Is yoga a sport? There are some people who still think it is not a sport, while others believe it is. Whether or not yoga is a sport is still debatable and open to further discourse. It may be an ongoing controversy.

Those who do yoga, definitely, love performing the same. Yet, others seem to think that yoga is more of a method of relaxation than an actual physical activity.

There are groups that have opposite views, claiming that yoga may not be physical enough to encourage fitness or even intensify the body for pronounced improvement.

Nonetheless, there are also those who argue there are so many physical benefits of yoga that it’s time for it to be included in the Olympics, hence, be regarded as a sport.

Is competitive yoga a thing?

Yoga has become a bit of a controversial topic in recent years. It may have also attracted certain discourse, specifically over which, whether yoga is a sport.

Yoga started out as something that women did in order to feel better about themselves. Nevertheless, it has since matured into an exercise routine that everyone seems to be doing, may be not for competition but for enhancement of physical and psychological wellbeing.

Ever, did you ask yourself, “is yoga a sport?” Right now, we may say that competitive yoga is not yet a thing. Yoga may not be a sport as of this time, unless incorporated or regarded as such, through establishment of mechanics and competition.

We likewise, know that yoga is something that can be practiced individually or with friends at any skill level. It promotes physical, emotional, and mental health. This means you can do yoga on your own time schedule.

There are no judges, audience, or score keeping involved with yoga. Yoga existed long before the modern Olympics came into being. Consequently, yoga, not being elevated into a standard physical activity competition, competitive yoga may not yet be a thing.

Nonetheless, if on your own you want to level up, you can try to compete with yourself, from your past yoga executions, or with others who may have achieved a level of proper and perfect posture performance.

Difference between Pilates and Yoga

It may be asked, therefore, “what is the difference between yoga and a regular exercise, Pilates counted?”

A fundamental distinction between Pilates and Yoga is that the latter is utilized to improve the flexibility of the body, which in turn, will steadily result in joints suppleness and elasticity. On the other hand, Pilates exercise centers on relaxing stressed muscles which will help in strengthening them.

While Pilates Workout fortifies the body’s internal muscles, with emphasis on a pelvic area, yoga, on the one hand, mixes proper breathing, mind control, and consciousness with physical flexing and stretches.

In short, Pilates may have been dealing only with the physical aspect; whereas, yoga integrates unity of mind, body, and soul.

Thus, in yoga, through proper inhalation and exhalation, coupled with focus and concentration, channeling the energy into the body, a person may come to terms and understand the synergism of both mind and physique, becoming one, through yoga poses, exercises, and workouts.

As a result, yoga practitioners will become more consciously aware of their respective individualities, having that idiosyncratic and distinctive expression of themselves, physically manifesting at that particular level and time.

With these consciousness and focus, as you go along with yoga, you will be able to start an evolving process making the significant flow of energy unobstructed within your body.

Therefore, it is unimportant whether you are a beginner or advanced in yoga practice or in executing, performing yoga postures. Your body may be stiff or otherwise. You may be in pain or preoccupied than normal.

Nonetheless, what is important is that you are interested, physically and mentally, in yoga as a discipline, and you indulge yourself in wanting to do so.

What is Barre workout?

You may have heard about this trendy new exercise pattern called barre. It’s an intense workout that involves ballet-inspired movements performed with loud music.

When you first hear about it, you might assume that it is similar to other cardiovascular exercise classes, like Vinyasa yoga or high-energy dance cardio sessions.

Yet, because of the slow progressions and targeted movements, barre instructors make distinctions between barre and Pilates.

Barre is an exercise program which was originally inspired by ballet. Like Pilates, the Barre method delivers results of longer, leaner muscles, and an improved posture, through the use of various exercises targeted at specific muscle groups.

Similar to Pilates, Barre workouts are primarily focused on your core, becoming your first line of defense against injury.

Gymnastics and Yoga

The athletes use their bodies to perform feats of strength, balance, and dexterity. The yogis [yoga practitioners] utilize their minds to control their bodies. Although the two activities have a lot in common, they are not interchangeable.

The gymnasts train their bodies for very targeted athletic tasks, and the yogis train their minds for specific purposes and goals. The athletes work to improve themselves. The yogis work to improve the holistic world.

The yogis believe that people are inherently good and that the mind has the power to change the universe. The gymnasts may believe that people are inherently weak [since not all individuals can achieve greatness in sports], and that the world needs to keep teaching them how to overcome their weaknesses.

The gymnasts want to get better at their sport. The yogis want to get better living in this world. The gymnasts train their bodies to perform feats of strength, balance, and dexterity. The yogis train their minds to control their bodies.

The yogis believe that people are innately vulnerable within, and that the world must teach them how to overcome their vulnerability.

Do Gymnasts do Yoga?

A gymnast has to achieve a high level of flexibility, which, to some people, they believe, such requires yoga. Olympic athletes may practice yoga or not, depending upon the degree of their preparation and preference.

Undeniably, in preparation for their competition, gymnasts train with gymnastics, which involve many of the same skills present in yoga.

Flexibility is one aspect of gymnastics, but not the only one. A gymnast has to perform skills with perfect control, which again may seem to be yoga-like.

However, yoga is a moving meditation. Gymnastics is, by far, a form of moving meditation, as well. Flexibility and control of movement are related, but different. A gymnast can be flexible without control, since perfecting control is much harder.

Control is very much emphasized in the practice of yoga. The latter, as we have known, is the union of the mind, body, and soul. Thus, perfecting control in yoga is necessary.

Swimmers have been taught to “sink” in the water, that is, to move with the water rather than against it. But you can’t control the amount of resistance you experience, so swimming is an exercise in balance rather than control.

Flexibility requires control. A gymnast has to have the ability to control his or her movements, and that ability is at least partly the result of training.

On the other hand, flexibility and balance may go against each other; yet, both can complement and exist in synergism.

A gymnast has to be flexible and must have control; nonetheless, she or he should also has balance. The latter may be uncontrollable at times, unless perfected though tough and disciplined trainings. Thus, balance and flexibility may be opposites.

In gymnastics and in yoga, flexibility, control, and balance are aspects of the same thing. While they may exist independently and function separately, in yoga and gymnastics, the practitioner must control both his flexibility and balance. Hence, they can, and must, co-exist in these fields of activity.

Do professional athletes do yoga?

The idea of professional athletes doing yoga is not new. However, the idea that they do yoga for physical reasons is, for sports or otherwise. Yoga is really an old tradition. Nearly every major religion has some version of it.

Most sports are performed using muscles, not tendons and ligaments. For quite the same results, yoga is, alternately, designed to strengthen muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Yoga works. It builds strength and flexibility, as a consequence.

That’s why yoga is utilized not only by professional athletes, but may as well be endeavored by people who are engaged in physically demanding jobs, such as plumbers and electricians and construction workers.

The athletes who take yoga for physical reasons, such as sports or any other activity requiring physical exertions, however, aren’t just any athletes. They are professional ones.

They are the people who have spent years developing physical skills that are far more developed than those of the average persons.

Professional athletes are self-conscious about their bodies. They are aware that the aura of their physiques may be, in their minds, for the public to consume. They are very careful about how they will project them.

If yoga will be a way to work their bodies out and maintain their optimal performance as professional athletes or even their overall appearance, they would have to do yoga regularly, may be as part of their exercise routine and as a complement thereof.

On the other hand, for those who are popular in their field of physical sports, some would have to do it in a place where lots of people may be watching. The guess is, they don’t do yoga, as pure as the traditional ones do. Nonetheless, if they do perform, it is not entirely for physical reasons, much less for spiritual purpose.

Final Thoughts

The yoga community, like most athletic communities, is divided about yoga’s status. On one side, the athletic trainers, who consider yoga a physical activity, and the insurance companies, who consider it a medical treatment. On the other side are the yogis, who regard yoga as more of a spiritual practice. The physical aspect of it may only be secondary consequences.

In this sense, yoga’s status may be a little bit like the status of brain science. The answers vary. Some say it’s a matter of form, others of intensity. Some talk of discipline, others of flow. Some say it’s a matter of competition, others of self-expression.

On its face, the essential distinction between sport and exercise is in your mind. Traditionally, sports have been about competition, whereas exercise has generally been about health.

Aside from being a traditional spiritual practice, yoga, by contrast, has also been thought of as a kind of exercise or fitness activity. Nevertheless, it has become increasingly popular as a form of exercise. In the near future, yoga may be elevated, and taken up, as a sport. Who knows?