Projo Fitness Blog

Some yoga sites have been posting this video, of the seventh Annual Asana Yoga Competition in New York City (originating from New York magazine).

These practitioners are under the impression that yoga is a sport, where honors can be earned and winners can be judged. Heck, the Yoga Federation has started a movement to make it an Olympic sport by 2020, and Astanga yoga was a demonstration sport in the Beijing summer games last year.

But, are they truly yogis? Yoga's very definition is "unity" -- fitness of the mind, body and soul. How does one judge that? Poses are one thing, but how to do you measure what a yogi gets out of daily practice?

It's not just my opinion ... check out this thread on a Yoga Journal discussion board. The opinions are pretty fierce that yoga must remain gentle.

 Tags  competition video yoga

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