The Colorado Yoga Asana Championship (CYAC) is one of many regional yoga competitions taking place throughout the United States and internationally to qualify competitors for the annual international Bishnu Charan Ghosh Cup Championship which will take place in February, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. The judges are looking for the man and woman that will best represent yoga to the world.
Yoga competitions are a long standing tradition in India that spans thousands of years and take place almost daily. The yoga asana championships promote yoga by creating the propulsion for dedicated yogis all over to rise to be the best they can be physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. The stage is set to allow these yogis to inspire the rest of us and the community at large to learn more about yoga and how its regular practice can help each of us be a healthier, happier and better person. The CYAC is dedicated to the promotion of yoga throughout the world. It advocates the practice of hatha yoga as a means to heal and strengthen the physical body while learning to control the mind and breath. Its mission is to heal the world, bringing peace and well being one person at a time through the practice of yoga. It is only through inner peace that outer peace can be achieved and spread. Inner peace requires a union between body, mind and spirit that, along with the myriad benefits of a regular hatha yoga practice, is the ultimate goal of hatha yoga. Healing the world is an undeniably lofty goal by any standard. While yoga has been around for thousands of years, it wasn’t until the last century that it spread outside of India, and now it is already well established in many countries. With this foundation in place and the recent explosion in the popularity of yoga, CYAC knows that world peace is more attainable than ever. CYAC’s vision is to unify the entire yoga community by emphasizing this common goal and appreciating the benefits unique to the various disciplines of yoga.
Yoga organizations worldwide have been campaigning to turn yoga into an Olympic event. Yoga would be the biggest Olympic event ever, as it can be done anywhere, at any time with no necessary props. That means that any country, regardless of how rich or poor, regardless of its geographical location, could be represented in the Olympics. This fits in beautifully with the Colorado Yoga Asana Championship's mission to heal the world. Yoga as an Olympic event would create the most widespread opportunity for expanding awareness of yoga and all of its myriad benefits. While not every yoga practitioner nor every yoga discipline will take part in formal competitions, all stand to benefit from the heightened awareness that the competitions generate.
In accordance with the guidelines set out for the Bishnu Charan Ghosh Cup, we are organizing the fifth annual Colorado Yoga Asana Championship to be held in Louiseville at the Louiseville farmer's Market. Men and women will compete separately and the champion and runner up, from each competition will represent Colorado in the national and international championships to be held in Los Angeles in February, 2009. The third place finisher will serve as an alternate in case either the champion or runner up is unable to compete in the national championships. Each competitor will follow the same format and execute a total of seven postures (five compulsory and two optional) in three minutes. Rules and regulations, guidelines and details of the five compulsory postures can be found on the rules and regulations page of this website. The judges are looking for the individuals that will best represent yoga to the world. Out of an overall total of 80 points maximum, 10 points maximum can be awarded for the individual’s grace, poise, charisma, confidence, etc., and 10 points maximum can be awarded for the execution of each of the five compulsory postures and the two optional postures.