Holly Williams for Art-Sheep
You know how exercise is supposed to make you feel comfortable with your body? Well, there is a yoga studio in New York city that is really serious about its students feeling good in their own skin, so serious that it has introduced naked Vinyasa classes. The $25 naked yoga classes offered at the Bold & Naked studio are available for both genders, mixed and segregated, and their aim is not to be sexually evocative, rather than to incite individuals to get to know and be confident about their bodies.
To stop inappropriate behavior and avoid individuals coming to the course for the wrong reasons, the studio administrators prohibit photography and observers in the naked courses, as well as make students sign a liability waiver, stressing on their web page that offensive or sexual behavior is absolutely not to be tolerated. Furthermore, they admit that physical responses like erections may indeed happen naturally during the classes, however they are something that neither matters nor lasts. As they write on their website, “While many equate being naked with sex, this couldn’t be further from the truth in a naked yoga class. It’s about being comfortable in your own skin and the amazing confidence that comes with it. Practicing yoga naked frees you from negative feelings about your body and allows [you] to be more accepting and deeper connected with yourself and the world around you”.