The 2019 "HOdo Cup" National Health Yoga Club League, a vital part of the festival, is held on June 15. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 2019 "HOdo Cup" National Health Yoga Club League, a vital part of the festival, was held on June 15 and saw more than 200 contestants from dozens of clubs across the country compete for a total prize of 51,200 yuan ($7,394). The competition was divided into single, double and group events.

Competitive though it was, some participants valued the inner spirit of this activity more than the race itself. Pan, who took part in the men's singles competition, was one such yoga enthusiasts. Despite studying yoga for only two years, he was already able to perform yoga poses at the highest level of difficulty (level 9). When asked if he had any hope of winning an award, Pan showed extreme modesty: "everyone should be praised as long as you do your best. People practice yoga only for their own health, not to compete with others and raise certain desires".

At the excellent yoga courses, Sri VM Janakiraman, one of the Indian gurus from KYM, shared similar perspectives to Pan. He emphasized that yoga is not just about physical postures; practitioners are encouraged to seek the deeper philosophy behind it. Regarding the feedback from Chinese students, Janakiraman seemed satisfied: "the students are very enthusiastic, they are open to learning new things and they want to go deeper into the study".

Eight domestic teachers and four Indian gurus give a total of 40 excellent yoga courses over three days. [Photo by Lyu Yihan/ chinadaily.com.cn]