so the irony of this class is that yoga, a mind/body science and philosophy, was created for and by men. for at least five thousand years until recently, yoga was practiced, philosophized, and propagated mainly by men. one quick glance at the nation’s top yoga teachers, and you’ll find mostly men.
these men, of course, are teaching mostly women. there are lots of reasons for this social imbalance (post your thoughts about it here!), but for several years i’ve waited for DC to be ready for a yoga community, dominated by women, to offer a class only for guys.
this class at boundless, taught by one of our beloved (male) teachers, chaka, is mondays at 730 pm.
the fears most men have regarding yoga is that a) they aren’t flexible enough, b) they won’t be able to “best” the class in the same way they do weights at the gym, and c) they won’t get a good enough workout.
yoga is not exercise, so men, exercise elsewhere and then come to yoga. yoga is such a holistic approach to the body that it is the best cross-training series of movements you’ll find anyhwere. you’ll learn about your innate flexbilities, even though most of your forward folds will feel horrible in the beginning. you’ll learn about using your natural strength appropriately, instead of from a place of imbalance. you’ll learn why your neck and back are so tight–and, more important, how to unwind that repetitively-built-in tension, letting it go once and for all.
finally, your partners (whether men or women), will love you more for it.
i’m serious.
filed under: the boundless perspective, more on yoga, specific classes
This entry was posted on Friday, January 26th, 2007 at 10:49 am and is filed under the boundless perspective, more on yoga, specific classes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.