Namaskar - July 2009

Yoga Event
New Guinness s World
Rec
ecor
ord for Marathon
athon
Yoga set t by Hong Kong
teacher
acher, , Yogar
ogaraj
aj
L. Shyam Narayanan
On 14 th June, Hong Kong yoga
teacher, Yogaraj C. Poovendiran
of Living Yoga set a unique
Guinness World Record for Marathon
Yoga. In 28 hours he performed over 1,100
asanas. Having personally witnessed this
event I was delighted to interview Yogaraj
about his achievement.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU ATTEMPT A GUINNESS
WORLD RECORDS (GWR) AND WHEN DID YOU
FIRST GET THIS IDEA?
My first inspiration came when I saw GWR
on tv as a teenager. After coming to Hong
Kong in 2003, I wanted to bring yoga to
GWR to propagate yoga to the whole
world. In 2004 I did my first GWR attempt.
Although I had successfully stayed in
headstand for two hours and forty minutes,
GWR didn’t acknowledge it as I had not
followed their guidelines. GWR wrote to
me saying standing on the head for more
than 5 minutes can be dangerous to health!
After seeing B.K.S. Iyengar doing more than
500 postures in his book ‘Light on Yoga’,
he became my new inspiration. I was
inspired to do more than 1,000 Yoga
postures and its variations continuously as
my next attempt. Out of these 1,000
postures I have invented around 300
postures/variations of postures. It was
GWR who suggested to me the idea of
Marathon Yoga and to break the existing
record of 24 hours. I took up both these
challenges and completed my record in 28
hours and performed more than 1,100
postures.
WHAT WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF YOUR
GWR FEAT?
The most difficult part was staying up
overnight. Earlier when I was rehearsing on
my own I was unable to complete 24 hours.
Early morning I woke up to find myself
sleeping in the posture. I was rehearsing
alone, so although I had energy I didn’t
have anyone watching or supporting me, I
lost my focus and fell asleep. During the
GWR I was very fortunate to have my
friends from the Tamil Association,
students from Living Yoga and other
friends who cheered me on throughout the
night. Without their energy I couldn’t have
made it, thanks to them.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT FROM THIS GWR?
Firstly I learnt how to organise a big event
and how important it is to plan everything
beforehand. I have also learnt some new
Yoga postures, some of which I invented
during the GWR. I have learnt that good
effort never fails. And lastly I learnt from
what Swami Vivekananda said ‘What you
think so you become’ is true. I have always
believed in these words, the positive
thought that I had ‘that one day I will be a
GWR holder’ has been the driving force
behind my achievement today.
WHAT DO YOU REPLY TO PEOPLE WHO SAY YOGA
COMPETITION AND GWR ARE NOT YOGIC AND
THAT YOGA IS NOT A SPORT BUT A PRACTICE?
I believe competition doesn’t have to be
about competing and winning. I came to
know Yoga through Yoga competition.
Although I started off as a competitor I
later discovered the real essence of Yoga.
Competition is for inspiring the youngsters.
Like in academic study, there is a grading
system to motivate students to put in extra
effort. That is the kind of inspiration I got
from Yoga when I was kid. Moreover GWR
is not a competition. I have only achieved
something with the energy/power that
Yoga has given me. I want to inspire others
into thinking that ‘If a person can do 1,100
postures why can’t I do 10 or even 100
postures?’ Only when this happens, my
Guinness feat is a real success.
HOW MANY POSTURES HAVE BEEN RECOGNISED
BY GWR?
GWR has recognised only 1,019 postures,
since we were able to produce photographs
of only 1,019 postures at the time.
16
(l to r) Jenny Karoampoiki (GWR London), Narayanamoorthy (Tamil Association HK), Ram
(Tamil Association HK), Yogaraj and Sam (Tamil Association HK)