Name:
Steven Russell
City where you teach naked yoga:
Matawan, New Jersey and Asbury Park, New Jersey
What inspired you to begin teaching naked yoga?
I have always loved being naked. I have been going to a nude beach for 30 years. I started taking nude yoga classes in New York City in about 2005. When I became a yoga teacher in 2010 it just made sense to start a nude class.
How has teaching and practicing naked yoga transformed you and your personal yoga practice?
I find that when I am naked, especially when I’m practicing with other naked people, I focus much more on my own practice. I’m much less distracted by others. When I’m teaching naked yoga I find that I pay much more attention to the students’ bodies, their breathing, their alignment, than when they are clothed. I find the clothes are distracting. The opportunity to be naked and to move and breathe is a great motivator to get me to practice, and to attend classes.
What do you see as the unique benefits for teaching naked yoga?
I find that there is an instant bond among the members of the class that takes a long time to develop, if it ever does, in a clothed class.
Tell us an interesting story that occurred in your yoga classes.
About a year after I started a nude men’s class one of the men who had been coming for about a year came to class and told the class that he had attended one of my other, clothed, classes. He said with some delight that it was the first time he had ever done yoga with clothes on. Until then he had only attended my naked class.
What is your advice to a first time naked yoga practitioner who might be experiencing jitters about attending his/her first class?
If you hesitate, you might never do it. Go with the interest that brought you to consider naked yoga and just go. The people there will also be naked, and have had the same jitters you have. They will be completely understanding, and welcoming.
How can people find out more about your class?
Naked Yoga Alliance 