Last friday, it was 2 men to 2 women.
Yesterday at the 4:00pm class, the ratio was 8:7 (men:women) then at the 7:00pm workshop it was 3:2.
This afternoon, it was 4:4.
And those didn't include the teacher and the assistant.
I guess the key to motivating men to do yoga is to highlight strength and challenge, rather than flexibility and aesthetics. Of course, sometimes you'd get students who are really sincere about the spiritual aspect but most of those who come to yoga nowadays are really participating because of extrinsic reasons such as health, fitness, and stress reduction... at least that's what the studies have been showing. The spiritual component only comes in when the student has been practicing for a while.
One of the participants said that life in Davao is becoming fast and traffic is becoming heavy which adds to stress. Yoga is something that can help Davaoenos to cope with these changes.
Davao is actually a perfect place for yoga retreats because you can either do it near the mountain or by the beach. Samal island is just 30 minutes away from the City and the mountain resorts in Malagos about 60 minutes away.
And with the Ayala Mall opening in the middle of 2011, life in Davao will surely change.
Maybe it's time to move home. A wishful thinking, of course... at least for now.
