There's a movement afoot to get yoga into the Olympics. The International Yoga Federation has made contact with the Olympic Committee. The federation plans petition for yoga to become an official Olympic sport. The earliest that could happen would be 2020.
What do you think of making yoga an Olympic sport?
I practice yoga as a form of exercise to strengthen and elongate muscles. It improves my posture and also seems to help with bursitis in my hips. It can at times be a very intense and difficult to hold poses. I understand the proposed olympic sport yoga is a flowing type of yoga that is in constant movement from one pose to another. I would imagine this takes quite a lot of skill and strength. It's competition that I would enjoy watchin.
People who practice yoga can compete, to show off their body's flexibility, strength, and stamina, but this exhibition activity has nothing to do with yoga. Competitive yoga is inconsistent with the whole philosophy of the art. Call the exhibition of stamina, strength, and flexibility something else, like wrestling or something...
As long as they include Shavasana in the list of required poses, I'm all for it!
Seriously though, anything that inspires more people to learn about and practice yoga is a good thing, in my opinion. The potential benefits of Olympic yoga are so great that it's worth the risk of some people adopting a "corrupt" competitive view of it as a result of having it be an Olympic sport.
There are a diversity of ways to practice yoga -- that is one of the great things about it. The style that will be in the Olympics will be only one of those ways. Showcasing yoga within such a major international venue will help spread the word about the practice (or sport, as some will think of it), and will be a great way to encourage people to learn more about yoga generally and adopt the form of practice that suits you best -- something that is not always possible with every Olympic sport. The sort of role model notoriety that the yoga Olympians will receive has the potential to add caché to the practice generally.
I can appreciate the desires of those that want to restrict yoga from the Olympics because they feel it is non-competitive at its heart, as I believe as well. But the practice of yoga has already withstood the test of time, and the benefits of bringing more widespread recognition to yoga and some of its very accomplished practitioners outweigh any risks to the purity of the practice.
I am confident that the true goodness of the practice of yoga will shine through in the end, despite any corrupting influences of Olympic glory.
For me, Yoga has always been a spiritual practice with a physical manifestation. Turning it into a sport seems to turn the concept of yoga as a spiritual practice on its head (pun definitely intended). To turn a spiritual practice into a sport is a slippery slope into the theature of the absurd. What criteria will be used to judge this so-called sport? How would someone compete? How do you judge who is the most flexible or strongest? How do people of different ages compete against each other? I hope the Olympic Committee sees what a flawed, silly idea it is.
As far as what types of activities we do or don't regard as 'olympic', yoga doesn't make any less sense than 'curling'.
As a child and then as a young adult, I used to really get into the olympics. But then it came out that so many athletes were doping to enhance their performance. It kinda took the rush out of it for me.
Yoga, curling, tiddly-winks, make them all competitive sports- just don't include them in olympic sports.
Millions of people practice Yoga. Yoga is now the fastest growing sport in America according to Yoga Journal magazine. They say that over 10 million people practice Yoga.
Sport? Yoga is a sport? No. Yoga is no mere sport. Yoga means "union." It is the joy of union of the individual self with the Self of All. It is pure consciousness, Purusha, which is complete unto itself. It is the union of Atman, the Self, and Brahman, the Absolute Reality. It is the union of Shakti, the feminine essence with Shiva, the masculine essence.
Yoga deals with relationships, senses, body, breath, mind and the union beyond. Yoga is complete. It is whole. It is integration. It is the highest bliss. Yoga is like the wave knowing it is not separate from the ocean. Yoga is divine union. It is not mere sport. Yoga is the path. Yoga is the goal.
I am a winner of international Yoga competition held in Mysore recently and I am quite thrilled at the idea of Yoga becoming the Olympic event. That is an amazing idea and the world will become aware of the most wonderful art that creates peace of mind, health and harmony
I've been involved in Raja Yoga for almost 40 years. Raja Yoga is more than 2000 years old, and is the recognized basis of several religious sects, and probably many more not recognized. But this is Raja Yoga, not Hatha Yoga which is first introduced about 800 years ago, and is from Tibet via Buddhism. These applications were meant to enhance the Raja Yoga meditation, and were done by secret societies. Even those dedicated to reconstructing it are in much disagreement, probably because it was done in secret.
Modern Hatha Yoga (not the same just mentioned) was developed as and is still a secular sport, in spite of some teacher's claims to be contrary. Many of the exercises found their roots in Western gymnastics, although it was developed well past those humble beginnings into a physical art form able to compete in the same class such as Western floor exercises. As far as any spiritual aspects of the art, Tai Chi and dance are just as spiritual, as are many other physical art forms.
And lastly, even those that use it as an integral part of their spiritual routine admit that without the accompanied meditation, Hatha Yoga is a physical exercise or sport, nothing more. It is already done in competition and has been for decades. Its inclusion in the Olympics is therefore up the the Olympics committee.
Yoga/Hinduism is a religion, certainly not sport. This is fact, not opinion. It would be an injustice to Hinduism as well as all religions not to mention, morals, and just plain commonsense/values, which in the lack of, the consequences are being seen in wars, our economic crises,many aspects in societies, etc. Note that all the various Yogas (progressive religious/spiritual disciplines) are Hinduism.
There is no problem with the study of the Hindu/Yoga religion. There is an issue of separating/divorcing and redefining the disciplines of a specific people and their religion and then falsely practicing, and/or teaching it...this is unethical, deceptive, exploitive, etc. When an individual or worse even, the masses, blindly alter and justify anything we care to, ends in individual and/or mass delusion and the destructive process deepens. The indisputable facts and some often misrepresented Yoga/Hindu religious words/symbols, which are rampant now, are below. Some of these words/symbols can not even be used correctly or safely by Hindus anymore!
Yati
~Sanskrit: The ancient language of the Hindus [Webster's] Note: all subsequent terms are Sanskrit (Skr.) and thus Hindu
~Aum/Om: The most sacred syllable in Hinduism [Oxford World Religions]
~yoga: Skr. "Hinduism" [Webster's]
~yoga: Oneness of Atmana and Brahman [Dict. of Skr. Names]
~yogi/yogini: (male/female) Hindu Ascetic [Oxford World Rel.]
~Atmana: Skr. Self/Spirit; Hinduism [Webster's]
~Brahman: Skr. Hindu Religion [Webster's]
~yoga: Skr. A Hindu discipline [Oxford Am. Dict.]
~ yoga: Skr. A system of Hindu religious philosophy [Thorndike Barnhardt]
~yoga: Skr. general term for spiritual disciplines in Hinduism [Columbia Encyclopedia]
~Swami: Skr. Title of respect of a (Hindu) Holy man or teacher. [Oxford World Religions]
~Guru: Skr. A teacher of worldly skills...more often of religious knowledge...liberation (Moksa). [Oxford World religions]
~Moksa: Release/liberation - the fourth and ultimate goal of Hinduism. [Oxf. World Religion]
~The first recorded evidence of the Skr. word "yoga" is found in the Vedas.
~Veda Skr. The most ancient sacred literature of the Hindus. [Webster's]
~Swastika Skr. 'All is well'...an auspicious sign found in Indian (Hindu) religions... [Oxf. World Rel.]
hi , i m sure people who insist that yoga can be an olympic sport are the ones who gain lots of money and will be rich through it, because all the governments in any country always empowers the different sport federations by giving them money,so everything is about money and nothing else. no doubt that the persons which talk about yoga as sport have no compassion for yoga as an uplifting school of sprituality.
on the other hand this is a very TAMASIC/ RAJASIC approach. (anyone who practice gymnastics can be a yoga champion !!!! how ridiculous!!
07/14/2008 4:20:45 AM
