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TESTING OUT THE NAKED YOGA EXPERIENCE AT OM OASIS IN MONTEREY.
They live among us. They throw ropes and measure heart rates and use Bodyblades. They lead classes on nap yoga and BodyArt and Bokwa. They deploy poles and surfboards and rowing machines.
They are the cutting edge of fitness, doing things that are uncommon and intriguing. We assemble a range of trailblazers here as part of our annual celebration of health and wellness.
Om Oasis yoga teacher Sterling Taylor and I make small talk about our past lives in Oakland as we pull off our underwear to begin our 60-minute session of yoga-in-the-buff. We move to the mats, kneel in the Vajrasana pose and begin to focus on our breathing.
I'm calm but I still can't shake the wariness of contorting my bare body in ways that will expose parts of me I haven't seen.
On principle, I try to blast any hang-ups I have about being naked in the presence of others. From prior experience I know once you get over the curiosity of viewing parts typically hidden, they just become parts. Breast, buttocks, penises and vaginas are just as normal as noses, cheeks, eyes and chins when sexualized thoughts are absent.
"For me this is about experiencing non-sexual male intimacy," Taylor says to me in the thankfully warm studio. "That said, if you-or if I-get an erection, it's really no big deal, those things can happen."
People do yoga for many reasons, some for the serenity, others for a workout. As it's grown in popularity, dozens of new practices have emerged, building upon- and diverging from-the ancient practice. Now Taylor brings to...
