Is Yoga Masculine or Feminine? (Answered)

Is Yoga Masculine or Feminine? (Answered)

Yoga has gained a feminine appeal, especially in the US. With so many women practicing yoga, it’s only normal to assume that yoga is by default, a feminine activity. 

But the reality is that while yoga has a larger female appeal, yoga is suitable for both genders and isn’t just a woman thing, yoga appeals more to women because of various reasons, one of them being that men’s and women’s goals generally differ. However, at the end of the day, yoga is neither masculine nor feminine.

If you are mostly driven by the health benefits and just want to keep an active life, you’ll likely find the appeal in yoga regardless of your gender.

It’s a great way to relax the mind and keep it fit, as well as the body. But unlike physical strength exercise that appeals more to men, yoga isn’t predominantly used to build muscle, even if it can be a byproduct of the practice.

Those who practice yoga for a while and manage to push through the beginning stages reap the rewards of yoga which can last for years or even a lifetime. 

What Attracts People To Yoga?

It’s believed that flexibility, general well-being, and the reduction in stress people get from yoga are what motivate them to start. 

There are no right or wrong reasons to start yoga, but starting the practice and sticking with it are two completely different things. 

Anyone can start yoga but it takes a certain level of discipline to stick with it, and it’s not so much a gender thing as it is a willpower thing and willingness to push through, more so enjoying the process of yoga and learning it. Now, discipline in itself is trainable and one of the means to train this discipline is through yoga.

Now, if your goal is to build muscles and push yourself past your limits, yoga might not appeal to you as much as if you just want something to relieve your mind of stress and make your body feel the most optimal. Yoga is after all a form of rest

From time to time we all need some rest, but a sizable amount of men are motivated to get stronger and embrace the image of masculinity that’s often associated with muscle strength, and when we think of yoga, because of the perception and appeal, it doesn’t seem like the most appealing practice to the goal of building strength. 

But in reality, yoga helps us build mental strength and discipline which are often associated with masculine traits. 

These traits aren’t necessarily gender-specific, but there’s a common trait amongst men to push themselves harder and push past their limits, and this is often observed during physical strength exercise, and why these traits are often associated with something masculine. 

Yoga also seems to attract many dancers and because of the similarities between dancing and yoga, in terms of poses, it’s another reason it seems to appeal more to a female audience. After all, one of the predominant reasons people start yoga is to increase their flexibility. 

What Keeps Yoga From Attracting More Men?

Many reasons beyond what can be mentioned here keep men from entering yoga. But aside from yoga not being associated with something that builds six packs, or a physique many men strive to achieve, men can be very competitive and want to up themselves next to their peers. 

Yoga doesn’t seem to have this competitive appeal men are looking for but the practice is a hidden gem, considering it strengthens the mind and helps the muscles be at rest, which greatly supplements physical strength exercise. 

Men are generally believed to have a higher pain tolerance than their female counterparts, but there are always exceptions. Yoga in itself isn’t seen as an activity that causes pain, but it’s more seen as an activity that helps us relax and cool down.

Now, yoga can be difficult at first, and that difficulty can be attractive as a sort of barrier to overcome. Even if many, regardless of gender choose a path of least resistance. Being more flexible can also help men in their physical exercise and it might even mitigate some of the pain experienced during physical exercise. 

Physical exercise can be mentally draining at times and sometimes, that discipline boost we get from yoga comes a long way in keeping men on track towards building muscle, but to build muscle we also need proper rest, and that’s where yoga can come in as a missing piece to fast-track men’s recovery. 

Yoga is a great way to keep an existing physique from the inevitable deterioration that comes from abandoning physical exercise altogether. Or at the very least, slow the deterioration. An active life now, be it yoga or exercise prevents regret later down the line when implementing either becomes harder. 

Better Focus For Men and Women

No matter if you’re male or female, you’ll always benefit from better focus, considering that focus is a pretty scarce resource today. One of the means to achieve focus, aside from meditation, is yoga. 

Yoga is often associated with movement meditation, but whether you are a dancer that wants to get better at dancing or someone that does regular exercise that wants to improve their focus, yoga can go a long way in helping your mind and body feel the best. 

Finding that sweet spot and reaching a point where you don’t want to reach that mental state of mind. Yoga helps us to balance things and a fit mind will often create a fit body, which will benefit you regardless of if you are male or female. 

Indirectly, yoga can help you stay on track with what you want to achieve because it’s a form of self-mastery. Meditation goes more in-depth into that but both share similar benefits and can amplify other existing habits you have today. 

Widening The Appeal of Yoga

Simply being healthier and having a more active life may not be a strong appeal for many men. Many don’t appreciate what they have until they lose it, and our well-being is key to us functioning as optimally as we can. 

I could tell you about all the benefits you can experience during yoga but they won’t mean anything if you don’t experience it for yourself. 

Yoga is often considered an underrated practice and for good reason, if you get started with yoga and later want to build the habit of physical exercise, it will be easier for you because you’ve already successfully cultivated some form of discipline that easily can be applied to other habits that are considered more masculine. 

Having a six-pack is something that appeals to a lot of men, but in some cases, doing yoga can tone these six-packs or even create them. It might not be as effective as physical exercise, and it might take longer but it can still happen if you choose to pursue yoga in the long run. 

And depending on which yoga exercise you choose to do, you can also build muscle with that, yoga is after all a broad term and there are many different styles of yoga. 

So much so that yoga can be associated with regular exercise or combined with one, but what’s more is that the benefits of yoga also extend to the mind. 

Now, exercise might give men more autonomy, since with yoga, you have to get the poses right or things could backfire. 

The time it takes to do yoga is also a key factor that can appeal less to men, since many yoga practices are one hour long whereas many physical exercises are 20 to 30 minutes long and are enough to often build a strong physique. Females after all are believed to have more patience than males. 

Yoga can be more of a psychological process than exercise is, but it can also be the opposite since physical exercise is generally harder and takes consistency which will only stem from discipline, which fortunately yoga helps to build.