Lit Review

                                          Why Men Don't do Yoga

               The earliest recording of Yoga came around 300-400BCE (Lark) and ever since I have heard about Yoga, it has been mostly women that have been doing the exercise.  But now days, if you look into yoga, men are getting into the exercise a lot more than they use to.  “According to “Yoga in America” a study done by Yoga Journal in 2008, "Of the 15.8 million Americans that practice yoga, approximately 72.2% are women and 27.8% are men." Even in 2012, there are still a lot of men that refuse to do yoga, but why is this?  What are the reasons why men are not interested in Yoga?

              It has always been known that women are more flexible than men, this could possibly be because of our different body builds.  However, what most men do not realize, is that anyone can do yoga. In fact there are many positions that are really simple and help with flexibility. There are simple floor poses, poses you can do in your car, then before and after exercising we all stretch, which even the smallest form of stretching is a form of yoga

             “Wimpy Guys” (Yoga journal), would be the thought on men doing yoga, from the view of men that have not done any Yoga, or when trying it for the first time. But what men do not know that some of the men  they are watching in sports are doing Yoga to improve their flexibility and to calm their minds. Even some soldiers are known to do yoga when they are in the combat zone, “The hood of the Humvee turned out to be the best place for continuing my practice while I was embedded with the marines during the 2003 invasion of Iraq” (Mike Cerre, Yoga Journal Article). The wimpy guy feeling may also be coming from the fact that most yoga teachers are women, and most of the time when you walk into a yoga class there are very few men, so this may cause the men to feel like yoga is mainly for girls. But who is to say that girls are wimpy?

              Some men may think there are no physical benefits to doing yoga, that it is just a form of meditation, and they rather do intense exercise in the gym then set foot on a yoga mat. Men do not have to make this their exercise, it can be a simple 10 minutes a day just to see the world in a different light. Some of the physical benefits would be toning of the muscles, weight lose, more relaxed back, which means less pain, also with more flexibility, the more intense work out you can get at a gym; this is because you will be able to push your body further into the workout.

               Men are afraid of the emotional benefits.  This takes us back to where I said before  “Yoga is for wimps”. Men are raised to not get in tuned with their emotions, this is because people around them may think of it being less of a man. What is so wrong with finding who you really are not only emotionally, but spiritually? In Yoga, there are many breathing technices that you can use with or without poses that can calm you and bring you to a happier place. Not only that, but the breathing, and sometimes balancing will also help you focus. With practice of the breathing and balancing, you will learn how to focus on your life more than ever before.

        Some men could be afraid of getting hurt. Their are some men that have tried Yoga, and have been injured badly. I chatted with my friend Stephen about Yoga and on why he does not do it. He told me that he does not want to take the risk of being seriously injured. He also sent me two links to articles about injuries during Yoga.  “Yoga is for people in good physical condition. Or it can be

used therapeutically. It’s controversial to say, but it really should not be used for a general class.”(NY Times)   

        Most men do not want to be in a “speed o.” When most women and men do yoga, they are in tight fitted clothing. The tight fitted clothing may make them feel a little bit insecure, especially if they are not fit. Plus the clothes just look uncomfortable. However, you do not need skin tight stretchy clothing to be a yoga student. All you really need to do Yoga is a yoga mat in the classes, and wear comfortable clothes. Being overweight could also be a big issue with men.  Being overweight could also go along with not wanting to fit into tight clothing, or flexability issues.  

        Maybe there are some that feel that they do not have enough time during the day. What a lot

of people do not realize is that you could do 10 minutes of Yoga a day and still get great results!  There is a 21 Day Challenge (Yoga Journal) that you can take, and a lot of the videos are about 10 minutes each.  
        
           Whatever the reasoning is, if these men do not feel comfortable doing yoga, then it is their choice.  However, I do think that they should do more research into Yoga, find out what the benefits are, and how easy it can be.  Then if they decide not to do it, they can say their reasonings and will be understood.