Ågesta: idyllic lawn and beach by the lake in Stockholm

naturist 0001 Agesta, Stockholm, Sweden

Ågesta is an idyllic place within Stockholm city limits. It’s the top choice among local naturists thanks to the picturesque Magelungen lake, small cozy sandy beach, nice green lawn surrounded by trees; there are also basic amenities such as a shower and picnic tables. Just look around, and you’ll find a nice spot for yourself, either next to other people or in a quiet corner.

naturist 0003 Agesta, Stockholm, Sweden

The flat lawn is great for sunbathing, of course,

naturist 0002 Agesta, Stockholm, Sweden

but it would be also perfect for many activities, such as volleyball or football, yoga, martial arts and whatnot. Too bad local naturists didn’t seem to take advantage of that. I taught my local host, whom I got to know thanks to TrueNudists network, some basics of acro-yoga. We can only dream of having something like that in New York City! Well, at least a few people were swimming, and in the end of May the water was warm enough for that already.

naturist 0000 Agesta, Stockholm, Sweden

I heard that Stockholm, and Sweden in general, used to be even more open to naturism, but the attitude is changing with the influence of prudish American culture and influx of immigrants, who are generally more conservative.

statue 0000 Stockholm, Sweden

In the city itself, I could only see naked statues in abundance, but strangely enough, my bet is that people would probably not tolerate, if they saw the same thing in flesh…

statue 0001 Stockholm, Sweden

Nevertheless, I did sunbathe naked for a bit at a secluded spot on Långholmen island with a nice view of the city. There is also a known area for nude sunbathing in the western part of the island but unfortunately without access to the water. Hopefully, naturism will be more accepted in Sweden soon again, and one wouldn’t need to look for hidden spots. Meanwhile, enjoy Ågesta and other official locations available from Scandinavian Naturist Portal.

naturist 0000 Stockholm, Sweden

New Nude Yoga class in New York! Nude Yoga retreat is coming to the Woods again

naturist yoga 0002 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

After having maintained a nude yoga group with my friends for almost two years at private locations, we are finally going public. Starting from this Wednesday, we will have a weekly class in Harlem at 9pm with Michael. He is a very experienced and talented yoga instructor, and we are very lucky that he will teach us. He will also join us again for the second yoga retreat at the Woods campground on the first weekend of August 1st-3rd.

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Feel free to comment here or contact me by e-mail for more details about the class and retreat. You’re also welcome to just stop by. We are offering $15 per class for frequent visitors who are ready to buy a 10 pack for $150 or single class for $20. As for the retreat, you’re also welcome to just join us at the Woods campground, but if you drive from New York City, we’ll appreciate any carpool options. The retreat is purely donation-based, and all costs will be shared!

naturist yoga 0000 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

Meanwhile, get inspired by these pictures of Michael stretching out at the great Sandy Hook beach!

naturist yoga 0001 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

His routine includes some sophisticated poses and transitions that require advances flexibility,

naturist yoga 0005 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

but don’t worry, he’s a good teacher and will make sure that everyone is comfortable at their level of experience.

naturist yoga 0006 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

The doggy yogi classics is certainly on the menu too.

naturist yoga 0007 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

However, it’s always nice to see something challenging to aspire to.

naturist yoga 0004 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

We also like partner stretches and acro-yoga; below are photos from our spontaneous session last September at Sandy Hook.

naturist yoga 00004 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

Partner exercises turn yoga into an interactive experience

naturist yoga 0009 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

and allow deeper stretches.

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Some poses even involve more than 2 partners.

naturist yoga 0011 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

Join our nude yoga group, and your body and mind will thank you!

Yoga is more fun under the sun… and stars

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Last minute announcement: This coming Sunday, we’ll be at Sandy Hook beach with two yoga instructors from the group that I organized a few months ago. There are several yoga groups in New York City that practice yoga naked (see my review of Zensual yoga, for example), but my group started as much less formal gathering of friends; now it’s become a regular, weekly class with 2 rotating instructors and more visiting, and a dozen or so students, and we’ve even had a retreat at the Woods campground!

naturist 0003 yoga, the Woods campground, PA USA

I haven’t announced this group on this blog because it was meant mainly for friends, and it grew fast enough with word of mouth. During summer, we’ve been holding classes at the rooftop of one of us in Uptown Manhattan in the evenings. Well, the sky in Manhattan isn’t very starry, but even so it is pretty amazing to stretch out on the roof under stars… and airplanes. I must say after getting used to doing yoga al fresco and au naturel, it would be hard to practice it any other way. The weather seems to be great on Sunday, you can join us at Gunnison Beach at Sandy Hook (see my previous blogpost for the ferry coupon) to do some yoga under the sun and try something like this:

naturist 0012 yoga, the Woods campground, PA USA

Partner stretch/acro-yoga class was probably the most popular at our retreat in the Woods. Besides that, it was also pretty amazing to have an awakening morning yoga session listening to the rain (that one we did under the roof). After that, we covered ourselves with mud and did the no-rain dance, so the sky was clear throughout the rest of the retreat weekend. This time, it looks like we don’t even need that, the forecast is fine 🙂

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