Ever since I started practising and later on teaching yoga, I have been confronted with many stereotypes and prejudices about yoga:

“Yoga is only for women.” 

or

“Yoga is not a sport.”

Does that sound familiar to you?

Now don’t get me wrong, but it’s been mostly men that are convinced of such myths. And you know what? That’s alright, because we all think in prejudices and pre-formed opinions, as they help us to put our world into known categories. We all constantly compare known and unknown information, because this is how our brains work and learn new concepts. Of course, this is just a very vague explanation and I am by no means a brain scientist, however, what I do know is that these above stereotypes are just wrong.

Let’s take a closer look:

“Yoga is only for women.”: Nowadays when we think of Yoga, we tend to think about it as a feminine sport. However, since the early days of yoga, it has always been practised by men and women alike. In fact, it has been practised by priests, ascetics and buddhists, thus making it a practise that used to be almost exclusive to men.

“Yoga is not a sport.”: I know that I am a little bit biased as a Yoga Teacher myself, however, I can assure you that Yoga definitely is a sport and not just a series of relaxing stretching exercises. While it definitely lacks the aspect of competition like other sports, such as football, it nevertheless does not only exercise the mind, but the body too! In the end, the only advice I can give here is to give it a go and to try it out yourself.

Think of it more like a competition with yourself than with others. And if you are ready for such a challenge, then you should definitely give it a try. I bet that you’ll be sweating more than anticipated!

So what are you waiting for? Get an exercising mat out (if you do not have a yoga mat yet) and let’s go!