Yoga Survey Results: Females Edge Out Males Regarding Yoga Practice
Do Women or Men Practice Yoga More?
A last second surge of female votes allowed them to just edge out the men when it came to the question of who practices yoga more, men or women.
The common understanding that yoga is mostly practiced by women was under serious threat for most of the time this survey was running and in fact at one time the men had a comfortable double digit lead as well. But, it did not hold up as we came down the stretch and finally the women won the survey by a meager 2 votes.
Here are the results of the survey:
| Value | Count | Percent % |
|---|---|---|
| Female & Yes I Practice Yoga | 25 | 50.00% |
| Male & Yes I Practice Yoga | 23 | 46.00% |
| Female & No I Do Not Practice Yoga | 1 | 2.00% |
| Male & No I Do Not Practice Yoga | 1 | 2.00% |
Yoga Survey Results Analysis:
Frankly I am pleasantly surprised by the results of this survey. I was expecting a significantly different outcome, in which the women would far outnumber the men and I am happy to learn that this is not the case. Yoga is certainly not just for women, and most certainly provides enormous benefits to anyone lucky enough to be drawn to this practice.
Here are 2 articles about the benefits of yoga, with the first being your personal success stories with yoga: Benefits of Yoga Testimonial Pouring In & Top 10 Health Benefits of Yoga.
One of the biggest myths, I feel, that tend to hold men back from practicing yoga is the misunderstanding that flexibility is a prerequisite for this practice. This cannot be further from the truth. Yoga will certainly help your flexibility, but to extract the benefits of yoga you do not need to be an acrobat. It may appear to the outsider that doing yoga well, means you are an expert contortionist, but that is simply not the case. Yoga is really about energy, awareness and silence, and yoga practice is about the development of these qualities.
To learn more about yoga and how to practice it correctly you may wish to read, Essential Beginner’s Guide to Yoga Practice.
An interesting thought that occurs to me which would explain the discrepancy between the notion that women practice yoga more than men, and the results of the survey which show them about even, is that maybe men prefer to practice yoga in private more, while women more commonly join yoga classes in clubs and studios. I can see another survey emerging in my mind, to help shine more light on this question 
.
One final thought regarding this survey is that of the respondents only 2 said they did not practice yoga. I know these surveys are not scientific, but that too took me a bit by surprise as I felt more would respond in the negative. In any case, I am certainly not complaining about that result and it is really inspiring to me to know that yoga practice is gaining as much ground as it is.
For anyone interested in starting a yoga practice, you may wish to check out the that are offered here on Mastery of Meditation & Yoga, especially the .
Hi John,
Thanks for your feedback. Glad yoga is growing in reach as well.
Best,
Anmol
PS: Like the fact you have the Karma Yogi facility at your Yoga Studio… very nice.
I think we are one generation away from seeing men moving into yoga. The thing that looks like it is hurting the yoga community is the thing that is going to help it. The McYoga branding of yoga is drawing in more men. Anyway it’s all good. Yoga is sweeping the country. -John http://www.theashramyoga.com.
Hey Alex,
Thanks for stopping by and yeah it was good to see that men are into yoga and spirituality as well.
Cheers,
Anmol
Hey Anmol!
Thanks for your efforts. It’s nice to see that men are into spirituality too. Wherever I go on retreats, there seems to be about 80-90% women.
Guys, feelings and thoughts don’t bite +_+