A class VII student of Lucknow’s top-ranked City Montessori School, Gomti Nagar Campus, Aarna Om Singh (12) is captivating audiences in India and abroad with her extraordinary achievements in the ancient Indian practice of yoga. Last September, she was crowned ‘Champion of Champions’ at the Universal Yoga Sports Federation’s Asia Pacific Yogasana Sports Championship staged in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). Additionally, she was awarded a gold medal in traditional yogasana and a silver in artistic yogasana.

That’s not all. This young yoga exponent has set two world records earning her entries into the Yogasana Book of World Records for executing 45 cartwheels per minute and 135 cartwheels in 3.56 minutes. And despite not having entered her teens, she has authored two children’s books — A Young Yog Girl (2023) and Adventures of Yog Nandini (2024).

The younger of two children of Om Prakash Singh, assistant general manager at BSNL, and Dr. Pratibha Singh, senior environment associate in Uttar Pradesh’s pollution control board, Aarna was an early age participant in a range of sports and co-curricular activities including mixed martial arts, gymnastics, Kathak and Bharatnatyam dance, and writing.

Yet the turning point came during the Covid pandemic lockdown. Inspired by her yoga practitioner grandfather Bharat Kumar Singh’s hour-long classes for Aarna and her cousins, regular practice crystallised into deep commitment to learning the nuances of this traditional Indian mind and body wellness activity.

Aarna’s hours of hard practice have paid off. In January, she was conferred the Best Youth Nation Builder Award at SPORTOPIA, held in Lucknow. Last October, she was adjudged #1 in the National Yoga Competition held in Jamshedpur under the aegis of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations in the U-14 Girls Individual Rhythmic category. Till date, young Aarna’s medals tally stands at over 100 across district, state, national and international competitions.

Looking ahead, Aarna aspires to wear India colours at the Commonwealth and Olympic Games. “I am super excited that India is set to host the 2030 Commonwealth, and encouraged to learn that the sports ministry will push for yoga as an official Commonwealth and Olympic sport. Till then, I will keep practising and signing up for competitions to improve continuously,” says this enthusiastic yoga champ.

Paromita Sengupta (Bengaluru)