Yoga In Competition

Yoga cannot easily be described as a competitive sport, as many argue this goes against the philosophical principles of the discipline. Some argue that a competitive attitude, finding out who is better than whom betrays the underlying philosophy of yoga that the ego should be denied in favour of the pursuit of Enlightenment.

Others argue, however, that the intention of yoga in competition is not to single out who is the best, but rather is a competition that remains within the individual. For this reason, it can be argued that competition is beneficial in that it pushes the individual onward to seek or improve a better understanding of oneness within themselves.

Bikram Choudhury, the founder of the Yoga College of India himself declared that there is a misunderstanding in the debate about competition in yoga. Choudhury stated that yoga competitions have, in fact, existed for thousands of years in India, where yoga has its roots. Yoga in competition, he suggests, is a competition with the individual and is based in the pursuit of perfection, as opposed to the bettering of another.

Similar to Olympic Gymnastic competitors, yoga champions are judged on their own skills, flexibility, strength, and poise, and not against the next competitor. Advocates of competition in yoga argue that it can encourage people to improve emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

Yoga in competition is a relatively new phenomena, but each year more and more national teams are emerging to compete in an international arena.

European Yoga Championship

The European Yoga championship is organised by the European Yoga alliance. The competition is divided into three categories; athletic yoga, artistic yoga and esoteric yoga. Each discipline is spectacular in its own right and also highly entertaining, each year seemingly pushing the boundaries of what the audience believe to be possible.

World Yoga Championship

The first organised yoga competition did indeed begin in India, and was held in Pondicherry in 1989. Since then, the hosting points for the competition have oscillated between Europe and South America, including Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Italy, Spain and Portugal and, of course, India. The 15th annual championships was held in New Delhi in December 2006.

International Yoga Asana Championship

In the United States at present there are a number of Yoga Asana “competitions”. The original and most famous is the International Yoga Asana Championship, first held at the Los Angeles Indoor Convention Centre in 2003.

Competition in India

In India, competition has been a daily feature of yoga for the last two thousand years. The principal advocate for Yoga competition in the United States at present is Bikram Choudhury whose influence are rooted in the Indian tradition.

Yoga masters, yogacharyas, sadhus and yogis come together each year in India for competitions called Kumba Melas. There is competition in the pranayamas, but also philosophical competitions.

Yoga: An Olympic Sport?

For some time there has been considerable debate about whether yoga should be included as an Olympic sport. Arguments in favour include; the spectacular style of the sport (similar to gymnastics), the benefits of the sport to children in terms of their physical and mental health and like other Olympic events, yoga does not require any special equipment.

Remarkably, it looks as though yoga’s hour may have come as Ashtanga yoga has been chosen to be the demonstration sport at the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Ashtanga yoga was considered a natural choice of all the possible styles due to its very predetermined asana sequences.

It is reported that Prana and Nike are already pledging to place sponsorship on the shorts of yoga competitors.