The Bro Flow: Why Yoga is Great for Men

Yoga was introduced to the West by men (such as Paramahansa Yogananda, Sri Pattabhi Jois, BKS Iyengar, and Yogi Bhajan), yet because our culture tends to equate lower-impact exercise and being in touch with one’s emotions as feminine attributes, yoga is typically written off as a women’s activity.

In fact, however, yoga is simply an ancient form of awakening; not a sport at all, but a life hack that overhauls all areas of one’s life positively.

What if we told you yoga could offer you less pain, more mental clarity, and a more attractive physique? Oh, that’s not even the half of it either.

Alas, the language with which we describe things can often be a deterrent just because of certain misunderstandings about the words themselves. If we speak in more technical terms, the logic side of the brain perks up and asks, “Hey, what’s that?” We know yoga helps reduce stress but it does so so much more.

Can Yoga Make Me More Successful?

A regular yoga practice happens to help you keep your immune system strong, can help regulate your hormones and glands which produce emotions, stress response, and happiness levels. But it also can help you have that vibe that attracts opportunities and even partners.

Besides helping your libido and reducing sick days away from work because you’re able to fight off viruses, yoga can help you become confident and successful because it makes your brain function better.

Can Yoga Make Me a Better Athlete?

Yoga tones your muscles and reduces your risk of injury because it makes the joints more stable and pliable.

Tight hamstrings or ligaments reduce your ability to fall without getting injured but yoga makes you like a cat so you can land with greater body awareness. Yoga helps you be more aware of your body in space so that you can improve your posture, and tune into the times where you need to get up and move positions so you don’t end up with a knot in your neck. It will help you be able to bend, reach and twist without sharp pain or putting your back out.

Restorative yoga is also a favorite of football players, surfers, wrestlers, golfers, snowboarders, and basketball players because it reduces soreness so you can work out more without the extreme soreness. It works to release the fascia which covers the muscles to reduce tension and allow for maximum workout time.

Can Yoga Make Me Better Looking?

This is a fun perk of yoga as well. Besides reaching a state of peace because your chakras are open and you feel all wonderful and calm, you will actually start to look better too!

The ‘yoga glow’ has scientific explanations. Yoga poses emphasize inverting yourself to increase the blood flow to your face and head. This helps to deliver proteins to the scalp and can activate dormant hair follicles to help grow thicker longer hair too. You probably see older yogis with lots of hair on their heads and faces and it can be attributed to the blood flow.

Those same nutrients are delivered to the skin which will be getting blood with fewer toxins and more oxygen. The improved digestion helps eliminate waste from the bloodstream that often builds up when one doesn’t have regular elimination. That’s another reason why you get less brain fog and better memory and clarity as well. The blood supply to your brain increases in content and quality. Yoga can also improve vision!

Can Yoga Improve My Relationships?

Besides better muscle definition, healthier-looking skin and hair growth, it can also help you have more energy and optimism which can help improve the quality of all of your relationships. When you feel good, it sure is easier to get along with other people! Yoga helps you notice your thoughts making you less reactive and more in control of what you say and even how you feel. Being a calm person has many perks including making your company much more enjoyable.

From a spiritual standpoint, you can start to get in touch with yourself on a much deeper level so that you can feel comfortable facing your own behaviours and be able to shed perspectives that are negative to become a more positive person. This personal empowerment and heightened relationship with your own mind can greatly improve your ability to navigate relationships with maturity and wisdom.

Read this next: Beginner’s Guide To Vinyasa Yoga

Get Into the Flow, Bro!

There are so many yoga benefits that it’s no surprise that men (and everyone else) get easily hooked on it. From your health, your personal confidence, your energy, to your overall physical fitness level, yoga really helps you level-up. Many professional athletes swear by yoga and it’s not just a slow stretching class that will be boring either. There are actually 22 main yoga types in the West that have even more offshoots. From heated yoga to goat yoga we are seeing all different social opportunities for people who want to mingle but not necessarily in a loud night club. Is the yoga studio a good place to meet people? Absolutely.

If you want to check out yoga, look for a beginner’s class and try out a few teachers so you get to experience some different teaching styles. Don’t judge yoga by just one class, as some are fast-paced and physically very challenging while others are calm and meditative. You can usually read a class description before signing up for a class. You can also familiarize yourself with some of the poses before attending a class so you aren’t completely new to the terms.

This is certainly a form of fitness men love and find becomes a part of their day they look forward to where they can forget about their problems and reset. Is it therapy, is it fitness, or is it something else? Many people would say, yoga becomes what you need. Yoga can also boost your overall fitness inspiration to feel good enough to try many new types of exercise like rock climbing or acrobatics! It might be a gateway to many other fun forms of exercise.

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