Thinley Namgay 

Eighteen local vlogs (short video clips) on yoga will be selected to compete in an international competition organised by the AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) ministry, India.

The videos would be selected by the Indian Embassy from the 97 contestants of the online contest – my life my yoga video blogging.

Contestants from 130 countries will compete in youth, amateur and professional categories.

With the theme ‘yoga for health-yoga at home’, the online contest was launched last month by the AYUSH ministry to commemorate the sixth international day of yoga.

For the competition, each contestant has uploaded a three-minute video on different yogic postures such as pranayama, kriya and asana. Indian yoga expert juries will assess the videos.

The winners, runners up and second runners up from different categories will be awarded cash prizes of USD 2,500, USD 1,500 and USD 1,000 respectively.

Meanwhile, the national winners in all the six categories were awarded smartphones and certificates at the Indian Embassy on July 9.

Consulate General of India in Phuentsholing held a five-day asana of the day contest to celebrate the international day of yoga last month. The 10 best entries of the online contest were awarded wristwatches on July 9.

Phuntsho Dema, a yoga enthusiast from Mongar won prizes in both the categories. The 22-year-old is a graduate from the National Institute of Zorig Chusum in Thimphu and has been practising yoga for more than a year.

“Yoga keeps our mind calm and helps in concentration. I want to pursue yoga as a career.”

To mark the international day of yoga, the Indian Embassy initiated other online yoga activities last month.

The activities included asana of the day and yoga quiz competitions, customised yoga quiz contests for the Royal Academy students, and the yoga for children below nine years. More than 250 people took part in the competitions.

Online yoga videos of KVSSN Murthy, a yoga teacher from the Nehru Wangchuck Cultural Centre (NWCC) and videos of Bhutanese yoga enthusiasts, Mena and Tashi Yetsho were also uploaded online.

More than 4,000 Bhutanese have registered at the NWCC to practice yoga.

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