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Yoga. Naked. Together, these two words
are enough to strike fear into the perfectly
aligned chakras of any woman. Terrifying
images of downward dog sans leggings
fl ash through my mind when my boyfriend
cheekily sends me the link to Rosie Rees’
nude yoga workshop – and yet, I’m
intrigued. Maybe losing the restrictive
tights and the top that inevitably slips over
my head would be liberating. I remember
the exhilaration of a night-time skinny dip,
years ago, and how quickly I raced to cover
back up. How, even though I eat well and
move regularly, I still shy away from skimpy
bikini bottoms that reveal too much
cheek and frequently grimace at my own
refl ection in the mirror. Maybe this would
be a chance to fi nd some acceptance for
my body – rolls, moles and all.
Not surprisingly, the opportunity to
take it all o
in a yoga class is pretty rare.
Perth-based Rees says she’s the only one
in Australia o
ering women a chance to
stretch out in the nude, and her twice-
yearly national tours routinely sell out.
For Rees, it’s vindication for what she
considers her calling. The corporate-
fi nance-recruiter-turned-yoga-teacher
started practising naked in her own
backyard a couple of years ago and soon
realised it was having a huge (and very
positive) impact on her self-confi dence.
“I started to witness my body, I started
to see it in a di
erent light, and I started
to accept it a lot more. I really felt more
confi dent in myself and more at home in
my skin,” Rees recalls. “And one day when
I was meditating I had this message come
through saying I needed to teach this for
women, in a safe space, because I was
having such a profound experience myself.”
Like me, most women’s initial reaction
to the idea of bending in the bu
is one of
horror. There are a lot of jokes and giggles
when I tell my friends my plans for the
coming Friday night. As the date draws
near, my bravado begins to falter – do
I really need to get naked to experienceNUDE YOGA
Stripping o for a yoga sesh could change
how you feel about your body for good,
says Penny Carroll