20-21 by Lèal Wayne;

Author:Lèal, Wayne;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Libri Publishing Ltd
Published: 2023-08-07T15:38:46+00:00

YOGA FOR MEN

‘Never question if you are as good as someone else – question if you are getting better than you were’

BRITISH WHEEL OF YOGA says that 85% of people who attend yoga classes are women, strengthening a self-fulfilling prophecy that yoga is for women.

My practice does not discriminate between men and women (70% of my clients are women) but my training programme was originally created with men in mind. And to continually encourage and prove that yoga works so well for men, I recently got a group of men with fixed views on yoga to join my 21-day training course. They included Clive, a 47-year-old gas engineer, John, a 30-year-old London taxi driver and TJ, a 27-year-old builder.

I sold the programme to them by using language and words that they could relate to and drew a parallel between football and yoga with the analogy of how the best football strikers are like yogis in that they don’t think about taking a shot, they just instinctively do it, totally absorbed in what they’re doing, to the exclusion of everything else. In yoga it’s moving meditation in football it’s ‘being in the zone.’ When you engage your senses fully and become absorbed in the moment, there is an unbroken stream of concentrated thought upon a single idea. In order to do this, you need to be able to control your focus on what you see, feel and hear. They were sold!

As with all my clients, the men were given three one-hour private lessons every other day and over the course of 21 days they had to attend a self-practice class once a week and do the routine every day in their own time. It was said that this arrangement was manageable and fitted in with their usual training routines and lifestyle.

‘Exercise decreases stress and relieves tension’

I have three basic training components: identifying the intention /goal, learning the exercise and reinforcing the self-image.

1. Identifying the intention involves clarifying what resources you need to achieve the desired outcome through a better understanding of yourself. This includes identifying the negative thought processes or obstacles we create that often stand in the way of achievement. ‘I’ll never touch my toes because I can’t/ it won’t work/ I’ve never managed it before...’. This first session dispels negative beliefs and reinforces positive ones to create a strategy for a realistic outcome.

2. Learning the compound asanas (exercises that work more than one muscle group at a time for a lean muscular body). This is a 20-minute programme designed to (a) maximise the physical self and (b) instil a new discipline based on focus, concentration and breath, linking back to the desired intention.

3. Reinforcing the self-image. Most people don’t have the mental discipline to hold their focus for a prolonged period because they’re easily distracted but when using the right language, this is something that can be taught and learnt; focusing on relaxation through meditation/self-hypnosis. It allows you to reinforce your beliefs in a relaxed state and assimilate the learning that has taken place to ensure it can be repeated.

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