Mike Simmons was resistant the first time a friend suggested he try yoga. He said no for a full year. “Who do you see doing yoga?” he said. “It isn’t typically a Black man.”

Then one day Mr Simmons — a runner and drummer — ran out of excuses.

“I thought, let me just try it,” he said. “It is free and it is accessible.”

Those early classes did not do much to break the stereotypes he had in his mind. He was often the only male and the only Black person in the room. He fell in love with the discipline anyway.

“It became a challenge because I couldn’t do everything that everybody else was doing,” he said. “I don’t talk much, but in my head, I’m trying to figure out everything.”

Mr Simmons’s internal competitiveness kept him coming back. After practising yoga for a few years, friends started saying he had a talent for it. They suggested he become a yoga teacher.

He took their advice. He obtained his RYT200 certification at Lucky Elephant Yoga and subsequently became a Level 2 Chromatic Yoga Instructor.

“Yoga Mike”, as he is now known, believes yoga fosters peace and clarity. He believes diversity in local yoga has improved since he started taking classes six years ago.

He is one of three Black male instructors who will be teaching yoga at Treehouse Bermuda at 12 Trott Road in Hamilton this year.

Treehouse Bermuda cofounder Tiffany Paynter said: “Having representation of Black teachers really is important, but it is not just about Black teachers, but about having different bodies and different abilities in the classroom.”

Mr Simmons will be holding a men-only class offering a blend of hatha and vinyasa yoga.

Ms Paynter said men and women practise yoga in pretty much the same way, with only a slight variation in the poses, but men sometimes feel self-conscious in a group dominated by women.

“Some men are sheepish or a little reticent being next to women who can do very advanced poses,” she said.

She said in a yoga class of just men, a brotherhood can form. Treehouse Bermuda has begun to offer after-class gatherings to promote that sense of camaraderie.

At 25, Tariq Simons is the youngest of Treehouse Bermuda’s new teaching recruits. He will instruct sunrise yoga sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the month of June for men and women.

He got into yoga looking for a way to strengthen his back. “I played tennis at a high local level and represented Bermuda in events like the Davis Cup, but I was not equipped to manage my physicality,” he said. “Naturally, injuries and soreness happened.”

He discovered yoga on social media. The results were immediate and measurable.

“I noticed that if I did it, then no pain. I got a little stronger over time,” he said. “If I didn’t do it for a day, two days, three days, then there was pain.”

What began as simple back care turned into a deeper inquiry into the body and mind.

His exploration took him from an app called FitMind, to the Isha Foundation in South India and to daily practice.

Because he entered yoga through self-study, the idea of group practice was almost an afterthought.

“It never quite occurred to me because I hadn’t done yoga like before that,” he said. “I was just trying to fix my back.”

He finished his training last December. His first students were all people he knew, one of the tennis juniors he coaches, his mother, his aunties and his doubles partner.

“That early group mattered a lot to me, especially my junior tennis student,” he said. “I want yoga to be part of the overall package that I offer as a coach.”

Dwight Robinson will be teaching vinyasa yoga for men and women on Saturdays at 10.30am. He described it as a faster style of yoga, but still breath based.

Mr Robinson fell into yoga almost by mistake when a friend invited him to a coffee and fitness outing.

“When we got to the destination, it ended up being a couple’s yoga class,” Mr Robinson said. “I enjoyed sharing energies, not just with my friend, but also with others that were in the class.”

That was a one-off class, but his friend found other classes for them to take.

A musician and former Royal Bermuda Regiment member, Mr Robinson initially approached yoga as a physical discipline. Soon, it manifested itself into something more meaningful.

He has now practised yoga on and off for about a decade. He received his certification to teach in February.

“Treehouse was fine enough to give me an opportunity to stretch out,” Mr Robinson said. He taught his first class just recently. “It was a little overwhelming,” he said.

He was very conscious of all the material he had to remember and adjustments that had to be made.

Knowing it was his first time, the class was extremely supportive which made him feel better.

“Classes cost $20 each for Mr Simmons’s and Mr Robinson’s classes because they are one-offs,” Ms Paynter said. “Tariq’s class is workshop-based, so it is $45.”

• For more information about Treehouse Bermuda classes and programmes, see treehousebda.com