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Argumentative Essay On Yoga Man

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It has become common today to dismiss yoga because of the label that it is just for young, skinny, flexible, females. The truth is, yoga can be for anyone. To illustrate, according to the article “Yoga: It’s a Guy Thing” by Alan Crawford (2002), yoga is becoming more and more popular amongst men (p. 69). In fact, a report by the Yoga Journal claims that 17 percent of all yogis are men as of 2013, and that number continues to grow as yoga is becoming trendier for both men and women. I understand that yoga has its setbacks for men. To make clear, Gregoire’s article in the Huffington Post talks about how many men feel intimidated by doing yoga because of the flexibility needed for some yoga poses and the fact that there are mostly women in the room. Moreover, men’s delicate egos can be damaged if they were to do yoga (Gregoire, 2013). I can empathize with men that yoga would possibly be harder for them to do and it could hurt their self-pride; however, the fact cannot be hid that yoga can and should be for everyone, regardless of sex.
Not to mention, it can safely be said that many men are finding their egos to be just fine after yoga. “Yoga Man” tells the story of Eddie George and his yoga experience. Edward (Eddie) George, a famous Tennessee Titans and Dallas Cowboys football player who won the Heisman trophy, felt slightly uncomfortable walking into a yoga studio. After all, a 235 pound, 6’3” African American man is not what many would consider the standard yogi. Even he, himself stated that “the perception was that it was a girl thing.” However, later in the article, he said, “If you’re comfortable with yourself, it shouldn’t matter if a class is all guys or if you’re the only guy. Yoga’s just good for you” (Altobelli & Kennedy, 2004, p. 63). It is incredible that George put his pride and embarrassment aside because George realized that the benefits that he received from yoga outweighed the expenditure of shame and humiliation. Eddie broke the label of “only skinny, young, white girls do yoga,” and I believe that others should follow in his footsteps. Not only that, what man would not want to spend time in a room filled with girls in tight pants?
In addition, I understand that it can be hard

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