High Priestess Lydia Coventina
High Priestess
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2017
- Messages
- 6,000
This post is for our dear Brothers here 
1. Why is Yoga important for men specifically?
A few good reasons for men to do yoga: it helps improve your glands and hormone production, including testosterone. Yoga improves blood flow and removes energetic blockages, thus alleviating or preventing erectile dysfunction. And a main reason why many people begin yoga is to alleviate back pain.
A regular yoga practice also has the benefits of helping improve your reactions in situations that might be triggering in some way. There are yoga teachers helping prison inmates, they believe yoga will help prevent them from being re-offenders. Yoga will help you tune into your mind and body better in stressful situations, preventing potentially violent reactions which can have damaging consequences.
2. Strength? Competition?
A lot of men think yoga is only about flexibility. Yoga is actually a balance of strength and flexibility. Where women have the advantage with flexibility, they have the disadvantage with strength. Men in general have more strength and stability for many poses. Don’t feel intimidated by yoga if you are lacking flexibility. In time your range of motion will increase, which will greatly improve your overall physicality.
And regarding range of motion: certain poses in their fullest expression simply aren’t available for everyone. This is due to your unique anatomy. For example, raising your arms straight upwards, for some people there are the acronium bones that stick out of your shoulder blades and prevent your humerus from doing a full circle. Some people have larger acroniums, some people have small acroniums. Nothing can “fix” this, it’s just how your unique skeletal system was formed and should not be stressed about. You can adapt by keeping your arms farther away from your ears, or externally rotating your arms for certain movement and asanas, then perhaps internally rotate your forearms (depending on the pose; this is just an example).
Men also tend to see things in terms of competition. You need to learn to leave this aside when it comes to yoga, which is about harmonizing your mind, soul, and body. Keep competition for sports and exercise, not yoga. With yoga, focus on your breath; slow down the breath, and your thoughts will slow down. Yoga is about the journey and the here and now, not about the final goal and trying to force yourself into each pose.
Another question I see: people are often told that they have to do either yoga or strength-training, not both. This is false. Yoga will complement your physical exercise. You can do yoga right after exercise, or leave some time between them, whichever works best for you.
Also regarding strength: there are a lot of men who are strong and muscular, but cannot do certain asanas requiring strength as well as female practitioners or hold the pose for as long, because the men don’t have the specific strength that many asanas require. Don’t feel insecure about this, just keep at it and you will develop this strength over the months. Strength is not just about how much weight you can lift. A lot of men report being shocked by how challenging yoga can be.
3. What type of Yoga to do?
For what type of yoga to do, start with Hatha, especially for spiritual advancement. Power yoga, hot yoga, all those are trends, mainly for fitness rather than for the spiritual benefits.
The more spiritual forms of Yoga are Hatha, Hatha-Vinyasa, Yin, Restorative; you can combine these, try them and see what you need the most. Restorative is especially good for if you have done a lot of strength training that day or the previous day. Yin yoga should only be done a few times a week as it deeply works on the fascia (connective tissue), the other types can be done daily. [I will write more posts about each type of Yoga, coming soon.]
4. It's too confusing!
If you are completely new to yoga, or still feeling lost, you can pay for one hour-long private session where you can receive one-on-one guidance. This can be expensive (around $100 USD, prices will vary depending on your country), but is well worth the cost if you can comfortably afford it. The advice given to you will then help you as you continue yoga at home or in studio classes. Ask the teacher any questions you have, they have heard them all before and can provide answers.
If this is not an option for you, you can attend a studio class and ask them questions after the class, or even during class (this is usually permissible). You can look for free yoga classes, or ones that have a small donation amount such as $5 for a class.
And if you do attend a studio class, attend the one for your level. A lot of beginners want to go to advanced classes, especially men who think it means more strength training. Advanced classes are for people who know yoga. If you are a beginner, attend a beginners class where they welcome all questions and give more instructions.
If you cannot attend a studio class, look up instructional videos online for how to do poses, including the transition into and out of each pose. The transitions are where injuries are more likely to happen, so knowing how to safely enter and exit a pose is crucial.
5. How often and how long to do yoga?
You can start with 3 times a week, 5-15 minutes each time. Ideally daily, this is better for stabilizing your energy.
If you over-trained one day and absolutely cannot do yoga for a day, you can compensate by doing more pranayama; look into Restorative yoga too, this uses zero stretch and strength, and is all about rest and restoration, but requires props such as multiple pillows, bolsters, perhaps even yoga blocks. You can use couch cushions and folded blankets.
6. Other concerns...
Some questions that I’ve been asked over the years, that directly relate to potentially embarrassing male-related issues. I’ll address these matter-of-factually:
For some poses, yes certain bodyparts will move around. Such as inversions, where your body goes upside down. To solve this, you can wear something like bicycle shorts that give support, and then regular shorts or jogging pants over those if you want. There are also specific yoga leggings for men, I know a lot of men don’t feel comfortable wearing leggings, but you can wear looser shorts or pants over those.
For certain other poses, such as Dhanurasana (bow), if you are lying on your genitals you might feel inclined to tip to the side. Instead, looking at proper alignment of the pose, you should lean forward more onto your solar point, and lift your pelvis up.
Further reading:
Starting Yoga (for Beginners)
Yoga for Balance (Grounding, Calm, or Energy)
“Correct” Yoga Alignment – Equal Balance of Strength and Flexibility
All Yoga Posts
If you have any other questions, please ask them and I will edit this post to include them. You can privately DM me if you want your question to be anonymous to others.
1. Why is Yoga important for men specifically?
A few good reasons for men to do yoga: it helps improve your glands and hormone production, including testosterone. Yoga improves blood flow and removes energetic blockages, thus alleviating or preventing erectile dysfunction. And a main reason why many people begin yoga is to alleviate back pain.
A regular yoga practice also has the benefits of helping improve your reactions in situations that might be triggering in some way. There are yoga teachers helping prison inmates, they believe yoga will help prevent them from being re-offenders. Yoga will help you tune into your mind and body better in stressful situations, preventing potentially violent reactions which can have damaging consequences.
2. Strength? Competition?
A lot of men think yoga is only about flexibility. Yoga is actually a balance of strength and flexibility. Where women have the advantage with flexibility, they have the disadvantage with strength. Men in general have more strength and stability for many poses. Don’t feel intimidated by yoga if you are lacking flexibility. In time your range of motion will increase, which will greatly improve your overall physicality.
And regarding range of motion: certain poses in their fullest expression simply aren’t available for everyone. This is due to your unique anatomy. For example, raising your arms straight upwards, for some people there are the acronium bones that stick out of your shoulder blades and prevent your humerus from doing a full circle. Some people have larger acroniums, some people have small acroniums. Nothing can “fix” this, it’s just how your unique skeletal system was formed and should not be stressed about. You can adapt by keeping your arms farther away from your ears, or externally rotating your arms for certain movement and asanas, then perhaps internally rotate your forearms (depending on the pose; this is just an example).
Men also tend to see things in terms of competition. You need to learn to leave this aside when it comes to yoga, which is about harmonizing your mind, soul, and body. Keep competition for sports and exercise, not yoga. With yoga, focus on your breath; slow down the breath, and your thoughts will slow down. Yoga is about the journey and the here and now, not about the final goal and trying to force yourself into each pose.
Another question I see: people are often told that they have to do either yoga or strength-training, not both. This is false. Yoga will complement your physical exercise. You can do yoga right after exercise, or leave some time between them, whichever works best for you.
Also regarding strength: there are a lot of men who are strong and muscular, but cannot do certain asanas requiring strength as well as female practitioners or hold the pose for as long, because the men don’t have the specific strength that many asanas require. Don’t feel insecure about this, just keep at it and you will develop this strength over the months. Strength is not just about how much weight you can lift. A lot of men report being shocked by how challenging yoga can be.
3. What type of Yoga to do?
For what type of yoga to do, start with Hatha, especially for spiritual advancement. Power yoga, hot yoga, all those are trends, mainly for fitness rather than for the spiritual benefits.
The more spiritual forms of Yoga are Hatha, Hatha-Vinyasa, Yin, Restorative; you can combine these, try them and see what you need the most. Restorative is especially good for if you have done a lot of strength training that day or the previous day. Yin yoga should only be done a few times a week as it deeply works on the fascia (connective tissue), the other types can be done daily. [I will write more posts about each type of Yoga, coming soon.]
4. It's too confusing!
If you are completely new to yoga, or still feeling lost, you can pay for one hour-long private session where you can receive one-on-one guidance. This can be expensive (around $100 USD, prices will vary depending on your country), but is well worth the cost if you can comfortably afford it. The advice given to you will then help you as you continue yoga at home or in studio classes. Ask the teacher any questions you have, they have heard them all before and can provide answers.
If this is not an option for you, you can attend a studio class and ask them questions after the class, or even during class (this is usually permissible). You can look for free yoga classes, or ones that have a small donation amount such as $5 for a class.
And if you do attend a studio class, attend the one for your level. A lot of beginners want to go to advanced classes, especially men who think it means more strength training. Advanced classes are for people who know yoga. If you are a beginner, attend a beginners class where they welcome all questions and give more instructions.
If you cannot attend a studio class, look up instructional videos online for how to do poses, including the transition into and out of each pose. The transitions are where injuries are more likely to happen, so knowing how to safely enter and exit a pose is crucial.
5. How often and how long to do yoga?
You can start with 3 times a week, 5-15 minutes each time. Ideally daily, this is better for stabilizing your energy.
If you over-trained one day and absolutely cannot do yoga for a day, you can compensate by doing more pranayama; look into Restorative yoga too, this uses zero stretch and strength, and is all about rest and restoration, but requires props such as multiple pillows, bolsters, perhaps even yoga blocks. You can use couch cushions and folded blankets.
6. Other concerns...
Some questions that I’ve been asked over the years, that directly relate to potentially embarrassing male-related issues. I’ll address these matter-of-factually:
For some poses, yes certain bodyparts will move around. Such as inversions, where your body goes upside down. To solve this, you can wear something like bicycle shorts that give support, and then regular shorts or jogging pants over those if you want. There are also specific yoga leggings for men, I know a lot of men don’t feel comfortable wearing leggings, but you can wear looser shorts or pants over those.
For certain other poses, such as Dhanurasana (bow), if you are lying on your genitals you might feel inclined to tip to the side. Instead, looking at proper alignment of the pose, you should lean forward more onto your solar point, and lift your pelvis up.
Further reading:
Starting Yoga (for Beginners)
Yoga for Balance (Grounding, Calm, or Energy)
“Correct” Yoga Alignment – Equal Balance of Strength and Flexibility
All Yoga Posts
If you have any other questions, please ask them and I will edit this post to include them. You can privately DM me if you want your question to be anonymous to others.
Last edited:
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