Is yoga a sport?
Whether you are an active yogi or just thinking about doing yoga, you most likely wondered about it.
This is one of those always-present questions that seem to be circulating for quite a long time.
As a holistic practice, yoga has many aspects to it. The physical form of exercise is just one of them. You only have to try yoga once to conclude yoga is not as easy as it may seem at first glance.
It challenges all of your muscle groups, balance, and focus all at once. Is this enough to put yoga in the same category as tennis, volleyball, or golf?
This article gives you the final answer while discussing different aspects of yoga.
How Is Yoga a Sport?
Many yogis actually don’t consider yoga to be a kind of sport – and we’ll explain why.
Yoga mainly focuses on connecting your mind to your body and practicing being in the present moment. To achieve that, one focuses on the breath, as well as on the movements.
The final goal of yoga practice is achieving mind-body balance and mental clarity, as well as:
- Improved physical balance
- Improved flexibility
- Improved physical strength
- Improved posture
Apart from these benefits, yoga is known to have many other health benefits, such as improving blood circulation and lowering blood sugar. [1]
Yoga is often used as a complementary treatment to the main therapy – especially for patients during or recovering from cancer treatment. [2]
However, how is yoga challenging your physical strength – and is yet not considered a sport? It’s not uncommon to find yoga poses even quite challenging at times.
Related:
What Is Considered a Sport?
As defined by the Oxford dictionary, a sport is:
“an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or a team competes against another or others for entertainment.”
Possibly just by reading this sentence, you already noticed that this definition somehow doesn’t incorporate yoga.
Even though it’s a physical exercise, yoga simply can’t be considered a sport as it has many other differences. The main differences include:
- Lack of heavier physical exertion
- Lack of competition
- Not for entertainment
Even though sports vary in their levels of physical exertion, most of them require some type of physical movement. To add, most of those movements are strategic – played by a strict set of rules with the goal of winning.
Yoga definitely tones the body and can serve as a mild physical exercise. However, the physical movements in yoga are never done with the goal of winning, nor are they strategic in that way.
Yoga is primarily done in order to improve body awareness, reduce stress, and increase concentration. The physical benefits of yoga – such as toned muscles – are just the added benefit.
Also, yoga is not a competition. Even when done in a group setting, it’s only to help you learn from others and improve on your individual journey.
It’s never to compare or compete!
There is one exception to this rule – and those are performing asanas. This is a form of exercise that is performed at sporting competitions.
Competitive yoga is a very controversial topic as it kind of conflicts with the yoga known to the general public. Most of the people don’t do yoga to compete.[3]
Lastly, in contrast to other sports, yoga doesn’t serve as a form of entertainment. It’s simply not something you turn on your TV to watch while eating popcorn.
Is Yoga Consider a Silent Sport?
By this point in the text, you are now aware that yoga is simply not a sport by definition.
However, there are still some people who consider yoga to be a sport. There is also a large group of people who swear by using yoga as a form of physical exercise similar to sport.
This brings us to a point where we consider yoga a form of a silent sport.
That exact notion makes it clear that the definition of sport varies greatly among some yoga practitioners.
Some consider sports to be simply a form of physical exercise, while others consider sports as those containing a competitive component.
And if we choose to detach from the main definition of sport – we may as well call yoga a sport.
The final truth is that probably no one will pressure you into not considering yoga a sport or using it as such. Just remember – yoga is NOT a competition, NOR an entertainment.
But if naming yoga a sport helps you take it more seriously, why not call it such?
Before you do so, try to consider the many other benefits of yoga. Here’s our point: by naming yoga a sport, you reduce its benefits only to physical aspects, and yoga is so much more!
Is Yoga Same as Fitness?
Now that we gave you our thoughts on Is Yoga a Sport question, another similar one comes to mind. Even though yoga is not considered a sport by definition, it is certainly considered a form of physical exercise.
It is also not uncommon for gyms to offer yoga classes as a part of the gym membership.This often creates confusion among gym-goers who would like to explore yoga (or vice versa).
However, it would be wrong to consider yoga only as fitness. This is mainly because when we say fitness, we think of a number of different physical exercises and how they improve our bodies.
Improving our bodies with fitness most often is connected to improving our mental state. For example, when you finish running, you feel better because your body releases happy hormones. [4]
However, we mostly rely on fitness for improving our physical bodies – building strength and muscles.
With yoga, it’s a lot more complicated. Yoga focuses on all aspects of our being: mental, physical, and spiritual.
To define yoga as fitness is to reduce it only to its physical aspects, which is similar to defining it as a sport.
The final answer is – yoga is not the same as fitness. You can get some physical benefits with yoga, but this is not the main thing yoga is usually practiced for.
Is Yoga a Good Workout?
The answer to this question depends on how you define a “workout.”
If by a “workout,” you mean weight-training in the gym or running – the answer is clear. Yoga can’t really replace a workout that is meant to build your muscle and drastically improve your physique.
The same rule applies to replacing a training program designed for weight loss. These training programs usually consist of different exercises, including cardio exercises and lifting weights.
The training programs and exercise routines designed for reaching a specific physical body can’t be replaced with yoga.
This is mostly because yoga is quite often really gentle on the muscles. It does require strength and balance but should never cause pain or strain your muscles.
But – if you’re looking for a way to tone muscles and balance out your body weight gently – yoga is the way to go.
Is Yoga a Sport or Religion?
This is a tricky question, but the answer is quite simple. Yoga is neither a sport nor a religion.
While answering Is Yoga a Sport question earlier, we already discussed why yoga isn’t a sport. It’s mostly because yoga lacks a competitive component and is also not considered a form of entertainment for the general public.
Secondly, yoga is also not a religion.
There is still (unfortunately) a stigma surrounding yoga practice, by which yoga is considered a religion. This can’t be further than the truth.
Yoga does have its roots in ancient Indian spiritual practices. It’s sometimes even used as a part of religious practices in Buddhism or Hinduism.
However, yoga as a general practice doesn’t require you to be a part of any religion in order to exercise. This is exactly what eventually made yoga a widespread form of practice, available for anyone, anywhere.
This goes to say – you can practice yoga regardless of your religious background.
Combining Yoga and Other Sports
Yoga is very beneficial by itself – it can help you improve both your physical and mental wellbeing.
Not only that, yoga serves as a great complementary exercise. It can act as a form of complementary therapy for patients and also as a complementary exercise for sportspeople.
During yoga, a great focus is on practicing different breathing exercises and balance. These are just some of the skills developed with the help of yoga that can also be very beneficial for athletes’ performance.
How Is Yoga Beneficial for a Sports Person (Explained)
Yoga helps exercise many different bodily and mental skills that can help you improve your performance as an athlete.
- Deep Breathing
During yoga practice, one focuses on their breath to connect to the body and improve mindfulness.
There are many different breathing exercises, and it’s not uncommon for a single yoga practice to consist of many different breathing exercises.
This includes rhythmic breathing, deep belly breaths, or three-part breath, which includes drawing breath in three different areas. [5]
Connection to the breath is most often used in order to connect the mind with the body and achieve spiritual bliss.
This can be a highly beneficial skill for any sportsperson to develop in many ways.
When athletes are more connected to their breath, they lower the possibility of injury because they become more aware of their own movements. This can also help them focus, which results in better performance.
- Improved Balance
Even if you only tried one simple yoga pose, you had the possibility to see how yoga challenges your own balance.
Although improved balance is not only one benefit of yoga, it is certainly the one worth mentioning.
You improve your balance by consistently exercising poses that challenge your balance. You will probably fall and stumble, but with focus and time, your balance will improve.
Athletes and sportspeople can also benefit from better balance. Improved balance lowers the possibility of injuries and directly improves the athletic performance of a person.
You may want to start with yoga poses that fit into the category of “balance poses.” These poses will test your balance directly because you need to have a good balance to hold the pose.
Poses like Tree Pose, Mountain Pose, and Chair Pose are a good place to start exercising your balance. [6]
- Range of Motion
Range of motion is also what is often exercised in yoga practices. While transitioning from one yoga pose to another one, you have to be mindful and careful.
Yoga is not only about achieving a certain pose. It’s also about how you move your body in the transition from one pose into another one.
You do so by connecting your movements to your breaths. A full range of motion is achieved with a breath-in, and a pose is released with a breath-out.
Range of motion goes hand-in-hand with flexibility. And there’s not one sportsperson on Earth who wouldn’t benefit from an improved range of motion and flexibility.
Related: Is Yoga Aerobic or Anaerobic
Conclusion
This article is an elaborate answer to the initial question – Is Yoga a Sport?
By definition, yoga is not a sport, nor is it a religion. Many aspects of yoga make people confused about what kind of exercise yoga is.
Yoga certainly does improve your physical fitness, as well as your mental state. It’s not a competition but rather a practice that focuses on connecting the mind, the body, and the spirit.
No matter how you define it, it’s only important what it means to you. You can incorporate it into your lifestyle to improve it, no matter the definition.
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