With pollution levels in the air through the roof, many people are trying to find good ways to stay in shape and keep in good health without having to play a sport. Many have turned to new hobbies such as pilates or yoga, although, skeptics like me are beginning to wonder whether yoga should even be considered a sport.
Junior Jade Womack says, "I think it should be qualified as a sport. The point of a sport is to increase your overall health. The competition has really just become a franchise business."
Yoga is an activity where a person stretches his or her body and holds poses in difficult positions for extended periods of time. This makes for an exercise which involves little effort and has no way of competing against others.
On the other side of things however, Junior Sam Waters says, "Yoga is for personal meditation and relaxation, so no it's not a sport."
There is an alternative to simply meditating silently in a room for a few hours however. Other types of yoga include Bikram yoga, which is the same type of yoga except for the fact that it is done in a room heated up to about 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Forrest yoga is simply based more around abdominal and breathing exercises than stretching and lying on one's back.
Another reason some say that yoga shouldn't be considered a sport is because of the simplicity of some of the positions. For example the savasana position is simply the act of lying on one's back completely motionless. The real exercise in different positions like these is just the ability of the individual to stay awake.
Junior Teague Guy says, "No it shouldn't be considered a sport because a sport should be cardio based and yoga's just stretching and flexibility, which is what people do before playing a sport."
It can be debated both ways but it seems that mostly those who have not attempted to try yoga, do not consider it to be a sport. Maybe if everyone were to try it just once, the opinions would sway toward it being considered a sport. But seriously, there's no competition, it's very easy to not break a sweat (except in Bikram yoga), and most of the positions can be done while lying in bed. So the question still is, "Is yoga really a sport or just a hobby?"
