Australian Yoga Championships for Sydney
(ContentDesk) November 3, 2005 — Some of Australia’s most skilled yoga practitioners will compete for the right to represent Australia in the World Championships, to be held in Los Angeles in February, 2006.There are plans for a Yoga Asana competition to become an Olympic event, first as a demonstration event, and then ultimately a full Olympic competition.Bikram Choudhury, the founder of the widely-practiced Bikram Yoga series, says that Yoga asanas (postures) can be judged in competition in much the same way that gymnastics and diving are.”A yoga competition is not two people competing against each other, you are competing with yourself,” says Bikram. “Your life is a competition, you are always making yourself better.” “Competition,” he says, “is the foundation for all democratic societies. For without competition, there is no democracy.”Alex Stone, who competed in the European titles last year, will enter again this year in Sydney. She said: “Talk of ‘competition’ in yoga sparks heated debate: of course yoga itself can not be judged competitively, but yoga asanas are just one small facet of yoga. This competition is focused on the demonstration of yoga postures (asanas).” “Competitors have to take their practice out of its usual context and hold composure and poise in a stressful environment.
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