From circus dreams to world stage, mother-daughter duo flying Yogasana's flag for USA

When Kemi Blake first took up yoga nearly a decade ago she was not looking for medals She wanted to become a contortionistOn Saturday that journey came full circle when Kemi won gold for the United States in the Back Bend Senior B category at the inaugural World Yogasana Championships at the EKA Arena hereSharing the experience was her daughter Kimani Blake who also competed for Team USAI actually started practicing yoga maybe about 10 years ago because I wanted to be a contortionist Kemi told PTI VideosI wanted to be a performer Yoga was the closest thing that I understoodKemi discovered competitive Yogasana through social media about a yearandahalf ago and travelled to India for training When she returned home and spoke about an upcoming championship Kimani insisted on joining herWhen I came back and I was told that there was this competition happening she was like Youre not going to leave me You have to take me with you Kemi recalledSo I was like Okay well you have to train Yogasana And so we started training and here we are today doing it togetherThe motherdaughter duo believes Yogasanas competitive format does not contradict the disciplines traditional values despite reservations from some sections of the yoga communityThere are a lot of people in the US who know yoga as a practice of calming the mind but not very many people know Yogasana as a sport Kemi saidSome people think yoga cannot be a competitive sport because its supposed to be all about peace I think that is a misunderstanding because you can be peaceful and competitive at the same timeThe road to Ahmedabad was not without challengesThe duo said their journey from the United States took three days as some members of the American contingent had to be rerouted because of disruptions linked to the ongoing Gulf warThey arrived the day of their event Kemi saidIt shows that there are going to be challenges and difficulties but if you stay focused on your goal you will ultimately reach itAccording to Kemi competition in Yogasana is about pushing personal limits while respecting fellow competitorsThe competition itself is about going beyond your current capacity and doing that in a way that encourages sportsmanship amongst people from all around the world she saidFor Kimani the experience has been less about results and more about personal fulfilmentIm not really too worried about going for gold I just like the vibe here I like to do my asanas and go home feeling fulfilled she saidCompeting alongside her mother has made the experience even more specialWith my mother I feel very happy being a duo We can both do the arts and the acrobatic sort of thingsKimani said Yogasana has helped her remain calm during stressful situationsI definitely think it has helped me in my flexibility and my ability to keep calm in stressful situations Its been very testing but I think its good to test ones patience she saidHaving met athletes from countries including India Mauritius Nepal Nigeria and Singapore Kemi believes the sport has the potential to unite people across culturesMy ultimate goal is to be in the OlympicsI want to continue to practice personally but also inform as many people as possible about this amazing sport around the world so that we can participate in the Olympics she saidDespite some logistical challenges associated with hosting the first edition of a global event the American duo praised the arrangements made by organisersKimani described the hotel accommodations as very nice while Kemi said the hosts had done an amazing job considering the scale of the championship and the number of countries involvedTheyve done a really good job of hosting making sure that were provided for that we have food proper accommodations and that if were facing any challenges there are enough volunteers Kemi saidShe acknowledged there had been some issues related to the timing of events but said such concerns were natural for an inaugural championshipThat will get better with time This is the first one so we give grace she said adding that volunteers stationed across the venue had been readily available to assist athletes and delegationsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever