When I tell people I do naked yoga, they usually react like I just killed someone. I get bombarded with thousands of questions like, "How do you do that? Aren't you embarrassed?" or my favorite, "Isn't it gross to have a guy's balls in your face?" I am here to answer all of your questions and tell you how such an obscure thing changed my life.
I walked into the dark studio and was greeted by the friendliest short-haired woman who seemed to already know my name. She gave me a big hug and told me to get undressed by the cubbies. I slowly started taking each article of clothing off, one by one. I hesitated when I reached my bra and my thong, but I took a deep breath and let myself be free.
I walked into the dimly lit room and saw a bunch of naked bodies varying age, shape, size, and ethnicity. I quietly tip toed through the room and laid out my mat, hoping I would not draw attention to myself. I kept thinking about everyone looking at my body. I found myself trying to cover the rolls on my stomach with my arms so people didn't see. I sat there for about ten minutes with my legs shaking and waited for the class to start. I peered at the curvy, thin, and muscular, butt-naked bodies around me. People were smiling and chatting like everything was normal. I started to think to myself, "You know what, this is probably the most normal thing I've done in years."
By the time the class started, my legs were still and my arms were by my side. No one was there to judge me. They were just there to simply do yoga. For the next hour and a half, I was spread eagle in front of random strangers and didn't seem to care. I completely forgot that I was naked and embraced every move that my body made. Instead of worrying about how I looked, I was focused on my yoga practice. Just like when I was a baby, I was only concerned about being healthy, not what others thought of me. I was finally free. I walked out of there feeling like a new person.
Before I did naked yoga, I was always self-conscious about my body. I have a really round face so whenever I put on the slightest bit of weight it goes all to my face. Everyone has his or her insecurities and that was mine. My first semester of college, I endured the freshman 15 like most people, except I experienced the freshman 25. Putting on weight really took a toll on my confidence. Naked yoga gave me hope.
When we are born, we are just these little naked humans full of innocence and vulnerability. All that matters is that we have to be healthy so we can grow. Somehow we lose sight of this once we get older. Many of us stop caring about our health and we seem to care more and more how people view us. We shouldn't care about how our bodies look as long as we're healthy.
Being naked makes you realize how all bodies are beautiful in their own way. A naked body just becomes a naked body. I realized that my size doesn't define who I am. It is all about being healthy. Naked yoga made me want to build my yoga practice and become stronger. It gave me confidence to love my body unconditionally. I consider it soul food. We feed our bodies everyday with all types of food, but we sometimes forget to feed the part of us that is just as important: the soul. Without feeding your soul, your mind starves itself and gets out of whack. That is when we start feeling sad, depressed, or anxious. Naked yoga is my soul food by providing me with confidence and happiness. So yes, there were balls in my face during the class, but balls are just balls.
