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Centre to promote yoga as a competitive sport
India has also recently established the National Yogasana Sport Federation of India for preservation and development of yoga as a competitive sport
The Central government is promoting yoga as a competitive sport within the country, with an aim to bring awareness about yoga, its benefits and spiritual background in young community.
Minister of Ayush (Ayurveda Yoga and Naturopathy Unani Sidda Homoeopathy), Shripad Yesso Naik, and minister of state for youth affairs and sports, Kiran Rijiju, will be holding a press briefing in the afternoon today wherein they are likely to make some announcements about the initiative to promote yoga as a sporting event.
India has also recently established the National Yogasana Sport Federation of India (NYSFI) for preservation and development of yoga as a competitive sport.
“Yogasana as a competitive sport can develop an interest in yoga among people across the world. The Fit India Movement initiated by the Indian Government has gained impetus and the Government has promoted yoga as a healthy practice to stay fit. Since the inception of International Yoga Day, the growth prospect for Yoga has been immense,” says NYSFI on its website.
“Yoga organisations and institutions worldwide have been campaigning to turn yoga asana into a competitive sport… Yogasana as an Olympic event would create a widespread opportunity for expanding awareness of yoga and its myriad health benefits.”
The Ayush ministry says, “Several countries over the years have embraced yoga as a sport. Competitions have been conducted in several forms and styles of yoga like Iyengar, Hatha, Vinyasa, etc. for different age and gender groups.”
“Participants are evaluated based on grace, poise, stability, balance, relaxation, holding the breath, effortlessness, perfectness of posture, retention time etc. Participants are asked to do few poses in a given time and are judged by a group of judges,” it adds.
