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Wearing Nothing but a Smile….

It really is wonderful how in the last decade, yoga has become much more mainstream.  It hasn’t been that long since the only yoga classes you could find were in the back of a random health food store or the basement of the local church.  Now, there are beautiful yoga studios like Beyond all over North America, with a lot of different yoga class styles that are suitable to everyone.  Yet, just when you reach the point that people no longer look at you sideways when you say you practice yoga, along comes naked yoga, and at your family dinner your aunt asks you why anyone would practice yoga in their birthday suit.

Honestly, I have no idea.  Apparently I do know someone, who does know someone who practices yoga leafless, in a class.  And this isn’t like one of those “oh, I have a friend”…, I literally was in a meeting talking about this exact topic and one woman said, “oh, I know someone”.  Very professionally she did not disclose who, and after a moment I realized for this I was pretty grateful, because well, I don’t really want to know.  Our bodies truly are beautiful, amazing creations, I just don’t know about seeing them “disrobed” in a gentle yoga back bend.

I am a Hatha yoga girl, and given the option, this is generally the yoga style I would choose.  However, I completely understand why you might be a Yin convert, or crave Vinyasa Flow, or even enjoy a great Power yoga class.  Choosing to practice any yoga style “unveiled” though, does leave me puzzled.  My slightly educated guess on why the naked trend is maybe because yoga is about being free and learning to be comfortable in your own body, and maybe some feel that practicing it “unclad” helps you get to that place faster.  The premise is that yoga is about opening yourself up, being your most authentic self.  Perhaps that works for some, but I’m pretty sure my most authentic self wears pants, well, leggings really.

Honestly though, I didn’t research this new yoga trend too closely here in Ottawa.  And I was more than slightly nervous of what I would find in Google, or perhaps even scarier on YouTube.  I do remember reading an interview with Adam Levine, a man who calls yoga “an investment in happiness for the rest of my life” who was asked about practicing yoga “disrobed”, where he generally replied that no one needs to see that.  He is one sculpted dude, but then if you think of downward dog…

Even a very well known, albeit sometimes controversial, yoga clothing company has jumped on the nude yoga bandwagon, by calling one of their latest clothing lines literally naked.  The theory is their clothing is like being naked but better, because you are clothed.   Well, that is better because you are clothed!!! After years of practice, when I am in a class I am pretty good at focusing, but even if I could get over my own hang ups of being “in the altogether”,  I really don’t know if I could keep my eyes on my own mat.

Nevertheless, I am a yogi and I believe if this latest trend works for you, go for it.  I can just promise that if I am at the front of the class, or even tucked in the furthest back corner, I will definitely be wearing more than a smile.