Today, I am going to be debating against Marizo about the following: is yoga a sport?
I believe that yoga is a sport because of the following reasons:
To start off, let me define what a sport is. The word "sport" came from the French word "desport", which means "leisure". The oldest English definition of "sport", from around 1300, is: "anything humans find amusing or entertaining". In addition, the most recent definition of "sport", from Google, is: "an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment". Yoga falls under both definitions of "sport"; it is amusing and entertaining, is an activity that involves exertion and skill, and you can easily have yoga competitions against others.
Yoga has multiple similarities with sports. For example, sports are usually governed by a set of rules and principles; the same goes for yoga. Yoga has rules such as behaving in an honest, just manner with integrity, and an avoidance of ego.
Yoga is a term that covers the physical, mental, and spiritual disciplines that are aimed to transform the body and mind. In the USA, players for the two most popular sports, basketball and football, have been practicing yoga. The athletes have stated that yoga has helped them with preventing injuries and has increased focus and concentration under the high-pressure conditions in which they play in.
Yoga is and isn't considered a sport, depending on the way you look at it. Yoga is related to sports; in fact, many people who play sports practice yoga to get better at their sport, and to prevent injuries. Yoga helps improve your sport, and it also helps you in your daily life -- it makes you more focused and aware.
At the beginning of June, 2014, the 11th annual World Yoga Sports Championships took place in London, UK. Almost 100 competitive yogis from 25 different countries competed at three categories in a yoga challenge. Yoga has similarities with gymnastics, and the yoga competitors must have the same skills in coordination, strength, and mental focus as the athletes taking part in other sports. In fact, the International Yoga Sports Federation, the group organizing this competition, is thinking of having yoga become an Olympic sport!
I believe that when people hear the word "yoga", they might think of people stretching, relaxing their mind and bodies, and practicing different poses; although, yoga is nothing compared to that. Yes, you do stretch many muscles in your body, you relax your mind and body, and you practice different poses. But, yoga is much more difficult. When practicing yoga, you have to hold positions/poses for about 2 minutes or more. It may seem like the poses are easy -- trust me, they are not! For example, Downward Dog seemed extremely easy for me the first time I saw people practicing the pose. Once I tried the pose myself, it was extremely hard!
Many poses in yoga are very challenging, and most of the poses require lots of balance. If you want to try doing yoga, I recommend that you have great balancing skills and are able to hold poses for 5 minutes or more, which may seem like a lifetime. I personally love yoga; it relaxes me (a lot) and makes me feel so much better and happier with my body. I truly believe it is a sport, since yoga may be extremely challenging, depending on the poses you choose to practice.
Yoga is a lot of fun, and I would recommend for you to try it! It is extremely relaxing and peaceful, and can help you with the sports you play, and can also help you become more focused and aware.
If you think yoga is a sport, please comment on this post! Thank you!😁
The following are images of challenging yoga poses:
Now you may understand why I said you need some balancing skills to be able to do yoga😊
This is the Headstand Yoga Pose
This is an image of the Downward Dog Yoga Pose; it is not a challenging pose in yoga. In fact, the Downward Dog is one of the yoga poses that is often used to transition into other yoga poses.
Sources:
1. https://www.doyouyoga.com/10-insane-yoga-poses-you-wish-you-could-strike/
2. https://www.doyouyoga.com/is-yoga-the-latest-olympic-sport/
3. https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/yoga-sport-kcon/
4. http://cynthiawoong.com/product/silver-yoga-jewelry-supported-headstand-demi-necklace/
5. https://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/yoga-poses-beginner-intermediate--advanced/
6. https://www.pinterest.com/iszuromi/yoga-meditation/
7. https://mobile.twitter.com/yogaposes2perso/status/721457201370505217
8. https://www.pinterest.com/workoutyoga/yoga-photography/
9. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pinterest.se/amp/pin/361765782547813334
Yes, yoga is a sport!
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting spin on a word. Yes, language does change over time...we create new meanings for words. So much of life today is based on competition, isn't it? There has to be a winner or a loser so often! It is refreshing to read a new spin on "sport"...and, to be honest, yoga is really really really challenging. We compete with ourselves while doing it...I mean we compete with ourselves to relax, let go...it is an interesting thing to try to explain!
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