Looking to Relieve Stress from the Pandemic? Try Naked Yoga

The last time the world faced a major virus outbreak of the current magnitude was the Spanish Flu of 1918. During that outbreak, Joseph Pilates was perfecting his method and teaching inmates at a British internment camp how to breath and move.

While countless inmates at that camp lost their lives to the flu, every Pilates student survived. That is not to suggest that Yoga or Pilates can mitigate the contraction of COVID-19, but yoga teachers like Dan Carter do believe the practice can help the immune system fight off the virus and help keep people off the dreaded ventilator.

“One of the biggest benefits of Yoga and Pilates are that they are breath-based fitness modalities,” he explains. “In a bootcamp (fitness) class or a game of pick-up soccer, the breath is secondary to the movement. Yoga and Pilates start with the breath and move from there. Knowing how to breath efficiently helps boost your immune system.”

Carter is the owner of Danimal Yoga, a Washington, D.C.-based yoga center that hosts the area’s largest and most social nude yoga group. They have over 1,000 members. Additionally, Carter and his group hold quarterly retreats throughout the country, including the Self Renewel Naked Fitness Retreat, taking place November 19-23 at Inndulge, a gay men’s clothing optional resort in Palm Springs.

Why do yoga naked?

According to Carter, the removing of clothes allows for greater connection among participants in the group. “It’s a great equalizer and reminds us that we are all living creatures sharing a common bond.”

He says his classes often lead to life-long friendships, cross-generational conversations and the occasional romantic relationship. “Relationships of all kinds are important for our mental and physical health.”

Some of the weekend’s other highlights will include massages, nightly happy hours, a hike through the Palm Spring desert and lounging in the resort's salt-water pool and jacuzzi.

Due to the pandemic, INNdulge and the Danimal Fitness team have put safety precautions in place for the November retreat. Classes will be kept to half-capacity, masks will be required while groups are congregating, matts will be socially distanced as will all exercise equipment and outside lounging areas.

And while the retreat is at a gay men’s clothing optional resort and some of the programming is geared towards gay men, Dan Carter says the weekend is open to bisexual and heterosexual men. "The Self Renewel Naked Fitness Retreat is an opportunity for all men to learn about their bodies and create brotherhood in the process," he says, adding, "We’re a very welcoming crew."

Learn more at http://www.danimalyoga.com/retreat