{"id":39029,"date":"2015-12-09T19:56:21","date_gmt":"2015-12-10T00:56:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wanderlust.com\/?p=39029"},"modified":"2016-07-01T16:59:33","modified_gmt":"2016-07-01T20:59:33","slug":"stripping-down-to-yogas-bare-essentials-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/ja\/journal\/stripping-down-to-yogas-bare-essentials-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Stripping Down to Yoga’s Bare Essentials"},"content":{"rendered":"

The idea of naked yoga\u00a0doesn’t exactly appeal to everyone. Public yoga classes in the buff have gained slow momentum over recent\u00a0years<\/a>\u2014never quite going\u00a0mainstream, though not without\u00a0staying power. But you needn’t\u00a0let it\u00a0all hang out in a room filled with\u00a0strangers to receive the same blissful benefits. Within the confines (and privacy) of\u00a0your own home, a naked practice is both primal and liberating<\/a>\u2014a bold step toward greater, loving acceptance of your body.<\/p>\n

On Instagram this month, an anonymous yogi\u00a0known only as\u00a0Nude Yoga Girl<\/a>\u00a0has shed some light on practicing naked, and the impact that has on\u00a0body positivity<\/a>. In just a few weeks, she’s\u00a0quickly gained a massive\u00a0following of over 40,000 admirers (Update: she now has over 400K and counting!). Her black-and-white portraits feature a clean and simple\u00a0aesthetic, using just enough contrast and shadow to cover the areas typically censored as inappropriate.<\/p>\n

It would seem she’s\u00a0found a loophole within Instagram’s\u00a0#FreeTheNipple<\/a>\u00a0guidelines\u00a0through strategic placement of limbs and lighting.<\/p>\n

Nude Yoga Girl is only 25-years-old, and is a photographer and model. While on the surface she might not appear like a poster child for the body positive movement<\/a>, her captions will attest that yoga helped her to overcome the brutality of her own negative self-talk. She started the account to document her practice as part art project, part inspiration, to spread\u00a0her message of self-love and\u00a0self-acceptance by baring it all.<\/p>\n

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A photo posted by Nude Yoga Girl (@nude_yogagirl)<\/a> on

NY Mag’s the Cut<\/a><\/em>\u00a0has more:<\/p>\n

I’ve been working in an industry that is purely based on looks since I was 15. Yoga has taught me that the most important thing is how I feel, not how I look from the outside. \u00a0My biggest issue in the past was that I saw faults in my body all the time, and that made it impossible for me to love myself fully. The way you look doesn’t matter \u2014 anybody can see faults and have that feeling of not liking themselves. <\/em><\/p>\n

With my account I want to inspire people to realize that everybody is very beautiful and capable of [doing] amazing things with their bodies. Yoga helped me accept my body exactly the way it is. Nowadays people can easily get a very false idea of ideal beauty and what nudity truly means because it’s shown mostly in a sexual and unrealistic way.<\/em><\/p>\n

While a few commenters have left sexual remarks on her photographs, the majority of Nude Yoga Girl’s followers rule in favor of her bravery; in celebration of her empowering messages and tasteful, stunning imagery. Her anonymity is remarkable, with so many other Instagram accounts that\u00a0showcase brand awareness and personal identity to\u00a0increase their popularity.\u00a0Chances are that if you were to pass by Nude Yoga Girl in the street (albeit fully clothed), you probably wouldn’t recognize her.<\/p>\n

As she told the Cut<\/em>, “The account is anonymous, but I still want to be close with my followers, and I try to do it with my captions.”<\/p>\n

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A photo posted by Nude Yoga Girl (@nude_yogagirl)<\/a> on