{"id":6922,"date":"2022-10-07T13:00:34","date_gmt":"2022-10-07T13:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yogajournal.com\/?p=104478"},"modified":"2022-10-07T13:00:34","modified_gmt":"2022-10-07T13:00:34","slug":"i-tried-nude-yogaand-it-was-nothing-like-what-i-expected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/2022\/10\/07\/i-tried-nude-yogaand-it-was-nothing-like-what-i-expected\/","title":{"rendered":"I Tried Nude Yoga\u2026And It Was Nothing Like What I Expected"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Like many women, I\u2019ve had a contentious relationship with my body for most of my life. It has never looked the way I\u2019ve wanted, which is to say, the way I thought it was \u201csupposed\u201d to look. I\u2019ve always been short and curvy, and I\u2019ve grown exceedingly fleshier with age.<\/p>\n

But, at 46, I\u2019ve actually never been more accepting of my body<\/a>. Thanks to the body positive movement\u2014including bigger shapes in such high-profile talents including Lizzo<\/a> and, until recently, Adele\u2014my own internalized fat phobia has lessened tremendously. But if you\u2019d told me I was going to take a nude yoga class, I would have laughed in your face. Because, frankly, stripping down for group practice sounds like the opposite of relaxing.<\/p>\n

Still, when my editor inquired whether I\u2019d be interested in trying a nude yoga class and writing about my experience, I wasn\u2019t exactly jumping for joy. (As a G cup, there\u2019s no way I can jump comfortably without a bra, anyways.)<\/p>\n

Could nude yoga feel\u2026empowering?<\/h2>\n

First things first: Finding a nude yoga class. Based on Google, \u201cnude yoga\u201d has been seeing a rapid increase in popularity. But there aren\u2019t any classes yet in my town of Boulder. It appeared that I was gonna have to drive to the big city to get naked for journalism.<\/p>\n

I found a female-only nude yoga class at the independently owned and operated Urban Sanctuary<\/a> studio in Denver. \u201cSkins Yoga is a powerful class that supports the shedding of what does not serve oneself, no matter what form it may come in,\u201d according to the website description. \u201cSpace is held for women to dress down to their comfort level to see what comes to the surface to be healed with no judgment.\u201d Okay, that doesn\u2019t sound too weird.<\/p>\n

In fact, it sounded freeing.<\/p>\n

Finding strength in numbers<\/h2>\n

I show up to class about 15 minutes early with my adventurous friend and fellow yoga teacher, Bria<\/a>. The studio, located in the historic Little Five Points neighborhood, has exposed brick walls, well-loved vintage furniture, and nooks teeming with houseplants that lend it an inviting, homey vibe.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re invited to help ourselves to herbal tea and select mats for ourselves from those arranged in two rows facing each other in the center of the studio. Bria and I unroll our own mats, side by side, on top of the studio mats and take a seat, fully clothed. I\u2019m wearing a loose t-shirt, sports bra, leggings, and underwear.<\/p>\n

Before long, there are 10 of us. Bria and I are by far the oldest women in attendance. The other students appear to be mostly Gen Zs along with a few scattered Millennials.<\/p>\n

Frankly, I\u2019m relieved about the younger crowd. I feel absolutely no need to compare myself with a body that\u2019s 15 to 20 years younger than my own. I\u2019m also pleased to see a variety of body shapes and sizes in the room.<\/p>\n

Before we begin, our teacher Soly Culpepper assures us that we can strip down as little or as much as we want during class, and that she would cue us at different points during the practice to remove an item of clothing if we desired. This, too, is a relief. Being quite busty, I find the idea of doing any sort of inverted yoga pose without a bra not only awkward but potentially fatal. I already feel like I\u2019m going to suffocate when I do Halasana (Plow Pose) fully clothed. (Is it just me or do big boobs and yoga go together like mayonnaise and ice cream?)<\/p>\n

The ten of us start class sitting in Sukhasana (Easy Pose) and taking turns introducing ourselves and listing our pronouns, which helped me feel even more at ease. Culpepper also invites us to name something that we\u2019re ready to release. I\u2019m not sure what I want to say. But, when it\u2019s my turn, out tumble the words \u201cI\u2019m letting go of the weight of others\u2019 expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Culpepper then walks around the room with a deck of oracle cards, inviting each of us to select one at random. Mine reads, \u201cBoundaries are a form of self-care.\u201d This is absolutely spot on for the week I was having. The card also serves as a reminder that I am in charge of my experience in this nude yoga class. I am here to do only what I am comfortable with.<\/p>\n

Finally, Culpeper hands out scraps of paper and asks us to journal in response to the prompt \u201cIt\u2019s okay\u2026\u201d I quickly start to scribble. \u201cIt\u2019s okay to be fatter and older than I\u2019ve ever been before. It\u2019s okay to be single at age 46. It\u2019s okay to be lonely sometimes.\u201d It\u2019s one of the most healing entries I\u2019ve written in months, which makes me want to take this prompt into my regular journaling practice.<\/p>\n

Baring (not quite) it all<\/h2>\n

The yoga portion of class consists of mostly close-to-the-ground hatha yoga poses like Child\u2019s Pose<\/a>, Seated Forward Bend, and Half Pigeon. Thankfully, no vigorous flows here. Culpepper suggests that we do the class with our eyes closed in order to be able to feel into our physical sensations.<\/p>\n

About 10 minutes into the sequence, she invites us to remove a piece of clothing. I take off my shirt. This might not be a big deal for many people, but it\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve ever stripped down to just my bra in yoga class. I\u2019m very sensitive about my belly rolls, but I feel the freedom of being unencumbered by extra fabric around my midsection\u2014the protection used to hide the \u201cfat\u201d parts of my body that I don\u2019t like.<\/p>\n

After another 10 minutes of slow flow, including poses like Cat\/Cow, Child\u2019s Pose, and Down Dog\u2014Culpepper invites us to remove another piece of clothing. I shed my leggings and am down to my black boyshorts and sports bra. At this point, many women are topless, including our teacher.<\/p>\n

I can feel the warm air circulating around the back of my knees, thighs, and armpits. I feel natural and free, which helps me connect to the yoga experience in a new and slightly more vulnerable way. Maybe there\u2019s something to this nude yoga thing.<\/p>\n

After a few spinal twists, our teacher asks us to return to Sukhasana and suggests we remove another piece of clothing if we want. I take off my bra. Some of us are completely naked at this point, and she tells us we can place a blanket over our laps if we like. As we place one hand over our heart and the other on our belly, I feel a new tenderness for my rolls as they gently undulate with each breath.<\/p>\n

Finally, it\u2019s time for Savasana. I\u2019m not gonna lie: Topless Savasana is pretty great. I cover my bottom half with a blanket for warmth and deeply relax into the floor as a peaceful song by Beautiful Chorus<\/a> plays in the background. I luxuriate in simply being in my body<\/a>. I feel gratitude for all it does for me.<\/p>\n

After some time passes, Culpepper invites us to hum along. As we join our voices, I feel a sense of community with these women. I am so inspired by how open and free they are at such a young age.<\/p>\n

When the class draws to an end 90 minutes after I tentatively sat down not knowing what to expect, I feel completely yoga stoned and happy. I find myself thinking that I can\u2019t wait to do it again.<\/p>\n

Working through old ways of being<\/h2>\n

Afterward, I talked to Culpepper and Ali Duncan<\/a>, the owner of Urban Sanctuary. Duncan started hosting nude yoga classes in 2019. \u201cThrough the Skins classes, we hope to give students an opportunity to embrace themselves,\u201d says Duncan. \u201cThis experience allows the student to work through different types of self-loathing and embarrassing thoughts that may come up. As a country, we have so much shame around the human body.\u201d<\/p>\n

Culpepper agrees. \u201cFor me, as a survivor of sexual assault, it\u2019s a practice in just letting yourself be seen and realizing that there\u2019s nothing shameful about your naked body,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve always been about empowering other women, and this class is the epitome of that. We show up for each other, and just let ourselves be\u2013and breathe.\u201d<\/p>\n

I consider whether the effects of a nude yoga practice could be cumulative: The more you strip down, the more you can begin to lean into acceptance of yourself.<\/p>\n

I find myself thinking again about the younger women in class. Let\u2019s face it, at my age, I couldn\u2019t care less about what others think. But it has taken me years to come to this newfound comfort with my chub. They are decades ahead of me in terms of body acceptance, and their easy comfort in their own skins makes me hopeful for their futures. Because in my experience, when you don\u2019t truly accept who you are, you usually accept less than you deserve from others.<\/p>\n

About our contributor<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jennifer Davis-Flynn is a writer and yoga teacher<\/a> based in Boulder, Colorado. Follow her on Instagram @jennifurious.  <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"I<\/figure>\n

The more I stripped down, the more I began to accept myself.<\/p>\n

The post I Tried Nude Yoga…And It Was Nothing Like What I Expected<\/a> appeared first on Yoga Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[37,35,36],"class_list":["post-6922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ayurveda","tag-blogs","tag-yoga","tag-yogacourseware"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6922\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}