“DOING yoga naked may not be everyone’s idea of a great way to work out. But for a growing number of men and women across the UK it’s the hot new fitness trend.
And the craze may not be that much of a stretch of the imagination — both yoga and being naked have health benefits, so why not combine the two?
Yoga’s many health-boosting properties are well-documented — from reducing anxiety and stress to easing back pain and improving lung capacity…”
Read the full article HERE
Mention nude yoga to the average person and you’re likely to get a giggle or a squirm, or maybe a joke about downward dog.
Ask Amy Patterson and she might giggle too, or show an interesting pose she discovered on Instagram. But she also gets serious.
Naked yoga, she said, “has absolutely changed my life.”
“Prior to this practice I, like most women, really struggled with a lot of body-image issues and constantly not feeling like my body is good enough, not beautiful enough, not fit enough, not thin enough,” she said. “And I come to this practice and most of those thoughts have pretty much been eradicated from my daily life.”
The 20-year-old Worthington resident started practicing, and teaching, naked yoga this summer. At a recent women’s class that she guided at the Dharma House in Worthington, she encouraged the group to be “acting from a place of gratitude, taking this time to be thankful for your body for all the support that it provides you … thanking yourself for this ability to be real and true and authentic to yourself.”
Read the rest of the article Below
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?
Dearest Naked Yogis,
I received what was at first a startling email yesterday from a lawyer from a firm with way to many names in the title. Patrick Jennings of Pillsbury Winthrop, Shaw, Pitman LLP wrote to me informing me that the not-for-profit organization Yoga Alliance was very upset that I have used Naked Yoga Alliance in my blog leading or as they imply mis-leading people to believe I have affiliations with the organization. In their requests that I cease and desist any and all use of the phrase Yoga Alliance from my website, Peter also tells me that among other things I need to destroy anything I have printed with those words on them including articles of clothing.
Hello Patrick, we don’t wear clothing. We’re naked.
I was looking over the Yoga Alliance website and was reminded of their motto “Many Paths, One Yoga Alliance.” Many Paths. Strangely they exclude naked yoga as being a valid path. The letter says “Yoga Alliance does not wish to be associated with naked yoga…”
Hence our need for our own Alliance. Our own NAKED Yoga Alliance.
I presently have a team of naked yoga lawyers who have formed their own alliance who are drafting a response.
Read Peter’s letter to me here: Naked Yoga Alliance Letter
“This isn’t a statement. This is.
Named: Liam Cyfrin“And so this is the place from which to re-emerge and begin again.” – Liam Cyfrin
Day 29 Naked Yoga Challenge. Savasana. Corpse Pose.
“We aspire to respect people’s right to share content of personal importance, whether those are photos of a sculpture like Michelangelo’s David or family photos of a child breastfeeding.” ~ Facebook
“Keep aspiring, Facebook. I believe in you.” ~ Isis Phoenix
Day 19 Naked Yoga Challenge. Eka Pada Rajakapotasana. King Pigeon
“And she is but one craft in the Milky-Way fleet…” ~ Herman Melville
Day 18 Naked Yoga Challenge. Navasana. Boat Pose.
“A quiet mind is able to hear intuition over fear.” ~ Unknown
Day 17 Naked Yoga Challenge. Paschimottanasana. Seated Forward Bend / East meets West.
Naked Yoga Alliance 