(photo taken from abc-of-yoga.com)
Yoga classes appear to be on the upswing here in Manila and some key cities in the Philippines. While there is a smattering of men attending these classes, it is still clear that the ratio of women to men in these classes is heavily skewed in favor of the women. It has not always been so though.
Men Introduced Yoga First
Until very recently, yoga was actually practised exclusively by men. If one delves into the past of yoga, one will see that the likes of contemporary teachers like B.K.S. Iyengar (Iyengar yoga), Bikram Choudhury (Bikram or hot yoga), Pattabhi Jois (Ashtanga yoga) were all male and that some of them (Iyengar and Jois) had the great Krishnamacharya as their teacher.
Ann Pizer, in her article Can Men Do Yoga? says, “Since yoga has been practiced by men for so long, many of the poses actually make more sense for a man’s body and some require a lot of upper body strength, which women often lack at first.”
It thus made sense for men to take up yoga.
Yoga Complements Sports
In sports such as golf or tennis, there is a tendency for some muscles to be used more than their respective symmetrical counterparts (e.g., a right-handed tennis player would be using the muscles in the right arm a lot more than his left). Over time, such muscles tighten and lose some flexibility. Yoga poses (called asanas) help in loosening this tightness, bring the body back into balance and natural alignment.
Rodney Yee, a certified Iyengar yoga instructor, says in his article Yoga for Men?: “If we’ve trained for years to be a gymnast, for example, our body responds a certain way. Certain muscles are always contracted; others are loose. The body sets up particular neurological and neuromuscular patterns that stay the same and serve us in that sport. We breathe a certain way; we move a certain way. We often injure the same muscles or ligaments in the same way. Yoga brings the body back into balance, into its natural alignment. Yoga, with its full spectrum of poses-prone, supine, backward bending, forward bending-can teach someone where imbalances and physical weaknesses are and can help strengthen the body. Yoga can help enhance an athlete’s performance in his sport by teaching how to breathe properly, how to relax and how to gain flexibility.”
Stress and Men
Women are better stress handlers. They are more in touch with their emotions and easily use other women friends as outlets for their feelings. Men, on the other hand, tend to keep their stress within them and ignore its signs. In the same WebMD article above, Bulgarelli says, “…their heart rate goes up, their blood pressure rises, their platelets get stickier. …” Yoga allows men to decompress and de-stress.
In an article for WebMD, Carol Sorgen interviewed several male yoga practitioners. In her interview with Robert Bulgarelli, DO, FACC, who practices integrative and preventive cardiovascular medicine at Cardiovascular Associates of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Bulgarelli said that calming the mind not only makes day-to-day living easier it also has far-reaching effects when it comes to protecting men (and women, too) from the physical damages of stress.
“Yoga gives you the opportunity to strip yourself down, to quiet yourself, to just really ‘be,'” says Bulgarelli, “and for any men, that may be the first time they’ve ever done that. The meditative aspect of yoga is the perfect avenue to help you figure out what’s going on in your life.”
So…Where Are The Men?
I asked myself this question when I first started out doing yoga: Where are all the guys? In our first yoga class at my sons’ school, we were all women. When I moved to my present yoga center, we had maybe 1 or 2 males in some classes — there was an Indian and some foreigners once in a while — but again, they were the small minority. I knew of only one male friend who regularly attended yoga classes 2-3 times a week after pumping iron at his gym.
I think here are some possible reasons why some men stay away from yoga:
1. Men feel intimidated by the flexibility of women and think they will look silly to friends. Phil Aston, a yoga teacher in the UK and founder of Yoga At Work, said in an article on this website, “In the UK being a male and attending a yoga class can be daunting. Taking aside the image of being surrounded by young women in leotards the reality is that, yes there may well be more women in the class than men, but the main thing that goes through the competitive male mind will be, it must be easy, I might feel silly and what will my mates think?”
Yes, women may be more flexible with some poses (it is inherent in our body structure). But men have the physical strength for many of the poses in yoga. Forward bends may come easier to the women; but headstands and body-lifting poses are usually easier for the men.
2. Men have difficulty coming to a standstill during meditation. Yoga makes one stop and listen to one’s inner body and emotions, the connection between mind and body. Men by nature are problem solvers. They view themselves as being goal-oriented and even when still, their brains continue focusing on whatever problem there was at work, seeking a solution.
3. Men think yoga is “too slow” and that their kind of sport needs to be fast-paced and aerobic. Aston says, “There is a mistaken view that yoga is simply slow aerobics, doing 20 rounds of the Sun Salutation can be as good a cardiovascular workout as anyone needs, but it is the mental challenge of working with the breath that makes it so special and unique.” Just because the poses are done slowly and gently do not mean they are non-aerobic. Holding those poses can actually make one sweat and just a few rounds of Sun Salutations can get your heart beating very fast.
This is what Phil Aston has to say about the whole matter: “Women have been very health conscious for years and this is why so many women go to yoga. I firmly believe however that men have never needed the benefits of yoga more than they do now. Many men are very stressed out and damaging (to) their health and their relationships. (We) know stress kills and statistically men suffer from this more than women.”
Do Real Men Do Yoga?
Lately, I have personally noticed an uptick in male students at our yoga center as well as in the gym I go to. And I believe it is because men have rediscovered yoga as a natural complement to their physical activities. Their being athletic is enhanced even more by the flexibility that yoga brings in. Their ability to handle stress is improved by the meditative benefits derived. And like women, men have began seeing how their overall well-being is improved by yoga’s ability to massage internal organs, release stress and bring one’s mind and body into a balance that keeps one grounded at all times.
Do real men do yoga? ABSOLUTELY YES!