A dozen semi-naked, very fit-looking men paraded rather shyly across the stage — and suddenly the crowd went wild, whooping with joy.

Bashful when they emerged into the spotlight, the competitors’ body language was transformed as the cheers and catcalls washed over them. Soon they were waving to friends, milking the applause and had to be shooed off stage so that the proceedings could continue.

What was so striking — and certainly welcomed by the 250 or so spectators who crammed Hampstead Town Hall (pictured) in North London one Saturday evening last month — was the sheer sexiness of the occasion. This was yoga for the gym generation: the baggy Indian pants and straggly-hair hippy look replaced by Lycra, shaven heads and body piercings; a projected smile instead of the blank expression of inner contemplation. It was a body contest but without the pumped muscles and bulging veins of body-building culture.

Nobody knew quite what to expect from Britain’s first yoga championship. This was a far cry from the quiet asceticism of traditional yoga, performed on mats rolled out in church halls across the country. And this competition was only a prelimary round, a warm-up for the world championships in Los Angeles next February. Ultimately — and perhaps rather ambitiously — the organisers want to get yoga accepted as an Olympic sport, if not by 2008, then at the 2012 Games.

Yoga seems to have a broad enough base of support for its Olympic aims: the first British Yoga Show, at Olympia in West London, launched this week, is bringing yoga in line with activities such as sailing and golf, both of which have trade shows. More than 10,000 visitors are expected today and tomorrow, to browse 120 stalls selling everything from the latest yoga mats to incense and teach-yourself CD-Roms. There is also the chance to attend more than 50 workshops and lectures.

The interest is so great that one particular set of workshops sold out weeks ago — Bikram yoga, described somewhat immodestly by its own publicity as “the most exciting, effective, amusing and glamorous yoga class in the world”. This is the fastest-growing branch of yoga in the United States. Founded by the Calcutta-born weightlifter Bikram Choudhury, this style of yoga is practised at speed and in high heat and humidity. The theory is that if you warm the muscles while practising the poses you allow them to achieve greater flexibility, while at the same time raising the heart rate. Since it was introduced to London seven years ago, it has attracted a young, fashionable crowd, including the DJ Goldie and fashion designers Alexander McQueen and Julien Macdonald.

It is this branch of the discipline that is behind the bid for yoga to be recognised by the Olympic committee. But, by developing yoga into a competition, is it not in danger of losing its spirituality, of becoming disconnected from its roots? Bikram’s wife, Rajashree Choudhury, disagrees. She stresses that competitive yoga has a centuries-old tradition in India — she was All-India Yoga Champion for five years from 1979 to 1984.

“Yoga is all about yourself, nobody else,” she says. “We do it to improve health, body, mind and spirit. But life is a competition. Without the self-drive to motivate yourself there is no happiness in life.”

The competition is not important in itself, she adds, but it acts as a recruitment tool. “Children don’t do yoga because they don’t think it is competitive enough. This will change that view.”

Her belief, however, is not shared by some of the more traditional yoga organisations. Korinna Pilafidis-Williams, a teacher at the Iyengar Yoga Institute in Maida Vale, north-west London, believes that yoga is a personal journey, not a sport. “There are eight stages of yoga, which include breathing, practising the poses and meditation. It is up to the individual to do it to their own level, in their own time. Yoga is a philosophical path. There is no competitive angle to it.”

Keith Coomber, the organiser of the Yoga Show, is a strong advocate of yoga as a broad church, with different branches meeting the needs of different people at different stages in their life. He sees Bikram as an “entry level” brand attracting recruits who may later graduate to the more contemplative disciplines of yoga.

So will yoga ever be an Olympic sport? Possibly — and its advocates make a good case for it to be included. It is practised by more people than some of the other Olympic sports — for example, synchronised swimming or weightlifting — and is just as enjoyable to watch.

Certainly the competition at Hampstead was entertaining. Each competitor was given three minutes to run through a series of five compulsory poses, or asanas, followed by two of their own choice in front of a panel of judges — rather like gymnastics. And just like at the Olympics, the crowd held its collective breath for a difficult stunt. Would she wobble? Would he manage to straighten his leg? There were moments, too, of hilarity: a couple of competitors, succumbing to nerves, simply fell over doing manoeuvres that would not normally worry them.

There were, though, two clear winners — Mark Oram and Naomi Reynolds. Each performed the various poses with ease and it came as no surprise to discover that both are Bikram teachers. Whether they can take the crown from the world champion, Leslie Christianson, a San Diego hairdresser, remains to be seen.

The Yoga Show is open from 10am to 6pm today and tomorrow; tickets cost £9. www.theyogashow.co.uk

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