January 20, 2009 Features

Feel the force

The naked truth about naked yoga

by Alexandra Murphy

If you have a staring problem, maybe Mudraforce isn't for you. If you find clothes a bother, then you may have found the right place to salute the sun.
PHOTO Alexandra Murphy

For shy men who are curious about nude stretching, underwear is allowed the first Sunday of every month.

Forget about pole dancing, Pilates, capoeira and boot camp exercises. The latest fitness regime sensation is naked yoga.

It’s not only a good workout, but also “the renunciation of all material things,” say enthusiasts. Clothes no longer restrict movement. The mind is forced to focus on what is happening on the inside rather than on the outside. The nude postures provide a greater sense of physical and psychological freedom.

The challenge, they say, is to concentrate and regulate your thoughts.

Studios across the United States and Canada now teach the alternative trend, but only one Montreal studio offers nude classes: Mudraforce.

David Flewelling owns Mudraforce and he teaches classes out of his Old Montreal studio apartment. Mudraforce looks like any other yoga studio with its polished wood floors, Buddha statues, colourful pillows and yoga props. However, the studio differs from others because it caters only to men.

Having tried naked yoga while living in Vancouver, Flewelling decided in 2006 that it was time to bring this new practice to Montreal. He started Mudraforce to draw men into practicing a discipline they otherwise might not try.

“A lot of men have said to me, ‘Oh, I thought about doing yoga but I’m not flexible.’ When a man walks into a class and sees a woman doing the splits, he thinks, ‘There’s no way I can do that!’ Frustration sets in right away and he never comes back,” explained Flewelling.

“In a male-only environment, there’s camaraderie, people are more or less on the same level,” he explained.

But why do the courses have to be naked? Flewelling says he teaches yoga naked simply because it is enjoyable.

Besides the fact that it’s nude, the owner believes that another aspect sets Mudraforce apart from other Montreal studios. “In other studios people walk in, warm up and focus on themselves. Here people are chatting and socializing. There’s a community aspect that happens before and after the class,” he said.

A man who wishes to attend one of the classes must have an open attitude towards male nudity and the necessary partner work. However, despite its popularity among homosexual men, the Mudraforce website assures heterosexuals that naked yoga is “a space for all men and while most men here are gay, the studio welcomes everyone who wishes to experience other men in the community.”

For shy men who are curious about nude stretching, underwear is allowed the first Sunday of every month. However, only one man in the last two years has chosen to do so.

Flewelling explained that a lot of men worry about getting turned on while doing naked yoga, but the yogi dismissed this fear. “We don’t have time to think about anything else. We’re too busy doing yoga.”

The teacher claims that the hardest part of starting naked yoga is getting through the door. “Once the men are able to muster the courage to attend, the rest comes easily.”

Despite what someone might think, naked yoga is not just an excuse for men to hook-up—at least no more than any other social event. He pointed out that all social activities are opportunities for people to forge relationships. “Bowling can be an excuse to hook up,” he joked.

Flewelling insisted that his classes focus on working out, being active and meditating and discouraged anyone with ulterior motives from attending his classes. “You’re here to do yoga. If you have another agenda, forget about it.”

He acknowledged that when he first started teaching the courses many interested people came with mixed agendas. “But when they actually saw that we were just doing yoga, some of those people left and it tapered down to the people who were genuinely interested in doing yoga.”

Since the studio opened, Flewelling has had positive reviews from his peers. “Other teachers have approached me and said: ‘Kudos for it.’ Some teachers have come and experimented with it. They haven’t stuck with it, mostly because they’re busy teaching their own classes.”

Yoga instructors like Manuel Molina De La Torre responded positively to the naked version. “I would like to try the experience with my partner, just to know new things about us,” De La Torre said, he explained that the word yoga means union.

“I think that, with a good practice that involves deep concentration and breathing, you and your partner can break down some limits and learn more things about each other and create that special union,” De La Torre continued.

Most men who frequent Flewelling’s studio are aged 30 and over, but the studio would like to attract a younger crowd. Flewelling argued that men in their 20s are self-conscious about being naked, associating nudity with sex.

“For a young man to go into a room filled with older gay men there’s a perception of sexual predation, but it’s an urban myth,” Flewelling explained.

He argued that nudity and sex are two separate concepts and that there is no connection between the two when doing naked yoga in his classes.

Carl, a retired professor in his 60s, discovered first-hand the Mudraforce experience. He and five other strangers attended one of the Monday morning hour-and-a-half classes. It was Carl’s first time doing naked yoga and he described the session as relaxing and comforting. He felt at ease in the class full of naked men.

“It’s not sexy so much as real,” he said. “It was so natural. There was no exhibitionism; no one was overly proud or humiliated. There were all different types of bodies and everybody looked good in their own particular way.”

Carl believed that being naked made it easier for others to see how to assume the correct positions. “You could see the guy’s spine and the adjustment of his bones when the teacher fixed his pose,” he said.

However, some still remain sceptical about the practice.

Francisco Collazo, a waiter in his early 30s, saw it another way. “I don’t see any purpose in doing it naked and it is not very glamorous. However, I would give a second thought to naked ballet.”

Women were equally suspicious of naked yoga. Although they are barred from Mudraforce, Flewelling is not opposed to including women into his practice in the near future.

“I would be open to having a women’s class with a female instructor. I think women would prefer having a woman teach them,” he said.

Still, some women were reluctant to attend.

“The truth is. I’m just too modest. I don’t even really like to wear two-piece swimsuits that much. I feel like I’m outside in my underpants,” confessed Juanita Marchand, a 32-year-old music teacher.

Then again, she claimed that issues with body image discouraged her from wanting to go. “I’m also uncomfortable exercising with other people. The combo of being naked in front of people, other than my fiancé, relatives or my doctor, and doing awkward and less-than-graceful things in front of others makes me feel bad about myself,” Marchand explained.

If Mudraforce wants to stick around and eventually open its doors to women, the studio has its work cut out for it. Many will need more convincing.

Flewelling doesn’t care what others think. “As long as people enjoy being nude, naked yoga will be around.”

Men interested in trying naked yoga can go to http://www.mudraforce.com.