REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton(WARNING: This post is contains potentially NSFW photographs of naked yogis. We blurred the butt cracks above, but from here on out, the butt cracks will be uncensored and free.)
Anything most people do clothed, someone has been doing naked since forever. So naked yoga isn't exactly anything new—it's been around since at least the ‘60s and is called "nagna yoga" in Sanskrit—but now there's a studio in New York that specializes in it: Bold & Naked in Chelsea.
But it's "not about naked for naked's sake."
"There are a lot of things that separate us in a normal yoga class, like what brand of yoga clothing you're wearing or how you look when you're wearing it," one attendee told Daily Mail. "But when we're naked, it's like we're all the same." (Which ignores that fact that buying yoga pants is one of the best parts of doing yoga. There are so many patterns! And they're all so cute!)
Co-owners Joschi Schwarz and Monika Werner say the practice is about "being comfortable in your own skin," "knowing...and loving yourself at your core" and "accepting your flaws." They claim, "If you are okay with being naked you'll feel more comfortable in general and can take yourself anywhere in the world."
And, in their FAQ, they explain that everyone who attends the naked yoga class must be naked. ("In order to keep everyone on the same level and equal. That's what naked yoga is all about.")
What naked yoga is not about is boners. "IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR AN ORGASM, YOU ARE IN THE WRONG PLACE," Schwarz and Werner write on their site, including this apparently frequently asked question:
"Bold & Naked sounds great, but I don't want to practice yoga. Do you mind if I just watch?"
(Short answer: Yes. They mind.)
They go on to note that the touching in the class (partner work and adjustments by the teacher) is "not to be ‘sexual touching'" and any "'sexual touching'" by anyone will "not be tolerated."
"The energy in the room is very clear," they say. "And members who come to Bold & Naked are very focused on celebrating their bodies through yoga. We have no problem asking someone to leave if his or her behavior is inappropriate."
All that said, if you get an erection, it's OK.
"It rarely happens, but when it does it's okay and nothing to be embarrassed about," the FAQ explains. "It will pass quickly. Erections happen for a lot of reasons and are not limited to sexual attraction. Yoga moves a lot of energy throughout the body and sometimes erections happen. But once we start moving, there is no way an erection could be sustained, because of the physical nature of Vinyasa Yoga."