Naked Yoga - History, Practice and Examples

At the word "naked yoga" most people become wide-eyed and usually at the same time the head cinema begins. To practice yoga naked, what is that supposed to bring? Is it not actually only about eroticism or sex? Or is that only something for crazy weirdos? Such and similar questions come naturally spontaneously into one's head. But is it really true?

And what if you want to try it yourself? First alone at home and then later possibly once in a group, perhaps in the context of a nude yoga workshop or retreat. Because as the saying goes: The proof of the pudding is in the eating!

You will find answers and information to all these questions here.

What is Naked Yoga?

Naked Yoga is more than just practicing yoga "naked".

Naked yoga is much more than simply taking off your clothes during yoga. It is the path to true freedom, genuine happiness and deep self-love.

By taking off your clothes during yoga, you are embarking on a journey that can take you deep within. A journey at the end of which you will have become a completely new person. Free from prejudices and negative conditions that may have accompanied and hindered you all your life. Provided that you are open and willing to rediscover something essential in yourself.

But let's start from the beginning:

Normal yoga, or yoga with clothes, is a worldwide, ever-growing movement. In Germany alone, about 4 million people do yoga regularly. According to a survey by the BDY, the professional association of yoga teachers, 86 percent of yoga practitioners notice a positive change in themselves. They feel physically fitter, are calmer, more balanced and more relaxed. Overall, they feel better. (Source: BDY- Yoga in Numbers)

Yoga is therefore one of the best tools for health, happiness and satisfaction in life.

By the way, the word "yoga" comes from the Indian scholarly language Sanskrit and translated means something like: "connection", "unity" or also "union". This means on the one hand the unity of body, mind and soul, but also the unity with the entire universe, with everything that is.

One of the core statements in Buddhism (yoga originated around the same time as Buddhism) is: "Life is suffering". Life itself is suffering. Beginning with birth, through work, separation, old age, illness, and ending with death.

And maybe sometimes life really seems that way to us. We feel separated and alone. We suffer and feel life as a constant fight for or against something. We fight against ourselves, we cannot accept ourselves as we are. In all this we waste valuable energy and life energy, which we then lack for the really important things in life.

Working with the mind and the way inward.

Yoga offers a way out of this misery. With yoga we follow a path inwards - towards true happiness. In doing so, we proceed according to the onion principle from the outside to the inside.

First we deal with our body. Through various yoga postures, the asanas, we train our body. We become stronger and more flexible. Tensions are released and energy begins to flow freely in the body again. The prana, our life energy increases and we can turn to further tasks with more energy.

And then it's about the restless mind. Our mind is restless and unstable by nature. One thought takes over from another. Old beliefs and experiences from past times ensure that we cannot perceive the world and ourselves as it really is, we are subject to a constant deception. And this deception is responsible for the fact that we suffer more and more in life.

In yoga we learn to quiet our thoughts. Thereby the mind becomes calm and clear. Now we realize who we really are and can realize our true potential.

The story of the lion of the sheep illustrates this process impressively. You can read the story here!

And why practice yoga naked now?

Quite simply, practicing yoga without clothes is like a turbocharger for yoga. When you practice yoga naked, the many positive effects of yoga are accelerated and amplified. In other words, you get there faster!

What are the roots?

From Sadhus and Digambaras

Naked yoga is not a new invention of western people, for whom normal yoga is no longer enough and who are looking for that special "kick", but has a tradition that is thousands of years old. The roots of this special kind of yoga lie in Indian Hinduism.

In India, the sadhus have been considered holy men for many thousands of years, practicing yoga and asceticism. And even today there are said to be four to five million sadhus in India.

A sadhu is one who has renounced all worldly things in order to free himself from the bonds of rebirth. As a sign of this, they are completely naked and painted only with ashes, as a sign of connection with the earth.

Not wealth, prestige and material goods are desirable for the sadhus, but freedom and divine salvation. Naked and without possessions, these ascetics devote themselves to the divine life.

Video about Sadhus - the holy men of India

Jainism and the associated Digambara emerged around the same time as Buddhism. The Sanskrit word "Digambara" translates as "robe of heaven" or "those who are clothed with space". The mostly male followers of this religion shun all possessions and wear no clothing. Completely unprotected, they are dedicated to the practice of non-violence. For example, the monks use a feather duster made of peacock feathers to clear their path of insects so they don't trample them.

If you want to know what these men look like in India, you can check out some photos of digambaras here on gettyimages.

The development

Naked yoga becomes more and more popular

The trend is clear: yoga without clothes is becoming more and more popular and is spreading rapidly. More and more people are open to it and ready to get involved in the "adventure". Be it as a new fitness trend from the USA, as part of the naturist movement or as a workshop.

More than 8 years ago I started my website nacktyoga.net. How I came to yoga and naked yoga you can read here. (-> Elke Lechner & Naked Yoga) I can rightly claim to have made naked yoga known in Germany. In the meantime my site is the biggest site in Europe with over 200 teaching, exercise and training videos and members from all over the world.

Naked yoga in the press

The 6 most common prejudices and fears about naked yoga

Unfortunately, there are still a lot of prejudices against naked yoga.

In the following I would like to clear up the most important prejudices:

It's about sex first and foremost

No, no and no again. Naked yoga is not primarily about sex or satisfying sexual urges. Quite the opposite. In naked yoga you learn to free yourself from your (sexual) thoughts and learn what is really important. However, nude yoga is very good for your love life.

It is something for men only

Naked yoga is something for all people who want to develop themselves. The best and most effective way to practice nude yoga is in a mixed group of men and women.

It is only something for younger or older people

The truth is that naked yoga is completely independent of age. The only thing that matters is the inner attitude and the willingness to overcome one's own limitations.

Everyone looks at me when I do naked yoga

The fear is completely unfounded. In naked yoga, after a few moments, everyone is sufficiently occupied with themselves. The tasks and challenges of naked yoga are so varied that there is no time to deal with the other participants.

I am ashamed to show my body naked

Then YOU should definitely start with Naked Yoga. In Naked Yoga you will learn to accept yourself as you are, inside and out. After a few classes you will have a completely different and positive self-image of yourself.

My physical arousal as a man becomes visible and that is embarrassing for me

Don't be afraid. This form of yoga is exhausting and demanding on all levels. The concentration on the exercises leave no room for sexual thoughts and unwanted arousal. However, if it should happen anyway, this would also be perfectly natural and no reason for embarrassment. Especially here the principle applies: Accept what is there!

Why should you try Naked Yoga?

Naked Yoga Advantages and Benefits

The idea of practicing yoga completely naked may seem strange to you at first. You may wonder what the point is or if it has anything to do with sex. These initial thoughts are perfectly normal and what everyone has them.

However, once you have practiced naked yoga, you will no longer ask yourself these questions. You will quickly realize how many benefits there are to practicing this way and in the end you won't be able to get enough of it.

Below are some of the many benefits it offers you:

Going back to the roots.

Most modern people have lost touch with themselves. They no longer possess roots and are torn by everyday circumstances. Naked yoga is a wonderful way to restore this contact. Because it teaches you to get back in tune with yourself and your body.

Practicing yoga naked means being in tune with nature.

In nature, there is neither good nor bad. In nature, everything is good as it is, and everything has its purpose. As part of nature, we come into this world completely naked. No tree or plant would think of wanting to be something other than what it is.

In yoga, by making ourselves completely naked and free, we reconnect with nature. Without this useless ballast, we live again in harmony with nature. When we practice yoga naked, we feel this natural power and harmony within us.

Naked yoga teaches us to take responsibility.

The exercises in naked yoga help us to develop reverence for life and nature. All the problems of our society lie in people themselves and not in nature. When we consciously separate ourselves from things that are not good for us, when we become brave and try things openly and without prejudice, then we begin to cleanse ourselves internally. In Naked Yoga we do this symbolically by taking off our clothes.

We therefore learn to take responsibility for ourselves and our lives!

Become fearless and free!

In Naked Yoga you learn to enjoy what you have instead of coveting what you lack. The thought of being naked and unclothed causes many people fear in the beginning. By overcoming this fear, you set out on the path of freedom. This particular type of yoga teaches you to see your thoughts and fears for what they are - impermanent and transient. If you practice like this regularly, you will go through life fearlessly and freely.

Naked Yoga & Sex

"Since I've been practicing regularly, my sex life has changed 180 degrees for the better" Participant Naked Yoga Hour.

It's not about sex, but it increases sexual power and energy. Regular naked yoga unleashes your sexual energy and sends it soaring to previously unimagined heights.

What many don't know: Sexual energy is a tremendous primal force hidden within all of us regardless of age or gender. This energy is much more than what we usually associate with sexual practices or techniques. It is an unimaginable force, a basic energy that lies dormant in all of us. And this energy does not only affect our sexual life, but determines our whole life.

This sexual energy is the motor and driving force for all our activities. Our appearance, our look and our charisma are decisively dependent on this power.

Tantra as the origin of all energies: Naked Yoga, Sex & Tantra

Yoga and Tantra are closely related, they have the same roots and ultimately the same goal. Unity & Harmony.

According to the philosophy in Tantra, a primordial vibration separated the cosmic energy. Shiva and Shakti were created. While Shiva represents the male energy, Shakti symbolizes the female side of the energy.

Tantra is now about reuniting these energies through various techniques and rituals. According to this philosophy, this eliminates all suffering and feelings of incompleteness.

This is how Naked Yoga unleashes your sexual energy.

Lack of desire and sexual power is a common problem. And most often this occurs at an advanced age. But beware, it is not at all due to age per se, but rather to the mental behaviors we have become accustomed to over time.

We have a false idea of ourselves and look at ourselves and the world around us as if through a pair of glasses. The crucial thing is, these glasses are colored by the experiences and lessons learned in the past. Thus, over time, layer upon layer has been placed over our actually limitless sexual primal power, so that it is now only a fraction of its actual strength. We have forgotten to accept and love ourselves. And we also find this increasingly difficult with other people.

Through the regular practice of naked yoga, we turn back the wheel of time, so to speak. When we practice naked yoga, we become children again. We become open and unprejudiced and we accept ourselves as we are. Full of drive and energy, we make contact with other people and feel comfortable in our own skin.

When we as adults reject a part of ourselves, this also means rejecting a part of our sexuality. By learning to accept ourselves again with all our weaknesses, we automatically increase our sexual energy.

Addictions, compulsions and misconceptions lead us to unconsciously channel our sexual energy into the wrong channels, resulting in splitting and weakening. Naked Yoga strengthens our concentration and directs our energy towards the fulfillment of our true goals. As a result, after a short time we feel a clear increase of our sexual elemental force within us. And this shows not only in an improved and more active love life, but in all facets of our lives.

The 10 best naked yoga exercises and postures

Naked Yoga Videos