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DDP Yoga
This ain’t your mama’s yoga! American wrestling star
Diamond Dallas Page originally developed his DDP Yoga for
athletes like himself who had suffered years of injuries due
to high impact sports. However, for the first 42 years of his life, Dallas
admits he was a guy who “wouldn’t be caught dead” doing yoga.
That changed after he ruptured spinal discs during the height of his
professional career. He was so desperate to keep his childhood dream
alive, he was willing to try anything...and so he tried yoga for the first
time. It worked wonders for him in his recovery, eventually allowing
him to get back in the ring and compete, and now he wants to tell the
world, creating DDP Yoga after mixing elements of yoga with his rehab
plus traditional workout principles. A great motivator and speaker,
Dallas has worked with thousands of people since, inspiring positive
change and helping students achieve goals such as major weight loss.
He believes that anything is possible with dedication and hard work.7
Power Yoga
Surely with the word ‘power’ in the title it’s good enough
for any ‘real’ man? This is a strong, flowing, Vinyasa-
based yoga, that’s an offshoot of another dynamic style,
Ashtanga, popularised years ago by Madonna. You’ll find lots of other
strong Vinyasa styles out there too. Great for fitness: build strength
and stamina as you synchronise your breath to the movements.
Energetic and uplifting, this style is popular with guys and girls for
good reason. A really powerful form of yoga, where regular practice
will improve your flexibility no end, plus the endorphin hits you’ll get
will carry you through to next week. And you’ll get a buzz from moving
on to advanced postures, which feels amazing (and looks great
on your Instagram account!). Plus, you’ll find these styles in pretty
much any yoga studio, wherever you go, so it’s highly accessible.
Feel the power!8
SUP Yoga
Surf boards, California, The Beach Boys, gazing out to
the Pacific...these things cannot - and should not - be
separated from yoga. Fortunately, someone came up with
the idea of doing yoga on a board out in the water. And thus Stand
Up Paddleboard (SUP) Yoga came into being. If you thought yoga or
surfing were difficult, try doing them together. It’s a core crunching
workout like no other, where your balance will be tested to the max
if you don’t want to end up in the water. SUP Yoga is fun and hugely
popular on both sides of the pond these days (it’s another style
to originate from the USA) and you can usually find a class in or
around most major towns or cities. These can take place pretty much
anywhere there’s water - lakes, rivers, even the ocean - although the
choppier the waves, the more challenging it becomes just staying on
your board. A great way to reconnect with nature, get a good workout
and have a laugh with some mates, everybody should try SUP Yoga at
some point. And if you can’t surf, you still get to carry a board around
with you, look cool, and at least pretend that you’re a blond-haired
beach bum from Venice Beach.9
Bikram Yoga
This is the yoga style that Scottish tennis ace Andy Murray
(and countless others) got addicted to. And if it works for a
Wimbledon champ, then it could well work for you too. Full
Bikram classes run for 90 minutes and consist of the same series of
26 postures, including two breathing exercises, inside a room heated
to 35–42 °C (95–108 °F) with a humidity of 40%. It’s hot, hot, hot, so
be prepared to get very sweaty. It’s also physical so it’ll appeal very
much to those looking at yoga for a good workout. Having said that,
Bikram Yoga – devised by controversial figure Bikram Choudhury - has
changed lives too. Indeed, the life changing aspects of all yoga styles
is not to be overlooked, so whatever type you end up practicing, get
prepared for transformation, both inside and out. As well as Bikram,
there are lots of other hot yoga styles up and down the country,
where you don’t need to follow such a fixed format. All will deliver a
powerful (and sweaty) full body workout with the prospect of deep
inner transformation.10
Mindfulness
Yes, that’s right...mindfulness! What’s sitting in
a field watching the clouds go by got to do with
being butch and manly you ask? Well, ask the US
Marine Corp. The US elite fighting force has implemented and studied
the effects of mindfulness training. Marines who received so-called
Mindfulness-Based Mind Fitness Training prior to their deployment
reported a significant decrease in stress-perception in the field. “For
me this is where true strength arises,” says London-based mindfulness
expert Neil Seligman, a former barrister and the founder of The
Conscious Professional (theconsciousprofessional.com), “the capacity
to meet both good times and adversity with resilience.” Mindfulness- whether that’s sitting in a field or sitting on a bus on the way to
work - builds mental toughness. It may even make you a better lover
in the bedroom too. Our minds and emotions are key in developing
and maintaining intimacy, and establishing a deep connection with
our partner, adds Seligman. So how can mindfulness help? “Well,
mindfulness teaches us to be 100% present to our senses, all of
which are stimulated during sex.”