What Does Yoga Do For Men? Geeta Iyengar’s Case For Restorative Poses

Tired by Wednesday, short-fused by Friday, and still pushing through? Geeta Iyengar wrote an article just for men, and her answer was not “train harder”. It was the opposite: lie down, bend forward, turn upside down with care, and let the system settle.

What does yoga do for men? The short answer

What does yoga do for men? In the Iyengar tradition, a lot more than stretch the hamstrings. Geeta S Iyengar taught that men need resting poses as much as women do, to recover from fatigue, cool a hot temper and keep blood pressure and stress in check. Yoga for men over 50, and for men who are complete beginners, starts in the same place: steady classes, with forward bends and supported rest built into every week.

Here is the article in short form:

• Men get tired too, and rest poses are not “women’s yoga”.
• Geeta asked men for forward bends, inversions and lying poses every week.
• Forward bends, she said, cool aggression and anxiety.
• Finish a practice quietly, never on a hard pose.
• Iyengar yoga lowered 24-hour blood pressure in a 12-week trial.
• Stiff beginners are welcome: props do the work.
• Start with 2 free classes in Darwin or LIVE online.

Iyengar yoga is the style developed by Mr BKS Iyengar. In the 20th century he did more than anyone to set down traditional Indian yoga, through his books and his teaching, and he pioneered the use of props. It’s the style we teach at Flametree.

Who was Geeta Iyengar, and why did she write for men?

Geeta S Iyengar was Mr BKS Iyengar’s daughter, and one of the great teachers of his method. She taught at the institute in Pune, India, for decades and trained teachers from all over the world.

She is best known for her work on women’s health. But she also wrote “Restorative Asanas for Men” (asanas are yoga poses). It was printed in Yoga Vaani 62 (September 2000, pp. 8 to 11), the journal of Iyengar Yoga Australia, in an issue on men and yoga. Yoga Vaani reproduced it from Yogadhara, and it was printed again in YogAfrica (June 2013), the South African Iyengar journal.

Her point was simple. The quiet, supported poses she gave women were never meant to be for women only.

Do men really need restorative yoga?

Yes, in Geeta Iyengar’s view, every bit as much as women. In her words, “Men too need the restorative asanas, the supine asanas, to recover from fatigue” (Yoga Vaani 62, p. 8). Supine means lying on your back.

Many men come to yoga wanting a workout. They want to sweat, push and feel sore the next day. Geeta saw a different need. Hard work drains the body, and rest has to be taught, the same way a pose is taught.

She asked men to make three groups of poses a regular habit, at least once a week:

• Forward bends (forward extensions), such as the seated forward bend, Paschimottanasana.
• Inversions (upside-down poses), such as shoulder stand and headstand, learnt with a teacher.
• Lying poses, such as Reclining Bound Angle Pose (Supta Baddha Konasana), resting on a bolster.

She linked this weekly habit with steadier blood pressure, blood sugar and hormones, and with less anger and anxiety. That is her view, from a lifetime of teaching. In her words: “Then peace of mind follows.” (p. 8)

Can yoga cool a hot temper?

Geeta Iyengar thought forward bends were the key. She put it in five words: “The forward extensions check their aggressiveness” (p. 10).

Her reasoning, in our words: part of a man’s drive comes from the adrenal glands (small glands above the kidneys that release stress hormones). That drive gives energy. Too much of it shows up as tension, anger, worry and high blood pressure. Forward bends, she taught, settle it down.

You do not need to know your glands to feel the effect. Rest your forehead on a bolster in a forward bend, and a quiet comes over the mind. That is known from long practice, and it is what Geeta was pointing to.

Why do men hide stress for so long?

Geeta made an observation that many men will recognise. In her experience, worry and low mood often show quickly in women but slowly in men. Men hold on, look calm, and keep going. Then, often after about 45, it catches up with them.

She also warned against a quiet that is only an act. A calm face over a tense mind is not calm. In her view, forward bends and inversions help a man find the real thing, not the brave face.

How should a man finish his practice?

Quietly. Geeta gave a clear caution: do not end a practice on headstand alone. Follow it with shoulder stand, Plough Pose (Halasana), a supported bridge or legs up the wall, or at least a forward bend.

Most people know a class ends in Savasana (Corpse Pose). Fewer know why the poses just before it matter so much. In her teaching, the closing inversions and forward bends bring the nervous system down from “go” to “rest”, so the final relaxation works. She said this mattered even more for men than for women.

Read more on the closing rest in our post on Savasana, the Iyengar way, and on shoulder stand with props in Sarvangasana, the Iyengar way.

What about the prostate?

Geeta named an enlarged or swollen prostate among the problems common to men. She gave headstand and shoulder stand, with the legs in Bound Angle and wide-angle shapes, as the work for it.

Those are advanced versions of advanced poses. Dr J. T. Shah, a medical doctor who was also an Iyengar yoga teacher, who worked closely with Mr BKS Iyengar for many years. He wrote Therapeutic Yoga with a foreword by Mr Iyengar, and he lists who should avoid upside-down poses: people with high blood pressure, glaucoma, a detached retina, high short-sightedness, discharging ears or neck arthritis (p. xiii). So these are poses your teacher brings in when you are ready, never something to copy from a page.

Our prostate and men’s health guide sets out what Mr Iyengar, the yoga doctors and the research say about the prostate in full.

What does the research show for men?

In short: Iyengar yoga lowered blood pressure in a trial, and yoga helped men with prostate cancer feel better. According to PubMed, these are the studies that matter most here, finding first:

• Twelve weeks of Iyengar yoga lowered 24-hour blood pressure (top number down 6 points, bottom number down 5) in adults with raised blood pressure. Cohen and colleagues, 2011, a randomised trial in Philadelphia, 57 people finished. This tested Iyengar yoga itself. Read the study (PMID 19734256).
• In 11 of 17 trials, yoga lowered the top blood pressure number more than the comparison, which ranged from medicine to health education. Posadzki and colleagues, 2014, a systematic review. These were yoga in general, of many styles. Read the study (PMID 24906591).
• Six weeks of yoga before prostate surgery improved quality of life, fatigue and wellbeing, and boosted immune cells. Kaushik and colleagues, 2021, a pilot randomised trial of 29 men in Texas. Read the study (PMID 34815548).
• Yoga was among the approaches that reduced bladder leaks in men, alongside pelvic floor training. Zhang and colleagues, 2023, a scoping review of 87 studies, mostly men after prostate cancer. Read the study (PMID 37161602).
• Yoga and mindfulness improved psychological wellbeing in men with prostate disease. Aja and colleagues, 2025, a review of integrative approaches. Read the study (PMID 40548677).

No trial has yet tested Geeta Iyengar’s weekly men’s routine as she taught it. Not yet studied is not the same as not working: her advice comes from long practice and close observation. Most of the trials above tested yoga of many styles, so read why the difference between yoga and Iyengar yoga matters.

Is yoga too hard for stiff men?

No. Stiff men are exactly who props were made for. Mr Iyengar began as a sickly, stiff teenager himself. He used ropes, belts, blocks, chairs and bolsters so the pose comes to the body, rather than the body forcing the pose.

Can’t touch your toes? Rest your forehead on a chair instead. Tight hips? Sit higher on a folded blanket. The benefit Geeta describes comes from the shape and the quiet, not from how far you can bend.

If you play sport, our post on yoga for men who want to keep playing longer covers what the trials show for golfers, cricketers and rugby players. Bring a mate or come alone, but give it 12 weeks.

How do Flametree classes put this into practice?

Every Flametree class, beginner or non-beginner, includes forward bends and a long, quiet finish. Inversions come in stages, with chairs and the wall, as you are ready. Our teachers adapt each pose to the person in front of them, in Darwin and LIVE online.

New to Flametree, or away 3 months or more? Get 2 free classes, then 10 at half price. Already done some yoga? Try the non-beginner starter deal. Or see the class times and reserve a class.

Feel free to check with your professional advisers if you wish, but also give yoga a try.

Yoga for men: questions people ask

What does yoga do for men?

Yoga builds strength and flexibility, but in the Iyengar tradition its biggest gift to men may be recovery. Geeta Iyengar taught that forward bends, inversions and lying poses help men recover from fatigue and cool anger and anxiety. A 12-week trial found Iyengar yoga lowered 24-hour blood pressure.

Is yoga good for men?

Yes. Men do far less yoga than women, yet Geeta Iyengar argued they need its resting poses just as much. Trials of yoga in men have found better blood pressure, quality of life and wellbeing.

Is yoga good for men over 50?

Yes. Geeta Iyengar noticed that stress often catches up with men after about 45. Supported poses, chairs and the wall make yoga for men over 50 safe and steady, and a teacher adapts every pose to your body.

Is yoga too hard for stiff men?

No. Iyengar yoga uses props such as chairs, blocks, belts and ropes, so a stiff body gets the benefit of a pose without forcing it. Most men find they loosen up steadily over 12 weeks of regular classes.

Which yoga poses help men recover from fatigue?

Geeta Iyengar named three groups: forward bends such as the seated forward bend, lying poses such as Reclining Bound Angle Pose on a bolster, and inversions such as shoulder stand. She asked men to do them at least once a week. Inversions are learnt with a teacher.

Should a beginner try headstand for the prostate?

No. The headstand and shoulder stand variations Geeta Iyengar gave for the prostate are advanced. Dr J. T. Shah lists people who should avoid upside-down poses, including those with high blood pressure or glaucoma. Your teacher brings inversions in when you are ready.

Will I be the only man in a yoga class?

Probably not. Flametree classes have men of all ages and shapes, from beginners to sportsmen.

Where can men do yoga in Darwin?

Flametree Yoga Studio runs Iyengar yoga classes for men and women at Woolner and Coolalinga in greater Darwin, and LIVE online across Australia. New students get 2 free classes, then 10 at half price.

Where this comes from

Geeta S Iyengar, “Restorative Asanas for Men”, Yoga Vaani 62, September 2000, pp. 8 to 11 (Iyengar Yoga Australia; reproduced from Yogadhara), reprinted in YogAfrica, June 2013, pp. 12 to 14. Quotes are exact and brief; everything else is our summary in our own words. Dr J. T. Shah, Therapeutic Yoga (foreword by Mr BKS Iyengar), Vakils, Feffer and Simons, Mumbai, 1999, p. xiii. Studies as linked above, checked on PubMed. More in our encyclopaedia of yoga for health conditions.

Flametree Yoga Studio, Darwin and LIVE online. This post is general information, not medical advice.