Sakshi Devi
Advanced asana teacher, yoga therapist and TTC educator
Six state titles, four national titles and gold medals at the Asia Pacific and international level would usually describe a competitor. Most of Sakshi Devi’s working week goes to something quieter: adapting a posture so a woman in her third trimester, or someone a few weeks out of surgery, can practice it safely.
She joined Pratimoksha’s full-time team in Dubai in 2024. Her days cover individual sessions, group classes, yoga therapy, prenatal and postnatal yoga, and pre- and post-surgery practice, along with teaching trainee teachers and sharing in the running of the studio.
An eye trained by competition
Competitive yoga is unforgiving about detail. Judges notice a hip that has drifted, a shoulder creeping toward the ear, a breath that shortens when the pose gets hard. Years of preparing for that scrutiny gave Sakshi a precise eye for alignment and technique.
In the studio she uses it differently. A professional who spends long days at a desk in Business Bay has no use for a competition backbend. What helps is knowing where the spine is, and how to move it without strain. Sakshi teaches toward that, and saves the more demanding advanced asana work for experienced students who are ready for it.
Her competition record includes:
- International gold medal at an international-level yoga competition
- Asian Pacific gold medal at the Asian Pacific Yoga Competition in Sri Lanka
- Four national gold medals
- Six state gold medals
Working alongside surgery and recovery
Some of Sakshi’s most careful work happens with clients from across Dubai who are preparing for an operation or recovering from one. These sessions run under the guidance of founder and manual osteopath Lalitha Viswanath, and the practice changes with the person: their condition, what their medical team has advised, and how far recovery has come. Progress is measured in small, specific gains, such as a fuller breath or a joint that moves a little further without guarding.
This follows the classical principle the studio is built on. Restraint comes before intensity, and the body sets the pace.
From pregnancy to the months after
Prenatal yoga with Sakshi changes as the pregnancy does, with practices adapted to each trimester and to how the mother feels that week. The work continues after birth, when the body is recovering, sleep is scarce, and gentle rebuilding matters more than any return to a former routine. For expectant mothers in Dubai who live far from family, that continuity can count for a lot.
One-to-one, in groups and in teacher training
Sakshi teaches group classes for different levels as well as private sessions, where the practice is built around a single person. Her yoga therapy sessions follow the same logic: the person comes first, and the sequence is designed around them.
Trainees in Pratimoksha’s teacher training course learn from her too. She teaches and mentors TTC students as they build the practical knowledge and confidence to lead a class, and her competition background gives them a close look at what precise technique requires.
Sakshi teaches at the studio in Oud Metha, Dubai. Anyone expecting a baby, facing surgery, or ready to take their asana practice further can contact the studio and ask to work with her.