Yoga teaches that to avoid suffering, the results of our actions should not be desired. The ideal outcome for competitors is dominance, so it's not surprising that the sport-style yoga developing in the West can be a tough pill for traditionalists to swallow.
A few months ago, my practice was manifesting positively in almost every area of my life. I was experiencing increased stamina, improving focus, and glimmers of consistency. The benefits were proving so compatible with the life I wanted, that I was beginning to seriously consider yoga as a career. I was also investing a significant portion of my reading allowance to Hindu philosophy while the spines of my Christian stack glared judgmentally. I opened The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis out of obligation.
"Once you have made the World an end, and faith a means, you have almost won your man,
and it makes very little difference what kind of worldly end he is pursuing."
The treachery of the spiritual life had been cast before me. The path was indeed straight and narrow, and the blessings associated with my performance posed a very real threat to my balance.
I do not share the belief that competitive yoga defeats the spiritual practice as much as I hold the application of ANY spiritual philosophy for worldly gain to be spiritually catastrophic. That's why I wonder if the changing definition of yoga should be as concerning to individual practitioners like myself.
One of my favorite quotations is of Thomas Paine:
"That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly."
Something about the human spirit places high value on the things that require more from us. Performances at the highest level of competition, whatever the outcome, unite and inspire us on a global level because it doesn't take an athlete to recognize a superhuman expression of human potential.
I aspire to level of esteem an Olympian yogi could possess for their practice.
This link has some cool competitive yoga info and fantastic photos.
http://www.vox.com/2014/5/31/5717888/competitive-yoga-in-the-us
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