5 Benefits of Practicing Nude Yoga
Whether you’re a full-blown nudist or you’re contemplating dipping your toe into some naturalist activities by coming to one of my workshops, then this article will help you understand why I teach Nude Yoga and the plethora of benefits that I have personally experienced and so many people who have attended my nudie immersions.
It might simply inspire you to strip off and roll your yoga mat down in your bedroom, go to a nude beach, Google naked yoga classes in your local city or even book in for a Nude Yoga workshop whilst I am on tour next week in Melbourne and Sydney. Either way, here are some good reasons to get naked:
1. Increases Body Awareness
When we’re naked, naturally we have more conscious awareness of our physical body; it’s almost impossible not to.
Being naked, we harness a heightened awareness of our skin, its sensation, temperature, texture, smell…the weight of our breasts against our chest, the freeing feeling of our yoni not being enclosed in nickers, our hair resting on our bare shoulders and back, our breath on our bare skin and the sweat and where it naturally releases in our body. {You certainly realise how much your clothes absorb your sweat!}
When we have an elevated awareness of our body, we are in tune with our ebbs and flows. We cultivate self knowledge, which is the key to living a purposeful life. We become more conscious of any physical pains, trauma or tension held in the body, and also what feels nice, pleasurable and invigorating. And thus, when we know what’s going on in our body, we can get to work on healing that, or bringing about more of that feeling!
2. Boosts Self Esteem
It’s not until you’re sitting in a circle with twenty other naked women that you notice how f*cking beautiful and unique we all really are. It’s an extremely humbling experience.
When you see that we come in all shapes and sizes, you drop the “ideal woman syndrome” that we have unconsciously taken on (thanks Mass Media!) and are all striving so hard to look like. Sure, everybody has things about their body that they aren’t comfortable with and there are many societal expectations of what is “body perfection”, however when you realise there is no “Ideal Body” and that it’s virtually impossible to achieve anyway (well not without surgery) you begin to fully surrender, accept and love your body…just as you are now.
Besides, we all have cellulite, scars and stretch marks – nude yoga normalises it! In a nude yoga class no-one is better or worse. Uglier or more beautiful. No one is richer or poorer. There is no status. We are all human and equal.
And the more we begin to accept ourselves, the higher our self confidence and lower our self consciousness. It’s a natural evolution.
3. Helps you conquer your Fears
For a lot of people being naked in a room full of people is mortifying and possibly their worst fear.
Is this you? Well, chances are getting your toosh on the yoga mat (in the nude & and in a group full of strangers) will be incredibly freeing and liberating for you.
When we step out of our comfort zone, something magical happens. We GROW!!
I have received so much feedback from women who rave about how many wonderful things transpired in their life after a nude yoga session. Some have been known to stop beating their bodies up at the gym out of fear, leave an abusive relationship, stop vomiting after meals, leave a job they have hated for years etc.
Nude Yoga is a catalyst for change.
A clean, fresh slate.
And what happens on that mat, translates off the mat!
4. Teaches you the art of Vulnerability
As a woman growing up in the 21st century in a Western country, I feel blessed to have the opportunity to freely work in my chosen field, to be sexually liberated and to express myself as I wish (still waiting for our nipples to be legal and celebrated #freethenipple). However since burning our bras in the 1970s, we also burnt the art of vulnerability and receptivity – crucial parts to embodying the divine feminine.
When we unveil our bodies and disrobe on the yoga mat, we strip back all those rigid layers that we have built up around us to “protect” us. Over the past 50 + years we have met the masculine on an equal playing field, and in doing so many women have actually become the masculine. This wherein lies the problem.
During Nude Yoga, the armour, masks, and barriers that keep us “tough and strong” naturally melt away with our clothes. Nude Yoga is a metaphor for releasing these layers and getting back to your juicy, open, feminine core.
And that’s where vulnerability comes in! You can’t come to a Nude Yoga class and not be vulnerable!
5. Heightens Sensuality
During my Nude Yoga immersions (check out dates for your home city here) it’s not your typical yoga class. With my training in relationship coaching, tantra, yoga, meditation and pranayama (breathing), I like to weave an eclectic mix of exercises and experiences for the women to taste and savour…getting them even more into their body. Because:
“A woman in her body is a sensual woman.”
A lot of what we do in my nude yoga immersion brings our awareness to our senses…beautiful music plays in the background, essential oils are diffusing, candles are illuminating our skin. We slow down our movements and our breath, we practice sacred mudras (hand gestures), chant mantras or do gentle self-body-massage. And it’s all to get you into your body and experiencing all your senses. Besides, we are ALL sensual beings. And the more sensual we are, the more present we become.
Hope to see you in the flesh & on the yoga mat soon! Nude Yoga tour dates + booking links here: www.rosierees.com/workshops.
Love RRx
