Tuff Dudes and Yoga

By Erin Althea

This morning, Alli and I taught our first class at the Court House Place Apartments. In class, there were 4 men, all of whom were adorably inflexible. I say adorably because all 4 of them went into each pose with earnest effort, but were so off the model of a "perfect" expression of the pose, we couldn't help but smile.

As I talked one of them through down dog he whispered to me: "I just finished a triathlon and this is so much harder!" Now, if I attempted a triathlon, I would either overexert myself to the point of injury, pass out from lack of oxygen or get committed to a mental institution by my loved ones because I've been very clear about my hatred of running, fear of biking and ambivalence to swimming. To hear that yoga was harder than this impossible-seeming feat was an eye-opener for me.

Basic poses, when your body isn't used to stretching consistently after exercise and you exercise consistently, can be incredibly difficult. A man that can bench press 200lbs may have trouble holding downward-facing dog because his shoulders are so tightly bound.  Reaching the ground on a forward fold may seem as difficult as climbing Everest. But doing these stretches, these asanas, will not only help the body recover from such rigorous exercise, they'll improve your performance. Yoga helps you focus on your alignment in all movements, build the core muscles that keep you safe when you exercise and get in touch with your breath, the wind that powers our bodies through every form of exercise.

Dudes never like to be the "worst" person in the room, and it's easy to think that the most flexible person is the best. That's a trap. The "best" yogi is the one that gets some benefit every time they reach the mat, the one that is constantly finding and redefining their edge or, to put it simply, the one that is struggling with the poses. And, let me tell you, those 4 guys in class today were struggling.

That's why Alli and I were smiling: they were doing it right. After class, the 2 of us talked about how wonderful class was, and who we were most hoping to see come back next week. We had the same answer: the triathlete who can't touch his toes.

Check out what other people have to say about the benefits of yoga for: bikers, runners, and cross-fittters.

xo,
KCZ