Sydney, NSW (PRWEB) November 23, 2007 -- Some of Australia's most skilled yoga practitioners will compete in Sydney this weekend for the right to represent Australia in the World Championships, to be held in Los Angeles in February, 2008.
The event will be staged in the Independent Theatre, 269 Miller Street, North Sydney, from 1 p.m. on Sunday. There are plans for a Yoga Asana competition to become an Olympic event, first as a demonstration event, and then ultimately as 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 is the foundation for all democratic societies. For without competition, there is no democracy."
James Caldwell, a spokesman for the organizing committee said: "This will be the biggest competition we have staged. This year there are 22 female entrants and seven males, with representatives from Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane."
Each entrant will complete a 3-minute routine, with 5 compulsory poses and two optional poses to be performed before a panel of five expert judges.
"Some people think yoga and competition are incompatible," says Caldwell, "but this is based on a misunderstanding of what is being judged."
"What is being judged is the performance of the postures (asanas). There is much more to yoga than the postures -- they are just one dimension of many. Competitors have to take their practice out of its usual context and hold composure and poise in a challenging environment, on a stage, in front of an audience," Caldwell said.
He continued, "Essentially, the ability to remain calm in the face of stress is one of the main aims of yoga practice, and so the performance of the postures becomes an expression of the competitors' inner development. Yoga practice also aims at learning to be in the moment. The competition highlights this, as competitors have three minutes to complete seven postures, and every second counts. All the many hours and years of practice become crystallized into those 180 seconds."
"I've been at all three previous Championships, and what stands out for me each year is how the audience is spell-bound right through every single 3-minute performance," Caldwell said.
Tickets are available from any of the Bikram Yoga studios in Sydney: Brookvale, Bondi Junction, Darlinghurst, Lane Cove and Rozelle for $25, or for $30 at the door on the day from 12:30 p.m.
Yoga championships have been held for centuries in India, and more recently also in Japan, Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Italy and in the United States since 2003.
Regional competitions are being held throughout the US and countries all round the world. The finalists will have the opportunity to practice among some of the best yoga students and together they will compete in the International Yoga Championship - Bishnu Charan Ghosh Cup on February 2, 2008 in Los Angeles.
About Bikram Choudhury:
Bikram Choudhury, Founder and President of Yoga College of India and sponsor of the championship, is recognized as one of the most world renowned and knowledgeable hatha yoga teachers in the world and has developed his own series of 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises, practiced in a room heated to around 40 degrees. After becoming a multiple Indian National Yoga Champion, he migrated to the US and in 1970 founded the Yoga College of India, which has since grown into one of the world's largest yoga training organizations, with more than 800 affiliated schools worldwide. While teaching his unique method of therapeutic yoga internationally for over 30 years, he has worked with medical professionals to apply the benefits of yoga to regenerate tissue and heal chronic ailments in the modern quest for wellness.
The International Yoga Championship-Bishnu Charan Ghosh Cup was named to commemorate the 100th birthday of Bikram's teacher, Bishnu Charan Ghosh, celebrated in Los Angeles at the maiden Yoga Expo in September 2003.
For more information: www.bikram.com.au
Jodie Robertson: Tel (02) 9907 4960 Mobile 0419 171 334 or
James Caldwell: Tel (02) 9420 4300 Mobile 0407 461 621
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