How Robin revolutionised yoga

If you ask Robin Pratap, founder of yoga app Asana Rebel, how the word “rebel” came to be included in the app’s name, you get a clear, confident answer: “We wanted to redefine the practice of yoga – and communicate it in the same way.”

Moving away from well-worn yoga cliches, the app presents yoga-inspired workouts that aim to make the practice of yoga accessible to a wider audience. “We looked at yoga from a user’s perspective,” Pratap says.

While traditional yoga is often about different styles like Hatha, Bikram or Sivananda, Asana Rebel’s user-friendly approach incorporates routines aimed at specific areas of focus, such as helping people to get in shape, build strength or improve flexibility, no matter their fitness level.

“Beginners aren’t familiar with the different styles of yoga. But if they see things like ‘build strength’ or ‘improve flexibility’, they’ll understand exactly what they’re going to get in their session,” Pratap explains.

This novel approach to yoga was criticised by some traditional yoga practitioners, but Pratap didn’t let that bring him down. With a deep knowledge of yoga after years of studying the practice, Pratap’s intention was to open up a new path to a profound and respected tradition.

Pratap’s rebel style is all about understanding the core of things, splitting it into pieces, putting them back together and, hopefully, creating something new and refreshing. And this is exactly what he tried to do with Asana Rebel.

Pratap faced further critic along the way, and he recalls one investor in particular who told him the app would struggle to succeed internationally. But this simply fuelled his rebel instincts.

Once the concept behind Asana Rebel was clear, the new challenge was to shoot the app’s videos in a fashionable way.

Familiar with visual production and video editing, Pratap moved to Los Angeles to plan and record the workouts with yoga teachers for three months. “We put a lot of effort into video production. When I now show the app in the US, many are surprised that it comes from Germany,” Pratap says.

“We’ve built up a global company from Berlin and 93 per cent of our sales come from the international market,” Pratap explains, highlighting how, despite the early naysayers, perseverance proved to be the right track for the app.

Did he anticipate that Asana Rebel would become such a change-maker four years ago? “No!” Pratap says. “I’ve grown into this step by step.”

“The future has huge potential – it’s up to us to recognise the opportunity and develop it,” he adds, while making it clear that he knows no limits: “We want to become the market leader in the health and fitness sector.”

One thing is for sure: Asana Rebel’s workouts will give him the fitness and stamina he needs to continue his rebel yoga journey.

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