Things that Confuse the Manolo: Competitive Yoga

Unclear on the Concept: World Championship Yoga

Can you smell what the Downward Dog is cooking?

Manolo says, wah?

This international competition has made the noise of momentum, too, but just where it is heading is hard to predict. Will it become a sport recognized on the Olympic stage as Rajashree Choudhury, the founder of USA Yoga and the International Yoga Sports Federation, hopes? Or is it destined to remain a quirky transplant from India practiced by an exclusive set of Bikram yogis?

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The event was held at the LAX Radisson, where the mirrored ballroom became a competitive yoga stadium and runway-like hallways morphed into warm-up rooms for yogis. Onstage, a garland-draped image of Bishnu Ghosh, Bikram’s guru, looked on while seven judges sat with pencils raised, critiquing the routines.

“The quality of the athletes has evolved tremendously,” said Jon Gans, an organizer and former judge of the event. “Postures, like peacock, that seemed to be a pinnacle pose the first year would now seem normal.”

Perhaps the Manolo, who would rather be run over by the Anna Wintour’s town car than put on the yoga pants, is unclear on the concept, but is not the yoga supposed to be the somewhat meditative practice?

Query: If yoga is now the competitive sport, what is the only proper way to introduce the contestants?

Answer….

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