Aaron Star's Hot Nude Yoga
A Nude Attitude -By Alan Bennett IlaganWhat is the hottest piece of yoga apparel today? Your birthday suit. Bring your mat and towel, and leave the clothing and cologne behind. Aaron Star's Hot Nude Yoga program takes the ancient practice of yoga and strips it bare Ð quite literally. Since 1998, Mr. Star has been offering nude yoga sessions from the beginner to the advanced yogi and all are done sans clothing.Whether you've packed on a few too many holiday pounds or started the season off over-stuffed, it's a new year, and a good time to move towards a healthier body. Though yoga might induce yawns from some, this is no ordinary yoga program. Hot Nude Yoga may change the way you've looked at the ancient practice, bringing with it a modern spirituality and cutting-edge sensuality that has been missing.Yoga is basically about the body and breathing. Not coincidentally, so is sex. Rather than increasing the disparities between body and soul, Mr. Star's yoga program strives to unite the two. In so doing, the sensual aspect of our physical being can't help but be brought along for the ride. It also makes practical sense if you think about it: yoga is ideally done in loose-fitting clothing, so the body is not constricted. What could be looser than nothing at all?First of all, being nude in and of itself is so totally freeing!" Mr. Star claims. And being nude just heightens anything that you are experiencing. One of the goals of Tantra is to become more aware sensually, and to increase one's own sensitivity. This is so we can tune into our body's energy and thus channel it to other areas. Some call this energy our latent potential, others call it erotic or sexual energy; I just call it energy.Being naked is hold your judgment a natural extension of focusing on the basics. It's also a way of opening up completely, a way of extending one's vulnerability, and a way to self-awareness. Our clothing has become our armor, a way of distancing ourselves from others. Mr. Star's yoga method attempts to abolish that distance, and in that respect is surprisingly effective.There is a rawness which becomes exposed when we shed our clothing, he explains. The process of yoga is a journey inward. How we get there is by shedding our ego. So many of our egos show up in how we dress and in what we wear. By taking off our clothes, we are taking off a part that defines who we think we are. I always say that in my class you never know if someone is a starving artist or a Wall Street broker. In the end we are all the same. That in itself is so beautiful.Nudity as the great equalizer? Perhaps, but other concerns rear their heads at a nude yoga class. There's always the possibility of an errant erection whenever a bunch of gay men get naked together. How does Mr. Star, for want of a better term, handle those situations?You don't, he says. I mean, the erect penis should be celebrated, not beaten up. Besides, most people are so into what they are doing that they do not know what is going on around them.Mr. Star advises to focus on the breathing when Mr. Happy starts doing upward-facing dog. When questioned on whether or not he himself has ever raised an invisible pup tent during class, he confesses, No. I think I am too much in a teacher mode to get turned on in a class.A down-to-earth guy who enjoys Haagen Dazs coffee ice cream and wears 2xist briefs (when he's wearing clothes), Mr. Star is, at the moment, surprisingly single. He attributes that to a certain restlessness, and his drive and need to keep on the go. When asked what he looks for in a mate, he replies, Adventure, and someone that can keep up with me. I find that is a really hard thing to find. There are not many people who can. And I say that without any ego. It's just true. --Alan Bennett IlaganHi Aaron,I just wanted to drop you a line to tell you that I have had your four Hot Nude Yoga DVDs now for over a week and have watched and re-watched them, working on some of the movements, though have not partnered off to do any of the practice yet, which I plan to do and look forward to doing. I can appreciate the effort that went into making these DVDs.I know it looks so effortless for you, and looks like you did nothing to prepare for it because it was all so natural. I know better. I know a lot of preparation, time, effort and money went into making what I consider a true masterpiece. You were so totally relaxed, so totally upbeat, so totally prepared, so totally ready to break into a smile naturally, all the good yoga stuff.<br /><br /> I have done some yoga, always had female instructors, and after watching your Hot Nude Yoga DVDs, I can see how much more beneficial and comfortable it would be to have a male instructor.<br /><br /> You did an awesome job producing these DVDs and they are well worth what they cost. Not only do you know your subject well, but you are able to project so well and so comfortably. You make it so obvious that you know what you are doing, enjoy what you are doing, and, most importantly, BELIEVE in what you are doing. People like you can change the world because you can change the most important element in this world people. You can help them remove many negative feelings they have about themselves, give them confidence, and give them better health physically, mentally and spiritually. <br /><br /> Keep up the great work you are doing. <br /><br /> Thanks. Ron --Ron - an HNY Student from the USAColumbus Dispatch - Yoga in buff is all about possibilities? by Mark EllisAaron Star, founder of Hot Nude Yoga: I just go wherever people find me.The 33-year-old New York instructor will bring his Hot Nude Yoga to Columbus for sessions this weekend at the Yoga Shiva studio on the East Side.A former scuba instructor, Star left his native Washington for New York about 15 years ago, took up yoga to stretch his body after bulking up through gym workouts and became a teacher.Star has since taken his brand of yoga, with elements of partner and tantra yoga, on the road and to a DVD.I just go wherever people find me and want me to come," Star said. I try to give as much as I can in that weekend to open minds up to new possibilities.He talked about yoga from his studio in Manhattan:--Mark Ellis