Will Reduce Yogic Science To Circus-Like Activity: Sadhguru Reacts As Yoga Gets Included As 'Demonstration Sport' In Asian Games

Notably, Yogasana will be a demonstration sport in Asian Games 2026 which will be held in Nagoya, Japan

Sadhguru, who has been teaching yoga since 1982, said that Yoga should not be done in competition with somebody else.

Source : PTI

Spiritual leader Sadhguru is not pleased with the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA)'s decision to include Yogasana as a demonstration sport in the Asian Games 2026. Taking to social media, the founder of the Isha foundation, voiced his strong opposition to the move by the body describing it as "disturbing and disappointing". 

The 67-year-old reckons that the introduction of the sport in the next Asiad risks reducing it to what he described as a "circus-like activity." 

Yoga Should Not Be Done In Competition With Somebody Else: Sadhguru

Sadhguru, who has been teaching yoga since 1982, said that it should not be done in competition with somebody else.

"Yoga cannot be a competition. Yoga is a powerful tool & mechanism for self-evolution- to raise a human being from limited possibilities to unlimited perception and experience of life. This should not be done in competition with somebody else. With this, we will reduce the powerful Science of Yoga into circus-like activity of one trying to do better than the other," Sadhguru wrote in a post on X.

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It is deeply disturbing and disappointing that #Yoga is entering an arena which is essentially a competitive sport arena. Yoga cannot be a competition. Yoga is a powerful tool & mechanism for self-evolution- to raise a human being from limited possibilities to unlimited… pic.twitter.com/uhlfUJ7VfS

— Sadhguru (@SadhguruJV) September 10, 2024

"The fundamental of Yoga is about consciousness, not about comparison and competition. Hope as a Civilization that gave birth to the Science of Yoga, will have the wisdom to ensure that it does not become a ridiculous sport," the spiritual leader added in a separate post on the micro-blogging site.

Notably, Yogasana will be a demonstration sport in the next Asian Games which will be held in Nagoya, Japan. Even though the decision can be seen as a way to globalise and promote yoga's physical aspects, myths and distorted version of what is popular accepted as Yoga also need to be eliminated.