If you visit any yoga center today you might notice that the majority of the students are women. Also there are particular yoga classes for women like prenatal yoga, weight loss yoga, yoga for fertility, etc. Buy have you ever seen any special classes for men? Does it mean that yoga has become a ‘women’s practice’?
It’s interesting, that in the ancient times yoga was mainly practiced by men because yogis often lived in severe conditions like Himalayas and did various austerities not always suitable for fair sex.
Today women prefer yoga due to its gentle but effective influence on their bodies; yoga helps to lose weight and get into shape, improves blood circulation, makes the body more flexible and gives you much more energy. But the point is that the benefits are the same for women and men! Because of the majority of female yoga students today, men may think that yoga is not so much suitable for them but this thinking is wrong. Yoga can offer lots of benefits for man’s health, bring peace to the mind, increase the sense of satisfaction from life and help become more self confident and successful. Yoga is equally good for men and women. This is a universal practice.
The Benefits of Yoga for Men
What can yoga give you?
More strength; yoga won’t work overnight, but the strength you get will last.- You’ll become more flexible. You don’t think it is important? It is. More flexibility means your body has more energy and becomes healthier and looks younger.
- Sexual health – if you ever had any problems of such kind, yoga will eliminate them; if you think you are fine, after practicing yoga regularly, you will understand that you were wrong! 🙂 After doing yoga your sexual health will be much better than ever.
- No more stress! Yoga will not only relieve your stress but also protects you from its future occurrences.
- Excess weight? Although some people say that yoga don’t burn enough calories to promote weight loss, they often forget that having a normal weight closely connected with your bodily balance. Being overweight means there is something wrong with your body; it is not a normal condition. Well, yoga makes it normal, and you lose weight.
There are many more benefits yoga can grant you, but I guess, those mentioned here makes it a decent cause to start doing it, right?
What Is the Difference between Female and Male Yoga Practices?
Ah, well, not so much difference, actually; in female yoga the whole process is usually gentler, and in the male yoga there are more dynamic and power poses to increase strength. I would say this is the main difference. Even those asanas that are taught to help for pregnancy or fertility have the same positive effect on men’s sexual health and potency. Take such practices as ashwini mudra or mula bandha, for example; they are advised for women to increase the chances of getting pregnant or for an easier delivery, but at the same time, they stimulate the function of muladhara chakra and the abdominal organs that, of course, improves the health of these area not in women but in men also. These two practices are known as a part of the program to treat potency and the associated problems through yoga. So you can see that essentially yoga is equally beneficial for both men and women.
The Example of a Yoga Sequence for Men
I’m sure you want something practical right now. Well, of course, it is always better to find a good yoga teacher, but if you can’t, you can successfully do yoga at home, just find the right source of knowledge.
When you begin your practice you need to warm up your body. Do the complex of Surya Namaskar for that purpose. It helps to stretch the back and legs, wakes your body up, give you the active energy of the Sun (Surya means ‘Sun’ in Sanskrit).
After Surya Namaskar you can do poses to open the pelvis, such as Utthita Trikonasana, Utthita Parsvakonasana, Ardha Chandrasana, Virabhadrasana I, Virabhadrasana II, Virabhadrasana III, Vrikshasana, Upavishtha Konasana, Padmasana, and Baddha Konasana. These poses promote health of abdominal organs and improve potency.
Forward bends: Adho Mukha Svanasana, Uttanasana, Paschimottanasana, Janu Sirsasana. These asanas relax your body, remove unwanted thoughts, and let your brain rest.
Inverted poses: Salamba Sarvangasana, Halasana, Salamba Sirsasana – they increase the metabolism, prevent excessive weight gain and obesity, rejuvenate the brain cells, fight aging signs (such as wrinkles and gray hair).
Backbends: Dhanurasana, Salabhasana, Urdhva Mukha Svanasana – stretch the spine, bringing back its flexibility and toning the abdominal organs (stomach, intestine and spleen).
As you can see yoga at home for men is very possible and pretty effective. Even if you are a complete beginner, you can start your practice today and enjoy its positive results soon afterwards.