Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Bob the Builder and his good friend Bob the Builder 2 are celebrating their second anniversary of doing yoga with me at the Blue Sky Yoga Studio. Both Bobs are wonderful men who came to yoga because they both have hobbies (kayaking, hockey and of course building ) that they enjoy doing and want to maintain the flexibility and strength to allow them to continue. Both Bobs have adult kids who also attend the class with them each week (male and female). Both Bobs are very funny and bring a lot of humour and interesting pre-class conversations to the studio. They have both really helped me grow as a yoga teacher. The sequences, language and focus of my teaching have expanded since they have come into my life. The composition of the class has also changed and has gone from being mostly women to being mostly men. I've always known that every class takes on its own feeling of community and has it own vibration or pulse. These two guys have created a great vibe that has encouraged more men to join this class (especially the over 50 market). These 2 Bobs, and other men who have been doing yoga with me are the best methods of marketing that I have for men. They will be the first one to tell you that they keep coming because they have learned that the object of a yoga class isn't to get one's chin on one's shin or to get the feet on one's head, but to leave the class feeling better and more vital than before the class started. The Bobs will tell you that yoga is a practice that includes working on your flexibility, balance, strength, coordination, breathing, relaxation and stamina. I think we all know that as we age we start to feel tighter in our body and that can lead to making us feel even older. A regular practice of slowing down, doing some gentle stretching and learning to fully relax can create a more expansive, open and younger feeling in the body. Yoga has many benefits to offer men of all ages including that it works the entire body (cardiovascular, skeletal, muscular and endocrine), people of all sizes and shapes can do it, yoga decreases muscle soreness and restores energy, yoga can train your focus and help to balance your mind. "Many of the world's greatest athletes have been known to practice yoga, including Wayne Gretzky, Dan Marino, Kevin Garnett, and Pete Sampras. Pro football player Ricky Williams even put his career on hold for a couple of years and became a certified yoga teacher!"I wonder if these 2 Bobs will ever quit building and become yoga teachers?
They would be great at it.