You might not think stripping off and performing downward-facing dog is beneficial to your mental health, but many people tout the benefits of naked yoga. Don’t know much about it? Wellness writer Alice Oglethorpe went along to a naked yoga class to see how it might benefit her wellbeing.
‘I like to make decisions based on what my 80-year-old self would want me to do,’ Oglethorpe notes. ‘Stay out dancing in Florence until the sun comes up? Absolutely! Volunteer to model white jeans on the Today show? Of course! But recently I forced myself to see just how deep that conviction went. At 32, getting naked in a room full of strangers wasn’t high on my bucket list, but this was a chance to see how far I would go to put my belief to the test. I ran the idea by a few friends and concluded that 90 minutes of red-faced stretching was worth a lifetime of bragging rights. I found a class, and signed up. I’m no adrenaline junkie (my idea of living large is a vacation with a fancy hotel room and a beach chair to lounge in), but I think it’s good to do things every so often that push your limits and scare you.’
Oglethorpe recalls, ‘My plan was to take cover in the back corner of the room – until I learned that everyone would form a circle and face each other. Now there was nowhere to hide! I put my mat down between a cute young guy, who was there with his girlfriend, and an Australian man in his forties and started stretching. And then things got real. “Take off your clothes in whatever way feels most comfortable,” instructor Cindee announced, as she proceeded to lose her Lycra. Unable to think of a single way to undress that felt “comfortable,” I stripped as fast as possible. The most nerve-wracking part: removing my underwear. Until then I could pretend I was in a bikini. I saw boxers and briefs hit the guys’ mats beside me as I dropped my panties. And just like that, I was standing in a class with a bunch of naked strangers. I could feel my future 80-year-old self turning bright red. I was waiting for the ogling to begin, but the conversations around me turned to…the weather.’
‘Cindee started us off with a seated position,’ Oglethorpe details. ‘A cross-legged seated position! She asked us to go around the room introducing ourselves and say why we had come here. I think I said something about wanting to embrace my flaws, but the whole time I was praying I would sink through my yoga mat and disappear. Thank goodness Cindee took over from there. She was so professional that it eased a lot of my embarrassment, the way a good doctor does in an exam room. Meanwhile I tried not to look below anybody’s neck, which helped keep their bodies out of focus. But within minutes, things went from weird to…not. As we moved through the typical yoga poses – warrior II, downward dog, spinal twists – the initial shock of all that nudity faded. In fact, being naked was a great equalizer. I could see how everyone there had belly rolls when they bent forward, even the skinny guys. I had spent so many yoga classes thinking I was the only one concealing mine.’
Oglethorpe adds, ‘By the time the class wound down, I no longer flinched during seated twists, even though I knew that the guy on my left was getting a not-so-flattering view of my backside, and that the one on the right, a straight shot of my boobs. After we said Namaste, I didn’t rush to put my clothes back on but made small talk with my classmates before slowly getting dressed. As I walked out onto the street, I noticed how I was standing tall in a way that seemed different from the good posture you get post-yoga. Those body flaws I had always fixated on? At the start of class, I had been paying lip service to overcoming them, and yet I had actually shrugged them off. And I had a feeling that the next time I was in my birthday suit, they would bother me a lot less than usual. I felt beautiful and brave, and that confidence has stuck with me since.’