Yoga Champions

Photos via the New York Times by the talented Piotr Redlinski.

The New York Times provided some beautiful coverage of Sunday's 9th annual New York Regional and National Yoga Asana Championship. If you haven't yet seen the article or the slideshow, I recommend taking a quick look.

I am always so inspired by the stories of these yoga champions. They display such courage taking the stage and moving through the postures they've rehearsed over and over.

Not many sports require you to be judged on ease, patience, concentration, and grace.

There has been some controversy in the past over making yoga competitive. And while I can see where the argument is coming from (people say yoga is a personal practice, and shouldn't encourage the ego)... I have to say I side with Joseph's opinion here (quoted from the NYT article):

Will promoting asana as competitive sport distort its essence, the intent to provide healing and body-mind unification? How could an increasingly popular asana avoid being consumed and altered by a world hungry for sport as spectacle?

Joseph Encinia, 26, the current world asana champion, said the opposite would happen. “Yoga will change our view of sport itself,” he said.

What do you think? Do you support competitive yoga? 

Have you ever competed?! I'd love to hear how it went! (And hey, you should be proud. It's not easy to share your yoga in the spotlight like that.)

If you've never considered it, I encourage you to check out this blog post about the thrill of competing, or this argument from a yoga teacher who says performing yoga allows its true meaning to shine through. Or, read this: practice, not perfect execution.