He holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Yoga, and has inducted thousands of students into Patanjali Yoga. Meet 28-year-old Ramu Soundaraj, who is also the founder of Swamy Vivekananda Yoga Therapy and Research Centre, Tirupur.

He, along with his twin brother Lakshman Soundaraj (who is also a PhD in Yoga), and one of their students, Diwakar .S, are all set to create a unique world record in yoga. The three will place one chair upon the other, stand upside down on the chair, blindfolded, and breathe in and out 1,000 times.

Ramu confirms that the attempt will be made in Coimbatore on Sunday, June 26. The venue hasn’t been finalized yet.

We are also told that Coimbatore District Collector, Archana Patnaik, will witness the attempt. “It is very difficult to breathe in and out 200 times blindfolded standing upside down. The three of us are going to try doing it 1,000 times. We are positive that we will create this new record. If we successfully manage to create this record, we will send a video recording to the Guinness World Record. If everything goes right, a request will be made to the Guinness World Record officials to recognize this attempt,” Ramu shares.

The yoga trainer shares with us that he practises eight hours every day in order to achieve perfection. He splits the eight hours into two – from 5 am to 9 am in the morning, and between 4:40 pm and 8:30 pm in the evenings. During his sessions, he tries to innovate the way asanas are done. The results – he can balance a football between his neck and back and perform asanas without letting go of it. Ramu can also perform asanas while standing atop of a human pyramid too. All this, he shares with us, requires perfect balancing and 100 per cent concentration.

Ramu, along with his twin brother Lakshman, founded the Vivekananda Yoga Therapy and Research Centre in their hometown Tirupur, in 2008. Currently, this yoga school has about 250 students, who are all passionate about learning the science of yoga. Its founder shares with us that students who are interested in learning the innovative ways of performing asanas are being taught at the school.

When the twin brothers are not training students in their yoga school, they are hopping from one Government school to another, and training the school children the basic techniques of yoga and meditation. In the last five years, in their hometown, the duo has covered 36 schools, including 18,000 children. They do this free of cost. At their yoga centre too, they charge a minimal fee.

As part of their future plans, the two brothers want to ensure that everybody does yoga. Today, to commemorate the International Yoga Day, Ramu, Lakshman along with eight of their students, performed yoga asanas before an audience in Kikani Vidhya Mandir School, Coimbatore.