Learn How To Start Naked Yoga At Home
When Jessamyn Stanley started practicing yoga over 10 years ago, becoming a naked yogi wasn’t her initial intent. But today, she incorporates fully or partially nude yoga poses as a fundamental part of her practice and instruction.
Stanley explains, “It’s not just about being naked. It’s about really peeling off the layers that make it hard for me to experience my most true self.”
For those unfamiliar, Stanley has been at the forefront of promoting body inclusivity in yoga since the mid-2010s. As a larger-bodied Black woman, she challenged the notion that only thin white women could do and teach yoga, as was the norm in the West for the previous 15 years. This ethos remains at the core of her practice, now also incorporating nudity.
Stanley begins most mornings by practicing naked yoga at her home studio, and she also streams naked classes to subscribers on her OnlyFans channel. However, this wasn’t always the case. Initially, she wore compression garments to feel “sleek” and “sucked in.” But eventually, she found clothes to be constraining.
How To Start Naked Yoga At Home
“Over time, I noticed that clothes made me feel uncomfortable and disconnected from my body,” Stanley says. She gradually transitioned from a full yoga outfit to loose clothing, then to underwear, and ultimately to practicing nude.
“Initially, I start wearing clothes and then I just get annoyed with them and gradually shed them,” Stanley explains. “I don’t identify as a nudist. I don’t just want to be naked all the time. It’s very much like this particular article of clothing is driving me crazy, and therefore I have to take it off.”
However, this shift from practicality has led to a deeper sense of self-acceptance. “Practicing yoga naked has been crucial for me in terms of self-acceptance—actually looking at myself and noticing the way that I’m put together,” Stanley says. “And that self-acceptance leads to a deeper practice of the postures.”
For example, not wearing compression yoga pants allows Stanley to manually adjust the position of her belly and fat rolls, enabling her to bend or twist deeper and fully experience the pose.
“In the naked yoga classes, I’ll say things like, pick up your butt cheek, move it to the side, or pick up your skin fold, or whatever the thing is,” Stanley explains. “Being able to make those adjustments and literally physically go deeper into the postures, I feel that it leads to deeper spiritual awakening.”
Stanley advises identifying any items of clothing that may cause discomfort and experimenting with removing them during home practice. You can start by removing one item at a time or, in a warm room, try practicing naked to see how it feels.
This may bring initial discomfort, such as sweating without absorbent clothing and heightened awareness of body odors. Having a towel or blanket for padding, using a non-stick mat, and reminding oneself that it’s just you and your body can be helpful.
“There’s so much shame around the naked body, and being in a space where people don’t have to feel ashamed of themselves is a really beautiful thing,” Stanley says of her experience with naked yoga, especially in the OnlyFans community. “To say that you own your body, you don’t have to apologize for your body, you don’t have to be ashamed of your body, and you can really get to know it—that’s a place of power that you can live your life from so that everything else is stemming from this place of sovereignty and ownership of self.”
If the idea of naked yoga feels uncomfortable, Stanley suggests trying a virtual naked yoga class or seeking out in-person naked yoga classes. She prefers the intimacy and self-exploration of practicing naked yoga at home.
Above all, she encourages people to approach the experience with a playful, joyful perspective, preparing to laugh at oneself and acknowledging any emotions that arise.
