Luxury Yogi, Nepal-Based Holistic Solutions for Physical, Mental, and Emotional Well-being
When Prerana Shah decided to take yoga classes at 16 to help her ailing mother and motivate her to go with her, nobody in her family took Prerana seriously. Coming from a business background, she nonetheless chose to pursue her passion and started as a yoga instructor when she was just 17. Some 20 years later, Prerana leads a holistic wellness company, Luxury Yogi, providing a set of services to people seeking to improve their health in Nepal and internationally.
Prerana’s yogi master was a medical doctor who provided his students with solid anatomical, nutritional, and herbal remedies knowledge. “It was more like a lifestyle vision,” she said. Before taking some classes, such as Reiki, the students would have to go through detox or cleansing practices, sometimes over a couple of weeks. “I learned the tough way, but it has been really helpful.”
She still walked in the family’s footsteps and while being a yoga instructor, ran a furniture factory and a call center. In 2015, a devastating earthquake hit Nepal. It was a turning point for Prerana. She decided to pursue what she really loved. She established Luxury Yogi and registered it as a company. She is also certified by Cornell University and Hippocrates Health Institute in lifestyle and nutrition.
Adopting a Yogi’s Mindset with a Healthy Lifestyle
Good Health is a Luxury Good
Health, stated Prerana, is the most luxurious thing you can hold. When people get sick, healthcare is very expensive, in particular in Nepal where very few people have private health insurance, and where there is no public healthcare coverage, she explained. With the name Luxury Yogi, Prerana wanted to emphasize that people have everything they need inside of them, and health is the most important thing they should invest in. “The food that you eat, the water that you drink, the supplements that you take, don’t be a miser or frugal in spending money on those things instead of spending thousands of dollars on handbags and cars,” she advised.
Yogi, she explained, has a broad meaning but mainly refers to oneness with the universe. It is also about gathering people, collective healing, and being in touch with one’s higher self.
Health Coaching Programs for a Holistic Approach to Health
Luxury Yogi works with a team of consulting practitioners and offers individual life coaching, health coaching, rapid transformation therapy, pranic healing (energy healing), sound healing (with singing bowls), and iridology (study of the patterns on the iris). An oncologist/radiologist completes the team, Prerana explained.
The company is also regularly hired for corporate retreats where it provides meditation and coaching sessions, as well as healing circles on-site. The Covid-19 pandemic pushed corporations’ interest in such retreats, “as companies wanted their employees to start taking care of themselves,” she said. “Everybody was so stressed and uncertain about the entire situation. Employers wanted their employees to stay on top of their game, happy and healthy so production stayed consistent.”
Health coaching is a very new concept in Nepal, according to Prerana who was the first practicing health coach in the country. The underlying crosscutting principle of Luxury Yogi is making sure that people are living their best life version, a life with less suffering. “That’s the whole agenda!”
Alternative Medicine for Prevention, Support of Conventional Medicine
Well before the Covid-19 crisis hit, Luxury Yogi provided their services online, except for the sound healing. Clients come from Nepal and all over the world, with no age or gender distinction. Prerana said her clients’ age range from 13 to 78. They are looking for a holistic approach to health that helps their physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
Allopathic medicine saves lives and there should not be a schism between alternative medicine and allopathic medicine, she said. Luxury Yogi can help people with a mindset, to learn how to feel good in their body in different ways. Many people with chronic diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, and autoimmune diseases come to Luxury Yogi to get some help, while some others are seeking to relieve stress, trauma consequences, or anxiety issues as a preventive measure to avoid major health issues.
Branding on the Agenda for Bigger Reach
With its name protected through the registration of her company in Nepal, Prerana said she did not give much thought to intellectual property until recently. She realized the power of a solid branding strategy and the importance of trademarking her name and logo. Branding, she said, would broaden the awareness of the company, and all the services it provides. It would increase revenue, and more importantly, “would allow Luxury Yogi to reach out to more people and spread what we believe in.”
In the next two years, Luxury Yogi also intends to offer more online options, e-courses, and workshops. “We need more exposure, get a bigger reach,” she said, adding that she now wants to go from niche market to mass market, making services affordable and more visible.
