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.
After spending a number of years working in corporates like Goldman Sachs, Wipro, and Unilever and following a stint at , 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 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
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)