Men and Yoga (To InnerAthlete)

[Bridgette]

Originally Posted by jmcdan3

I did cry 4 times during the notebook if that classifies me as having an open-mind haha

I think being sensitive is a bit different then open-minded but it's touching none the less.

As far as the flexibility being an issues with males, on the same token men’s bodies tend to be more adept at certain styles. IE Ashtanga. It seems to require more strength and that's kind of what worried me about the style. If you would have said I would be working on the Ashtanga primary series a year ago I would have laughed because the whole style seemed so impossible. (Only reason I started was because the only yoga teacher in my area was trained in Ashtanga and it got me interested and who would have known I would fall in love with it. )

What I'm trying to say though is allot of times we try to play to our strength (what’s safe) and we don't attempt a style that may reveal our weaknesses and address them. Just like I didn't want to try Ashtanga or power yoga because I knew I didn't have a whole lot of strength, men might not want to try yoga because the feeling of being too inflexible. I always tell my fiancée who I’ve been trying to drag to classes, that the best yogi in the room is not the one with the deepest forward bend but the one that knows there limit and is thankful for every little movement.

[Pandara]

Originally Posted by Bridgette

I always tell my fiancée who I’ve been trying to drag to classes, that the best yogi in the room is not the one with the deepest forward bend but the one that knows their limit and is thankful for every little movement.

Hi Bridgette,

Thank you for this insight, this is something I wanted to share with my yogis for sometime now, but didn't knew quite well how to say it, but you have said it for me.

Blessings to you.

[mikesbytes]

Originally Posted by jmcdan3

I understand that most men have terrible flexibility and going to a yoga class would completely destroy their ego.

Terrible flexibility was the main reason, amongst others that I started yoga. I assumed that females would be naturally better at yoga. Can't see what the problem is with females being better than me at something. What surprised me in the early days was there was one female that was worst than me

[sarahy]

Originally Posted by Bridgette

I always think of a friend of mine who once told me the reason he first started yoga class is because it was a 1:8 ratio and he was sure to get a date out of it. :P

so what's the converse because i'd love to go somewhere with the same ratio but inverse.

oh- wait a minute...i belong to a 4x4 club, i think the ratio there is about 100:1 (we have about 3000 members and 30 are women). and still no date...hmmmmm. must be me.

sarah

[Bridgette]

Originally Posted by sarahy

so what's the converse because i'd love to go somewhere with the same ratio but inverse.

oh- wait a minute...i belong to a 4x4 club, i think the ratio there is about 100:1 (we have about 3000 members and 30 are women). and still no date...hmmmmm. must be me.

sarah

Hahaha! Yeah, us girls defiantly still have the ratio factor working for us even if it isn't in yoga!

[yogabond]

Whenever I get to a Yoga class with my girlfriend at her gym there are always 80% women there. Yoga is a great workout, I am a bit surprised about the rations.

[mikesbytes]

Originally Posted by sarahy

so what's the converse because i'd love to go somewhere with the same ratio but inverse.

oh- wait a minute...i belong to a 4x4 club, i think the ratio there is about 100:1 (we have about 3000 members and 30 are women). and still no date...hmmmmm. must be me.

sarah

Perhaps they are in love with their 4x4's

[cyclezen]

Originally Posted by Bridgette

I think being sensitive is a bit different then open-minded but it's touching none the less.
As far as the flexibility being an issues with males, on the same token men’s bodies tend to be more adept at certain styles.
(SNIP)
... I always tell my fiancée who I’ve been trying to drag to classes, that the best yogi in the room is not the one with the deepest forward bend but the one that knows there limit and is thankful for every little movement.

Some great thoughts here.
But the operative term here is still - "been trying to drag to classes".
As people, we all have a tractor load of psychological and emotional baggage, including a full load of 'inadequacy'.
From an early age we're all drummed with the concept we need to 'compete'. How can we imagine doing something which doesn't mean 'compete'?
And since the vast majority of people (including a high percent of those already doing a yoga 'class') think yoga is all about twisting into a pretzel, with an occassional 'OM' thrown in... so, the thought is, "What is all that about?"
for most guys, Yoga is the 'chick-flick' of exercise programs...
and then there's 'Yoga apparel', which DOES NOT include a Raiders or Lakers jersey...
then there's the scarse few who breakdown and follow their GF to the 'Studio' or 'Crib' and then find out how far they've let themselves slide into lumps of protoplasm - time out, let get home, turn on the game and break out the Corona and chips.
hope lives in a house on fire...

[Pandara]

There is of course the issue of balance. As we all know yoga is about balance and as stated earlier in a post by IA and myself, in the East it is mainly a male thing to do yoga and the ratio was much more reversed in the classes I attend while in India. So perhaps the greater female attendance in the West is the balance for the mainly male attendance in the East.

[Bridgette]

Originally Posted by Pandara

So perhaps the greater female attendance in the West is the balance for the mainly male attendance in the East.

That's a fantastic way to look at it. A bit like our world quite literally being a yin yang!