How To Get Your Boyfriend To Do Yoga With You

Men and women have different approaches when it comes to fitness and exercise. Although there are several exceptions, it is more likely to see a couple in the gym, a girl doing Crossfit or lifting weights with her man, than it is to see them doing yoga together.

This is because a lot of men still don't really know much about yoga, and very few are open-minded enough to try it by themselves. Many excuses can and will be used in order for him not to attend a yoga class with you. Believe me—I’ve been there.

Getting Men to Do Yoga

For that last five years, I’ve been trying to make my boyfriend practice yoga with me. I kept listing the positives, but he just wasn’t interested.

See, most men are intense. If they are going to do something, they want it to be very challenging. For many of them, yoga looks like a boring activity for old people, stressed men, or hysteric women who need to find inner peace. This is not to say that ALL men think this way, but for some, there is that notion that yoga is slow and "not challenging enough."

So, how do you get your boyfriend to do yoga with you? Just as I was considering slipping my boyfriend sleeping pills and waking him up in the middle of a yoga class, I came up with two more reasonable solutions to my problem.

Partner Acro Yoga

Partner Acro yoga is a great way to address the matter. Slightly similar to gymnastics, it can be efficient both for you and your man. Holding your weight throughout the poses is a great workout for him, while for you, it is a great way to master your balance and focus on flexibility.

Try some Partner asanas at home and see how fun and hard at the same time it can be. Not only will you be sharing some very special time together, you will also learn to have complete trust in each other, which is important in any relationship.

Ashtanga Vinyasa Class

My boyfriend used to always make fun of me, since he is a muscular “crush it and burn it” type of guy. I decided to ask him to come to an advanced yoga class with me, framing my invitation with “Bet you can’t make it to the end of class.”

Well, the male ego did its job, and he joined me for class at the studio. After his first advanced Ashtanga Vinyasa Class, his sweat dripping, and his cheeks red, he was thrilled. He had never imagined yoga could be so intense.

Watching someone else do it, it usually looks so natural that it appears easier that it actually is! He has been attending this class with me three times a week ever since. Sometimes we even don’t stay up too late partying on Fridays since we have a class on Saturday!

 

Something for Everybody

Men typically like being challenged. They like overcoming difficulties. So if your man’s like that, show him that there is a side to yoga that doesn’t involve sitting down and chanting mantras, that yoga has many facets, and that it can really offer something for everybody.

Even the most indifferent and stubborn of men can get hooked into the diverse, wonderful world that is YOGA. Sometimes you just have to make the first step for him, and then you’ll go the whole way together!

by Maya Bahchevanska – Maya is a certified yoga instructor and passionate practitioner. After 13 years, she founded The MOVE Gym in Sofia, Bulgaria and her favorite style is Vinyasa because it corresponds to the dynamism of the modern world.

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