Co-Ed Naked Yoga: Because Getting Your Butt To The Gym Isn't Stressful Enough
NYC yoga studio offers co-ed naked yoga classes
A yoga studio in NYC claims they have the answer to helping you get over your body insecurities — take off all your clothes and do yoga in front of other naked strangers. Bold & Naked yoga studio in Chelsea offers co-ed and male or female only Vinyasa flow classes that they claim helps breed confidence and self-love.
“There is a sense of freedom practicing yoga naked. While many equate being naked with sex, this couldn’t be further from the truth in a naked yoga class,” explains their website. It’s about being comfortable in your own skin and the amazing confidence that comes with it. It’s about knowing, accepting and loving yourself at your core. Part of yoga is to honor and connect with your body. Practicing yoga naked frees you from negative feelings about your body and allows to to be more accepting and deeper connected with yourself and the world around you.”
“Bold & Naked” co-owner Joschi Schwarz explained to Reuters the benefits of practicing yoga while in the buff. “It is you, naked, sitting on the mat, moving your body, connecting with your mind through your breath work and hopefully everything mindful, with this concentration of what you do,” he says.
“There are a lot of things that separate us in a normal yoga class, like what brand of yoga clothing you’re wearing or how you look when you’re wearing it,” yoga student Vanessa Kennedy told Reuters. “But when we’re naked, it’s like we’re all the same.”
Here’s Schwarz and fellow co-owner Monica Werner showing off their naked yoga talents and Greek god physiques.
The owners stress that Naked Yoga is not a code word for a sex show or orgy. While the instructor might touch a student to correct form as is common in yoga classes and the class sometimes incorporates partner exercises, it’s not a place to get your freak on. As they declare on their website, “IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR AN ORGASM, YOU ARE IN THE WRONG PLACE.”
If spending $25 a class to stretch naked with other people makes you feel better about yourself, then you do you. But having to do yoga with strangers while nude sounds like a mom’s worst nightmare.
When I’m getting ready for a yoga class I put conscious effort in to making sure that no one sees parts of me I don’t want exposed. I’ll put on my workout clothes and do a down dog in my bedroom to make sure my boobs aren’t flying out of my sports bra and that my shirt isn’t riding up to display my stretch marks. Moms go to yoga class partially to get away from the little people who are always barging in on us while we pee and think nothing of mashing our boobs with their elbows as they try to get a better view of the story book. The last thing we need is more of our boundaries crossed by having to let strangers see us without the benefit of underwire. And sweaty naked body + sticky yoga mat = no thanks.
How do you concentrate on centering yourself when the person in front of you is in a forward bend, their butthole right at your eye level? Naked Yoga’s website has a section on random erections and how there’s nothing to be embarrassed about if one happens. But I’d be much more worried about someone farting in my face without a few layers of fabric to diffuse it.
Helping people be more comfortable in their own skin is an awesome idea. But instead of having everyone strip, maybe start by taking the mirrors down so people can practice without having to see how their thighs look while lunging.
