A little over 24 hours ago, I was approached and asked "do you want to speak to someone about yoga?" It was an easy question to answer. Yes. I certainly did want to speak to them. I had many questions that I wanted to ask.

Why are they at SportAccord for one? How is yoga even a sport? And if it is, how is it judged? For most, yoga is a bunch of people moving very slowly on the spot in a gymnasium. I'm sure many people will be equally perplexed at the concept of it as a sport, but listen to Rajashree Choudhury and Raj Bhavsar, the two people at the front of yoga's push for recognition, and it starts to make sense.

Choudhury is the President of the International Yoga Sports Federation (IYSF) and a former Indian yoga champion who won successive titles between 1979 and 1983.

"I was a champion in India but there were no world competitions," she says. "It has been maybe over 40 years for me doing this."


Bhavsar (pictured above) is an American Olympic gymnast who won bronze in Beijing four years ago. He is also a double world champion and became involved with the IYSF after NBC did a feature on him, leading to a call to enquire whether he was interested in becoming involved with promoting the sport worldwide. "As a gymnast you stretch, and performing an aspect of yoga is one of the oldest forms of physical movement and a precursor to any larger form of exercise." Bhavsar adds: "I see a lot of similarities between the sport of yoga and gymnastics."

To understand yoga, first is the history. The first evidence found of people practising yoga actually goes back to around 3000 BC, as archaeological evidence from the time on stones found shows people in yoga poses.  For some added context, this was around the time of the construction of Stonehenge in the south of England. This probably makes it the world's oldest sport.

Originating in its modern form from India, Yoga first started to be practised in the western world however far more recently, in the 19th century. Swami Vivekananda (pictured below) took a tour of the United States and Europe in the 1890s to spread its appeal.


Now, yoga is popular all over the world, as it is said to help fight against stress and illness, as well as a variety of other potential ailments. OK, so how does it work as a sport?

Essentially, each of the seven postures a 'player' strikes in competition is judged out of 10. They can be given an additional score of '0 to 10' for their overall grace. So 80 points is the maximum any competitor can be given, while at junior level it is 70.

Each posture must be performed within three minutes in sequence, with any postures not completed in the time allowed resulting in zero points for each lost pose. Judges will assess a range of factors, including balance, strength, flexibility and timing. Conversely, wobbling, hesitation or reversals can lead to point deductions. And if a posture is attempted twice, then only five points can be awarded at most.


So what is its appeal? "I not only fixed some of my physical injuries and setbacks in loosening up my leg joints but that kept me training in the gym for longer hours," explains Bhavsar. "I saw all my teammates who after three or four hours were done and could not handle any more; I was able to go on.

"Mentally, it is discipline and focus. You stare at yourself in a mirror and it demands focus. I was delivering good food for my soul, it is the all encompassing aspect of being a solid human being, and that is why I love yoga. It is one of the truest forms of athleticism." Bhavsar also attributes "50 per cent" of his success in gymnastics to yoga.

Another key aspect of yoga's appeal lies in its simplicity. Most people over the world probably do some basic form of yoga each and every day, in all kinds of places. Including the home – and how many other sports would we be able to play at home? As Choudhury says, "You cannot kick a ball in the house – how many times have a kid's parents told them they will break something."


It's a leveller, in the same way that football is, as the costs to entry are so low. But as Choudhury (pictured above) points out, in yoga you do not need a field, a ball or a stadium either. This year, 24 countries will be going to the Yoga Championships in Los Angeles, and the 46-year-old explains that one of the attractions of the sport is how unpredictable it is with new countries coming through – the United States, Japan and Mexico have all enjoyed success in recent times.

And so, then, what precisely are they doing at SportAccord, here at the Québec City Convention Centre? "The ultimate aim is to be introduced as a sport in the Olympic Movement," says Choudhury. No pressure then. The first steps, she adds, are "the World Games and the Pan American Games." The World Games could be achievable, with rugby sevens relinquishing its spot after 2013 to make their Olympic bow at Rio 2016. That means Wroclaw in 2017 would be their first chance to appear at the quadrennial event.

"Very soon we will be [in the World Games], that is why we are here," she adds. "We are very organised with our world federation, right now we have to challenge people's minds about yoga and understand it. Hopefully it will be very soon."

I would say I'm a convert, but it turns out I was already a fan – just without realising it. The mission now for Choudhury and Bhavsar is to spread that message, and maybe, one day, they could take their place at an Olympic Games.

David Gold is a reporter for insidethegames