Guys doing yoga

InchicoreDude · 16-04-2013 10:35am #1

I am interested in taking up yoga. However, I see it is very much perceived as a female activity. This makes me somewhat apprehensive about joining up.

Have any guys on here gone to yoga classes? If so, how do they find it?

syklops · 16-04-2013 10:38am

InchicoreDude wrote: »

I am interested in taking up yoga. However, I see it is very much perceived as a female activity. This makes me somewhat apprehensive about joining up.

Have any guys on here gone to yoga classes? If so, how do they find it?

Yeah I've been to a few. No problem. The class I went to, there was one other guy at it, but all the woman were very friendly.

bonzo_k · 16-04-2013 11:51am

I have been to many classes over the years and most of them had no males. It never bothered me.

If you are interested in trying yoga I wouldn't let that stand in your way.

rainbow kirby · 16-04-2013 12:14pm

Plenty of guys in my Wednesday evening ashtanga class, instructor is male too.

Namaste1 · 17-04-2013 11:44am

The only class that i teach that has no men is the pregnancy class!! Definitely becoming more popular with men in the past few years in my experience.

manarocket · 17-04-2013 3:10pm

I play football at a decent level in the leinster senior league. I am 38 and had a lot of injuries a couple of seasons ago, and had to stop playing for a few months. I started doing yoga while I wasn't playing or training, I started playing again this season but only train once a week with the team, I do Yoga twice a week and some gym work another night. I'm not as quick as I used to be but i am leaner and fitter than I have ever been and I put it down to the Yoga I cant reccomend it enough.

burrenyoga · 18-04-2013 7:37am

There are many well known men who practice yoga including Ryan Giggs & Roy Keane.

There are also many forms of yoga available these days, so it is probably well worth reading about the different types, and choose one that focuses on the aspects that are attracting you towards practising yoga.

These 'forms of yoga' are quite different from each other.

There is an overview article about the different types at
http://www.burrenyoga.com/different-types-of-yoga/

And if the particular yoga class you try out does not appeal to you.... it is worth noting that is may be "this form of yoga or this teacher does not suit me"..... rather than making the mistake "yoga does not suit me".

The range of different types of yoga available these days can be very confusing. It is worth seeking out a good qualified teacher rather than just going to the class that happens to be closer to you. The quality of yoga teaching is also very varied, and your whole experience and what you learn will be very much influenced on hopefully the wide experience of the yoga teacher you find who is familiar with meditation, pranayama, mudhras, mind focussing techniques, yoga nidra and many more practices as well as simply yoga asana (postures). Unfortunately if you go to one of the type of 'fitness yoga' classes with a teacher who may only be familiar with the asana part of yoga, you may miss out on the real gems of the practice.

It is worth doing a little more research on the 'types of yoga' out there, and asking a good range of people on who they reckon is a good qualified teacher with a wide breath of experience.

I wish you well with your practice.

Dave

bsb1971 · 18-04-2013 4:23pm

I do yoga, have been at it three months now, find it very good. I'm the only fella in the class but find no problem, if anything i get more slagging from the instructor for being the only fella!

steve_r · 18-04-2013 4:28pm

I do yoga semi occasionally in Rathmines, classes would be about 33% male on average.

Would recomend it a lot, it's a good workout and it clears the head.

pc11 · 23-04-2013 1:39pm

Don't worry about it, it can feel a little odd, but that passes quickly.

I was actually in a drop-in class a few months back that had more men than women, unusually!

jinxremoving · 25-04-2013 3:27pm

i have noticed that bikram tends to be 50/50 male female. there is always a couple of guys in most of my other yoga classes, maybe 2 out of 12 or so. once you get started in the class, no one would bat an eyelid! worth trying

weemcd · 26-04-2013 1:24am

there will be more women than men usually, but if you are really concentrating and improving, you really won't care being the only man there after the first couple of classes

tunguska · 27-04-2013 12:30pm

InchicoreDude wrote: »

I am interested in taking up yoga. However, I see it is very much perceived as a female activity. This makes me somewhat apprehensive about joining up.

Have any guys on here gone to yoga classes? If so, how do they find it?

Most yoga teachers are actually men but I do see where youre coming from. I dont know how yoga came to be seen as something that women do and men dont but thats definitely changing. In the class I go to, out of 20 people about 8 of us are blokes. Sometimes the men outnumber the women. And any time I do a class lads come up to me afterwards asking about it, they wanna try it but theyre afraid of not being flexible enough, like they'd be out of their depth or something.
I think you gotta just put the blinkers on and do the class if you wanna do it regadless of how many women are in it or not, I mean thats essentially allowing what you think others are thinking to dictate your actions. And thats no way to live. Even if theres 19 women and you, so what? Just get stuck in and push yourself, then afterwards go flirt with the hottest chick in the class. Win/win.

Pythia · 06-07-2013 11:07am

tunguska wrote: »

then afterwards go flirt with the hottest chick in the class. Win/win.

I'm certainly not the 'hottest chick in the class' but I would really not like someone trying to chat me up in a yoga class. People are there for the class and I wouldn't think they would be happy if men are using it as a pick up opportunity. It makes it awkward for future classes too.

tunguska · 09-07-2013 10:55am

Pythia wrote: »

I'm certainly not the 'hottest chick in the class' but I would really not like someone trying to chat me up in a yoga class. People are there for the class and I wouldn't think they would be happy if men are using it as a pick up opportunity. It makes it awkward for future classes too.

I never said anything about "chatting up" or men going into a class just to score. You're jumping to conclusions there. I said "flirt" and theres nothing wrong with a bit of harmless flirting at the end of a class.

Chucky the tree · 13-07-2013 7:13pm

Very few men in the class I do, doesn't bother me though. Also I wouldn't go flirting with anyone after class, you'll definitely just look like a bit of a pervert who's only going there to pick up women.

tunguska · 16-07-2013 11:19am

Chucky the tree wrote: »

Very few men in the class I do, doesn't bother me though. Also I wouldn't go flirting with anyone after class, you'll definitely just look like a bit of a pervert who's only going there to pick up women.

But you're equating flirting with being a pervert. So by that logic anybody who flirts with the opposite sex is a perv? Seriously? C'mon......flirting is fun, lite and harmless. Its not about innuendo or sleazy lines, its about having fun and not being so formal, serious and buisness like around the opposite sex. And who cares what "you look like", thats called mind reading. If you imagine people are thinking you're a pervert for flirting with somebody then that says more about you and the way you judge and think than it does about what other people actually think.

garbanzo · 21-08-2013 9:23pm

If you are interested in trying yoga don't let that stand in your way. Am just back from a Hot Yoga class in Dundrum. 75% : 25% female to male. The only problem I find is trying not to fart while I'm in there.

druidstone · 21-08-2013 9:27pm

Just go for it! My brother loves yoga (in Australia) and its very common there for guys to do yoga. He does the bickram yoga i dont know what the difference is but he loves that kind of yoga. There are different kinds of yoga. In India there is a 30 minute yoga class on tv at 5:30pm every night, its the most popular tv show there!

07-01-2014 5:01pm

Apologies for bringing this old thread back to life, but I am also a male who is considering taking up Yoga classes and am a little apprehensive about it.

I do a lot of running but have struggled with injuries over the last few years so my coach has recommended that I look into Yoga as one part of a solution to my injury problems.

I was wondering if there is any one type of Yoga that might suit a sports person more than another? My issue is that I am quite inflexible and as a result disinclined to stretch properly and consequently get injured frequently.

Also, does anyone know of any beginner classes in the Inchicore/Kilmainham area of Dublin?

Thanks in advance.

weemcd · 07-01-2014 5:22pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Apologies for bringing this old thread back to life, but I am also a male who is considering taking up Yoga classes and am a little apprehensive about it.

I do a lot of running but have struggled with injuries over the last few years so my coach has recommended that I look into Yoga as one part of a solution to my injury problems.

I was wondering if there is any one type of Yoga that might suit a sports person more than another? My issue is that I am quite inflexible and as a result disinclined to stretch properly and consequently get injured frequently.

Also, does anyone know of any beginner classes in the Inchicore/Kilmainham area of Dublin?

Thanks in advance.

If you have the chance look at a few youtube yoga guides and try yourself a few times before you go to a class. That way you will have a basic idea bout some of the poses you will be trying. Practice holding for at 30 seconds to a minute if you can. When you go to a class, as long as the instructor is good, they should give you small corrections of posture as you go. Going to a class will give you variety and bring you on much more than just looking at videos.

This will really help with your balance and flexibility. Don't go too hard to begin with, there is a nice "deep burn" with good yoga, but not to the point of sharp pain, if you feel a sharp pain at any time stop and try to adjust or move onto something different. Try to pick a spot on the floor or the wall to focus at when holding a pose, helps with the balance and if you start looking around this makes it more difficult to focus.

I can't tell you the difference between all the different types of yoga, someone here would be more qualified, but the basics will be the same for most yoga and pilates classes, stable core is key.

Practice bending down to touch your toes, try to roll from the shoulder down, exhale as you do so. Also try to stand up straight, one arm at a time and rotate from your shoulder, arm stretched out straight in circles, go both directions and focus on keeping your core flat. Lie on your back and hug your knees into your chest. - These are simple ways to stretch without much pressure on your joints.

Good luck, can't recommend it enough. I am sure it will help your flexibility.

08-01-2014 6:21pm

Thanks weemcd, that's some great advice. I'll certainly have a look at some videos before I jump in as I don't want to fork out cash and find out I don't actually like it.

I have an innate dislike of stretching, which should make the whole thing very interesting, but I'm determined to do something about my injuries and Yoga seems like it could be part of the solution. Not sure I could handle another physio or sports therapist telling me they've seen more flexible lumps of wood!

I've just seen that there's a class starting in my area on Jan 20, so if the few bits I do at home first work out then I will sign up.

Ash.J.Williams · 08-01-2014 6:24pm

InchicoreDude wrote: »

I am interested in taking up yoga. However, I see it is very much perceived as a female activity. This makes me somewhat apprehensive about joining up.

Have any guys on here gone to yoga classes? If so, how do they find it?

yeah grand...what's the problem with having lots of women around.

tunguska · 08-01-2014 6:25pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Thanks weemcd, that's some great advice. I'll certainly have a look at some videos before I jump in as I don't want to fork out cash and find out I don't actually like it.

I have an innate dislike of stretching, which should make the whole thing very interesting, but I'm determined to do something about my injuries and Yoga seems like it could be part of the solution. Not sure I could handle another physio or sports therapist telling me they've seen more flexible lumps of wood!

I've just seen that there's a class starting in my area on Jan 20, so if the few bits I do at home first work out then I will sign up.

Just give it a go, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Im a runner and honestly since I started yoga(ashtanga)Im injury free and never felt better. Yoga works like magic, you go into the class feeling tired and stiff and come out feeling amazing and full of energy. Like I said, just go for it.

Guys doing yoga

Comments