High Noon: Yoga Sans Clothes asks, “Isn’t yoga difficult enough without this twist? Is this something you’d be interested in [...]]]>
Certified yoga instructor Jeffrey Duval, left, and student Todd
Erickson roll up their mats following a nude yoga class in New York.
Fans of nude yoga say the nudity aids in deepening their yoga practice.
(AP Photo/David Goldman)

High Noon: Yoga Sans Clothes asks, “Isn’t yoga difficult enough without this twist? Is this something you’d be interested in doing?”

The answer to the first question is “No.” Yoga isn’t difficult. Sure, some of the poses are challenging but you work to your own limits on any given day. Is nude yoga something I’d be interested in doing? You bet!

I’ve a naturist for a number of years. I find nudity in situations where clothing isn’t necessary for warmth or protection to be perfectly normal and natural. To me, a nude human being is a person in their natural state. From naturism I’ve learned to accept my body as it is while at the same time striving to make it a better place to live. I’ve also learned to accept others for who they are, regardless of physical appearance. My yoga practice reinforces these ideas and I find that the two philosophies work very well together.

One of my biggest distractions in doing asana is having to interrupt my focus to adjust my clothing because it doesn’t want to stretch in the same way or direction that my body does. Practicing yoga in the nude obviously eliminates this distraction and during my home practice (where I practice in the nude) I find I’m able to focus on my breath, the pose and my intention. At the studio where I attend classes, nude yoga is not an option so I deal with it.

Would a practice with other nude yogis (either mixed gender or same sex) be distracting? For some, yes, especially if they were unaccustomed to being nude with others or hadn’t developed an attitude of body acceptance. I haven’t yet done nude yoga with others so I can’t say with one-hundred percent certainty that I wouldn’t be distracted but I’m reasonably sure I’d find it no different from a nudist venue.

Many of the comments I’ve seen in blog posts or news articles stress the “Ewww” factor in regards to certain poses that might expose body parts some would rather not see. I find such comments to be juvenile. These body parts are common to all of us. To my way of thinking, one body part isn’t any more or less offensive than any other. If seeing a particular part of the human anatomy offends or titillates us it’s because we’ve chosen to be offended or titillated by it.

Another reason, I’d probably not find nudity distracting is that in every yoga class in which I’ve participated, I rarely spend any time looking at others in the class. Most of the time, I’m listening to the instructor and focusing on my practice &mdash, my breath, the pose, how my body feels in the pose. About the only time I do look at another student or the instructor is for guidance when I’m unsure about a pose.

I’m not saying I don’t get distracted by bodies in a yoga class. I do. However, I have the respect and presence of mind to accept it, let it pass and return my focus to my practice.

For what it’s worth…

That’s right, another hot young Disney starlet’s nude (or semi-nude) pictures have leaked onto the Internet. First there was Vanessa Hudgens’ nude self-portrait, then Miley Cyrus showing some back, and now it’s Adrienne Bailon’s tatooed ass.

There must be a lesson to be learned here. If you’re [...]]]> Yawn! Another distressed (undressed) Disney damsel in the news. Yawn!

That’s right, another hot young Disney starlet’s nude (or semi-nude) pictures have leaked onto the Internet. First there was Vanessa Hudgens’ nude self-portrait, then Miley Cyrus showing some back, and now it’s Adrienne Bailon’s tatooed ass.

There must be a lesson to be learned here. If you’re going to have naked pictures of yourself on your computer that you’d rather not be public, put them in a password protected archive or encrypt your entire drive. Better yet, don’t keep them on your computer at all. Might even be a good idea not to take them but who can resist the thrill of snapping a few naked pictures of yourself with your cell phone or digital camera? But if you’re underage, it may be a felony to photograph yourself in the nude or for someone to accidentally see it.

The only thing I found interesting about the Bailon photo was that her laptop was ransomed for a paltry $1,000 and the photos were “missing.” Why did the perpetrator feel the need to delete them when copying them would have been less work and would have gone unnoticed? It doesn’t make sense.

Sometimes I wonder if these nude photo incidents are planned by Disney. Does anyone really believe the squeaky clean Disney image really exists? Can anyone over the age of 15 actually be that pure and chaste? Then again, in America there is a tendency to believe that actors are really the characters they portray.

Vanessa and Adrienne are adults and presumably capable of making decisions about what they do off the set. If they want to take nude photos of themselves for their boyfriends, that’s fine. If they want to share them with the rest of the world, that’s fine too. Naked pictures just aren’t a big deal and having a nude photo of yourself on the Internet doesn’t have anything to do with your morality or your character. All it means is that we don’t have to imagine what you look like naked.

[Edit ]

It turns out that the Adrienne Bailon photo leak was a publicity stunt after all although the Disney organization didn’t seem to be behind it. I had thought the circumstances were more than a bit suspect.

No pizza for naked man Mon Sep 29, 2008 COBOURG – A man wearing only black Adidas running shoes was denied service at a downtown pizza shop, on Friday, Sept. 26, [...]]]> Song: The Logical Song
Artist: Supertramp
Album: Breakfast In America
Released: 1979

No pizza for naked man
Mon Sep 29, 2008
COBOURG – A man wearing only black Adidas running shoes was denied service at a downtown pizza shop, on Friday, Sept. 26, at 9:50 p.m.
The naked man asked staff for a slice of pizza, but he was told to leave the store. Police were called, but were unable to locate the man.
He is described as early-30s, heavy set, between 5’10” and six feet, with short-dark-brown hair and scruffy-facial hair.
The investigation is continuing as he may have been captured by a surveillance camera.

This story raises a lot of questions in my mind.

• Did this particular pizzeria had a “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service” policy?
• Were police unable to find this man because he put his clothes on and no longer looked like a naked man?
• Why is the investigation continuing? Is this naked man (or naked people in general) a menace to society? It’s not like he was robbing the place was he? He probably wasn’t bothering anyone, he was just hungry.
• May have been captured by a surveillance camera? Have they received a ransom note from the camera yet?
• What’s this world coming to when a naked person can’t get a bite to eat?

Last night, The History Channel had an interesting program about Heaven. They presented several different views including Judeo-Christian beliefs throughout history, ancient Egyptian, Greek, [...]]]> I originally composed the following on 22 September 2006 after seeing a program about Heaven presented on The History Channel. For one reason or another I didn’t post it at that time.

Last night, The History Channel had an interesting program about Heaven. They presented several different views including Judeo-Christian beliefs throughout history, ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman concepts, as well as the Islamic and Buddhist viewpoints. They even had commentary from a girl who, reportedly, has been there. She had gone into a diabetic coma for three days and she wasn’t expected to survive the first night. When she awake on the third day, she gave a detailed description. (That really sounds very New Testament, doesn’t it?)

I think the Buddhists have an interesting concept. They have about 30 different levels of Heaven and Hell. Each is temporary and depending on your karma, you spend varying amounts of time in them. To the Buddhists, Heaven and Hell are temporary states on the path to reaching Nirvana.

The was some discussion by a Muslim (I guess he was some sort of cleric) about the 72 virgins and martyrdom. He emphasized that martyrdom is a very holy concept where one sacrifices his life in defense of the faith. He considered those who strap explosives to their bodies and kill innocent people to be suicides. I agree. To sacrifice yourself for what you believe is noble but by taking your own life, you are not defending anything.

He also brought up another interesting concept. The Muslims, unlike Jews and Christians, don’t try to objectify God. To them, God is formless and infinite. To give God a form would be to limit Him. That makes sense. That God created man in His image may only mean that we are created as God “imagines” us.

There was no mention of nudity in Heaven although many of the artistic interpretations shown did display naked people. Personally, I think clothing in Heaven would be utterly useless. Maybe Heaven is a different experience for each of us but we won’t find out until we get there. As for me, I’m not in any hurry to find out; I think I’ll hang around here for as long as I can.

I found the following quote the other day:

“Actually, in the light of the Bible, there is no sin in nudity itself; but if a person uses the nudity for lustful or immoral purposes he has misused it, and this constitutes a sin. The Bible does not speak against nudity nor does it teach that the body is shameful. There is reference to shame in nudity, but this shame was produced in the mind of man, not by divine ordination.”
the Rev. Martin Wadestone, Nudism and Christianity (from Nudity in Ancient to Modern Cultures by Aileen Goodson)

Most of our ideas about sin, particularly “sins of the flesh,” seem to come from the minds of men trying to absolve their own guilt and shame rather than from scripture. The Church adopted those ideas a a means of controlling their congregations. In my humble opinion organized religion, particularly among Christian denominations, seems to be about power and wealth, not necessarily saving souls. I believe we are responsible for our own souls.

My ideas about God, Heaven, and religion are constantly evolving but I’m still pretty much in agreement with what I wrote then and I see no reason to change anything.

The foreseeable future is [...]]]> Today’s Quote:“There is much to support the view that it is clothes that wear us, and not we, them; we may make them take the mould of arm or breast, but they mould our hearts, our brains, our tongues to their liking.” — Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), British novelist. Orlando, ch. 4 (1928).

The foreseeable future is fast approaching. The first of the three most important days of the year (in my life anyway) will be here in just 29 days. As usual, I am totally clueless and nearly penniless. I’ll be fretting it right up to the last second unless I actually get a clue I can work with.

In forty days, it will be Easter and the end of my Lenten period of abstinence from the Interweb’s greatest most prevalent offering. At that point, maybe I’ll find I didn’t miss it all that much. Finally, fifty-five days from today is my Geburtstag and, hopefully, I will have reached my desired weight objective by then. If I do reach my goal, I have serious doubts I’ll be allowed my chosen reward. What’s the point in lookin’ good nekkid if nobody sees you that way?

I put my comfy sweat pants in the laundry this morning. I wonder if they’re dry yet. I’m becoming a bit claustrophobic in my underwear now as I’ve been wearing them for about 12 hours now. (With my history of “wardrobe malfunctions” at work, I don’t even consider the prospect of going commando. I don’t think they’re ready or willing to see Roscoe au naturel.

The Laws Must Change by John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers
Album: Behind the Iron Curtain (1985)

Today’s Quote: “Doubt ’til thou canst doubt no more… doubt is thought and thought is life. Systems which end doubt are devices for drugging thought.” — Albert Guerard