YOGA COMPETITION WINNERS

A Filipino American and an Israeli were proclaimed the winners of the first ever yoga competition in the Philippines held last Monday in Makati City.

Aljarreau Galang finished first in the men's division of the Philippine Yoga Asana Championship (PYAC) 2008, beating Anton Shokhrin (2nd) and Arthur Cabantog (3rd).

There were only three contenders in the men's division, which, technically, made Galang, Shokhrin and Cabantog all winners.

'It's such a relief, I've been training not just for the last months. I've been training for years for this. So, to say that I'm happy is not even enough to describe the feeling I have right now. There were only a few guys this year but I know next year, there will be much more so we're going to work hard to prepare,' Galang said in an interview after the competition.

The Filipino American first placer said after the Philippine national competition he would again start his training, this time, for an international contest in Los Angeles in February of next year.

Also changed mentally

Twenty five year old Galang, who used to work as a radio deejay, now owns a yoga studio in Greenhills.

He said he is hoping that, through the competition, the yoga industry in the country would further expand.

'[I hope it would get] to that point where yoga doesn't become an alternative. It becomes the first thing that people will go think [about] when getting healthy,' Galang said.

For the women's division, on the other hand, Israeli Lital Isaacs, 32, was declared the winner, beating 22 other contestants.

'I feel great. I'm surprised because I was so nervous but when I went on stage I just tried to enjoy the whole experience,' Isaacs said, adding:

'It was nice because everyone is so supportive and really everyone is a winner. It's not important who won because everyone is so supportive.'

Isaacs has been practicing yoga for two years now. She started the practice in Israel last year. When she and her husband moved in the Philippines, she continued her yoga exercise here.

'It (yoga) works on your whole body and you feel great,' she said.

She added that she is looking forward to joining next year’s yoga competition.

Other winners in the women's division were Rieko Umemura (2nd), Chrissy Tuason (3rd), Kay Villarica (4th), and Regina Guanco (5th).

Each contestant was required to do five asanas (postures), standing head to knee, standing bow pose, bow pose, rabbit pose and stretching pose, and two optional postures.

The compulsory postures plus the two optional postures must be completed within three minutes.

Five postures

The posture was judged on a scale of 0 to 10 points. The contestants were judged on the following criteria: walk, movement, general appearance, gracefulness and performance of postures.

For this year's competition, Tristan Choa, studio director of Bikram Yoga Manila and PYAC chairman, said there was only the adult division. Choa said he hopes to expand the contest by next year if there are enough participants.

Choa said the competition mainly aimed to raise awareness among Filipinos about the benefits of practicing yoga including the discovering of oneself.

'One way of thinking is that yoga is non competitive… but what if I use my yoga to help others discover yoga? Isn't that powerful as well? So, in that way I'm not competing with the next competitor. I'm just trying to compete with myself; understand myself better. That is part of yoga, to discover myself, that is the journey,' Choa said.

He said currently nine out 10 who practice yoga are women. He said he also hopes to attract more men into the practice.

By TRINA A. LAGURA

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