That’s a fantastic way to look at it. A bit like our world quite literally being a yin yang!
I think the major problem lies with the misperception that they physical aspect of yoga is not physically demanding enough for men. And many men believe yoga is “just stretching.” I don’t think sexuality has much to do with men not wanting to try it. I’ve had friends tell me they do not think they will get a good work out. Of course, there is more to yoga than working up a good sweat but I usually don’t go there when I’m trying to get them to try it.
Anyway, I think most men in the 20s-40s would like ashtanga, bikram or iyengar yoga since it tends to more physically demanding. I fell in love with the physical aspect of yoga when I found an instructor who blended the ashtanga primary series with bikram so he made it very physically challenging. The problem is that if a physically active man attends a beginner’s yoga class, he will likely not come back because it would probably not be challenging enough. The irony is that he may have the conditioning to last through the full primary series of an ashtanga class, he would not be able to do most poses properly to get the full benefits.
Hmmm…I’m not sure, I’ve heard of many men (as well as women) going to beginner’s yoga classes and the reason they don’t return is because it became frustrating due to the physicality of the asanas. Some people look at a pose and say, Oh yeah…I can do that, no problem. And also the reverse: A person sees a pose and thinks, “Thats impossible!”. Many “fit” men that are very active and by society standards are healthy, discover there muscles are tight and stiff. Also, an unfortunate reflection of our society, at least in America, is there is massive fitness & diet crisis and so a large group of people are no longer active, over weight, and sick. Both male and female.
I agree that ashtanga is defiantly male friendly. It requires a great deal of strength to accomplish the poses but what I have discovered is that we like to play to our strengths. Example: I’m pretty flexible by nature but when it comes to strength and endurance I’m not so great. While I’ve been practicing Hatha yoga since I was 14, I was willing to dabble in power yoga and ashtanga and found allot of benefits. An active man might actually benefit from a different style eventually down the road. But what ever keeps you interested in yoga is super good!
Yes I agree with you Bridgette. Some men may be interested in Ashtanga and Power because its very physical but may be out of reach for most people. I think the key to EVERY fitness program is flexibility. However, not everyone can touch their toes and because they cannot, they ignore “stretching”. Ultimately, this results in injury and a loss of interest in physical activity thus creating obesity and sickness. Just keep things interesting and do activity that varies for your body’s sake and for yourself. I got into yoga because I felt flexibility and functional strength were waaaay more important than being able to bench 225 lbs or something. Just my two cents 
I just ran into something that I believe is kind of related to this topic and speaks to the American view of Yoga or at least one rather large bookstores view.
I was looking for Yoga Journal in my local Barnes and Noble and I could not find it anywhere or at least I could not find it in any area I thought it would be; not health, not sports, exercise not even alternative or religion so I decided to go sit in their caf? and have a cup of tea and as I sat there I look directly in front of me and I saw Yoga Journal. It was in a section labeled Women?s Interests.
This to could have something to do with the view men have about Yoga.
[quote=WalterJ;11208]I just ran into something that I believe is kind of related to this topic and speaks to the American view of Yoga or at least one rather large bookstores view.
I was looking for Yoga Journal in my local Barnes and Noble and I could not find it anywhere or at least I could not find it in any area I thought it would be; not health, not sports, exercise not even alternative or religion so I decided to go sit in their caf? and have a cup of tea and as I sat there I look directly in front of me and I saw Yoga Journal. It was in a section labeled Women’s Interests.
This to could have something to do with the view men have about Yoga.
[/quote]
Having been a copywriter and editor for online magazines, I was really curious about this so I checked out B&N online. From what I can see, at least on their corporate main-site, Yoga Journal is only listed under [I]Health & Fitness[/I], [I]Healthy Eating[/I], [I]Fitness Magazines [/I]and-[I]-[/I]seemingly odd to me–[I]Food & Wine[/I]. I am guessing if you could only find YJ in Women’s Interest, you may have either missed it additionally in its proper sections or it was incorrectly shelfed by a customer or by the store. Maybe you can ask them about it? That shared, I think YJ very deservingly belongs in Women’s Interest too. Walter, if you are looking for a Yoga-inspired magazine that has much less advertising geared toward women and that does not overly identify with the female gender in content and look, you may want to check out Namarupa and Ascent magazines. Namarupa has NO advertisements and instead offers frame-worthy photograph of India, teachers and Yogis. Ascent, a Canadian mag, is also great; offering recipes and articles for the modern householder.
Kind regards,
and bye the bye i ran into this article just the other day (which had some interesting obervations as to why we may not see more men in yoga classes):
Yoga Journal - Yoga News & Trends - Where Are All the Men?
and just as an aside, i am currently running a beginner ashtanga class, i had four men attend this past week (and no women). nice to see!
sarah
[quote=sarahy;11212]and bye the bye i ran into this article just the other day (which had some interesting obervations as to why we may not see more men in yoga classes):
Yoga Journal - Yoga News & Trends - Where Are All the Men?
and just as an aside, i am currently running a beginner ashtanga class, i had four men attend this past week (and no women). nice to see!
sarah[/quote]
Thanks for the link Sarah.
====================
Personally it doesn’t worry me what the gender mix is, its up to each individual to decide what they want in life.
[quote=Nichole;11210]Having been a copywriter and editor for online magazines, I was really curious about this so I checked out B&N online. From what I can see, at least on their corporate main-site, Yoga Journal is only listed under [I]Health & Fitness[/I], [I]Healthy Eating[/I], [I]Fitness Magazines [/I]and-[I]-[/I]seemingly odd to me–[I]Food & Wine[/I]. I am guessing if you could only find YJ in Women’s Interest, you may have either missed it additionally in its proper sections or it was incorrectly shelfed by a customer or by the store. Maybe you can ask them about it? That shared, I think YJ very deservingly belongs in Women’s Interest too. Walter, if you are looking for a Yoga-inspired magazine that has much less advertising geared toward women and that does not overly identify with the female gender in content and look, you may want to check out Namarupa and Ascent magazines. Namarupa has NO advertisements and instead offers frame-worthy photograph of India, teachers and Yogis. Ascent, a Canadian mag, is also great; offering recipes and articles for the modern householder.
Kind regards,[/quote]
The location of it does not bother me I will buy it from there just as easily as any other section I just found it interesting and I thought applicable to this thread.
And I am fairly certain it was not improperly shelved all of the Yoga Journals were there and there were at least 2 other Yoga Magazines stocked right next to it all in the “Woman’s Interests” section, I am sorry but I do not remember the names of the other 2 magazines one may have been Ascent.
Thank You for the magazine suggestions
This was the new B&N in Albany NY by the way.
[quote=sarahy;11212]and bye the bye i ran into this article just the other day (which had some interesting obervations as to why we may not see more men in yoga classes):
Yoga Journal - Yoga News & Trends - Where Are All the Men?
and just as an aside, i am currently running a beginner ashtanga class, i had four men attend this past week (and no women). nice to see!
sarah[/quote]
Thank You
Sarah, thanks for the link to YJ’s story. It offered some really good stuff.
Thank you Walter–my thinking is inline with yours. Men, such as yourself, who are committed to a practice and finding the resources they are need will buy a magazine where ever it stocked. The concern that this thread, and other conversations, have raised for me, is how our culture may be continuing to message to the general population of men (and women) that Yoga is for women; reserving only Ashtanga Viniyasa and other more rigorous practices as the practices for men. In my Yoga therapy practice, I have recently had more interest from men who want private sessions in an effort to avoid the studios and “the scene.” I have also noticed that studios in the Boulder/Denver area are advertising, “yoga for tight guys” classes and also other specifically targeted groups, outside of special needs like prenatal, such as the “45-minute lunch-time yoga for type-A personalities” and the like. I heard from my friends who are classroom teachers, that many men in our area choose to attend these themed classes rather than attending more general classes, which I find very curious.
This is so true!
Namaste
Some well known yoginis from ancient (pre Buddha) India : Maitreyi, Gargi, Sabri, Lopamudra, Chudala & obvioulsy there were many more.
Mirabai redefined bhakti yoga.
I’m the only guy in my whole class, why is it that so few guys want to learn yoga.?
Is it part of the western ‘macho’ culture where men have to lift huge weights & have huge overdeveloped muscles in order to feel masculine.?
probably many factors, yours is probably some of it, also I think it may be an ego thing. as guys we tend to think we know the answers, dont need help, and can fix it ourselves.
i am peace, i am love, i am joy
i am brother neil
Based on my husband’s reaction to yoga, I would say that guys avoid yoga in part BECAUSE they think they’ll be the only guy in class (which I can understand could feel awkward). And also, at least in his case, yoga is intimidating because he’s not very flexible.
I did get him to go to class with me once though and he thought it was okay!
and the #1 reason why there are so few guys in yoga classes is:
Because the random guys that make it to a yoga class are so over joyed by the abundance of woman that they decide to keep this as their own little secret 
hopefully you don’t mean like this thoughGoji Berries
*fyi, there is curse word at the end of this video
LOL!!! that was very funny!
[quote=Nichole;13546]hopefully you don’t mean like this thoughGoji Berries
*fyi, there is curse word at the end of this video[/quote]
That’s funny. Perhaps there’s a bit of that in every guy at yoga ha ha.
I’ve never tried to pick anyone up at yoga, but I’ve been hit on 3 times, oddly not by participants but by the instructors. Explain that one…
This looks like a great discussion, sorry I’m late. One of my goals when I become a yoga teacher one day is to introduce more men to it.
I think yoga in America came to be seen as a women’s thing in part because of Lilias Folian’s excellent long running TV show “Lilias Yoga and You” which introduced millions of housewives to yoga. This tipped the balance of practitioners in the USA way over to the women’s side as it also inspired generatrions of women to become yoga instructors. Yoga specific clothing and products targetted the women’s market and before long, yoga became seen as a thing for women (at least in America).
The earlier points on Yoga Journal definitely resonate but the magazine helps to reinforces the stereotype as well. Seldom is a man seen on the cover and the pictures and illustrations inside are 85% female. No wonder many stores stock it in the women’s section.
Its a tad bit disingenuous of them to publish an article asking where all of the men are when they don’t seem to be making a real effort to make men feel welcome. Of course, they rely primarily on female readers to stay afloat (esp since their advertisers are targetting women) but they could try a bit harder to broaden their readership. Don’t get me wrong, I love YJ but would love for once not to be treated like an afterthought.
I’ve found that guys are more open to yoga if another guy they know is doing it. We’re usually not as flexible as women and newbie men can feel humiliated by not being able to understand what is being said and how to do it (not to mention where the real emphasis lies). I think classes especially for men (the same way there are thousands of women-only fitness classes everywhere) can be very helpful to get a guy started.
I’m often the only guy in my yoga class but back when I started out (five moves ago), 30% of the class was male. Once your practice is an important part of your life, you don’t even think about it.
I live in Cape Town, South Africa (typically seen as the gay capital of our country) and have recently started doing hot room yoga (bikram and power yoga).
I’m a guy, and though I’m hardly ever the only guy in class, more than 5 or 6 guys out of 40 people is rare. Having said that, there are hordes of hot girls mixed in with all the various types that go to yoga, so there’s definitely a benefit hehe. Also, I can’t remember seeing one gay guy at any class to date.
I started going with my girlfriend, she had been keen to start yoga so I found a class and bought some gear for her birthday and went along. I’ve been playing soccer since I was 10, so my hamstrings and hips are not very flexible, and doing the yoga has definitely helped with my flexibility and I can see an improvement on the soccer pitch too.
I’ve mentioned that I do yoga to a few of the guys on our team, and though they don’t beat me down as such they do have a joke about it and say it’s typically a girls thing to do - I suppose similar to a guy telling his mates he does ballet.
To be totally honest - I’m not really bothered if my footy mates think I’m being gay by doing yoga, the benefits are all mine: a more flexible girlfriend, being in a room full of girls in skimpy yoga outfits doing wonderful things 3 times a week, being better on the soccer pitch, and all the other aspects that come out of yoga practice.