Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!

I will venture to guess that neither your dad nor your husband is celebrating today at a yoga class.

Do men do yoga? I hear this question all the time and it never fails to take me by surprise. Maybe the questioner is actually asking: do REAL men do yoga? Here in the US, yoga is often considered a "woman" thing. Popular yoga classes tend to attract more women with a only a few token guys in the mix.

Don't men also need the stress-reduction and increased flexibility that can be found with yoga? Most yoga teachers will affirm that they design classes for both genders and all abilities.But very few men are walking through the door to participate. The irony is that the ancient body movements and meditative exercises were originally taught by men, for males only. Here is a great article to explore the history. 

I like to remind fitness-minded guys that many professional athletes in every sport are adding yoga to their routine. Interested future-yogis can even find a Broga class in some cities.  Broga offers a system that is more welcoming for the manly types. "Geared for men but open to all" is their motto.




 1. Neck massage: Lean your head toward your left shoulder and use your right hand to massage your right shoulder and side of your neck with a slow, circular motion of your fingers continuing for at least 5 slow, full breaths (inhale and exhale). Repeat with head tilted to the right and using your left hand.

2.Bring both hands behind your neck. Use all your fingers to massage the base of your skull down to your upper back with a slow, circular motion of your fingers continuing for at least 5 slow, full breaths (inhale and exhale).

3. Point and flex ankles: Rest your arms on the chair armrests. On an inhale, flex your right ankle, toes pointing up and heel on floor. Exhale as you lift the heel and point the toes into the floor. Repeat 5 times then switch to left foot.

4. Torso twist: Sit up straight in your chair with hands pressed together at heart center. As you exhale, still with hands pressed together, bring right elbow to rest on the left thigh, turning chest to face the left side of the room. Stay here for 3 breaths then inhale back to sitting up tall. Repeat by bringing left elbow to right thigh and twist to the right this time, again for 3 breaths. 

5. Warrior 1: Slide to the front edge of your seat and turn your body and both knees to the left side with the chair seat supporting the left butt cheek and thigh. The right thigh hangs off the front edge, perpendicular to the floor while the right knee points toward the floor. Slide the right foot back so that the right leg begins to straighten. Turn the foot out so that you can comfortably place it flat on the floor. Keep your upper body sitting tall, resting your left hand on the chair arm support and your right hand on your left thigh.  Keep your torso facing to the left, and if you feel steady on the chair, you can raise your arms up to the ceiling on a inhale. Hold 5 breaths then repeat on right side.

 6. Close your eyes and breathe slowly and calmly for one or two minutes before returning to your day.