Naked Yoga
Monika Werner, co-owner of Bold & Naked and yoga instructor, assumes a position during a naked yoga session in New York March 19, 2014. Reuters/Shannon Stapleton

Couples thinking of a different way to celebration Valentine’s Day in 2016 other than the usual movie, dinner and then sex could perhaps try a suggestion from a Calgary yoga teacher. This one does not involve buying chocolates and a dozen roses, plus an expensive gift.

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It’s au naturel because Katherine Medina’s suggestion is for couples to try naked yoga. Medina, owner of Naked Yoga YYC in Calgary, Canada, initially offered women-only naked yoga sessions. However, she has recently expanded and accepted males, reports Huffington Post.

Medina says that attending naked yoga classes for couples helps the pair bond and connect. She opened the centre to promote body positivity which means being comfortable and accepting one’s body shape best done when without clothes and in the company of others, including the opposite gender.

While for many couples seeing each other naked is likely an everyday event, seeing others without clothes and bending and stretching together with them could be initially uncomfortable. But once they get used to the idea, many become regulars after the first session, Medina adds.

She says getting past the door is the first step and hardest part. But once people jump over that biggest hurdle, they would feel the class is welcoming. Medina assures the classes are 100 percent non-sexual. She explains, “If we open our hearts and our minds a little bit we’ll find it’s just yoga.” Medina continues, “It’s about being free … and spending the time with just you and your mat.”

It’s in Australia also

Rees Nude Yoga
The three-hour workshops were tailored by Rosie Rees for couples in romantic relationships. Facebook/Rosie Rees

Australians who want to try naked yoga could go to Rosie Rees, a relationship and singles coach, who holds naked yoga classes in Perth. Heidi Anderson, a columnist of Perthnow, shares her experience when she and partner Griffo gave it a try.

It helps that Rees is her personal friend, although to help new participants feel less shy about being naked, they started the session wearing dress gowns and the couples facing each other. Then the women were asked to turn around so that they backs were facing the men.

They were asked to slowly undress and massaging, tickling and rubbing backs. Once totally naked, the couples faced each other, but the room was lit only by a candle. “It was in this moment that I let go of all my hang-us and worries,” writes Anderson.

The three-hour workshops were tailored by Rees for couples in romantic relationships. “It’s been built to help re-establish and infuse more balance, healthy boundaries, open communication, non-sexual intimacy and creative expression back into the relationship,” says Rees.

And once that has been done, then couples could do the ritual they enjoy most during Feb 14 – that is get intimate and have fun together in bed.