Yes, the obvious is true: Most yoga classes are attended by a majority of fit, flexible females in tight clothes. But, contrary to what you might think, it’s not just a sport for sexy ladies. And we have tons of reasons why you should be doing it.

With yoga, you’ll hone your mental focus, rid your system of toxins, and maybe even boost your performance in the bedroom. You’ll even be able to touch your toes—improved flexibility is a bonus for just about every sport.

Yes, the real results of regular yoga practice are quite practical, and you don’t need any special equipment—just a few square feet of space and a mat. Here’s how that extra bit of stretching will not only enhance your other workouts, but also your life.

1. Relieve stress

We all find ways to deal with stress. But going to amped-up gyms or punching a punching bag can make you more aggressive or more tired. Yoga, on the other hand, employs a number of relaxation techniques, which, with regular practice, can make you calmer overall. Along with training your body, yoga trains your mind to see the bigger picture and act from integrity instead of freaking out. If you want to be more James Bond than Charlie Sheen, get yourself on the mat. Being forced to unplug from texts, calls, and email for 60 to 90 minutes doesn’t hurt either.

2. Get flexible

Most series of yoga asanas (physical postures) include one or more spinal twists to loosen the many joints that make up your spine. This can improve your tennis game and golf swing, as well as promote detoxification and good digestion. Think of the body as a sponge filled with dirty sink water. Gentle twists help to wring the sponge out and purge toxins.

3. Sculpt muscles

Yoga uses the weight of your own body to build mass and strength. Don’t believe it? Think about how many clunky free weights it takes to bench press your bodyweight. Yoga allows you to get the same muscle-building benefits by performing long, extended pushups, squats, and leg lifts. The results are well-worked muscle groups, which get stronger with each class.

4. Prevent workout injuries

Most yoga classes begin with a reminder to honor your body’s particular needs and limits on that particular day. This basic ability to scan and assess yourself as you practice will help reduce injuries when running or playing other sports. Plus, flexible, well-stretched yoga muscles will heal and recover more quickly after working out or getting strained.

5. Have better sex

One way to improve your performance in the bedroom is to translate all those relaxation and breathing techniques from yoga class into better, longer sex. These strengthened concentration skills will help you focus your mind and better channel your sexual energy, helping to prevent premature orgasm. This can lead to increased sexual endurance and will make you far more sensitive and responsive to your partner.

6. Push your limits

There are many types of yoga classes, some gentler than others. But when you find the class that matches your abilities? Watch out! With long holds and often continual movements, you’ll amp up cardio at the same time you’re building whole-body lean muscle mass. Find a class with ‘power,’ ‘vinyasa,’ or ‘flow’ in the title, and you can skip the gym that day. Do you want to react more mindful in life and you want to improve your range of motion, find a yin class. With quiet, slow paced and steady poses which are held for a longer time you passively stretch the tissues, generating a fresh aliveness in how you think and feel.

7. Calm your mind

In the midst of a jam-packed schedule, committing to the relaxed space of a yoga class might be the only way for many of us to slow down and breathe right. Breathing exercises, called pranayama, have been developed over thousands of years to calm and tame that endless stream of thoughts. This leads to greater concentration as you work your way through each pose—and, in most cases, a calmness that lasts the rest of the day.

8. Smell better

Seriously. Yoga is very much about waste removal. Regular practice is more effective than cologne. Exhaling and sweating help get rid of toxins during class, so that, afterward, your sweat really will smell sweeter. After a class your body is cleaner, more confident, and focused than when you walked in.

9. Set goals

Most yoga teachers ask you to set an intention for that particular session or in some other part of your life. This simple act saying something in your head like, “I’ll be easier on myself for one hour,” can have far-reaching effects. We all know how to get what we want, but many of us struggle with knowing what we want. Yoga can help that question become more real, tangible, and accessible in everyday life.

Source; Men’s Journal.