I am a guy and find yoga a very good part of a balanced exercise program. The emphasis on flexibility is a really useful corrective to the tightening and shortening of muscles that can occur through other forms of exercise. I sometimes lift weights right before yoga class and then enjoy how the yoga poses stretch, relax and lengthen muscles that I have tightened while doing weights.

Yoga can also work smaller stabilizing muscles very well, generally muscles that are missed by weights or running. Balancing poses can be especially good for this. Yoga poses did wonders for my weak ankles for instance. Since muscle imbalances created by weak stabilizing muscles are a big cause of injuries, this is a good thing.

I think I only scratch the surface of the meditative benefits of yoga referred to in the posting, but it does make me feel very calm and relaxed in a somewhat different way than other exercises do. Emotional stress is a real, objective phenomenon and it does damage the body.

In a good yoga class, by the way, there will not be much emphasis on doing poses in exactly the same way as other members of the group, since good teachers understand that bodies are different. On the other hand, good teachers will correct your form as yoga poses do not work well unless the proper muscles are engaged.

In my opinion one big reason that men do not do yoga (besides men generally not being into directed group exercise), is that on average men are simply much less flexible than women and therefore the poses are more difficult. At least that has been my experience. I doubt I will ever be as capable as some beginner women in doing some standard poses.

Posted by: MQ on July 24, 2005 2:06 AM

I used to take a yoga class at a wonderful place in Chicago called the Yoga Circle that has been around for years, the teachers go to India every year, and does a good job of teaching the non-aerobic and spiritual parts of yoga without being overbearing or freaking out people who would be uncomfortable with too much spiritual stuff (my teacher was a Christian, but said that she loved the peace that came with saying ohm and the quietness of her practice). Gorgeous room, a big loft space with lots of plants at one end and all sorts of props needed for Iyengar yoga. I tried taking yoga at some gyms after that, and I hated it. It's just an aerobics class, and guys don't take to the aerobics, so why should they to this type of yoga? Anyway, the best part of it for me - the quietness - is missing in a silly, sweaty, "God would you quit checking me out, it makes me uncomfortable" type-gym.

As to why men don't want to do yoga, well, it's because girly-fied in the US what with the candles and pretty matts and general Oprafication of it. Or am I just reading it all wrong?

PS: my sense of the guys who came to the Yoga Circle were that they had back problems, or in a few particularly resourceful cases, thought they could pick someone up. Really, it was an interesting maneouver to watch - I found myself almost admiring the guy interact with said girl. What chutzpah...

Posted by: MD on July 24, 2005 12:38 PM

Ok, I just hated what I wrote in my last comment, but what can you do? Anyway, the gym yoga classes that were hard core had a lot more guys in them (and it was definitely a twenty something crowd, of which I am not one, so maybe there's some generational thing going on?)

Posted by: MD on July 24, 2005 12:43 PM

OK, at the risk of coming out as completely un-spiritual/hopelessly unenlightened person and all that - MD, do you really need someone from outside to get you in quiet mood? And what is the principal difference in "ohming" rather than, say, clutching the rabbit foot or spitting 3 times over your left shoulder?

For lenghtening my muscles I think I'd rather trust Pilates - at least they don't try to sell religious content (completely alien to me) in "healthy exercize/spiritual awakening" package.

Posted by: Tatyana on July 24, 2005 2:18 PM

Pilates and yoga have definite similarities in terms of what they do for you. Pilates is a relatively recent invention; I wonder if the inventor of Pilates might have incorporated some yoga stuff. If the Pilates style works better for you then I would think you would get a lot of the benefits of yoga.

Posted by: MQ on July 24, 2005 3:21 PM

Pilates is older than most people think, having been developed not long after the First World War as a means of rehabilitating disabled veterans. It didn't really catch on as an exercise program until much more recently.
Tatyana - sorry to disappoint you, but there is no way of lengthening one's muscles. The length of any particular muscle is determined by the points at which tendons attach to bones, which is genetic.

Posted by: Peter on July 24, 2005 7:11 PM

Shortening my muscles, than. No, wait, increased flexibility and lower back pain - something I can use after working in the garden. Where I prefer to retrteat for my inner peace.

Posted by: Tatyana on July 24, 2005 8:21 PM

Tatyana, unfortunately I do need help with 'getting quiet', sorry to say :)

Actually, I think that is why I love to read fiction so much - my brain has to calm down and focus to read, which is lovely. And I was raised a Hindu, so I think the ohming bit just seems comfortable to me, whereas it might seem alien to others....

Posted by: MD on July 25, 2005 10:20 AM

In each case the benefits were too time-consuming to attain as compared to alternative forms of exercise (stretching, running). There was also, to my taste, too much emphasis on attire, on synchronizing one's movements to those of the group, on following the instructor's directions.

Posted by: Pen on July 27, 2005 4:51 AM






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