Today is Macho Monday apparently…
Should Men Do Yoga? Yoga Journal‘s Buzz Blog re-posits askmen.com’s rather absurd debate of why and why not, to a call for true stories of “how”. As in, how has yoga positively affected you guys out there? You know, guys who actually practice yoga and aren’t too insecure to admit it.
Oh sure they have an Argument FOR Yoga, but frankly it’s just as annoying as the opposition in its explanation of origins and “benefits” tiptoeing around to be sure not to sound too pansy-fied.
The Argument Against Yoga basically states that yoga is for wussies. Honestly, the whole thing reads like a neanderthal ooga booga response that doesn’t sound very much like today’s man. We could comb through this with the wit pik but it’s not worth our time. It’s obviously meant to rouse us yogadorks into a hurricane tornado made of pranic arms and fingernails and teeth, but we relent. However, we do encourage you to have it out yourselves in the comments of the article, on YJ, or right here. That is, if you’re man enough.
oh and here’s some more in manly yoga news for you lily-livers : Yoga in Sports
hah- the post was idiotic. Doesn’t yoga journal know that yoga was originally created FOR men? And that women weren’t permitted to practice until we gained rights?
sigh. Yoga Journal is losing ground.
Tis sad. Don’t any of these men realise that, ummmm… if they just tried yoga for themselves, they’d be able to write from a position of authority?
Doesn’t sound like either the for or against sides have so much as done their first downward dog…
askmen.com and sites like it were created to answer the question: “what is acceptable for an incredibly insecure man to do, say, or think around his frat buddies without raising suspicions that he might be gay?” Obviously something that’s popular among women is out.
As for Yoga Journal, it’s essentially a white, middle class, American women’s magazine, created for the current yoga fad among white, middle class, American women, so it shouldn’t be at all surprising that they’d reprint an article asking why anyone not in that demographic would want anything to do with yoga (despite the obligatory short interview with an old man from India in each issue). As mentioned in another comment on this blog, the only photo of a male yogi I saw in the entire most recent issue was of the Inappropriate Yoga Guy–a parody of men who get into yoga. Or, as an African American yogini friend of mine who recently cancelled her subscription said: “if we can elect a black president of the United States, why can’t we get a black person on the cover of Yoga Journal?!”
From the “arguments for yoga” on askmen.com:
“We’ve never seen a dramatic body transformation result from a strict yoga routine.” <—you haven’t looked hard enough… lolz
what’s really funny is that one of the links in the article AGAINST yoga goes to a picture of a guy in utkatasana.
“if we can elect a black president of the United States, why can’t we get a black person on the cover of Yoga Journal?!”
because yoga advertising in OM-mera-ka, and dare I say it, Americanized yoga, is ageist, sexist, and racist.
and as for the argument FOR yoga, the dude says: “While more flexibility isn’t always a good thing, many people will benefit from stretching the muscles..”
He doesn’t know what he’s talking about because flexibility has nothing to do with the muscles — muscles are about strength. Flexibility has everything to do with the connective tissue, with the FASCIA of the body, which is a different animal from muscle tissue. and if you don’t believe me, go to my blog and read about yin yoga.
You don’t “stretch” a muscle; you stretch the fascial layer that surrounds the muscle. And the bulk of connective tissue is around the joints which have everything to do with your “flexibility.”
Hummm, let’s see….
Pastel colored yoga mats
Yoga music
Practicing in a ‘studio’
Baron Baptiste’s bandana
Partner yoga (with other men) OMG!!
Yoga Journal
Flowery yoga talk
Did I mention Baron Baptiste’s bandana?
Frilly studio décor
Sanskrit
Lululemon
Phrases such as “this will make your butt tighter and your thighs leaner…”
Lavender spray, spritzed on you
I did mention Baron Baptiste’s bandana, right??
I don’t know, but I still get a bit creeped out when I take a yoga class in a yoga studio even after 4 years. There is definitely something there. But then again, this magazine might help turn things around…:)
http://yogadawg.blogspot.com/2007/11/yoga-news-innovative-new-magazine.html
You guys all make me giggle. I teach yoga, and most of my students are men. They love it, and it HAS transformed their bodies. Wow, it truly is sad that the Western culture has made yoga this way. I hear about it all the time, people feeling intimidated by certain studios and classes. No one should feel that way upon walking into a class. Agreed? Yogadawg, keep looking. There is a teacher out there waiting for you. No bandana or lavendar spritz necessary. 😉
I am a non-homo male and I love the smell of lavender! That’s right I said it. Isn’t being in a room full of half naked, sweaty women like, the whole point? It’s great!
Funny how a man who chooses to spend time in a room full of middle class women in leotards is considered gay whereas as the one rolling around on a muddy field with a bunch of guys isn’t.
Exactly, where are the priorities, eh?