In my classes there has always been a balance of men and women. I tend to be very hands on and keep things lite and playful while at the same time very focused. I have noticed that men tend to sweat a lot more especially when they are new to yoga. That could be one reason maybe they feel uncomfortable sweating so much in mixed company.  The men who have been in my class seem a lot harder on themselves when they feel they aren't measuring up and I address that too. To me this is the mind part of yoga - facing the thoughts that come up - the good the bad and the ugly. They are all welcome. Two other situations a bit more rare but I would imagine a bit of a concern for some is that in savasana men tend to snore and the other is when most of their body is lying down and only a part is standing up I can imagine those would be other reasons that if I were a guy I would tend to feel less relaxed and maybe a bit self-conscious instead. But I don't know. What do you all feel when those things happen? As an instructor my efforts are always to create a feeling of a safe place where you can accept  whatever is happening. Maybe that is why most of my guys come back to my class.  But men who have never been don't know this is the case. Most people don't realize how taken care of and how non-judgemental a good class can be!

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On Mar 30, 2008 12:47:21 PM opensecret wrote:

In my classes there has always been a balance of men and women. I tend to be very hands on and keep things lite and playful while at the same time very focused. I have noticed that men tend to sweat a lot more especially when they are new to yoga. That could be one reason maybe they feel uncomfortable sweating so much in mixed company. The men who have been in my class seem a lot harder on themselves when they feel they aren't measuring up and I address that too. To me this is the mind part of yoga - facing the thoughts that come up - the good the bad and the ugly. They are all welcome. Two other situations a bit more rare but I would imagine a bit of a concern for some is that in savasana men tend to snore and the other is when most of their body is lying down and only a part is standing up I can imagine those would be other reasons that if I were a guy I would tend to feel less relaxed and maybe a bit self-conscious instead. But I don't know. What do you all feel when those things happen? As an instructor my efforts are always to create a feeling of a safe place where you can accept whatever is happening. Maybe that is why most of my guys come back to my class. But men who have never been don't know this is the case. Most people don't realize how taken care of and how non-judgemental a good class can be!

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i have been in several yoga classes at different studios and the YMCA... and women tended to outnumber the men about 3 to 1......

also men tended to be less flexible even after doing yoga for about the same length of time as the women....  (i am talking some of these people have been doing yoga consistently for five years) but the class i was in was mostly seniors at the Y.... at other studios i didn't notice the men having lesser flexibility as much....

women can be very competitive too you know... at least i know i judge myself.. especially in the senior class when almost everyone can touch there toes in forward bends whereas i have  very tight hamstrings and calves and have ever since a back injury a few years ago....  unfortunately i already had a "bad back" when i came to yoga....and i just made it worse that day by doing a lot of forward bends and one intense backbend... the next day i couldn't walk or touch my toes anymore... the doctor said my hamstrings were tight.... it was like something pulled my whole system.... i have to baby my back before yoga doing a lot of cat cows....rolling on my back and doing side twists on my back.... otherwise the forward bends will still cause me great back problems....  i have learned to listen to my body... now i need to learn some compassion and patience with my body...

good luck to you and your yoga practice!

jamesgirl

I can only reply on behalf of my caveman husband that "its girly, moving like that and holding poses. Where's the boxing gloves and weight benches, that's what I want"

<sigh>

He actually used to be into martial arts and meditation...maybe he got hit too hard in boxing one time and that got wiped out of his memory. On the rare occasion that I've gotten him to try Kundalini Yoga with me here at home, which I thought was pretty darn easy, he complains the whole time he's trying to do it, he's huffing and puffing, has bad form, can't hold any of the poses for more than 2 seconds and frankly, he's a little embarrassed because of it. He wants to be able to do something good and do it good quickly.

Heather~Soapwood

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He wants to be able to do something good and do it good quickly.

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Oh yeah, you guys got something in common there all right!

I think it's great that you can climb! To be honest, that was never a strong point for me, having strength in my arms for something other than lifting. Now, that being said, I did always win the rope climb in elementary school where we had to climb the rope that was attached to the ceiling. But as for push-ups and pull-ups and things of that sort, I could barely get a couple in.

One thing I learned doing Kundalini yoga...smile when it gets hard. It completely lifts your thoughts. I also look at things now like a complete learning experience, from start to whenever I finish. If I finish before I wanted to, there's always next time and at least I made an effort today to try. My goal for myself is to just try and to get as far as I can, that way I hardly ever disappoint myself ;o)