Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal: YogaMan? Why Men CAN'T Do Yoga (video)

Sunday, November 4, 2012

YogaMan? Why Men CAN'T Do Yoga (video)

The Men of Wisdom Quarterly

Paradox: Try less, go further. Don't force it. Use the Force, he-man! (technabob.com)

Why not?

Fun with flexibility (photo-librarian.com)

Men can't do yoga, at least not American men. There are various reasons for this, two of which are most salient. It's too easy, and it's too hard.

Given a Hot Yoga class (or what the Choudhury Corporation tries to appropriate under the exclusive "Bikram" brand name), we rise to the challenge. Now there's something to sink our teeth into! We come to stare at yoga-butts, to see what all the fuss is about, and we end up with mild cases of heat exhaustion. And we wonder how all these women are able to keep going without collapsing.

Baggy yoga pants (aliexpress.com)

We muscle through it, laugh at the off-color commentary (characteristic of so many Bikram franchises), and treat ourselves to rajasic- and tamasic- poisons afterward. We have to do something to undo the cleansing reaction from all that sweating. But given the task of a slow-paced Hatha (Sun-Moon) Yoga class (characteristic of Iyengar), we wither. We're helpless. There's nothing to do!

Give us something to do, something to climb, something to conquer! We can't just stand here listening to some woo-woo gal blithering on and on about proper form. Well, we can't until patience builds, maybe some reserve, and when we finally stop staring/drooling at all the women standing around us in colorful tights and tutus from Lululemon, OMgirl, and Victoria's Secret.

Here's The Secret, Guys

There is an ancient Asian philosophy that goes by the Sanskrit name of sthirasukha. It roughly translates as "hard-easy," "hard-softness," "effort-ease," or "strive-rest." Maybe "force-flex" or "yin-yang" would be catchier. Whatever. Once you understand it, you can come up with your own translation.

The way of the Tao is the path of least resistance. "The Force" is the magical mystery of the universe, the movement of prana (not to be confused with prAna, which only makes for good fashion sense).

Nerds rejoice. Star Wars to the rescue!

To get where you're going you have to resist inertia a little then rest into it. For instance, one makes an effort to breathe then lets go. One makes an effort to stand then stands. One makes an effort to get into a pose then simply rests in it. It's not really rest -- because that would be collapsing -- but rather resting into it, steadying, undoing the tension, releasing excess energy or stress, letting go.

It's all about balanced-effort. We all do well to have open minds...but not so open that our brains fall out. Don't jump unless you have a parachute: Don't try the extreme pose if you haven't built up to it by slow and steady training. That is the quickest route to failure, disappointment, and stopping.

Notice anything? This yoga stuff is more than something practiced in a studio with fancy flooring and ambient music. It's a lesson in how to live: Go easy. Go strong. Relax. Build real or core strength. It derives from ease not force. Supple flexibility is stronger than brittle stiffness.

A woman's strength, a man's balance (uechi)

Softness only seems like weakness -- until we see what yoga women (yoginis) are capable of. And look at the Indian yogis, who are preternaturally strong yet even more flexible than American women. Who cares if we can demolish everybody in the other platoon, hood, squad, barrio, team, or country? If we can't bend, our machismo is only poison to the world. Stretch the heart.