I wrote a post on Nude Yoga about a month ago and presented some articles I’d found as well as various opinions on the practice. Since then I’ve been doing my home practice in the nude whenever possible and giving the idea of nude yoga some thought.
It occurred to me that most of those articles and others I’ve read see nude yoga as a passing fad, find the idea disturbing, or in some way irreverent to yoga. It occurred to me that almost all of these articles were written by non-nudists and many of those participating in those classes were non-nudists as well. I noticed that some of the reasons they give for practicing yoga in the nude (body acceptance and overcoming fears and shame about the body) are similar to the reasons we practice naturism.
As nudists and naturists, we’ve already dealt with those issues so doing yoga in the nude is a different experience. When we do our practice in the nude, it is just a logical extension of our naturist philosophy and lifestyle. It’s as natural for us to do our asanas and meditations in the nude as it is for us to be nude when we sunbathe, swim, or play volleyball.
I posted this idea in Naturist Yoga group on Skinbook and got the following response from Dan Speers, a naturist and a yoga instructor who holds nude classes.
You’re right, most articles do seem to quickly dismiss the idea. As a yoga teacher I see nude yoga as an idealized form of what yoga does seek to teach.
In short, to do yoga nude for many is a exercise of Raja Yoga – yoga of the mind.
A lesson of Yoga is to be more connected to our bodies – to see the body, mind, and spirit as a whole. But in our “modern” society people are so body phobic that that lesson is lost on people. They need to overcome their shame and fear of the body. In my own regular classes people often fuss with their clothes while in a pose – so worried about what tiny bit of skin might be exposed. It is such a distraction.
To my mind, nude yoga can help people get over those issues. By allowing people to feel safe and respected as they are, they can remove those ideas of fear and shame and start to accept themselves as a whole person. Once those mental blockages are gone, the yogic lessons of being connected will then begin to make sense.
Namaste,
Dan
I recently found an article, Naked Yoga. Is it the Yogic Way? by Wendy Tremayne which appeared in N: The Magazine of Naturist Living, Summer 2005. In the article she talks about how she was invited to teach a nude yoga class and how she sought to find out if naked yoga was “yoga-like”.
When we consider the role that clothing has played in society, it appears to be in direct opposition to the goals of yoga. By design, clothing reminds us of the ways in which we are different. It serves as a distraction that leads us away from a central yogic principal — the commonality of all living things, which can contribute to peace and compassion amongst people.
She also took a practical view of the use of clothing in the yoga classroom. In searching for what the yogis of past suggested, she found little more than the suggestion of loose fitting clothing that allows for the greatest range of movement of the body and clothing that exposes the greatest amount of bone and muscle of the skeletal system so that a teacher can view the student and make appropriate adjustments. It seemed to her that there was no actual “necessity” for clothing in the classroom. She felt that clothing worked in opposition to the student’s freedom of movement as well as the teacher’s ability to view the students alignment.
I have found that clothing has sometimes been a hindrance to my yoga practice. I wore sweatpants and a T-shirt to my first few yoga classes. I found that the sweatpants would either bind or prevent me from getting a good grip on my leg in some poses and I’d have to interrupt the flow to make an adjustment to get into the pose. In some poses, such as down-faced-dog, my T-shirt would billow out and fall into my face which was quite distracting. In poses such as bound-angle pose, clothing, even it’s stretchy, adds unnatural resistance, binding, and discomfort to the pose. For my clothed classes, I now wear loose shorts and a tighter-fitting sleeveless shirt. They help but full nudity obviously offers the greatest freedom of movement and enhances my ability to see how my body is moving into the pose. Nude, I have greater awareness of how my body is working.
“You cannot do yoga. Yoga is your natural state. What you can do are yoga exercises, which may reveal to you where you are resisting your natural state.” — Sharon Gannon, yoga teacher
I’m relatively new to the practice of yoga, having only begun this past summer, but one of the ideas that drew me to yoga was its holistic approach to the body, mind, and spirit. That same approach has been part of my naturist philosophy for some time. If yoga is my natural state and nudity is also my natural state then it seems logical that I can only have one natural state, one where yoga and nudity are in harmony, working together to join body, mind and spirit. Namaste.
Thanks for your notes on nude yoga. I’ve had occasion to take classes at naturist resorts and have never found the fact of being naked a distraction from the purpose of the class. And of course I practice naked at home.
It’s interesting to hear Dan Speers talk of how clothing has its own way of being a hindrance to one’s focus and concentration: when the point of yoga is greater connection, greater awareness, between the mind and the body — which we have worked so long to keep separate. I think, too, that being naked puts them together.
Namaste,
Allen
The question shouldn’t be ‘Why do yoga in the nude?’, but rather ‘Why WEAR clothes while practicing yoga?’ What possible reason could there be to wrap your body with cloth while trying to free your mind?
Are these morally self-righteous, hypocritical, sexually obsessed, guilt-ridden defenders of the public morality so terrified by their own reaction to simple nudity that they can’t differentiate an orgy from a meditation class? Do they become aroused viewing childbirth? Would they find an autopsy titillating?
Will they ever get it through their heads that nudity isn’t always sexual? Somehow I think not. Not when a TV program like COPS, full of violence, anger and pain finds it necessary to blur out an inch of Plumber’s Butt crack to protect our tender sensibilities?
Now, someone who gets turned on by THAT really has a problem…
You’re back in form, Steve!
Actually, there is no “logical” reason for wrapping your body in cloth while trying to connect your body, mind, and spirit. I find that I generate quite a bit of body heat during a practice. At the end of a practice, while in Savasasna (corpse pose), you lie still and relax for several minutes. During this time you might feel a little chilled but you can cover yourself with a blanket.
Most objections I’ve seen come from yoga “traditionalists” who claim it’s disrespectful to yoga although I’ve read that some ancient yogic texts hint at nudity. Most objections are from the same sort of folks who object to nudity in general. There are some yoga poses which can be quite exposing and they imagine folks doing those in the nude and the “Ewwwww” factor kicks in.
A conscientious yoga teacher can arrange the class to minimize such exposure but that may be overcompensating. In class, I find that I’m concentrating on my breathing and the pose rather than looking at anybody else. Usually, I’m not even aware of anyone else’s presence.
A nude yoga practice is no more arousing than a typical nudist venue. Practicing yoga in the nude is, in my opinion, the most practical, respectful, and reverent way to practice. There’s nothing in yoga that requires clothing for practical reasons, i.e., warmth and protection.
Uh oh, Rick. You’re starting to scare me. Are you really suggesting that a “concientious yoga teacher” understands that SOME viewing angles of simple nudity should or could be CENSORED to avoid offending the sensibilities of SOME participants in a nude yoga class? Participants who willingly and with full knowledge aforehand of what to expect CHOOSE to attend?
What next, shutting the doors to folks with grotesque body deformaties, surgery scars, skin color? Because it makes someone uncomfortable?
Perhaps an application form for applicants listing required appearance minimums and posture rules? Maybe just issuing blindfolds would do the trick. Personally I wouldn’t need one; I learned long ago that I could avoid seeing “Ewwwww” things by simply not staring at them.
No, a concientious teacher would not mix intolorant people with those who are a bit more enlightened.
But you’re right in saying that it’s largly the anti-nudity types who squawk about that which they don’t understand. To break down their predudices into sub-catagories of intolorance perpetuates this foolishness even more.
I’m only reiterating what yoga instructors who have nude classes have said. I haven’t had the opportunity to take a nude class so I can only speculate about how the dynamics would play out. But when choosing a point in the room to focus on, I’d just as soon it not be someone’s anus. Still, I don’t think the "Ewwwww" factor should be a problem as yoga should be directed inward. The studio I attend had a special event this week and there must have been 30 or 40 people in the room. Much of the time, I was only vaguely aware of the people around me. I guess some people find it harder to let go of things so they can expand their comfort zone.