Gym Near Me? Why I Chose Yoga Instead

Last updated: 25 October 2026

Short answer: Looking for a gym near you in Darwin? This is the story of Stuart, who spent years in gyms and sport, got stiffer, and found yoga suited him better. Flametree is a yoga studio, not a gym. You can try a class online or in the studio, and new students get a free first class.

In my opinion, body building in a gym near me did not suit me. But I (Stuart) once fell for it too. So, here is why I stopped looking for “gym Darwin city”, or any Darwin gyms and fitness centres.

As a ten-year-old, I had the flexibility to sit on my butt, in between my legs. I mean my knees could bend backwards under me, and I was entirely comfortable.

My father remarked on it one day as we sat under a tree, in outback Queensland, Australia. We chatted as we ate the crumpled sandwich lunch from our saddle bags. We were out on horseback chasing cattle.

It was a rigorous, outdoor life. I had plenty of stamina, strength, and flexibility. I was amused that the adults found it surprising that I could still sit in such an apparently unconventional way.

Years later, I discovered that I was naturally in a yoga posture called “Reclining Hero” pose (or Supta Virasana in Sanskrit).

As a kid, I naturally had a flexibility that gym programs did not give me later. In my own experience, body building did not build the lean flexibility that I wanted.

Plus, it did not give me the calmness that I now understand matters a lot to me.

Why I started lifting weights at 14

For me, as a young person, my decline started soon. When I was 14, I fell for the idea that I could be successful with girls if I had a “body”.

So I ordered the “Bullworker” that I had seen in a magazine. It had to come by mail truck to our remote outback cattle station. I was a bit embarrassed about it, so I carefully hid it from my mother!

It was a device for so-called isometric exercises to build muscles. It worked.

But for the first time, I got stronger… and less flexible. (It was many years later that I discovered that my idea of what women wanted had been hopelessly simplistic, or just plain wrong, or both).

For me, building muscles also made me stiffer, because I did little stretching. It was the sort of body building that goes on in many gyms and fitness centres.

In my late 20’s, I started yoga. By that time, I was already seriously stiff. I could hardly sit upright, let alone move forward.

By that stage, at boarding school and as a rugby player at university, I’d had 15 years of sport and physical exercise, including with my bullworker!

When I started yoga, at 27, I still had plenty of upper body strength. I could stand on my hands, and then walk down the yoga room on my hands.

If you think about it, any inversion like that means you are lifting your whole weight… of over 70 kilos in my case. But in everyday terms, I was as stiff as a board.

I thought it was about getting harder, bigger muscles

So, like many men, I had all that upper body strength, but I was so stiff that I could not bend forward, or touch my toes, to save my life! I had bulked up, but it wasn’t working for me.

At one point a grumpy ex called me just a “rugger bugger”.

I also did plenty of long-distance running, in both gyms and outdoors, so my thigh muscles were hard… and short. It has taken years to stretch them to the point that is naturally available to many of the women who now inhabit Flametree, my local yoga studio.

Then, in my mid-30’s, I gave up yoga and took up long distance swimming at pools all over Melbourne, and wherever else my travels took me. In hindsight, I was heading further backwards.

Thousands of kilometres of swimming later, I was even stiffer. And it did not head off the middle-age spread or belly fat. Now I was stiff, overweight, and less strong.

I had gone down the same path that I see with some men who turn up to my yoga class after years of gyms.

“Why do all the men I live with all get fat!”

At one point, my woman friend even complained: “Why do all the men I live with all get fat!”.

I thought it was pretty rude at the time, but it was a wake-up call. I had been heading down an ever more sedentary and sugar filled life.

Luckily, in Sydney, a friend of mine had a house near to a good quality Iyengar yoga studio.

I started doing almost daily early morning Iyengar yoga classes. I noticed that stiffness and flab started to disappear. It still took me months to re-learn how to do a handstand so I could lift all my own weight again. But I was back on the path.

Meanwhile, I still thought I had to tackle yoga as a kind of “workout”. I used to get frustrated with yoga classes that were too slow, or not “physical” enough. But when I finally started regular yoga at Flametree Yoga, I learned why I should let go of that approach.

I was ignoring one nervous system

Chris Lalor, the Senior Teacher at Flametree, explained how she sees it: we need activity that works on both sides of our nervous system.

She talks about the sympathetic nervous system that “revs you up”. She points out how we also have (or ignore) a parasympathetic nervous system (and vagus nerve) that calms us down.

Flametree Yoga Studio classes showed me how little of my exercise had worked on the calming side. In turn, that calmness and mindfulness got me thinking more about what I consume, and how much of it I consume.

Getting off the treadmill

Now, at Flametree Yoga, as I got calmer, de-stressed, and less angry, I also got leaner and stronger. The process continues, even as I head towards my 70’s.

That is my experience. Yours may be different. Many of us spend our work and leisure time revved up, and take little time to do activities that calm us down as well as stretch and strengthen us.

If you want to know more, here are the differences between yoga and gym.

Ways to try yoga

Yoga, with its balanced approach, including its restorative yoga poses, gives me the fitness, strength, flexibility and calmness that I need. There is more about yoga for men too.

You don’t need to be flexible to start yoga. The beginner poses are easy, introductory poses. There are even special, optional beginner classes like Gentle Yoga, Backcare Yoga, and Easy Restorative Yoga. You can see them all in the beginner timetable.

New to yoga? See the beginner yoga deal, or the beginner yoga pass by the week, online or in the studio. New students get a free first class if they reserve it.

Non-beginner yoga students, who are new or lapsed at Flametree, can get 30 days unlimited for $79 (online and studio), or 30 days online for $29.

Frequently asked questions

Is Flametree a gym?

No. Flametree is a yoga studio. You do classes with a teacher, online or in the studio.

Is this page saying gyms are bad?

No. It is Stuart’s own story of what suited him. What suits you may be different.

Do I need to be flexible to start yoga?

No. Beginner poses are easy, introductory poses, and props can help.

Is yoga a workout?

Some classes are active, like our Iyengar yoga flow sequences. Others are slower, with longer holds and more rest.

Where are the classes?

Online on Zoom, and at our studios in Woolner and Coolalinga. Check the timetables for class times.

Can I try a class first?

Yes. New students get a free first class if they reserve it.

What does it cost?

Beginner passes are on the beginner yoga deal page. For new and lapsed non-beginners, 30 days unlimited online and studio is $79, and 30 days online is $29.

What is the difference between yoga and gym?

Read our page on the differences between yoga and gym.