WHY YOGA IS DOMINATED BY WOMEN
With the advancement in Yoga and flourishing practices, Yoga is all around the corner. Yoga centres and yoga studios are packed with people doing asana and meditation, but when it comes to men, they are very few and can be counted on fingers. Even though the health benefits of Yoga are countless and beneficial to both sexes, the number of men practising it is very low. Even though everyone aspires to be a yogi with the budding yoga trend, the community is still female-dominated. The ancient practice has become a multi-million industry worldwide, with over 20 million practitioners, and 80 % of them are women. Yoga and women are becoming synonyms.
You have to be flexible with your body.
If you ask anyone what Yoga is, they will immediately think of a beautiful woman doing stretches and bending. Even with the growing passion and popularity of Yoga in Western countries, if you tell people what you are doing, they will immediately think of you bending like a rubber band. Men and women of any body type can practice Yoga. Yoga is a science with many explained and researched benefits; hence, anyone of any age, gender, race, flexible or not, can benefit from it.
Yoga is only a light exercise.
Another misconception among men is that Yoga is only light exercise and cannot be used for weight loss or muscle toning. Yoga is different from heavyweight gym exercises. You can undoubtedly add a dose of fat-burning exercises, focus on a particular group of muscles, or opt for yoga poses for toning. In short, Yoga is very beneficial for weight loss, but one must be faithful to its regularity.
You do not sweat much.
The cyclic momentum of one pose to another, combined with a deep breathing pattern, helps you sweat as much as a gym. Different levels of Yoga can be practised; you have to be sure of what you are doing. Sometimes, more than just relaxing the mind and one or two stretches of the body, you need to focus more and practice often and hard to achieve better results.
It’s the way media and advertising agencies are showing it.
Yoga for women is everywhere in ads and print media. Only skinny, beautiful women are seen practising on the beaches and riversides, so the world’s focus is shifting to women regarding yoga practice.
Way too spiritual
Spirituality is often confused with religion, and that’s distracting men from yoga classes without understanding true spirituality. This is not what Yoga meant for thousands of years. The mind’s thoughts to connect with the self do not require you to be from a particular race or gender. You will feel spiritually connected with the mind, body, and soul and have peace.