Dontari Poe, all 346 pounds of him, tackles yoga along with some Chiefs teammates

Imagine 6-foot-3, 346-pound defensive tackle Dontari Poe standing on his right foot, hunched over at the waist with his torso parallel to the ground, left leg extended directly behind him, arms extended forward.

He feels confidence in his balance, eyes closed.

Yoga practitioners will recognize the warrior three pose that combines balance and strength. Yoga instructors will introduce the position as Virabhadrasana III.

All Poe and other members of the Chiefs know is that poses like this, taught in yoga classes they attend, provide tangible benefits to their offseason training regimen.

Yes, a growing number of Chiefs players are “yogis,” and a handful of them spoke about it Wednesday after completing their second day of organized team activities, or OTAs. Besides Poe, wide receiver Jeremy Maclin and cornerback Marcus Peters have spent some time in a Vinyasa, Ashtanga or slow burn class.

“I ‘namaste’ too,” said Peters, quoting a typical yoga instructor’s session-ending salutation.

For Poe, yoga became a primary workout after a season in which he was recovering from a herniated disk in his back.

“It helps you know how to take care of yourself better,” Poe said. “People told me that it helps flexibility. … It works. It’s hard, but it works.”

Poe, 25 and a two-time Pro Bowl participant, may not be the typical person to unfurl a mat in class. But he didn’t allow his inexperience to deter him. He mustered some courage and took the first step.

“It wasn’t too hard when somebody said it would help me feel better,” Poe said. “That’s all they pretty much had to tell me. I tried it for a couple of days. It helped release (back) pressure. After that, it was nonstop.”

Poe said he went to class a couple of times a week this offseason, and —no surprise here — he was the giant in the room.

“I’m in a room with yogis, man,” Poe said. “They’re small. They’re doing the stretches with no problem. And I’m trying to fake like it’s no problem.

“But they tried to help me; it was no stress.”

Poe worked out in Phoenix with a training partner who is a boxer and has back issues of his own. He sold Poe on yoga, and now Poe is hooked ... much like Peters, who measures the benefits both physically and mentally.

“It’s relaxing — it helps you relax your brain,” said Peters, the second-year pro who was named NFL defensive rookie of the year by The Associated Press. “It helps you simmer down all those things that you got going on.”

Maclin, who led the Chiefs with 87 receptions and eight touchdowns last season, incorporates yoga into his workout routine but professes to a lack of flexibility.

Could he envision the massive Poe, who three years ago said his biggest sacrifice for getting in shape was surrendering barbecue, in a downward-facing dog pose?

“No, I can’t,” Maclin said.

But then Maclin considered how Poe battled through his back problems last season after missing training camp.

“If anybody could do it, he probably could,” Maclin said.

This story was originally published May 25, 2016 at 4:59 PM with the headline "Dontari Poe, all 346 pounds of him, tackles yoga along with some Chiefs teammates."