With the number of yoga centres and classes opening up all around the city, one would expect that men would jump on the yogic bandwagon for the following reasons: to reduce stress; it's the thing to do now, and that there are hordes of women attending these classes. Plus, yoga is supposed to help one attain the best orgasm ever known to mankind.

Unsurprisingly though, yoga is still seen as exercise for women and devout Hindus and Buddhists. Even cultured and liberal Malay men view yoga with great suspect: "All that meditation and breathing - you sure it's not haram ?" It's one thing to wine, dine and bed women with pleasure, but it's another thing altogether if an activity might lead one to apostasy.

Yoga vs footie

Most men in the city still prefer manly sports such as football, rugby, cycling and golf. Such activities define them as men, and while salsa is gaining popularity as exercise and a way to pick up women, yoga is a grey area for them.

What is yoga? Simple: the word itself means union. This is one form of exercise whereby the mind and body meet, through asanas (postures) and breathing. Yoga is not about magical feats, such as slipping through a keyhole, levitating off the ground and disappearing into thin air. Yoga is a physical, spiritual and psychological fitness regime that challenges the practitioner.

"Men like to be challenged and they ought to see that yoga can provide them with that," said Vincent Tam of Jiva Yoga Studio. "People tend to get confused as there are many types of yoga, such as Hatha , Kundalini , Sahaja and Ashtanga . What I teach is Vinyasa , and it's strength based. You sweat in my class! The few men that have been brave enough to try my classes have stuck around. They enjoy the poses and the relief that comes after a class."

A lot of men are reluctant to fail in public, and falling off a pose in a perspex walled room at the gym can be humiliating. Perhaps a private yoga class for men only can be held, a beefy young man suggests at a chain of fitness centres that I visit. The main stumbling block is ego.