Yoga Matt - 19 Nov

Acknowledgments

Ive often heard it said that it takes a village to raise a child. With Yoga for the Inflexible Male , it took a class and the willingness of Jenn Russo and Katina Knapp of Yoga on Center in Healdsburg, California, to take a chance on a guy who never took a yoga class before.

All of my original inflexible classmatesthe three Steves, Don, Orion, Quin, Dave, Tod, John, Joe, Thom, Lee, Bruce, Frank, Bill, and that guy in the corner whose name I never caughthave demonstrated rare courage in going where few men have gone before: the yoga studio.

Thanks as well to Patrick Miller of Fearless Literary. Im lucky to have Kelly Snowden, my wise editor at Ten Speed Press, who laughed when she first heard the idea for this book and then took me very seriously. Isabelle Gioffredi and Betsy Stromberg, who handled the graphics in these pages, are incredible book designers. Ive never looked this good on a bookshelf before. And to Richard Sheppard: fantastic illustrations!

Jerry Sinclair, my yoga instructor, is one of the great teachers Ive had in my life. Finally, I have three women to thank for helping birth this very manly book. Monica Kamsvaag created the visual fingerprint for the concept. Wed be nowhere without her. Or Laurie Fox, for that matter, my other agent (Yoga Matts so important, he has two agents!), who hooked me up with Fearless Literary.

My dear wife, Beth Matt (aka Janet Vail), has been as indispensable to this project as she has been in every other facet of my life. Im crazy lucky to be married to a publishing professional acquainted with every facet of book production. Beth/Janet has been the invisible spine that binds Yoga for the Inflexible Male together. In addition to that, shes laughed at every stupid joke I ever shared with her. To her, Im funny rather than funny looking.

About the Author

About Yoga Matt

Yoga Matt is the nom de namaste of Roy Parvin, an award-winning author of two books of fiction, The Loneliest Road in America: Short Stories and In the Snow Forest: Three Novellas . Hes been the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts grant in Literature, a Bread Loaf Fellowship, and the Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Fiction. His work has been widely anthologized and included in the Best American Short Stories series. Voyez Comme Ils Dansent (director, Claude Miller), a movie adapted from one of Roys novellas, Mennos Granddaughter, won the Grand Jury Prize at the Rome 2011 Film Festival. Oddly enough, much like Superman and Clark Kent, Yoga Matt and Roy have never been seen in the same room at the same time.

Yoga Matts adviser, Jerry Sinclair , is an ex-competitive wrestler (the real kind, not that WWF stuff), and has been practicing yoga for more than twenty-three years. He is influenced by the Iyengar tradition of yoga as well as Yogananda and Kali Ray TriYoga. Jerry completed his teacher training course at the Yoga Center of Carmel. His class is a unique blend of supported and meditative asanas , pranayama , and pratyahara . He also takes the award for most flexible man who gets a senior discount.

Yoga Matts Final Roll-Up

Well, I guess this is it. Or its really only the beginning. Kinda Zen, huh? Thats the way yoga is, too. Its always surprising you with what it is, a series of poses for the body that also help the mind.

Where to go from here? Start with doing yoga at least two times per week. Dont rush. Each Manly Practice in this book should last about an hour, just like Jerrys class. Always finish up with a few minutes of restorative yogalegs up the wall or flat-out savasana , pick your poison. That old world can spin a bit without you. Vary which series of poses you perform. To finish out the book, youll find a handy guide for sport-specific muscle groups. All the asanas are from this book, weve just reorganized them to cater to specific needs. Once a month, you should undertake a restorative session, which is basically very gentle stretching. These arent sleeping poses, Jerry likes to say, but theyre pretty close. You can get a PDF of a restorative series by e-mailing .

But the real place all this can take you is yoga without the training wheels. Its already begun to happen in our class. First it was Dave. One week he was there on his mat with the rest of us. The next, he was in the grown-up class with all the yoga regulars. Next it was Orion. Soon its going to be Quin. In class he has that faraway look in his eyes and can no longer be described as inflexible.

Sometimes the rest of us meet up on the street to watch the two of them in class at Yoga on Center. We press up to the glass outside on the sidewalk. Dave and Orion are totally doing it. They have nothing to be ashamed about. We smile at each other and nod. Someday, we tell ourselves. Someday

Sport-Specific Yoga Sequences

If youre a sporty type, yoga can fine-tune that machine you call a body and turn you into a better-performing whole. Unlike the Manly Practices in this book, the series of asanas listed on the following pages concentrate on specific muscle groups and body areas used in particular sports.

Youll notice there are only four or five poses. Very perceptive of you. The reason is that youre zeroing in on a narrower group of muscles and you dont ever want to overdo it. Yoga is powerful stuff. A little goes a long way.

We also didnt include a breathing warm-up pose or savasana . Youre mature enough to pick your favorite at this point. Thats not an invitation to skip those segments. Yoga operates on an honor system.

We also didnt include instructions. Instead, we have a handy pictogram and a page number where you can find the pose described in full.

Also feel free to throw mountain pose () into the mix for constructive rest. If you remember to use your breath as your guide, these sport-specific practices should take about 30 minutes, about half the length of our Manly Practices. Perfectly fine. Insert a sport-specific routine once every two weeks into your yoga mix, and you wont believe the kind of good sport youll turn into.

Running

Legs, hips, and back primarily. Dont forget to breathe. Runners depend on it.

Downward Dog ().

Triangle Pose ()

Leg Stretch ()

Reclining Pigeon Pose ()

Legs Up the Wall for savasana ()

Cycling

Hamstrings, pelvis, and shoulders. Breathings important in cycling, too. Spinning your wheels and going nowhere is okay if its savasana .

Sphinx ()

Cobblers Pose with Forward Bend ()