Yoga isn't often thought of as a competitive sport, but the yogis at Saturday's 2013-14 Utah Wyoming Yoga Asana competition brought their A-game. More than 100 spectators at Brick Canvas in Lehi watched in silence as competitors in the youth, women's and men's divisions twisted and contorted their bodies into an assortment of shapes.

Shelli Gardner is the owner of Brick Canvas and said she's honored to be able to host this competition.

"I've been spellbound, quite frankly," Gardner said after watching the youth and women's competition. She said she hoped some of the students at Brick Canvas would be inspired by seeing the competition.

"I know I'm inspired," Gardner said.

A panel of judges watched as each competitor performed five standard poses, and then two advanced poses of their choice.

"You're putting on a performance, you want to look good," Mike Schenk said, explaining the need to choose poses that are hard enough to get you points but that you can execute flawlessly. Schenk, of Ogden, was last year's champion from the Utah Wyoming division and was back to compete again on Saturday. Schenk said that he enjoys competitive yoga because it gets him out of his comfort zone.

"Standing up on stage, trying to stay peaceful even though your nerves are going, you've got the butterflies. That does it for me. I like the adrenaline," Schenk said. He added that even if he doesn't win the competition, he won't consider the effort he put into it to be a waste.

"Yoga gets better and better all the time, especially when you train for a competition, you really see what you can do and that's the prize of it all."

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Namaste Yoga Asana Champion