BTN News: India has surprised many people with its bold plan to include yoga as a competitive sport in the Asian Games. They even want it to be part of the Olympics in 2036. This idea has started a big debate. Yoga is usually seen as a way to improve your body, mind, and spirit. Can it really be turned into a competitive sport?
The president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), PT Usha, recently announced that India wants yoga to be part of the Asian Games. This event happens every four years and is like the Olympics but only for Asian countries. India’s Sports Minister, Mansukh Mandaviya, said that because yoga is so popular, it makes sense to include it as a competitive sport. This move is part of India’s effort to highlight its cultural heritage.
Yoga has a long history in India. Some say it started as early as the 3rd century BCE. Others believe it goes back to the Vedic period around 2700 BCE. However, some scholars, like James Mallison and Mark Singleton, think these early dates are just guesses. Despite the debates, yoga’s popularity has grown a lot over the last few decades. In India, it has been a competitive sport at the state level since 2020. This version of yoga is called “yogasana.” Yogasana Bharat, the group in charge of competitive yoga, focuses only on the physical part of yoga. They say it’s hard to measure the mental, emotional, and spiritual parts in a sport.
How do you compete in yoga? While the rules can change, there are some common guidelines. Competitors usually have up to three minutes to perform a series of poses. Each pose should be held for at least five seconds. The transitions between poses should be smooth and look artistic. This performance is often done to music. It can be done alone or in groups of up to five people. This way of competing in yoga is a bit like artistic gymnastics.
Some traditional yogis are not happy about this. Tara Das, an author and Ashtanga yoga practitioner, says that turning yoga into a sport goes against its true purpose. She remembers her grandfather’s daily yoga practice, which was very disciplined. She believes that yoga is more than just physical poses. Das thinks that India wants to make yoga a sport to reclaim it as its own. Yoga started in India but is now practiced all over the world. While she understands India’s desire to highlight its cultural heritage, she worries about changing what yoga really is.
Yoga teacher Arathi Menon has a similar view. She knows that yoga competitions are not new, but she has a problem with calling yoga a sport. She thinks that doing this might make people see yoga in a limited way. However, she believes that the ancient tradition of yoga will not be lost. Menon says that even the yoga she practices today is different from what was practiced in the past.
India’s plan to include yoga as a competitive sport in the Asian Games and possibly the Olympics is a big cultural and political move. It shows the challenge of keeping yoga’s traditional values while making it fit into a modern sports framework. As people continue to discuss this, it is clear that yoga’s journey from an ancient practice to a possible Olympic sport will be watched closely by many.
