Weekend Pick: Posing For the Win

Yoga - it's not just for relaxation anymore.

South Lakes High School will be the site of the Mid-Atlantic Regional USA Yoga Asana Championships on Sunday.

Yogis from Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia will showcase their best poses before a panel of judges. Winners in male, female and youth categories will advance to the 10th annual National USA Yoga Asana Championship in New York City March.

Participants must do a series of seven yoga poses in three minutes. Five are compulsory — standing head-to-knee pose, standing bow-pulling pose, bow pose, rabbit pose, and stretching pose. The participants are allowed to pick the last two poses themselves.

USA Yoga was founded by Rajashree Choudhur, the wife of Bikram Yoga founder Bikram Choudhury. It's hoping to become the national governing body of yoga and hopes to qualify yoga as an Olympic sport. 

Some say yoga - while definitely athletic - should be a personal mind-body practice an a not a competition.  Read this Wall Street Journal piece on the issue.

Meanwhile, the New York Times recently went behind the scenes at a USA Yoga competition. Read that story here.

Want to attend the competition in Reston? Doors open at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20.

Want to start doing yoga? There is a Bikram yoga studio in Reston, as well as which teaches a variety of yoga styles.