Cape Men's Yoga

Cape Men's Yoga just celebrated its fifth anniversary. Literally more than a hundred men from Cape Town, Johannesburg and overseas have benefitted from this mindful, community-based practice. What is it that makes naked yoga so rewarding? We all have quite different bodies and life experiences. Naked yoga allows you to be yourself without any disguises or covering - you come to class as you are, wherever that is on your journey - and you find a group of men also willing to be with you, to be themselves, to accept you fully as you are - men of all ages, colours, beliefs, sexual orientation, backgrounds and even a range of physical abilities. Join us this season to transform your life - to be part of a community of practice and of respectful engagement. Have the courage to try. In today's class we explored the 'warrior poses' - Virabhadra 1 2 and 3. These are famously strong poses in yoga. Virabhadra is from the Hindu mythology - he was the son of Shiva, someti...

Cape Men's Yoga is a community based, voluntary naked yoga practice. It was born from a visit to Nude York Yoga while visiting Manhattan. Frankly, the idea of doing yoga naked seemed ridiculously and distracting when I first heard about it. Indeed, it has been an ancient Indian tradition for millennia but in our modern context - would it not just come to focus on more desires, male-competitiveness and different types of external distractions? After my first class i realised I had completely misunderstood the missing ingredient - community - naked yoga creates and honest and caring space for men, and sometimes men and women, to practice yoga in all honesty. There is no expensive lycra, no ideal body type, no age limit - rather than creating a space of surface attention, stripping off all the clothes took away all of the surface - just leaving the vulnerable inner reality as the yoga space - as it was always meant to be. Guys with uneven pectorals, a few kilograms more than la...

It is the Holy Month of Ramadan. All over the world Muslims - straight, gay, bi, lesbian, transgendered, young and old, of all skin colours and tongues are fasting and spending time in their communities to celebrate their faith, the wisdom of their scriptures, the abundance of nature and another year of life with family, loved ones and friends. Cape Town is a major Islamic centre - Ramadan is an annual event that brings much peace and celebration to our city. Within this world there is also suffering - wars, poverty, climate instability, diseases and death - and in Orlando, Florida a very sick man with dangerous weapons went to The Pulse and killed innocent people- young people, having fun on a Sunday evening, dancing, laughing, falling in love, wondering about what life would bring for them. Many were Hispanic Americans - many had stories of survival, of self-acceptance, of challenges in dealing with family, school and work. And on a Sunday evening - perhaps as is habit, perhaps fo...

Cape Men's Yoga eases into winter season and you will be very glad to know what the venue has heating. In our early years in Hout Bay we had to put on a gas heater and the guys near the french-doors always got a cold draft up the backside. Winter is a great time for yoga - it is a time for reflection, to spending some more time with yourself. As winter rains hopefully soak the Cape, other outdoor activities give way to the inner practices. In class today we were exploring how to anchor ourselves - how mindful attention of the lower part of the body, particularly the mula-bandha and muladhara-chakra help keep us in the physical space, aware of the body, aware of the Earth, keeping us stable in what can sometimes be a confusing world. This Sunday we will explore our ability to summon up effort - what is Buddhism is called 'right effort' meaning the effort that is good for you, transformative without being extreme or unbalanced. Right effort typically means the effort n...

FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF AFRICA's ONLY NAKED YOGA GROUP This is just a teaser note to get you to mark your diaries. Cape Men's Yoga is celebrating its Fifth Anniversary on Sunday 26 June 2016. Literally hunderds of men have stripped down and sweated it out on the mat with us. Some have stayed for years on end, some only came by on their holidays. We've had members from 20 years old up to 76 years of age. Our members have included Christians, Muslims, Jews, Atheists, Hindus, Buddhists and Spiritualists of every shape and size. We'll be having our regular class in the southern suburbs of Cape Town followed by some hot vegetarian food and a lekker kuier of the manne. Please join us. Men only - sorry ladies - time for you to organise too? capemensyoga AT gmail.com

Welcome... We had a great class last Sunday - we explored the heart / body / mind relationship - where our happiness, inner peace and connection with the world arises and grows through our practice. After class I got to chat with one of our members and we were exploring why the naked yoga works so well. Cape Men's Yoga is about to turn six years old. It was an experiment which has flourished and attracted together some of Cape Town's most interesting men, of all races, beliefs, classes, ages and sexual orientation. We aim to create a safe space for men to know their bodies and minds better, accepting whatever you have going on in your life. This past Sunday we focussed on lifting our energy and opening the heart and the hips. This coming Sunday we are going to explore the lower chakra. Ok, did you laugh or look a bit nervous? You can take chakras literally - energy points in the body that bring together certain parts of our personality with certain physical elements - ...