Yoga for men's mental health
Yoga can be a powerful tool in helping men to manage their mental health.
By Heather Mason
The practice of yoga is more popular than ever. But despite universal benefits, a plethora of techniques which vary greatly in form and intensity, and teachers up and down the country eager to pass on their yogic knowledge, yoga is still more often practiced by women than men.
There are a variety of reasons behind this disparity, but with research increasingly suggesting that yoga can have a profoundly positive impact on people’s mental health, yoga can provide a form of self-care to men who may not always feel empowered or permitted to look after their own wellbeing.
Why do men practice yoga less than women?
The good news is that the practice of yoga (which is growing in popularity generally) is being increasingly taken up by men, with a 2016 Yoga In America study finding that 28% of all yoga practitioners in the USA are male - up from 17.8% in 2012. It is likely that since the time of this research, the gap has closed even more, but it is still important that the yoga community works to ensure that everyone (including trans and non-binary people) feels at home on the mat.
Perhaps the most powerful, if hard to define, barrier to men practicing yoga is perception. Women are often shown as both yoga teachers and practitioners, and the concepts of wellbeing and selfcare in themselves are often positioned as inherently feminine. It is also true that, while the evidence base for yoga’s myriad benefits is robustly scientific, in the public consciousness yoga may still be predominantly seen as a gentle exercise to help people ‘tone up’ and get more flexible.
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October 2021
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