mom who was my ‘Robin’. I am a self taught dancer and fitness came to the forefront when I started repeatedly injuring myself - I once even displaced my belly button (yes, it's possible). I realized, I couldn't achieve my ambitions in dance, if my body didn’t have the strength to be part of the journey, so I started working on my physical fitness. But what I didn’t realize was the mental strength required to achieve what I wanted. I wanted to be an overachiever in everything and pushed my poor body and mind to its limits. Around that time, I got into one of the best schools of Law in London for masters and was also called to speak at TedX. Things seemed to be going as planned when one fine day, I started getting flashes from my past. I had been sexually abused as a kid and had probably never come to terms with it. These were very dark times, as I first had to understand was happening with me, before I could deal with it. As a student in London, therapy was accessible and it took me almost a year to truly acknowledge the situation. The next step for me was to confront my parents about it and I couldn't have been happier with the result. They not only understood what I went through, they also confronted the perpetrator so many years later. As things fell into place, I decided to dance again. But this time I wanted to give myself entirely to the process, which meant equipping myself with insane strength. If I decided, I wanted to fly, my body needed to match my vision. Fitness both mental and physical has been a journey of crazy self exploration. I now understand the raw power of feeling fit. I have learnt to be forgiving to my body and treat it with the utmost respect - I now truly am my own ‘Batman’ ” [email protected] . Follow @myblissclub for inspiring stories of ordinary women with extraordinary journeys in fitness

A post shared by Bliss Club | 3 Days2Go (@myblissclub) on


Bliss Club’s Instagram page features stories of 30 women who are also influencers in their own right. Though it began small, growth has been steady and Minu hopes more women will join in and speak about their fitness goals.


Minu has been a sports buff throughout childhood and college. Growing up in different parts of India and the Middle East, she played football, and picked up Ultimate Frisbee - known as a B-School sport - at ISB. The interest led her to participate in competitions, even at the national level.


While planning ahead, Minu banked on her experience of participating in a record-breaking beat-boxing event while in college to think of something on the lines of fitness.


“We were able to convince the organisers of the Limca Book of World Records to allow us to attempt this record online, since we are now living in unprecedented times. That’s how the whole idea of the online yoga class came about,” she says.


Minu, along with a few ISB alumni and others, including Nidhi Punmia, Ramya Kothapalli, Suvidha Shetty, and Riddhi Jain, is now gearing up for the big day and spreading the word.


The 30-minute class on Sunday, June 21, will be conducted by yoga instructors Sujala Roy and Shikha Mehra. They are hoping to attract around 8,000 women to register for the 30-minute class.


She has no concrete plans for the future but has many ideas that she hopes to work on once the situation eases and things go back to normal.


“I am looking at the women’s athleisure space with interest as there is a lack of good clothes for women’s fitness. I also plan to have more discussions around the narrative of fitness and profile more stories of women so that they can inspire others,” Minu says.


(If you are interested in joining Minu and others in the “Largest Online Yoga Class of Women", please register for free here.


(Edited by Teja Lele Desai)