Men! Yoga Is for You, Too!


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When I saw this post on Greatist recently recounting all the reasons why men should do yoga, I knew I had to share it here. If you’re a regular Be Well reader, you know I recently wrapped a 30-day yoga challenge of my own, which I wrote about in the January issue of Philadelphia magazine. (Read it online here.) What you may not have known, however, is that half the reason I wanted to do the challenge in the first place was because I was desperately searching for an activity my husband, Chris, and I could do together. Yoga, turns out, is it.

The thing about us is that while we see eye to eye on most things (our penchant for crime dramas, for example, or our mutual love for burritos), one area in which we’ve never been able to connect—in eight years of marriage, no less—is a form of exercise we can both get on board with. He tried running with me a few times, but it didn’t stick. I went and bought a road bike, with visions of the hours-long weekend rides we would take together—only to realize, one hour in, that I really, really hated it. (This, from a girl who commutes by bike almost every single day. Go figure.)

So when I concocted the plan to tackle 30 yoga classes at 30 different studios in 30 days, I secretly hoped I could convince Chris to do some of the classes with me. When I floated the idea, he seemed game enough, so off we went to one class, then two, and soon enough it was like, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it, but we’re both totally enjoying this!”

All of which is to say: Guys, yoga is not just for ladies. It takes a lot of strength, a lot of focus and some serious stamina. So banish every girly, sweat-less, stretchy-yoga-pants notion you have about it and get to class already. Here are a few wallet-friendly options to get you started.