Hinduism: Details about 'Naked Yoga'
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Wandering renunciates of India, sadhus, are always naked, and their every living moment is dedicated to the practice of yoga. They are of the Saivite sect of the Hindu tradition, and though their numbers are dwindling as India modernizes, 15 to 20 million still live in the traditional way. Their conventions, kumba mela, are held every few years at sacred rivers and receive worldwide media attention. In the West since the 1960s, naked yoga practice has been incorporated in progressive settings for wellbeing, such as at the Esalen Institute in California, as depicted in the 1968 film "Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice." The 1973 film "The Harrad Experiment" from an early sixties novel, actually has a naked yoga segment in the context of some kind of experimental "free love" college campus. The film is best known as actor Don Johnson's debut. In New York City in 1998, an American going by the name Jayadev started a group called "Midnight Yoga for Men" where participants practiced "naked before the infinite" in the style of the sadhus. This spawned a plethora of imitators, who saw immediately the benefits of an idea whose time in the modern western world had come. The short film Naked Yoga is an attempt to illustrate the practice of yoga in a natural setting. The purpose is to free the body and mind of restrictions, not to sexualise the practice. (In San Francisco, courts found that George Monty Davis (aka "Naked Yoga Guy") is not committing a crime by practicing naked yoga in a public place.) Naked Yoga - Documentary released in 1974. The plot of this movie includes three young ladies performing yoga, without clothes, in the open air of Cyprus. Another woman does the same in a studio. These visuals are interspersed with images of Eastern art, processed for "psychedelic" effect. The narrator relates the practise of yoga to Buddhist philosophy. It is a short, a 24 min short, and was released in the UK. Many viewers have said it will only appeal to those who have a prior interest in either yoga or naturism. These viewers can find it interesting and inspiring. This documentary/short was nominated for an Oscar in 1975, in the category 'Best Documentary, Short Subjects'. It was written and directed by Paul Cordsen. The stars included Elizabeth Taylor-Mead and has the blues singer Alexis Corner as the narrator.
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