We know dudes do yoga! We’re happy to see them, they’re happy to see us, and we’ve seen the pics! But are guys still under-served in the yoga world? Today on MPR, that’s Minnesota Public Radio, commentator Peter Smith lamented the ‘rigid “guy” mindset’ and offered some suggestions for dude-friendly yoga postures, like “searching for the remote” and changing the names of poses to be more macho-friendly.
What guys need are yoga poses they can relate to as husbands, fathers, and members of the community — as, well, guys.
They need poses they can achieve in baggy old sweat pants. Poses that take into consideration tight tendons, well-marbled meat and sedentary lifestyles.
While we appreciate most tactics in luring those living in their sun-channeled, testosterone-fueled Broga-ness (*cue Tim Allen grunt*) do we need beer-guzzle-asana to bring the male gender to yoga?
Aren’t Wesley Snipes, Amani Toomer and NASCAR manly enough?
Tell us…ladies and gents:
We can be excited that “Yoga is all the rage in Minnesota these days.”
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Earlier…
I like it as it is now. No need to cater to some obtuse craving for “macho friendly” whatevers. Plus we’d have a MAJOR decrease in class quality if we scared the girls away.
I find there are a few poses that men don’t like…such as happy baby, for example, but for the most part they are receptive to anything I can throw their way. My first class was in a weightlifting gym and almost all men came to it for a year. They loved it!
I don’t think we should be trying to push a “macho movement” with something as ancient as yoga. If society can’t get their heads around yoga and yoga teachers can’t make classes enjoyable for both genders, there is something seriously wrong with us.
There is nothing unmanly about yoga. Or Sanskrit.
Why make general comments about what poses “men” like or don’t like? Let’s give “men” a little more credit!
Also, I think it’s hot when guys do yoga. I’m thrilled whenever I can get my boyfriend to practise with me.
yoga media outlets need to get a little more guy friendly. i was stunned to finally see a man on the cover of Yoga Journal after a good 5 or 6 years.
but as far as yoga itself goes, it’s fine. i’ve been doing it for years. other men have too. there’s already enough macho crap out there – no need to add macho yoga to the mix.
Seriously? Reach-for-the-remote pose? How classic. Hooray for stereotyping.
yoga wasn’t macho in ancient time?
i guess the only remote back then was where everybody but the ruling class lived
and what about warrior poses? or the demand for them, uh, back then of course 😉
make yoga more macho? geez, i’m 60 and lucky props are “in”
and couldn’t ardha uttanasana double for a finicky modern day remote? you know, one of those whose convenient laser ray signal has to stay within a centimeter of the target eye? or it won’t work 😉
There is a definitely a need for it. A coworker took his first class at a “yoga for guys” workshop and soon graduated to “normal” classes. Another coworker who has only ever practiced at home (even though there are dozens of amazing teachers in the area) almost made it to a stiff guys workshop. If that’s what it takes to get them practicing, so be it.
It isn’t about making yoga “macho” it is about making yoga accessible.
If all we is is slender young woman doing poses that are that are not attainable for men that can’t touch their toes how inviting is it?
For that matter anyone that does not fit that yoga sterotype.
Amazing that Yoga Journal has the first man on the cover in apx 8 years!
Patanjali, the wise Hindu Sage, who compiled the ancient Hindu wisdom of Yoga into the Yoga Sutras, was a man.
In fact, Patanjali da man !
So, all the Yoga Asanas are man-friendly too.
I’m male, I’ve been doing Yoga since 1975. In fact, back then, most of the people I met who were into it were men as well, as were almost all the teachers I encountered. It didn’t need to be made watered-down and “guy friendly.” I’m not sure how classes and publications (like Yoga Journal) came to be dominated by women, it seems to have happened in the 80s, but I believe it’s been to some degree a loss.
Personally, I’m somewhat of a purist, but I think it’s wonderful that Yoga has evolved, and believe it will continue to do so, but I also think it gets distorted when people (who maybe aren’t qualified to develop a new form of an ancient discipline) to customize it for target audiences. I guess that’s commerce.
“Yoga for Guys?” That is stupid. If you’re interested in taking a yoga class, man up and attend a few. I’m not going to evangelize for yoga too much. I don’t feel the need to spread it to everyone in the world. I like the ratios now of men: women. Although there is usually no shortage of men in any class I take. It’s too bad dude’s are misinformed and think yoga is some sort of foofy activity for chicks, but until they come and find out for themselves—oh well, their loss.
I get it that in the present article, the phrase “meat-and-potatoes” is used as a metaphor for all things masculine.
But meanwhile, let us not forget that nothing could be further removed from Yoga than Meat.
If you are doing meat, then you are NOT doing Yoga, bend however much you may !
Yoga is all about finding and journeying to that higher place within oneself. The physical Asanas are just a precursory-aid to get the body to become harmonious with the mind and soul, as the mind and soul begins their fantastic exploration towards a Higher State.
The raising, killing and eating of living animals just so that humans might better stuff their faces, is absolutely at odds with Yoga’s true purpose of the Higher Journey. Meat is therefore, anathema to all that Yoga stands for.
The Yoga instructors in the USA, scared of losing potential customer-base, play nice by saying that Yoga does not require vegetarianism, when, in fact, Yoga does indeed demand vegetarianism.
Remember, you can’t have your meat AND your yoga-mat. So, choose wisely.