Scott Lehman said practicing yoga without clothing is a growing trend.
He teaches a men's clothing-optional yoga class Tuesdays and nude yoga for men on Fridays.
"I tell people that once you've experienced practicing yoga without clothing, you'll never go back to wearing clothing again for yoga," he said. "Naked yoga is actually becoming a very legitimate style of yoga. There's an entry on Wikipedia. If you enter 'naked yoga,' it'll give you more information about the naked yoga movement. This is the only naked yoga class in all of New Mexico, as far as I know."
Lehman attended the Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco until 2000.
"That's actually the style of yoga I teach - integral yoga," he said. "It's characterized as very sweet - the style is very nurturing. Just in my own apartment, I started doing practice without clothing on, and I said, 'Whoa, this really feels good.' One of the reasons it feels so good is that yoga is about really having an intimate relationship with your body, and when you don't have clothing, that's what you're left with."
Julian Spalding, publisher of Albuquerque Arts magazine, attends the Tuesday classes. He said Lehman's instruction makes all the difference.
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"I expected that I'd be with a small group of gay men doing nude yoga with an excellent instructor," he said. "Scott is a spectacular teacher. It's not a sexual environment. I really enjoy his very professional and knowledgeable approach. I like the fact that we can be free of the constriction of clothing. It makes it a lot more enjoyable."
Lehman said most students are comfortable practicing in the nude.
"The only questions I get from men usually are like, 'What happens if I become aroused?'" he said. "I'm like, 'Yeah, great. You're alive. Go for it.' The people are so focused. I keep pulling attention and focus back to the inner experience. The classes I teach, the eyes are closed probably 85 percent of the class. People aren't looking around at all. People aren't really looking at other people."
Lehman said people also ask if they'll be touched by other men.
"The only person who's going to touch your body is me," he said. "I make adjustments and modifications by my hand to guide them into the posture as I understand it needs to be performed, and it's very conscious and deliberate and mindful. It's not to be arousing or erotic at all."
Spalding said there are no straight men in the class, though they would be welcome to join.
"Most straight men are not comfortable enough to do that," he said.
A drop-in class is $15, but Lehman offers package deals where the more classes one signs up for, the cheaper they are.
"I'm also interested in bartering," he said. "No one is ever turned away from lack of funds, because I think yoga should be accessible to everyone."
