6 Reasons Why More Men Need to Do Yoga in 2023

Many of my mates still think it’s weird that I do yoga.

“In the West, we are conditioned to associate yoga with beautiful women contorting their bodies in all sorts of strange ways. But yoga is so much more than that. ”

Yoga has bought incredible value to my life. Every time I step on the mat I know that by the end of the session I will feel calmer, happier, and healthier.

But if you had asked me about yoga for guys a year ago I probably would have been skeptical. As a former bodybuilder who was focused on getting as big as possible, I used to lift heavy weights and paid very little attention to other areas of my health.

My body was constantly banged up. I developed pretty severe tendonitis in my right elbow (known as golfer’s elbow) from the constant stress I was putting on my body from lifting and my knees were constantly aching.

It wasn’t until years later when I discovered yoga that I would start to rebuild my health, both physically, mentally, and spiritually. Yoga is an incredible life-enhancing practice and it’s a shame to see guys discount the practice before they even try it.

So, here are my top six reasons why more men should do yoga in 2021.

There’s No Judgement

Like most guys, I’m naturally competitive. I don’t want to look like a complete noob and make a fool of myself if I don’t have to. This put me off of joining a yoga class for a while.

The truth is, yoga is not a competition. Yoga classes typically feature a range of abilities from noob to yogi master.

Some yogis look as they’ve put in 10,000 hours and others are still learning the basics — just like you.

In yoga, you quickly realise that no one is paying attention to you. Everyone is focused on their own minds and bodies. No one is judging you.

That’s the beautiful thing about yoga. You don’t have to worry about being judged or making a mistake. Everyone is on their own journey.

Yoga classes are packed with people trying to look after themselves in their own way. Good yoga teachers are also able to adapt poses to match different abilities, so you can learn at your own pace.

You’ll be amazed at just how freeing yoga feels once you start the practice. Any anxiety or worries start to slip away once you start to move your body and connect with the breath.

Connect With the Breath

When was the last time you paid attention to your breath? If you’re anything like me, you probably can’t remember.

Many of us live stressful, busy lives, and rush around all day long. This can cause us to breathe faster and inhale shallower than we should be.

Breathing poorly over the course of months and years can leave us with low energy levels, higher heart rates, and increased blood pressure. Not good.

We also need to get enough oxygen to our brains to enhance our cognitive functioning.

Yoga will teach you to breathe again. Not automatic breathing like we’re used to. But deliberate, deep, and nourishing breathing.

In yoga, each poses relies on the breath. If you’re not aware of your breathing, holding poses because incredibly difficult.

By focusing on your breath in yoga, you’ll not only improve your practice but also increase your stamina and vitality. You might even need less coffee to get through the day!

Challenge Your Fitness Beliefs

When you think of yoga, the first thing you think of is probably a class full of women. Well, that’s totally true. According to the latest Yoga America study, about 82% of all yoga practitioners are women.

I’ve trained with some awesome women before, but yoga really challenged my beliefs around fitness. I always thought that being strong meant being big and muscular.

Yoga showed me just how wrong I was. I remember in one of my first yoga classes at YOGALAB in Fremantle, Western Australia, I saw a skinny woman aged in her late 70’s performing an effortless headstand. I almost freaked out.

I had always thought of myself as fit. But after watching women hold difficult asanas with ease while I was shaking just holding a downward dog really humbled me.

Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

I know a lot of guys who go to the gym and do the same routine over and over again for years on end. I know I’ve fallen into this trap before.

We tend to stick to exercises or routines that are easy for us. (My go-to exercises was always the bench press). But it’s impossible to grow as people if we are constantly living in our comfort zones.

Every yoga class can provide a new challenge to your mind and body. If certain classes or poses feel uncomfortable, that’s good! It means you’re growing and improving.

I know that a lot of guys shy away from yoga because they feel like they’re not flexible enough. I say: “so what?!”. You can improve your flexibility over time, in a similar way to building muscle in the gym — through progressive overload.

Improve Your Mental Health

Men are far more likely to commit suicide than women. This is something you probably won’t see covered in the media too often. Anxiety and depression are very real conditions that are made even worst for men due to our tendency to ignore our emotions.

Unfortunately, there is still a strong stigma around showing weakness. Since yoga is so popular among women, it is still perceived as “feminine” by many guys out there.

But as men we have a duty look after ourselves. And if that means practicing yoga, we should do it.

There’s a huge body of research out there showing that yoga can reduce stress and anxiety, and contribute to improved mood and wellbeing. Personally, yoga is a way for me to disconnect from the stressors of daily life and check in with my mind and body.

Improve Your Flexibility

Flexibility is likely the first benefit that jumps to mind when you think of yoga. But it’s so much more than simply touching your toes or performing the splits.

Flexibility is crucial to developing proper posture and avoiding nagging aches and pains.

At some point in recent history, humans forgot how to sit properly. Many of us have developed a poor posture from sitting incorrectly and spending too much time on our devices.

Try sitting properly now.

Is your back straight? Are your shoulders pulled down and back? Are both your feet flat on the floor?

If you answered yes, awesome! But a quick look around any office will quickly show you are an exception. Poor posture places excess pressure all over the body. This can cause a number of problems far beyond aches and pains.

Our ancient ancestors used to be able to hold a deep squat for hours on end. In the West, many of us can’t even hold a deep squat for more than a few seconds if that. Sitting in chairs has shortened our ankle flexors, a problem common in sedentary cultures like in the West.

Having good flexibility is great for posture and injury prevention. By having a wider range of motion in your joints you’ll be less likely to overextend and cause an injury,

Yoga will help you increase your flexibility, leading to improved posture and less chance of injury.