Bringing the Transformative Power of Yoga into Everyday Life
NV Paulose, Chairman, Global TV +91 98441 82044
In an age when stress, sedentary lifestyles and lifestyle-related health concerns have become increasingly common, the search for sustainable and holistic approaches to wellbeing has never been more relevant. Yoga, with its emphasis on movement, breath, awareness and balance, has emerged as an important part of that conversation. For G. Devika Purushotham, yoga is much more than a wellness trend. It has been a lifelong profession, a discipline, a means of service and, above all, a way of helping people lead healthier and more balanced lives.
With a Master’s degree in Yogic Science and more than two decades of experience, Devika Purushotham has established herself as a Yoga Therapist, National and International Yoga Teacher, National and Asian Yoga Referee and Wellness Educator. Through Devika Yoga Classes, she has worked with people from diverse backgrounds—including children, women, senior citizens, students, corporate employees, healthcare professionals, journalists and individuals seeking specialised yoga support. Her approach is built around a simple but powerful principle: yoga should be adapted to the individual, not the individual forced to adapt to yoga.
A Strong Foundation in Yogic Science
Devika’s professional journey combines academic learning with extensive practical experience. She holds an MSc in Yogic Science and has specialised in Medical Yoga as well as Pre- and Postnatal Yoga through the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute, Pune. She is also a Level 2 certified Yoga Teacher recognised by the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India. Her professional involvement extends into yoga sports as well. She is associated with the Yoga Federation of India, Asian Yoga Federation and Karnataka State Amateur Yoga Sports Association as a member, referee and coach.
These diverse qualifications have allowed her to approach yoga from several perspectives; traditional practice, therapeutic application, education, competition, and community wellness. Her areas of expertise include Yoga Therapy, Medical Yoga for prenatal and postnatal care, clinical yoga for psychiatric, psychosomatic and non-communicable disorders, lifestyle-disorder management, stress management, women’s health and hormonal wellness, yoga for children and senior citizens, corporate wellness, Chair Yoga, Pranayama and meditation.
Yoga for Every Stage of Life
One of the defining features of Devika’s work is its inclusiveness. Her programmes recognise that the needs of a child are different from those of an elderly person, and that the requirements of a pregnant woman are different from those of a corporate professional experiencing stress and physical inactivity. Her specialised programmes encompass pre- and postnatal yoga, children’s yoga, senior-citizen yoga and personalised therapeutic programmes.
This individualised approach is particularly valuable in making yoga accessible to people who may initially feel that conventional yoga classes are not designed for them. Rather than focusing solely on flexibility or advanced postures, her teaching incorporates breathing practices, relaxation, meditation and appropriate movement according to individual needs. Her work also explores yoga-based support for concerns such as diabetes, hypertension, thyroid-related conditions, gastritis, varicose veins, insomnia, PCOD and PCOS. Such practices are best understood as complementary wellness support rather than substitutes for medical care, and personalised instruction can help ensure that practices are adapted responsibly.
Taking Yoga Beyond the Studio
Devika’s work has repeatedly extended beyond regular classes and into educational institutions, professional organisations and public spaces. In March 2025, she led a “Coastal Calming” beach yoga session for the NITK Yoga Club at Surathkal. NITK’s annual report also documents her involvement in a coastal yoga session at the institute, highlighting her role as an international yoga referee and therapist.
She has conducted programmes at educational institutions including A.J. Institute of Engineering & Technology, P.A. Polytechnic College and Government Pre-University College, Balmatta. Her engagements have also included NITK Surathkal and an online programme involving New York University. Her subjects are remarkably relevant to modern life: The Science of Breath, Mind & Performance, Yoga and the Importance of Breath, The Power of Breath, stress management, Pranayama and yoga philosophy. The recurring theme is clear, breath is not merely a physiological process but an important gateway to awareness, calmness and better self-management.
Connecting Yoga with Professional Life
Devika has also taken yoga into workplaces and professional communities. Her programmes have included a four-day meditation and yoga programme for Bank of Baroda Zonal Office staff in Mangaluru and yoga sessions for journalists organised through the Mangalore Press Club. She has also worked with healthcare professionals, women’s groups and community organisations.
This willingness to take yoga to different audiences reflects her understanding that wellness cannot be confined to a yoga studio. People spend a significant portion of their lives at work, in educational institutions and within communities. Bringing appropriate wellness practices into these environments can make yoga more accessible to people who might otherwise never seek it out.
A Career Marked by Recognition
Over the years, Devika Purushotham’s contribution to yoga has received recognition at state, national, and international levels. Among her notable honours are the Best Technical and Coach Award at Asian Sports Championships held in Pondicherry in 2017 and Trivandrum in 2018, and the Best Yoga Referee Award at the International Yoga Festival at Dharmasthala in 2017. In 2016, she received an Honorary National Yoga Referee certificate from the Yoga Federation of India at the 40th National Yoga Sports Championship held at Alva’s Vidhyagiri Campus, Moodabidri.
More recently, her work has received further recognition. She was honoured by the Indian Red Cross Society on International Yoga Day in 2025. She also received the Shri Kengal Hanumanthaiah Sadbhavana National Award in March 2025 for two decades of dedicated service in yoga and social service. In April 2025, she received the Kavi Chakravarthi Pampa Sadbhavana Rajya Prashasthi, presented during Ranga Sambhrama 2025 at Ravindra Kalakshetra, Bengaluru. Her supplied profile identifies retired Supreme Court judge and former Lokayukta Justice N. Santosh Hegde as the person who presented the honour.
In March 2026, she was recognised for her contribution to yoga in Mangaluru by organisations including the Department of Women & Child Development, Karnataka Rajya Mahila Abhivriddhi Nigama, Rotary Club of Mangaluru Central and Global Green Eco Foundation. Such recognitions provide a fitting acknowledgement of a career that has combined professional yoga instruction with community engagement.
Yoga with a Social Conscience
Perhaps the most distinctive dimension of Devika’s journey is that her work does not stop with teaching yoga. Her 45-day free yoga initiatives in Mangaluru have also become opportunities for social contribution. In 2024, she conducted free yoga programmes at Shri Subrahmanya Sabha, including sessions for journalists and a Chair Yoga programme for women. Funds connected with these initiatives were directed towards charitable causes.
Among the beneficiaries were an old-age home in Puttur, the Annapoorna Andha Sangeetha Kalavidara Sangha in Mangaluru and the Animal Care Trust in Shaktinagara. Her students have also participated in visits to charitable institutions, contributing groceries, clothing, medicines, solar lights, cupboards, fans, sanitary supplies, educational materials, and other necessities. These initiatives demonstrate an important dimension of her philosophy: wellness is not only about improving one’s own life; it can also inspire us to contribute to the lives of others.
Sharing Knowledge Through Talks and Media
Devika has also emerged as a communicator and wellness educator. She has delivered talks on subjects ranging from stress management and the science of breath to Pranayama for senior citizens. In 2025, she addressed Sri Sharada Mahila Vrunda on managing stress in today’s fast-paced life. She has also spoken at Rotary clubs and educational institutions. Her engagement with media has further broadened her reach. She has been featured in interviews and podcasts discussing subjects such as motherhood, Mudra Science, and Pranayama. Her participation as a speaker in the Longest Online Yoga Therapy Lecture Marathon, a world-record-recognised event conducted by the Manushi Institute of Yoga in 2021, is another example of her efforts to take yoga education beyond geographical boundaries.
A Teacher Who Sees the Person Behind the Practice
At the centre of all these activities remains the individual. For Devika, a yoga student is not simply someone learning an asana. Each person arrives with a different body, history, lifestyle, age, ability and set of challenges. That perspective explains the breadth of her work—from Chair Yoga and children’s programmes to women’s wellness, therapeutic yoga, corporate programmes, Pranayama and meditation.
It also explains why personalised instruction is such an important part of her approach. Whether conducted online, offline, individually or in a group, her classes seek to make yoga practical and relevant to the person practising it.
A Continuing Journey
After more than twenty years in the field, G. Devika Purushotham’s journey illustrates how yoga can become much more than a profession. It can become education. It can become therapy. It can become community building. And it can become service.
Her academic foundation, professional qualifications, experience as a teacher and referee, extensive programme portfolio, awards and recognition, and commitment to social initiatives together create the portrait of a practitioner who has devoted a substantial part of her life to sharing the benefits of yoga.
In a world that often looks for instant solutions to complex problems, her work carries a quieter message: meaningful wellness is built through awareness, discipline, consistency, and balance. Through Devika Yoga Classes, that message continues to reach people across generations and professions.
For those beginning their yoga journey, her story offers an encouraging reminder that yoga does not demand that everyone become an expert or perform advanced postures. It begins wherever the individual is, and grows from there. And perhaps that is the most beautiful quality of yoga itself: the journey is personal, but its benefits can extend far beyond the individual. For G. Devika Purushotham, two decades of teaching demonstrate that a journey in which personal wellbeing, professional excellence, and compassion for the community have become part of the same path.
A Different Stage: Devika at Mangalore Speakers’ Hive
There is another interesting dimension to Devika’s journey, one that emerged recently in a completely different setting. At an independent event organised by Mangalore Speakers’ Hive, Devika stepped away from her familiar professional world of yoga and took the stage as a speaker. Her appearance at the Hive was a separate experience and not part of her yoga teaching work. Yet it offered an engaging glimpse into another side of her personality. Her speech was titled “Go Be a Blessing.”
Instead of simply presenting a message, Devika chose to tell a story. She took the audience through anecdotes, analogies, trials, and moments of curiosity. She created suspense around an apparently simple incident involving a pot. Her leg was stuck inside it, and suddenly the audience wanted to know how the situation would be resolved. That is the difference between simply speaking and telling a story. A speaker gives information. A storyteller gives the audience a reason to keep listening. Devika used gestures and eye contact to strengthen her narrative. Her anecdotes and analogies helped the audience visualise the situations she described. She created moments of anticipation and allowed the story to unfold rather than simply announcing its conclusion.
And then came a quiet moment that perhaps revealed something deeper about her. In the middle of her story, Devika found time to bow to her Master. For a brief moment, the speaker stepped out of the spotlight, and the devotee appeared. It was a simple gesture, but it added a deeply personal dimension to the speech. Amid the words, anecdotes, and laughter, there was a moment of reverence, a reminder that behind the professional credentials, the teacher, therapist, and referee was a person whose journey was also rooted in gratitude and faith.
The feedback she received at the Speakers’ Hive was appreciative and constructive. Her storytelling, gestures, eye contact, and use of anecdotes and analogies were among the strengths noted by the evaluator. There was, however, one area where she could make an already effective performance even stronger: her voice. Greater variation in tone and modulation could give the delivery more colour and emotional movement. It was an interesting lesson. Sometimes the words are already there. The story is already there. The message is already there. What remains is to allow the voice to travel through every emotion contained within those words. The experience revealed that Devika’s ability to connect with people is not confined to the yoga mat. Whether she is teaching a practice or telling a story, there is a common thread: the desire to reach the person in front of her.
A Positive Vision of Wellness
What makes G. Devika Purushothama’s journey particularly encouraging is the breadth of her engagement with yoga. She represents several dimensions of the discipline at once: the academic student of Yogic Science, the teacher who works directly with learners, the therapist who focuses on individual needs, and the referee who understands yoga from a competitive and technical perspective.
Her public work, including the NITK coastal yoga session, demonstrates her ability to bring yoga into larger community settings. Her independent appearance at Mangalore Speakers’ Hive revealed another dimension: her willingness to step onto a different kind of stage, tell a story, receive feedback and continue learning. At its best, yoga is not about achieving a perfect posture or competing with another person. It is about developing a better relationship with one’s own body and mind.
The future of wellness will increasingly depend on approaches that are personal, sustainable and holistic. Yoga has an important role to play in that future, particularly when taught responsibly and adapted to individual needs. Devika’s work reflects this direction. Through personalised classes, specialised programmes, online and offline options, and an emphasis on different age groups and wellness needs, she is helping make yoga relevant to a broad audience.
Her journey is ultimately a reminder that wellness does not have to begin with a dramatic transformation. It can begin with something as simple as setting aside time to breathe, move, become aware and reconnect with oneself. And perhaps her experience at the Speakers’ Hive adds another layer to that message. On one stage, Devika helps people reconnect with their bodies and minds through yoga. On another, she discovered the power of her own voice through storytelling.
One is a journey inward. The other is a journey outward. Both require awareness, practice, patience and presence. And both can become ways of being a blessing to others. G. Devika Purushothama’s work is a celebration of that possibility: yoga not merely as a class, but as a pathway toward greater awareness, balance, strength, and well-being. And, on a very different stage, her story reminded an audience that sometimes the most meaningful messages come not from what we know, but from what we have lived.
