Testimonials

Bhakti is absolutely fantastic. She focusses on holistic health and gives very Personalised guidance. The advise was extremely useful as I am peri menopausal. Not only have I achieved weight loss, my overall health and fitness has improved. I have undertaken outdoor activities which I would have not have ventured earlier. Highly recommend Bhakti..

My relationship with good health has always been a tough one. I love to eat and I never enjoyed any form of physical exercise/ training. I always looked for fast fad diets to lose weight but my eternal quest was how to maintain the weight loss. My next concern was that whenever I started exercising, I would have aches in my back and knee and other parts of my body which quickly put a stop to the routine. Early this year I developed heart disease and was looking for a solution to my health problems.

I’ve now been with Ikigai Health for close to 6 months. I enjoy working out with Bhakti and Tarun at Ikigai Health because its not a gym but it’s a complete health studio. They have not only managed to bring down my weight but my cardiac specialist was happily surprised as to how good my blood reports were looking as well. What I love about Ikigai and Bhakti and Tarun is that they not only focus on weight loss but mental and physical wellbeing. The studio is well equipped, clean and fresh and at any given time there are not more than 2 people training. I wish Ikigai Health every success.

Bhakti brings her knowledge of physiotherapy, training, nutrition and counseling in creative ways to solve fitness and well being problems. Both Bhakti and Tarun are passionate about the power of working out, healthy eating and good lifestyle habits. They take a holistic approach to fitness and look at all aspects that contribute to it…body type, genetic makeup, past injuries, diet, lifestyle, mental attitude.

I have always been pretty decent in terms of doing some form of exercise and enjoyed running and yoga in particular. In the last couple of years Bhakti made me realize the importance of strength training and got me started on it with Tarun. For a person who prefers running outdoors, Tarun was able to keep the training interesting and challenging enough to keep me engaged and excited to workout every time. This transformation motivated my husband Mohan and both our kids to become converts of their methodology as well.

The amazing part is that I have seen them achieve great results across all ages around me. I have recommended them to my parents, siblings and friends and have seen life changing results in their blood sugar, blood pressure levels, eating habits and general sense of wellbeing for all of them.

Here’s an example of their unique expertise that I have personally gained from… a year ago I started feeling a slight pain in my right foot every time I went for a run. It then morphed into pain in my hip when I did not give it proper attention and got to a point where I was constantly having severe pain in my right hip. Bhakti diagnosed that the problem started because of my flat feet, which caused weakness in my glutes because of how my other muscles were compensating for it over the years. She made me completely stop running, wear customized insoles, started on some physiotherapy exercises and helped me get some relief for my hip pain first. Tarun then took over to work on isolating the muscles that needed most attention, strengthening them and rebuilding my overall fitness levels again. I am super grateful for their dedicated and personalized attention every time I got to workout. Now I not only understand my body better to know which muscles need the most attention and consciously focus on them when I exercise, but also can aim at improving my strengths in areas which I did not think were possible before.

Following a shoulder injury in 2014, I met Dr. Bhakti Naik on a friend’s referral. She was meticulous in her diagnosis and used a first principles approach to understand the true origin of the issue. She recommended a specific set of exercises that brought me to full recovery over the course of 2 months. Dr. Naik is a thorough professional, always patient in answering my questions and sharing her extensive knowledge. Since our initial consultation, I have unhesitatingly referred her to friends and family on multiple occasions

“Blessing” – That’s what she’s been to me. A huge blessing. Bhakti means devotion in Sanskrit and Bhakti Naik sure lives up to her name. She was highly recommended to me when I had injured by back lifting weight incorrectly – and over the phone even before meeting me or taking a fee, her expert diagnosis and advice alleviated 80% of the pain. She came to see me the next day and since then…Bhakti has been working me hard in the gym and we have a lot of fun. Being a coach myself i understand the importance of having someone to support, challenge and hold us accountable and I can’t be all that for myself. Bhakti is just the right mix of encouraging and firm. She pushes and she supports. I never imagined myself ever working out this way and enjoying it. My strength, endurance and fitness has been going up steadily and safely. Beyond the external and the physical, working with her has helped me shift my mindset and feel nourished internally as well. And I feel safe. She’s helped me overcome my fears of injury through weight training and my fear of gaining weight from eating proper meals. I had been hiding in oversized dresses because I had put on some weight, from over indulgence, and turning 50. But after working with her for the last 4 months, I’ve fallen back in love with my body and now have the desire to dress up again. I have goals and with Bhakti’s support I am confident I will achieve them and in the meantime, I’m no longer loving in parenthesis waiting to lose weight, I’m having a great time working with Bhakti.”

I started my nutrition journey with Bhakti at the end of October 2021. For context, I’ve had Hypothyroidism for the past 28 years, a slipped disc for 20 years, and multiple aches and pains all over my body for as long as I can remember. Having these issues for so long, I felt a little helpless so sought out this program…but was skeptical that anything would work. Bhakti designed a diet that catered to my needs (vegetarian, no eggs). As I followed the plan, she educated me in food and nutrition, improving my understanding of how the various food groups could keep me full and fuel my body. Bhakti has monitored my progress every day since I started working with her. My progress: During the very first few weeks of the program, I started to feel less lethargic and had significantly less body pain. After week [x], I got my thyroid checked at the doctors. For the first time since diagnosis, my thyroid levels improved and the doctor reduced the dosage on my medication. Each week, Bhakti would modify my program and watch my body respond to the changes. As a result, I’ve dropped ~5 kgs in 18 weeks, and the program is not over! I’ve never been able to reduce my weight so significantly before. Most importantly, whenever I’ve lost weight in the past, I’ve gained it back because I haven’t been equipped with the knowledge of how to maintain my weight. For those who are not aware, weight management is very difficult for those with Hypothyroidism. I couldn’t be happier after such a positive experience working with Bhakti and whole-heartedly recommend her to anyone who is looking to lose weight and maintain weight-loss.

I cant believe it’s already been 6 months since I started the program with you all. What I do remember is that when I started in August 2021, weighing 90 kgs, I was quite skeptical about my achieving anything more than a reduction of 6-8kgs. Nevertheless with your support I decided to go full on and target a 10kg weight loss. Therefore when I am now on the verge of hitting the revised target of 15kg, I am truly delighted. Your commitment and support to help me achieve my health and fitness goal has been remarkable. The weekly calls kept me focused. The constant support and guidance on every situation was very important in ensuring I did not go off track. And the holistics inputs covering diet, mental wellness, physical fitness (including coordinating with my trainer) truly made the difference. At the end of it I can say that I enjoyed the journey. You made it a discovery rather than let me treat it as a chore. I am confident that i can sustain my fitness levels even after completing the program. I look forward to staying in touch and sharing my progress with you.

While I started with Bhakti on a physical weight loss journey, I ended up on a deeper, exploratory, and enlightening path. Physical wellness became a by-product as Bhakti and her relentless team worked with me on mental, emotional and spiritual wellness. We don’t realize the baggage we accumulate and that’s what they helped me see. The program and the approach was individualized to the core. The team was always approachable and rode each wave with me. The program left me empowered – what to do if I put back on some weight, how to recognize stress and manage it and how much to really put myself out there. Thank you Ikigai Health and Wellness! Warm regards,

Tarun was my personal trainer for 1 year and I had the best time of my life learning a lot from him. I understood my body, eating habits, metabolism and workout regime. The lessons learnt are innumerable which I shall practice for my life. He gave me the results that I wanted and most importantly helped me get rid of my condition – Ulcerative Colitis. If anyone is looking to get trained under Tarun , you can be assured – RESULTS and nothing less.

Tarun is a rockstar. Period. My partner and I have been training with Tarun for more than a year now. He has helped us both achieve stellar results in weight loss, lifestyle changes and nutritional knowledge. Tarun is a consummate fitness professional. He approaches every client individually and caters to their workout regime, nutrition plans and lifestyle considerations.
One of the standout things about Tarun is that he takes the time to declutter and explain what we are doing: why we are working out a certain way, why are we eating a certain diet, why are we supplementing our diet etc. This goes a long way in ensuring that what we achieve at the gym stays with us for life.
I highly recommend Tarun as a fitness coach of choice whatever your fitness goals may be. He will get you there and beyond!

I am so deeply grateful to Tarun and have thoroughly enjoyed training under him in the last few months. Tarun is a consummate professional in his field, always making sure that my needs are met and consistently exceeding expectations even in the most challenging setting where my primary goal was unique and outside his comfort zone.
He is a great source of knowledge when it comes to diet and lifestyle modifications to help me get a firm grip on my overall health and general well-being. My special thanks to Tarun as he has been instrumental in getting me to my current desired goal, largely driven by the introduction of sound discipline and effective inculcation of good habits in my food selection and nutrition management.

Tarun is an awesome trainer. Yes he helped me achieve my goals of getting stronger and losing weight. He also goes above and beyond that in his 360-degree support at the gym, with diet planning and with exercise plans for non-gym days. His support over the circuit breaker period has meant I have been able to retain my fitness, eat well and lose weight. I would strongly recommend Tarun. Thank you Tarun for all your advice and support, for the recipes, the advice on vitamins and for being a great friend as well as a great trainer.

Tarun has all the qualities of a top personal trainer. He’s passionate about fitness (and not just within the confines of a gym), continually educates himself on the subject, and effectively communicates his knowledge. He’s also adaptive and easygoing, pushing his clients to their limit without losing motivation. Most importantly he produces results and reaches the goals we’ve set. Tarun’s been a great friend, and makes training hard fun.

Tarun was my personal trainer for 4 months. He was instrumental in my transformation and helped me develop a holistic understanding of fitness and nutrition. But more than that, I appreciate the focus, care and rigour he put into observing, directing my training and working with limitations in my diet. He will be an asset to any organisation in the fitness industry.

Tarun is an excellent trainer, he pushed me and knew how to motivate me to try my best! I achieved all my goals and it was a great opportunity to re-set my body and lay the foundations to be even fitter and stronger.