Regional Yoga Asana Championship

On Sunday I got to watch the Regional Yoga Asana Championship. The winners get to compete in the National Yoga Asana Championships in March. It was amazing to see a variety of yogis and yoginis perform their routine on stage. Young, old, big, small, long-time and short-time practitioners, they were all inspiring and amazing and left the audience feeling positive. We couldn't help but smile and root for all of them while they demonstrated their strength, concentration, hard work and determination.

Participants get judged by experienced teachers on physical strength, stamina, balance, flexibility, breath, concentration, and grace. You see, it is not about being able to perform picture-perfect postures, but about diligently working with your body and mind. The focus for the participants is not to compete against each other, but rather to show what they can achieve with yoga. It was very apparent that the participants and the audience were rooting for everybody to show off their personal best!

BTW, these events are organized by USA Yoga (a non-profit organization) and are meant to raise awareness about Yoga Asanas (the physical part of yoga: practicing postures). USA Yoga is working to get Yoga Asanas qualified as an Olympic sport! Now THAT would be the greatest way to increase awareness throughout the world! *crossing fingers*

★ Congratulations to all participants and ★ 

★ Thank You for sharing your practice with the world! ★

★ Winners, good luck in the Nationals! ★

Now let's get to the eye-candy... check out the winners, male and female :)

 Allan Santos

Jennifer Cohen (?)

_______________

PS: This is the 2011 International Yoga Asana Champion, Joseph Encinia. Watch til the end... it's worth it!

For more information about the championship, check out USA Yoga.