I have not seen the calendar so it's hard to comment on it specifically. More than many, I suppose, as a studio owner and strong believer in the power of yoga to transform lives, I am grateful for any endeavor that will draw men to the practice of yoga. However we have all seen how the media and marketing, in the aggregate, have colored the image of yoga in the minds of the mainstream public. I am very wary of any efforts that may, intentionally or not, diminish or distort the perception of the purpose and value of yoga to the world at large.

Beefcake? Most male yogis i've seen tend to be slender, unlike weight lifters, because yoga uses the body's own weight and resistance to create lighter and leaner muscles. So it is troubling that this is perhaps a misrepresentation of yoga if these men aren't practicing yogis.

As for using sex to sell, what about Yoga Journal's covers that always have good looking women doing poses we all aspire to but may never reach. Isn't that using sex and dreams to sell magazines? Maybe YJ could learn something from this calendar and finally put a man on their cover!

How could this not be a hit when Yoga today is practiced mostly practiced by women?

As someone who likes to satirize this fact, this idea for such a calendar has been run by me several times. I guess I was beat to the punch for the idea and a funny bit especially when the first sentence of the site reads:

“Mekosun wants you to know that men can be pretty amazing yogis themselves—and we’ve got the visuals to back it up”

…which I think is pretty good satire considering most Yogis in the past were men.

From what little time I have been practicing yoga reguarly (just 2 years), males do seem to get less representation in yoga publications than women do in America. I think it is important to show the male form in many capacities: strong, flexible, vulnerable etc...From the two photos I saw following the link (from my hetero-female perspective) there will probably be a sensual aspect to the calendar too, which I think is healthy and way over due.

I totally agree with Jesse: Put a man on the YJ cover and put beautiful women (and we all know by now that beautiful means more than a slim and youg body) on the cover.

The unusual cover with a woman all wrapped in a with cloth was beautiful!

I support the overall goal of the calendar, raising money for a worthy cause. However, it is quite obvious, as in much of contemporary culture, sex sells. I think if a variety of men of different yoga levels and body shapes had been photographed, that more men would be encouraged to become involved in yoga. While the photographs (and the men in them) are truly beautiful, I don't necessarily think it will bring a flood of men into the yoga studio.

I can't think of many straight men who would hang a calendar of buff guys practicing yoga. It seems like the calendar would only appeal to women and gay men. I don't see how this is going to get your average guy into a yoga class. Having more males on the cover of Yoga Journal would be more effective.

"Is this just another way of using sex appeal to sell or a celebration of the male form?"

Sex appeal can never be fully separate from the celebration of human form. And why should it be?
I would think that Yoga Journal would be above such over-simplified, moot questions.

Hi. This is Matt Meko of Mekosun, producer of the self-funded calendar being questioned. I made this calendar primarily for me, to show myself images of people like me (muscled man) doing yoga to support my practice and motivate me. There are also captions with the pictures of men (my friends) doing mind/body fitness to remind the viewer (at least me) of yoga's teachings. Today's yoga media and classes filled with women didn't give me this information so I had to create it.

We had some local press on this calendar. A reader came to our release party whose 19 y/o son wants to do yoga, but he doesn't like the fact that western yoga seems to be all about girls. His mom bought him a calendar.

Yoga Journal, the author of this blog, and you have not seen the finished calendar yet. Please go create information to support your own practice with calendars for seniors, kids, different ethnic backgrounds, physically challenged, people of dimension (obese), pets, whatever rocks you. Hopefully we will join in community encouraging your say rather than shifting it to an unintended topic.

For many years, I've tried to get my husband to embrace yoga to no avail. He's into sports, and I doubt the calendar will change his mind much. On the other hand, I find the calendar (what I've seen of it) to be a welcome diversion.

I sell lots of yoga calendars with a lot of women in them and would love to offer a calendar that really comes from the yoga community and reflects "yoga culture". If anyone knows of such an item please contact me at ray@yogalifestyle.com . The feel of Meko's calendar, while attractive, doesn't really fit what I am looking for.

I think yoga is a beautiful form of art, whether you're a man or a women. This guy was inspired to photograph that art and I congratulate him. I feel like everyone can come up with theories or criticisms about anything, but at the heart of it, it's very positive. If you don't like it, don't look at it, but complaining and shedding a dark light on it is unfair and catty. We're not debating politics here.