One of the reasons I love teaching yoga to kids and teens is to celebrate their uniqueness. Each individual brings something different to the mat every time they practice. It is wonderful to see them try Crow pose and succeed or, thanks to their natural flexibility, be able to touch their feet to their head in King Cobra pose, or finally be able to stop moving and truly relax when doing Corpse pose.
Lately there has been a debate raging around the yoga community regarding developing competitive yoga with an eye to having it accepted as an Olympic sport. Some find this philosophically wrong as yoga is about acceptance and personal growth. While others enjoy the individual challenge that the competitions emphasize. To see the two sides of the argument visit YogaDork‘s Competitive Yoga:Vicious or Vindicated: Ask Bikram and the flipside at the Bikram Yoga NYC blog Yoga Competition: Perspiration and Inspiration.
Today NY Times enters the fray with this article on how Rajashree Choudhury (wife to Bikram) is trying to build momentum for competitive yoga in North America and the Yoga Community’s response to that effort.
From what I know about yoga competitions I tend to agree with Michael Alba, a yoga teacher in Boston, who is quoted as saying, “It perpetuates the idea that yoga is for lithe-bodied contortionists.” A concept I completely disagree with. Yoga is for every body. See Yoga Accessible to All.
Competitive yoga is yoga at its pure physical extreme. Even Choudhury admits “We are not trying to judge any kind of spirituality when they are out there.” I think that is exactly the point. Yoga is, after all, a body/mind discipline and yoga competitions simply celebrate the physical aspect in a quick three minute performance, even if part of the path to achieve that physical performance was spiritual, mental, and emotional.
Jon Gan, a Bikram Yoga instructor and Director of the United States Yoga Federation, hopes that yoga competitions will help inspire yogis and non-yogis alike. “When I was a kid, I played tennis, and whenever I watched players on Wimbledon I’d want to get out there and play like them,” he said. “It inspired me. I’m hoping the same kind of things will happen here.”
Maybe, maybe not. In the meantime I’ll continue to teach all kids, teens and adults, regardless of ability, strength, flexibility, body shape, or special challenges, how to harness the many benefits of yoga and access their personal path to acceptance and understanding.
Namaste.
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I’ve competed three times in Texas and I disagree with Alba. The competition is not about tiny bodies doing odd things with the body. It is an avenue to demonstrate what the mind and body can do when you focus. There are many people that compete that are not “thin” or able to contort their body. They compete because they want to share yoga and show other people that anyone can do it, no matter what shape or how flexible you are.
Yes there is a component of competition but just as in a marathon or other mass individual competitive sport, many don’t compete to win, they compete with themselves to do the best they can and to share that effort with others.
And thanks for the article!
It is always great to see people are at least discussing the issue of competition and why it may or may not be something people find fits in the yoga world.
Thanks BikeRunYoga for your input. I think celebrating personal growth and having a goal such as a yoga event to aim for is worthwhile. Its wonderful to know that all body types and abilities compete. I’ve never watched a yoga competition so need to keep my mind open to the experience.
I was starting to wonder where all the competitors themselves were in this debate. The discussion is certainly enriched by getting their direct input.
Bob Weisenberg
http://YogaDemystified.com
Competition is a tough topic because there are so many facets to it. On the one hand you don’t want to feel you are better because you beat someone else. Or as you mentioned in the Empathy article, that there is scarcity.
Yet it can also be fun to compete at some things, to see life as a game, to push yourself beyond being on your own. I loved playing softball during one phase of my youth, even though it was in a recreational league, I liked playing to win.
So why not let everyone do what they want. Let each person decide what yoga is. Isn’t saying my yoga is better then your yoga a form of competition too?
I’m wary of those who want to tell others what they should and should not be doing to be a yogi or anything. I like what you said about yoga being a personal path – which gives freedom to choose your path and freedom for others to choose theirs.