Yoga, brings association of, either Baba Ramdev on the one hand, or Shilpa Shetty on the other. And neither of them truly depict what yoga is! All that people know about it, is its a fitness tool. And hence, it's in a reference set which includes things like: the boring, yet masculine gym, the beaten up and middle-aged aerobic fitness and the more exotic like Zumba.
Now that's a difficult place for any fitness service, look at the competition. Can yoga ever be more sweaty n masculine than workouts in the gym? Or more exotic and fun than the Zumba?
But there in lies the problem. It's a comparable reference set. The key Value Props of yoga has nothing to do with the ones offered by the others.
Let's step back a little and understand yoga.
Based on my learning a from the days of my yoga classes and further reading, yoga has three parts to it... Physical fitness, emotional fitness and spiritual fitness. The much talked about and famed 'asanas' are what help you with your physical fitness. Then there is the Pranayama, which through breath control teaches you to control your emotions. But the two put-together are only stage-gates to take you to the more exhilarating spiritus fitness. You cannot really be happy, unless you are spiritually fit and you cannot really be spiritually fit, unless you have some control your body and emotions.
Now that is something, nobody else in the reference set can offer you!
Now the real question, is yoga only suited for the feminine gender (gotta thank Shilpa Shetty for at least encouraging guys to look at it)? Now that you understand what yoga really is, hopefully the answer not too difficult.
As a physical fitness exercise, it's definitely not masculine and by deductive logic, can be construed to be feminine. However, as a form of gaining emotional and eventually, spiritual fitness, it's definitely not feminine. In fact, the feminine sex has a significantly higher emotional fitness, as a base, and hence, relatively, the males have a lot more to gain!
I would only want to encourage people to do their research on yoga and understand it better (before you accuse me, I only claim to understand it a wee bit more than the average.. ).
Just so it's clear, I'm not a regular yoga practioner, nor a yoga proponent. Just putting my thoughts out there.. Is all!
