Competitive yoga

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Competitive yoga

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Competitive yoga is the performance of asanas in sporting competitions. The activity is controversial as it appears to conflict with the nature of yoga.

History

[edit]

The International Federation of Sports Yoga has organised annual championships since 1989, and is led by Fernando Estevez-Griego (Swami Maitreyananda). These competitions are not restricted to asanas, but cover all eight limbs of yoga identified in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. The 1989 competition was held in Montevideo with the asana competition in Pondicherry.^[1]

Competitive yoga has been practised by adults in America since 2009 under the auspices of the nonprofit organisation USA Yoga; competitions were later introduced for children from the age of 7.^[2] The fiercely contested Bishnu Charan Ghosh Cup is held annually in Los Angeles.^[3] Ghosh inspired the yoga style of Bikram Choudhury, the founder of Bikram Yoga, and Choudhury has been closely associated with America's competitive yoga from its inception.^[4]

The documentary film Posture by Nathan Bender and Daniel Nelson portrays competitors and detractors of the USA Yoga Federation National Championship.^[5]

Sport or spiritual

[edit]

The idea of competitive yoga seems an oxymoron^[5]^[3] to some people in the yoga community. The author Rajiv Malhotra described competitive yoga as "a form of misappropriation".^[5] The yoga teacher Loretta Turner called the term "offensive, because yoga is much more than posturing".^[5] The journalist Neal Pollack said that the goal of all types of yoga is samadhi, "enlightened bliss where the ego separates from the self and the practitioner realizes that he's powerless to control the vagaries of an endlessly shifting universe".^[4] Instead, Pollack continued, yoga competitions consist of the performance of asanas derived from hatha yoga. He concluded that he was not sure what he had witnessed, but he was glad to return to his usual modest yoga, free of competitiveness.^[4]

Yoga practitioners and their instructors commonly work to avoid any feeling of competitiveness.^[6] The yoga instructor Tanya Boulton comments that yoga is challenging because it teaches people not to be competitive but to be at peace with themselves. Practitioners are advised not to compare themselves to other people in their class, and to accept that yoga is an inner thing, not a matter of physical perfection.^[6]

References

[edit]

^ "History 1989 to 2014". International Federation of Sports Yoga. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
^ West, Nancy Shohet (1 May 2018). "Competition yoga? No, it's not an oxymoron". The Boston Globe.
^ ^a ^b Whitworth, Melissa (7 June 2010). "Are you cool enough for competitive yoga?". The Daily Telegraph. Hang on. Yoga competition? Surely competition is the very antithesis to the philosophy of the practice, which is about spiritual and physical wellbeing attained through a personal journey? Can you 'win' at yoga when it's supposed to be spiritual, not competitive? Apparently, yes. [Luke] Strandquist is one of a growing number of yogis who believe that yoga can indeed be a competitive sport. After all, yoga competitions have been going on in India for hundreds of years, with yogis striking tortuous poses and being awarded points for their pains.
^ ^a ^b ^c Pollack, Neal (17 February 2009). "Top Yogi". Slate.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Friedman, Jennifer D'Angelo (3 August 2017). "'Posture': A New Documentary Explores the Controversial World of Competitive Yoga". Yoga Journal. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
^ ^a ^b Pawlowski, A. (23 September 2015). "'You're exactly where you need to be': 8 ways to take competition out of yoga". Today. Retrieved 28 March 2019.

Yoga as exercise

Topics

Asanas	List of asanas Standing asanas Downward dog Lotus position Meditation seats Sun Salutation Tree pose Warrior Accompaniments Drishti Pranayama Vinyāsa Hasta Vinyasas
Teacher training	Standards British Wheel of Yoga European Union of Yoga André Van Lysebeth Yoga Alliance
Therapy	Yoga using props 1979 Accessible yoga 2002 Trauma-sensitive yoga 2007 Restorative Yoga 2008 Yoga nidra International Association of Yoga Therapists • Richard Miller Janice Gates
Events	Competitive yoga International Day of Yoga
Journals	Asana Journal Yoga Journal
Props	Yoga brick Yoga mat Angela Farmer Hugger Mugger Yoga pants Lululemon

History

Early	Early modern yoga Vivekananda 1896 Raja Yoga Pierre Bernard Harmonial gymnastics/yoga Marguerite Agniel Mary Bagot Stack Genevieve Stebbins Physical culture B. C. Ghosh K. V. Iyer Seetharaman Sundaram Paramahansa Yogananda Autobiography of a Yogi
Aspects	Hot yoga Science of yoga Sexual abuse by yoga gurus Matthew Remski Yoga and cultural appropriation In advertising For children For women Geeta Iyengar Yoga tourism
Hybrids	1938 Naked yoga 1990 Mindful Yoga Frank Jude Boccio Anne Cushman Janice Gates Jon Kabat-Zinn Cyndi Lee Phillip Moffitt 2003 Acroyoga Doga 2013 Paddleboard Yoga 2014 Aerial yoga Beer yoga
By country	America 1961 Yoga for Health 1970 Lilias, Yoga and You Britain 1976 Lyn Marshall France Germany India Italy Russia Sweden 2015 Rachel Brathen Switzerland 1941 Selvarajan Yesudian
Books	1996 Yoga Tradition of the Mysore Palace 2004 Yoga in Modern India A History of Modern Yoga 2005 Positioning Yoga 2010 Yoga Body The Subtle Body 2015 Selling Yoga 2016 The Path of Modern Yoga 2017 Roots of Yoga 2019 Yoga in Britain 2020 The Story of Yoga
Films	2006 Guru 2009 Enlighten Up! 2012 Breath of the Gods

Schools
(Gurus)

1918 The Yoga Institute
- Shri Yogendra
- Hansa Yogendra
1924 Kaivalyadhama
- Swami Kuvalayananda
1934 Viniyoga
c. 1948 Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga
1959 Sivananda Yoga
- Vishnudevananda Saraswati
- Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga
1963 Bihar School of Yoga
- Satyananda Saraswati
1965 Ananda Yoga
- Kriyananda
1966 Integral Yoga
- Satchidananda Saraswati
1966 Kripalu Yoga
- Amrit Desai
- Stephen Cope
1971 Himalayan Institute
- Swami Rama
1973 Bikram Yoga
- Bikram Choudhury
1975 Iyengar Yoga
1975 Dharma Mittra
c. 1975 Yin Yoga
1982 Forrest Yoga
1984 Jivamukti Yoga
- Sharon Gannon
1995 Power Yoga
- Beryl Bender Birch
- Bryan Kest
1997 Anusara Yoga
- John Friend
2006 Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga (Sadie Nardini)

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Yoga styles