Yoga and Flexibility

Yoga is many things to different people. For some it is just an exercise class for others it is a way of life.  There is yoga for children, toddlers, disabled and seniors; it is always great to see more and more men attending classes.  For some reason yoga has been seen as a women’s exercise when some of the greatest teachers of yoga especially in the transition from East to west were men.

Men can benefit a lot from yoga because what most other exercises lack is the promotion of flexibility.   Flexibility is essential for all humans to protect their muscles and joints, promote great range and ease of motion.  Mixed classes have a great dynamic and it is great to see some of the body builders realize how difficult some poses can be and the ultimate importance of having flexibility and STRENGTH.

Many people are shocked when they first start doing yoga at how inflexible they are in some aspect of their body’s movement, we sometimes if we have done exercise in the past imagine that we can still touch our toes or do the splits, if we did them in the past.  It is a bit like finding that your car that did do 60 miles an hour can now only do 30, it makes you think, I need to take more care of my body so that my body will continue to take care of me.  Yoga to me is a way to check in with my body and get feedback, how are my arms and hips doing today, I am more aware and that is a good thing.

Like a car we can start taking our body for granted and instead of a big illness being a wake up call I would rather have had a warning sooner.  Although it is great to get positive feedback from your body, everything is great today as we relax into our favorite and more challenging postures.

Donna Houston