2018.02.12 Mirror
A yoga teacher is claiming she can boost women's sex lives, relieve stress and make them feel more confident - all thanks to her naked classes.
Rosie Rees is leading the nude revolution and says she loves to make women feel empowered.
The 30-year-old from Perth, Australia, first started practising naked yoga in her back garden after she moved in with a nudest.
And now she teaches hundreds of women to bare all and love their bodies too.
By helping these women embrace their imperfections, Rosie claims she helps develop positive body image and improve their relationships and sex lives.
She had been hosting her naked yoga workshops in her hometown for the past three years, but now she plans to visit New York to share her mission.
Rosie said: "When I first tried to do yoga practice without clothes – first in my bedroom and then in the backyard – I was shocked at how critical and judgmental about my body I was.
"I didn't like the various scars on my body, rolls of fat on my belly and I noticed all the cellulite. But I also felt liberated and free.
"As my practice progressed, I felt a lot more present with myself.
"I became really aware of my body and breath, even the tiniest movement, how the air felt on my skin, the beads of sweat."
The 30-year-old relationship coach added: "I began loving my body as it was, became more accepting and comfortable, began seeing any imperfections as unique parts of me.
"I felt naked yoga was having a positive impact on me and it needed to be shared."
Rosie approached a yoga studio with her idea but says initially they were sceptical of the idea.
But after explaining she wanted to desexualise nudity and wanted to help women overcome their body image issues, the studio agreed to give it a go.
She said: "The first class was a sell-out. I haven't looked back since.
"Naked yoga is not just yoga, it's a spiritual journey. Yoga only releases stress, but naked yoga digs deeper into our souls.
"It takes courage to come to a naked yoga class, but that courage translates to better relationships at work, with family and most importantly, with oneself.
"When women learn to accept and love their naked bodies, it directly effects their relationship with their partners so men have become big supporters of mine."
Rosie first began practicing yoga in 2012 while working in a stressful finance job which had left her eating, drinking and smoking more than she should.
After breaking up with her then-boyfriend, she made a spur of the moment decision to travel to India in Jan 2013 where she practiced yoga for 10 hours a day, six days a week.
She turned vegetarian and stopped drinking coffee and after two months came back to teach yoga in Brisbane to backpackers and hotel chains.
Nine months after returning from India she made yoga and relationship counselling her full-time job.
But it was when she moved in with a nudist when she returned to her hometown of Perth in 2014 that the idea of completely naked yoga was born.
Rosie said: "In my old job I was earning well but drinking and smoking too much, and had put on weight too. That's when a friend suggested hot yoga.
"The studio was down the road from me so I decided to give it a shot. In six months, I felt more relaxed and alive than I had in the last three years.
"I decided I wanted a fresh start but I didn't know what I wanted to do.
"My friend was going to India to study yoga and asked me to come along, so I jumped at the chance.
"It was terrifying to quit my job, I hadn't ever been to India before and I didn't tell anyone until my tickets were booked. My parents were shocked but supportive.
"When I came back from India it was difficult to survive financially so I took up a corporate job but my goal was clear.
"I set up my blog, yoga practice and relationship counselling. At the end of nine months I quit and have never looked back since.
"When I came back to Perth I moved in with a guy who was a nudist. He said he would be naked from time to time.
"He encouraged me to do it too if I felt comfortable. But the very idea was unsettling at first."
More and more women have since joined Rosie's naked yoga revolution, and in the past three years she has run hundreds of successful workshops across Australia.
She has even been invited to the Naked in Motion studio in New York later this year to bring her unique brand of yoga to the USA.
And the 30-year-old said as far as she is aware, she is the only person on the globe holding naked yoga workshops currently.
Rosie said: "I feel like Australia is ready.
"Our women are ready to step out of their comfort zone, to participate in 'self-love', to appreciate and respect their bodies.
"I can't believe why anyone didn't think of it before."
