Sunday morning Yoga Challenge

Angu Rajendran

Yoga is often considered a non-competitive sport. It is a sport of self achievement. Yoga involves pushing the body beyond its limits to achieve postures and balance and poise through practice. Not by defeating an opponent but by attaining self satisfaction in your achievements.

Age is no barrier to do a headstand or a shoulder stand or simply a child?s pose with deep breathing. The joy of achievement is even greater than the joy of winning. Control over your own body is greater than the control of a bat or a ball.

Samantha Whybrow, a young and popular yoga teacher in Colombo has started a Sunday morning Yoga challenge at Galle face. She has challenged herself and any interested persons to complete 108 Suriya Namaskars at the Galle Face Green on Sunday mornings from 7.30 am to 9 am (on non rainy mornings of course). Samantha started this sport two Sunday?s back when she and Jagath Peththawadu of the Rotary Club of Colombo Fort decided to have a Yoga Challenge for Charity.

At the Galle Face Green they started the easiest version of the Suriya namaskar or the sun salutation which is a routine of different postures involving the ‘cobra’, ‘the downward facing dog’, ‘the plank’ and others that open out your lungs and straighten your backbone and remove any depressed feelings as you salute the sun.

First thing in the morning. This routine of six steps on both the right side and the left side was performed by Samantha and Jagath 108 times (an auspicious number) while all those interested joined in for as many as they could, including many tourists and early morning walkers.

An exhausted Samantha often went into the head stand and the shoulder stand to enable the blood to circulate differently so that she could complete a hundred and eight.

Though exhausted at the end of it, the more than thirty participants in this Yoga challenge were exhilarated with their achievements.

‘Yoga is practice for the now, ‘says Samantha. She is an inspiration to her students with the joy that she radiates from within her while she helps every one push themselves beyond their limits whatever their ages may be.