Gone are the days when yoga was perceived as simply “stretching for women.” According to Harvard Health, the number of American men doing yoga more than doubled from 2012 to 2016, and each year more men are learning the benefits of yoga as an inclusive and accessible wellness practice. “There’s this misconception that you already need to be flexible to start yoga, but a big part of the practice is gaining flexibility and mobility,” explains Gretchen Campos, manager of Greener Postures Yoga, a local studio with locations in Falmouth and South Portland. “It’s a great way to cross-train and vary up your movements—we see golfers, competitive cyclists, runners, and baseball players who make the same arm movements or have the same swing, and practicing yoga is an easy option to move away from those repetitive patterns, to stretch and lengthen your muscles.”
David Puopolo, who moved to Maine from the West Coast and now frequents Greener Postures, began practicing yoga nearly a decade ago at his chiropractor’s request. “I was under a lot of stress, and my whole body was seizing up,” he explains. “I visited a chiropractor, but she would only agree to continue seeing me if I started doing yoga. I was definitely hesitant at first, but she was militant about it,” Puopolo laughs. Greener Postures attendee and Portland firefighter Nick Derrig was introduced to yoga through his father. “I was doing the conventional bodybuilding stuff, and I was always tight in my hamstrings, back, and shoulders. My dad had been doing yoga for a couple of months, and it was the best thing that ever happened to him,” Derrig recalls. “At his urging, I tried out a class, and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done.”
The age-old stigma that yoga is just for women is quickly fading. “I’ve done every kind of exercise—CrossFit, weights, I’ve done it all—and yoga is by far the best workout,” Derrig says. “Going to the gym for an hour and doing curls and shoulder presses is way easier than going to an hour-long heated yoga class. For someone to think yoga is just stretching, that’s definitely not the case.” Derrig and his colleagues at the Portland Fire Department practice yoga to focus on their physical and mental wellbeing thanks to a partnership with Greener Postures that provides free yoga for the city’s firefighters. “It’s been a game changer,” Derrig says of the partnership. “When I go to a yoga class first thing in the morning after a particularly stressful 24-hour shift, I come out with such a positive mindset. It really sets me up for success in my day.”
It’s clear that yoga is about more than just physical benefits—the practice also offers a way for men to blow off steam and reconnect with themselves. “Inviting breath and calm helps to release emotions and reduce stress,” says Greener Postures co-owner Heidi MacVane. Slower classes like nidra (guided meditation) or yin (deep stretching) tap into the parasympathetic nervous system and quiet the body to improve sleep, digestion, and immunity. “You really get a chance to clear your head and your mind,” explains Puopolo. “You’re linking breath to movement, and when you do that, you don’t really have the space to think about other things.” A consistent practice cultivates a sense of community, too. “Greener Postures kept me sane during the pandemic—I was practicing six or seven days a week,” he adds. “You feed off the energy in the class—everybody’s pushing and people are getting tired, but no one wants to give up. We’re all in it together and just trying to make it through.”
Greener Postures co-owner Danielle Toolan has one simple tip for those looking to start a yoga practice: “Just walk in the door!” The studio offers a new student special that makes it easy to try different classes and teachers to find your preference. Both the Fundamentals Flow and Beginner's Series classes are a great starting point, though new students are warmly welcome at all Greener Postures classes. “Yoga is such a big word, but it falls across a huge spectrum,” she says. “It could be a heated flow or a calmer nidra class. If you’re dealing with an injury, you might like a deep stretch, or maybe you’re looking to cross train, or you want sleep assistance. It’s a matter of self-study to determine what type of yoga resonates with you.” Puopolo adds that patience is key. “When I first started, I wanted to do everything. I had such a competition mentality, thinking ‘I’m going to hit this mat and do it all,’ but the body takes time. I’ve been doing yoga for a while and there are still poses that I’m trying to navigate. It can be frustrating, but you have to remember that it doesn’t happen overnight—you have to work at it.”
"There’s a misconception that you already need to be flexible to start yoga, but a big part of the practice is gaining flexibility and mobility."
Yoga clears your head and your mind. When you're linking breath to movement, you just don’t have the space to think about other things.