Doing This Makes You Seriously Sexy

In a list of the sexiest professions for women…

You’d see the usual suspects. Dancer. Model. Bartender.

But there’s one profession that goes under the radar.

Every man on earth knows what it means when a woman does this for a living.

Every man on earth wants to date a woman who does this for a living at least once in his life.

And women who do this for a living know it.

They sashay with sexual confidence. They hold their bodies with the poise and grace of dancers. They stand out in a crowd and draw every eye.

They’re yoga instructors.

There’s a fabulous scene in the 2009 film “He’s Just Not That Into You,” where Bradley Cooper’s character falls in love with a yoga instructor. (Of course, that yoga instructor is played by Scarlett Johansson, but real-life yoga instructors are just as delicious.)

It’s the flexibility. It’s the body awareness. It’s the yoga pants effect.

Yoga is much more than an exercise class.

It’s a study in how to be effortlessly attractive on all levels: physically, emotionally and spiritually.

And you don’t have to become an instructor yourself to reap the benefits.

I began my yoga practice in college. The semester-long class was called “Yoga for Life,” because our gray-haired instructor was determined to instill a lifelong passion for yoga in each and every one of us.

I nicknamed the class “Yoga for Lust.” I was amazed at the incredible sexual charge I felt during and after each class. That heightened energy carried through to my social life.

Yoga helps you be in the moment, control your breathing, develop body awareness, and improve your flexibility. Every guy knows how those benefits apply … recreationally.

For me, one of the most important benefits of practicing yoga was body love.

Too many of us struggle to accept what we look like. The Centre for Appearance Research in Bristol, England, found that well over half of us feel ashamed of how we look. 70% of us feel pressure to have a “perfect body.”

Body shame hurts your love life.

When you feel imperfect, it’d hard to believe a man could find you beautiful. You don’t give men a chance to appreciate you. Even if a man does compliment you, you may think he’s just flattering you or needs glasses.

Feeling ashamed of how you look is one of the biggest obstacles to feeling sexy.

How can you embrace yourself as a sexual being if you don’t like how you look without clothes?

Many women think the answer is to get a better body. They think, “If only I work out hard enough or diet long enough, then I’ll be beautiful, and men will love me.”

Sorry, dear, that’s not how it works.

Fall in love with your own body, and men will fall in love with it.

You have to do the work of loving yourself first. Just as you are.

That’s where yoga helps.

Yoga helps you fall in love with your own body.

It can certainly help give you a svelte figure, but that’s not its primary purpose.

Yoga is so much more than a way to tone muscles. It’s a discipline that helps you develop self-awareness, inner peace, and self-acceptance.

It helps you open your heart, align your posture, and breathe through every inch of your body.

Your body is capable of such magnificence. The movements of everyday life—walking to work, sitting in a chair, standing at the kitchen counter—don’t begin to touch on everything your body was designed to do.

Our bodies are miracles. They’re made to do so much more than walk, sit and stand. They’re racehorses forced to pull a plow.

Yoga helps you get in touch in the miracle that is your body.

So take a class. Learn some of the basic postures. Then go home and practice religiously, every day.

Prioritize this time with yourself. Make it a standing date. Take pleasure in spending time alone in silence, enjoying your body and the way it moves.

When you begin, you can feel stiff and awkward and wobbly. It takes time to master new movements. But persevere.

See yourself flowing graceful from pose to pose. Feel your chest expand with each breath. This is your time to be with your body. This is your time to learn to love who you are, without hiding.

Yoga reveals everything we are. Those iconic yoga pants are tight for a reason: so you can see the lines of your body without distortion. There is nothing to be ashamed of, only appreciated.

When you’ve finished your yoga session, sashay out into the world. Hold your head high with confidence, poise and grace guiding your movements. Accept the glances, stares and winks.

You are the embodiment of beauty, and you didn’t even have to count calories to do it. You simply had to find your place of inner stillness and let love for yourself blossom.