A few years ago, when I still worked as a writer for the Washington Blade, I wrote an article about a men's naked yoga group here in Washington, D.C. I decided I would go to a couple of classes, instead of just interviewing the participants, so I could get an actual feel of what the practice was like.

Some years later, I'm now teaching it. 

I reconnected with the group through a yogi I know, who passed my name along to the group's organizer as a possible sub opportunity, and after subbing a couple of times and talking to Kim and Scott about it, we've started up a men's naked yoga class here at Sacred Space on Thursday evenings.

So, ummmm, why is this important or even a trend?

I think it can become an amazing, Tantra-inspired practice. There's nothing quite like being naked in front of people in "vulnerable" positions to help you confront your body issues. Feeling "unattractive"? Thinking that you're not "pretty" enough or "perfect" enough? Perhaps you compare your body to others' in class, believing that you're somehow inadequate to so-and-so.  Don't like feeling exposed, emotionally or mentally?

When I took the class a few years ago (in a mirrored studio, no less!), I realized how much time I spent wondering how I looked. Did this asana do good things for me? Oooooh, I'm not so sure about that extended side angle. Maybe, I should suck my stomach in, so my abs look better. Blah, blah, blah. 

However, at a certain point during the practice, the mental chatter dissolved, and I was able to sink into the unbelievable difficulty of hanging out in that full wheel for what seemed like an eternity. Or, trying to embody Virabhadrasana I and still breathe. Or any of the other millions of things that an asana practice demands of the yogi.

One of my favorite parts of Tantric philosophy is that we don't try and transcend all the muck of our daily lives by running away from it. We go deeper in. We face it, head on, and stare it down, until we realize that the challenge itself is the vehicle to enlightenment. For anyone with body issues, which is a majority of us, heading into a naked yoga class is taking up those Tantric reins and riding that horse until we're experiencing the deep liberation of the ride, instead of the jostling and discomfort of the horse's gallop.

Plus, Tantra is very body-positive, especially compared to the previous yogic viewpoint of the body just being a bag of blood, pus, and bile that needs to be discarded in order to achieve union with the Great Mystery. In much of Tantra, the physical form is an embodiment of deity and the potentials of consciousness. If I don't like feeling mentally or emotionally vulnerable or unprotected, it can be extremely powerful  to confront that by taking off all my clothes in front of other people and still finding my flow, strength and authenticity. The body holds a mirror up to our internal landscape, becomeing a tool for us to unravel the old thought and emotional patterns not just around our bodies, but around our very way of walking in the world.

So, for all the gentlemen of Sacred Space, dare yourself to stop by some Thursday night at 8:15. The class is only an hour, but I promise you, it will have an effect (you all know how I roll). For the ladies, consider starting up a class of your own.

(My hidden hope is that one day, the men and women could do a class like this together. Take that repressed, body-hating, weird, patriarchal overculture!)