When you’ve never tried yoga, it can be intimidating, especially if you’ve been scoping the jaw-dropping, super bendy, pretzel-like poses your girlfriend practices each morning. But relax: It’s actually the most basic postures—not the fancy positions—that provide you with the foundation of flexibility and strength every man needs. With that said, there are a number of yoga styles, and finding the right one will help ensure you keep up your practice. For those who want a more fast-paced practice, consider power yoga. If you want to wipe yourself out and break a serious sweat (no joke), try Bikram (hot) yoga. Hatha yoga is good for beginners because of its slow pace and introductory poses. And Vinyasa focuses around the mind-breath connection and works the body with aggressive stretching. That’s just a handful of different yoga variations designed to improve flexibility, athletic ability, mental clarity, and more. Before we get into the basic poses, here’s why you should practice yoga, in any variation： 7 reasons men should do yoga 1. Relieve stress 2. Get flexible 3. Build more muscle 4. Prevent workout injuries 5. Have better sex 6. Calm your mind 7. Smell better