I tried naked yoga today..

[robbie_p]

@dawn16 I'm glad you mentioned this. That first sentence rubbed me the wrong way.

 

[relliott28]

@dawn16 And just to give you an idea of the headspace I’m still trying to sort out, “non sexual nudity” has been a really tough hump for me to get over as a person. I don’t know why. I know it shouldn’t be, so I’m trying to work past that.

 

[deepsouth]

@relliott28 I totally feel this too. Even with my most recent former partner, I felt uncomfortable with nudity unless there was a sexual aspect to our interactions first! Going straight to nude without any sexual aspect felt really disconcerting and uncomfortable. I'm guessing because I am only used to nudity being a sexual thing so the unfamiliarity didn't feel good! I'm also wanting to see nudity more as just humans existing as our natural selves, just bodies! It definitely takes time and effort.

 

[relliott28]

@deepsouth The biggest upside to Reddit: realizing you aren’t alone in your strangest thinking.

 

[anneand9]

@relliott28 Preach!

 

[dawn16]

@relliott28 My respect to you for making an effort to grow and change! There are no ‘shoulds’ or ‘shouldn’ts’ about it though, so don’t put that additional pressure on yourself. Our psyches and upbringings leave us all in different spots in various areas of our lives, no use in making some spots “correct” and some not

 

[relliott28]

@dawn16 I agree with you. I have a lot of work to do on my thinking about nudity and body acceptance. I think it stems from my upbringing and religion but I don’t think I’m too far gone. It’s been a weird place for me mentally but I have to say my husband has been the one that’s helping me emerge from that place, even though I haven’t told him about this yet. As long as I keep this ideology out in front of me to confront rather than ignoring it, I think I can make some positive improvements. Life is all about growing, right?

 

[pfumc]

@relliott28 This is awesome. Thank you for sharing!

 

[muscle_woman]

@relliott28 I’m so happy you for you. It’s hard. So much of what you wrote I relate to in more ways than I can express.

 

[christinspired]

@relliott28 Thanks for sharing, that's inspiring! Sorry if this is inappropriate but are you like... completely nude? do you wear underwear?

 

[relliott28]

@christinspired I chose to be totally nude because I was in my house all alone where no one could see. If I ever did it in a class, I’d probably wear underwear.

 

[christinspired]

@relliott28 That sounds so freeing!

 

[philosopher61]

@relliott28 Someone offered naked yoga in my town and I decided to give it a try. No one else showed up. It was just me and the teacher, in a room full of mirrors. Surprisingly enough I felt pretty at ease for most of the class. I am not sure if more people would have made me more or less embarrassed. But sometimes I’d move into a pose and see myself in the mirror and go, “Oh, that’s what I look like”. And sometimes it was a good “oh” and sometimes it was a concerned “oh”. But it was interesting either way.

I have struggled my whole life with body issues, and I’m going to go out on a limb and say my grandmother had something to do with it, always saying things like “no one is ever going to love you if you don’t lose weight”. I’m not even that big. I never really have been. But it messes with your body image and I always felt like I was huge and unattractive. I struggled with eating disorders and disordered eating, or being obsessed with the scale. Now I focus more on what my body can do. I’m stronger and more flexible, and seeing my body do that is so nice.

 

[dawn16]

@philosopher61 My mom has made me insecure too and I still sometimes am. Making a disgusted face when she saw my arm hair, giving me talks about how I need to wear makeup, that my acne (which according to everyone else isn't that bad where's my mother says it's bad.. started to wonder if I was the crazy one not seeing the extent of it, all I see is some acne on my chin?) is the first thing someone sees when they look at my face, that I should to stop wearing my glasses because they make me look geeky (I still feel ugly when I where my glasses out instead of contacts now), etc.. my dad would always say I should wear makeup so "men notice me and I'll make more friends". Well, no. I never wear makeup and the people in my life accept me the way I am. I don't give a fuck about men noticing me, all I need is one person that sees beauty in both my appearance and character, that loves me for me and that I love them for them.

 

[brokenroad]

@philosopher61 I am so sorry your grandmother did that to you!

 

[relliott28]

@philosopher61 I wasn’t quite ready for mirrors. Baby steps over here. Way to be brave and really step out of your comfort zone, though!

 

[paiemi12]

@relliott28 Thank you for this -

 

[relliott28]

@paiemi12 Love your username!

 

[paiemi12]

@relliott28 Love yours, too!!

 

[mannis]

@paiemi12 I love you both