Left to right Johannes Mochayedi, Camilla Gadsen, Amrei Newcombe, Jaqui Blake, Evan Pritchard, are all to compete in Bishnu Charan Ghosh Regional Yoga Asana Championship. Photo: Craig Sillitoe
A YOGA contest seems a strange contradiction in terms, like spotting the Dalai Lama ringside at a boxing match.
Surely a discipline that promotes relaxation and self-acceptance can’t be conducive to the fist-pumping, all-conquering ethos of competition?
Apparently, it can. Today, a crack field of Bikram yoga devotees will compete before a judging panel at the inaugural Bishnu Charan Ghosh Regional Yoga Asana Championship.
But there will be no cheerleaders or spangled costumes.
Each contestant will perform five poses, or “asanas”, in three minutes — some are compulsory, others elective.
Organiser Michael Houghton, of Bikram Yoga Fitzroy, says everyone is welcome — even sceptics and the non-bendy.
“Some people are sceptical about the notion of competitive yoga, but you have to take it out of the Western perception of what a competition is,” Mr Houghton said.
“It’s actually a tradition amongst yoga schools in India that goes back centuries. We all genuinely want everyone else to do the best they can. The judges are looking for strength, flexibility and concentration and complete stillness. It’s not about who has the biggest biceps or who is the bendiest or who does the most perfect pose.”
Also known as “hot yoga”, Bikram is distinctive from other forms of yoga in that it is practised in rooms heated to a sweltering 40 degrees. This makes the body hot and therefore helps it become more flexible.
Today’s winner will compete in an international competition in Los Angeles in February.