Four hours of hot yoga daily leads to international award
Yoga gives its practioners strength, flexibility, balance and focus.
And trophies.
Ann Marie Paul recently won sixth place in the International Yoga Asana Championship after being named the first runner-up in the 2010 national Bikram yoga contest.
During yoga competitions, participants hold required postures — or asanas — for 10 seconds. They are judged on their strength and flexibility, as well as the accuracy of their posture — such as parallel shoulders or feet lined up.
The events are held in a branch of yoga called Bikram yoga, or hot yoga, in which participants practice in 105-degree heat, allowing for greater flexibility.
» Competitors perform five required postures, or “asanas.”
» They also perform two “advanced” postures of their choice. » They must hold each position for 10 seconds. » They are scored out of a possible 10 for their strength, accuracy, flexibility and gracefulness. » A panel judges the competitors. » Competitive yoga is vying for a spot in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Bikram yoga led Paul, a 28-year-old from Annapolis, to her career path as a yoga instructor, master practitioner and award winner.
Paul’s sister introduced her to Bikram yoga when she was 20 so she could “harmonize” her mind and body.
She entered her first competition in 2007, led by the inspiration of the “beauty will save the world” saying and her belief that yoga is the definition of that beauty.
“Becoming involved with the competitions helped me become involved with my yoga practice and gave me the motivation to concentrate on certain postures, perfect them and make them as beautiful as I possibly could,” she said.
“I decided that that was a good way to create beauty on this planet, just going onstage, being the best I can be and sharing that with other people.”
A former gymnast, Paul placed first in her rookie competition, the New England Regional meet. Then she qualified for the Bikram yoga nationals in 2008. Winning several more regional competitions allowed her to go to the 2010 national competition, where she placed second.
A well-deserved honor, it seems: Paul’s six-week preparation for competitions includes 10 three-minute routines and two classes a day, totaling more than four hours of hot yoga daily. In the twice-daily beginners class, each posture is done twice — once on each side of the body — keeping the same posture for up to a minute. In the short competition routines, the posture is done only once and held for 10 seconds.
A well-deserved honor, it seems: Paul’s six-week preparation for competitions includes 10 three-minute routines and two classes a day, totaling more than four hours of hot yoga daily. In the twice-daily beginners class, each posture is done twice — once on each side of the body — keeping the same posture for up to a minute. In the short competition routines, the posture is done only once and held for 10 seconds.
Though Paul practices at yoga’s advanced stages, she recommends basic classes for everyone.
“It’s a very systematic sequence to bring a therapeutic healing for typical Western ailments like diabetes and high blood pressure. Also very detoxifying. Yoga just makes you healthier, and stronger, and more flexible all the time.”
