CRANSTON Kyle Inman is comfortable. His feet are behind his head. His arms are between his legs.

But Mary Ann Nassa, director of Yoga Concepts at Bikram’s Yoga College of India, located in Cranston, would like to see Kyle make one more manipulation.

“Smile,” she says.

Kyle, of course, can do better. He laughs.

In this advanced yoga class, Kyle, 14, of Glocester, is clearly the most advanced, bending his body in ways that don’t seem natural, and doing so with ease. Perhaps you’d expect no less from a yoga champion. But then you probably wouldn’t expect competition in the personal pursuit of mind-body-and-spirit equanimity.

But you’d be wrong.

Last month in Los Angeles, Kyle competed in the fifth annual International Yoga Asana Championship, also called the Bishnu Charan Ghosh Cup. And he won the youth division.

“The other competitors were quite impressive,” Kyle says. “I was actually kind of surprised that I won.”

Kyle began yoga two years ago. And he, too, was surprised to discover that yoga could be a competitive sport.

“It’s actually more competing against yourself. You’re not supposed to focus on competing against other people,” he says.

There are many types of yoga. This particular type, Bikram, also called hot yoga because it’s practiced in a room that’s a pore-cleansing 105 degrees, was developed by Bikram Choudhury, the self-proclaimed “yogi to the stars.” He emigrated from India to California, where in the 1970s he took 26 traditional yoga poses, put them in a specific order, copyrighted a class and created a competition.

The competition is a kind of marketing to the masses. “It’s demonstrating the power of this yoga,” Nassa says, showcasing the abilities of people who practice Bikram to inspire those who don’t.

Kyle, the oldest of Pat and Jay Inman’s four home-schooled children, was introduced to the art/sport by his mother, who has practiced yoga for a decade.

“I think the benefits are tremendous, especially for kids that age in terms of focusing and being aware of what’s going on around them,” Pat Inman says. “Also the physical benefits are really good — strength, flexibility and balance.”

When Kyle started yoga, a little after the age of 12, he was no champion.

“I couldn’t do much of any of the poses,” he says. “Well, I could do some of them, but only part way. I would constantly be falling out of the standing poses.”

But over time, Kyle progressed, taking classes five to seven times a week, waking up before 5 a.m. for weekday classes and 6:30 a.m. for weekend ones.

“It is really hard a lot of times. I kind of have to drag myself out of bed, knowing I’ll be glad that I did.”

Learning to deal with adversity is one of yoga’s psychological benefits that Pat Inman sees with her son.

“Mentally he does not panic when discomfort arises. That’s anyone’s tendency. When people experience discomfort, their tendency is to run from it, turn on the TV or grab a drink instead of just being with it and not freaking out.”

In Bikram, the belief is that the mind follows the body, with discipline, patience and practice.

“There is a realization that happens when you’re able to do something that you never thought you would be able to do,” Nassa says. “It transforms the mind.”

Because transformed minds are hard to show in a competition, the emphasis is on bent and balanced bodies. But even then, yoga competitions are controversial.

“Yoga is more of an internal practice, where you start where you are and at some level you don’t compete, even with yourself,” says Kendall Sheldon, of All That Matters, in South Kingstown, who has been a yoga instructor for 30 years. “That’s where some of the controversy lies.”

“Ninety-nine percent of people in yoga would be a little shocked or horrified to hear about yoga being competitive,” says Kim Chandler, a yoga teacher of 20 years, who is the director of Innerlight Center for Yoga, in Middletown. “It’s not something I would encourage, though I don’t have enough information about this contest.”

The Bikram contest involves numerous regional championships; in the New England contest, Kyle was the first and only competitor.

“It didn’t matter,” Nassa says. “The judges looked at him and said he was better than many of the men.”

The winners of the regional championships compete in the international championship in Los Angeles. This year included the first competition in a youth division, ages 11-17. Competitors must perform four required poses and, if they’d like, two optional ones, in three minutes. Probably the most impressive pose of the bunch is the Full Camel, which involves sitting on your knees and bending backward until your head touches your heels.

“It feels pretty comfortable, actually. When I first started, there was no way I could have done that without breaking my back,” Kyle says.

Just don’t ask Kyle to perform the yoga pose in skimpy shorts. Unfortunately, that’s just what the judges in the international competition asked. It’s a requirement. They want to see the alignment and lines of the body.

“I wasn’t too pleased with that. The only shorts they had were really small. That was the main thing I was worrying about.”

Kyle, who is thoughtful, soft-spoken and well-mannered, says he used his yoga-acquired ability to focus on performing his poses, instead of thinking about impressing the judges or about wearing those shorts.

“I just pushed everything out of my head. I didn’t really look at the people because I knew that would throw me off.”

Kyle beat out four other competitors in the boys division.

In addition to yoga, Kyle plays piano, which he has done for 10 years. And he enjoys deconstructing computer software and building computers, which he first did four years ago.

“It’s still working pretty well,” he said.

Though Kyle has achieved a yoga championship, he says he plans to continue with his practice.

“I would like to keep improving. There is always room for improvement, with yoga especially.”