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Yoga
Is For Men
by
Sam Dworkis
founder of www.extensionyoga.com
Why
is it that most everyone thinks yoga is only for women? Is it because you
have to be flexible to do yoga and if so, everyone knows that women are
inherently more flexible than men? Is it because men think that in order
to do yoga, you’ve got to learn to sit quietly in some awful
cross-legged position and contemplate your navel? Is it because you have
to learn someone else’s religion? Well, if that’s what yoga is, you
can forget it: No way! Guys don’t want any part of it. They want to do
stuff; they want to run, or play ball, or work on the car. They’d rather
go shopping than do yoga. You would think that yoga isn’t active enough
for guys. Right?
Wrong.
I’m here to tell you that yoga, when done appropriately, is one of the
most demanding and physically challenging activities there is. Let’s
take a closer look at what “yoga” really is. “Yoga” literally
means “balance” or “union.” This means that in order to become
proficient with yoga, he needs to be as flexible as he is strong. In other
words, yoga is about creating physiological balance, which is incredibly
harder than one might think.
I’m
also here to tell you that after the initial learning curve is achieved,
an appropriate yoga class can challenge a man in ways he never thought
possible; but even when challenged, yoga is done in such a way that
minimizes the propensity for injury. In fact, yoga can actually help your
body heal its many older injuries and imbalances.
What
most guys don’t know is that yoga was developed a couple of thousand
years ago by men and that only men were allowed to practice. It wasn’t
until recently; maybe the past hundred years, that women were allowed to
do yoga. This happened when it was brought to the west and for a number of
reasons; primarily women practiced yoga. And it didn’t take long for
yoga to adapt to the special propensity of women’s inherent flexibility.
(The reason guys, is that a women’s overall ligament and pelvic
structure is genetically designed for childbirth and as such, generally
affords them a natural flexibility that guys inherently don’t have).
In
any event, through yoga’s balancing effect upon soft tissue structures,
guys who practice yoga find their performance in sports dramatically
improves. There’s no magic as to why: a well-balanced body has more
control and less susceptibility for injury. The other major benefit to a
regular yoga practice is a reduction in stress; both physical and mental.
However,
there is something guys need to know: Getting into yoga and making it a
disciplined part of his life isn’t easy. It’s much like the opposite
of love; yoga is hard to get into, but really easy to get out of.
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