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Baring all

Creator of Nude Yoga, Rosie Rees, shares her love of practicing yoga while wearing nothing at all, and explains how shedding our clothes can be symbolic of releasing the mind and letting go.AYJ Why did you create Nude Yoga?

ROSIE My own body image issues and learning to love my imperfections inspired me to start Nude Yoga workshops. I found that when I did my yoga practice naked, I felt a deeper sense of self-acceptance, body love and freedom in my skin. Initially when I practiced naked, I felt insecure and embarrassed, but then a comfortability and a heightened feeling of both presence and letting go of my mental chatter came to me that didn’t come as easy as when I was restricted by clothes. For me, shedding the clothes was symbolic of shedding the mind.

AYJ Tell us more about the practice of nude yoga and the workshops you facilitate ROSIE The practice is not your typical yoga class. The first half of the immersion is getting to know the women through sharing, partner work and workshopping a topic like body image, self-love or vulnerability.

The second half is integrating through breath, sound and movement in a gentle, feminine yoga sequence designed for women to surrender their armour and fall in love with their mind, body and heart.
AYJ What has teaching this taught you? ROSIE It’s taught me that every woman could benefit from this workshop — women who already love their bodies and women who are resistant to coming. When I tour Australia I consistently sellout, which demonstrates that women are becoming more open to stepping out of their comfort zone to be vulnerable, and they have a desire to love and accept themselves in ways they never thought possible. It has taught me that women of all shapes, sizes, ages and races are beautiful, and when I look around the candle-lit room at women in their most vulnerable, bare and raw state ... it’s one of the most heart-opening, exquisite experiences of my life. More than anything, it’s taught me that having courage reaps unbelievable rewards!

AYJ What experiences have your students had during the practice?

ROSIE For some women it’s the first time they have sat in a circle of women, so they feel a sense of uniting and sisterhood. I have had women feel safe to be themselves and be “seen” for the first time. Women who have never been vulnerable, and for the first time can speak their truth. Women who have had babies come to a place of acceptance and gratitude about their belly and breasts and the life they have created with their body. A lot of women go home to have the best sleep of their life, or the best
love-making of their life, with the lights on, because they feel free in their body. Amazing things happen when women relinquish their armour, masculinity and barriers to love. When a woman feels safe, she can soften and surrender.

AYJ What’s the greatest lesson you’ve learned about relationships, and how has this influenced your teaching?

ROSIE Relationships are where we implement our life lessons; without them we don’t receive the fullest growth our soul needs to experience in this lifetime. As Yogi Bhajan says, “Relationships are the best form of yoga!”

Although I feel comfortable being naked on a yoga mat, my growth has been in allowing myself to be fully vulnerable in a relationship - the true test of vulnerability. Sharing my greatest insecurities with another person and them still loving me was such a powerful lesson. It is the essence of what I teach; come to me with all your scars, cellulite, rolls, and wrinkles, and I will still love you. This is unconditional love. I believe relationships to be the foundation of life, and the first relationship to cultivate is the one with our self. Since experiencing this unconditional love, my fear of commitment and intimacy (moving away from love to experience freedom) no longer runs the show, nor does my fear of rejection and abandonment (moving away from freedom to experience love). When my cup is overflowing with my own love,