Pasquale Guiducci is on the move–literally! This past December, the Los Angeles-based yogi packed up all of his belongings into three suitcases and started his journey around the world.
Currently in Puerto Rico for an intensive teacher training–Guiducci is already certified in four different types of yoga, as well as Pilates, Barre and HIIT–his travels have taken him to places as far-flung as Australia and Norway. Guiducci is a free spirit who’s always been connected with his body: he was a pro dancer and actor who specialized in stage combat and physical theater before dedicating himself to wellness.
“It’s been a lifetime of movement,” he says.
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While Guiducci has always been uninhabited, he’s moving around with a particular lightness these days. About 1.5 years ago, one of his friends told him about a company called True Naked Yoga, which offers exactly that: nude yoga. Founded by Gabriel Bienczycki and Tom Severin in 2018, the platform employs 75 instructors who guide members through their own unique programs.
Originally, Guiducci was skeptical. He viewed naked yoga as a gimmick, a cruisy subculture that was best relegated to specialty studios in urban gay enclaves. But that’s not Bienczycki and Severin’s vision.
For starters, they’re not gay. They want to create an inclusive space for the oft-misunderstood practice, which dates back to ancient times.
As Guiducci learned more, he started to appreciate the purity. “Bodies are beautiful,” he says. “To have a body that moves with precision and elegance, it’s so beautiful to watch.”
The content on True Naked Yoga is equally pleasing, shot with grace and sophistication. At times, it can seem like Guiducci is defying gravity, as he glides through his chaturangas and propels his limbs into the air.
In between practices, Queerty recently caught up with Guiducci to chat about the sexiest yoga poses, raving until the sun comes up and the importance of packing a tongue scraper. Here’s what he had to say…
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QUEERTY: What are some misconceptions about naked yoga that you would like to clear up?
PASQUELE GUIDUCCI: I think people often think naked yoga is always about sex or it’s tantra influenced. I’m not saying it can’t be that. But my journey as a teacher and my purpose as a teacher is to create spaces of safety. I always want people to feel safe when they’re around me. I always hold space. I want you to take risks and explore and be playful, and never feel like you’re being judged. If you find the right yoga and teachers, you get to be held in a space that’s very vulnerable. You’re naked, you’re yourself. You have nothing hiding you. When you have the spaces that allow you to do that, you can grow so much.
What are some of the advantages of a nude yoga practice opposed to one with, well, shorts?
Short-shorts, definitely! But I think with a naked yoga practice, the level of courage it takes to be vulnerable and to move in a way that often puts you in weird positions, you build so much courage in those kinds of classes. There is a sense of freedom when you get really comfortable with yourself in all of your forms. It translates to being off the mat. This is true in any yoga practice: the way you do anything is the way you do everything. How you show up on the mat often translates to how you show up off the mat. You get really good at observing yourself on the yoga mat, and the patterns and tendencies that you do.
You can go into a naked yoga class, you can allow yourself to be fully nude, and you can be like, “Wow, I’m allowing myself to be seen for exactly who I am.” It creates a different level of self-confidence and self-love. Obviously, that can come into a regular class as well. But when you come into the level of being naked, it’s a little bit different.
Where are your favorite places to practice nude?
It’s hard to find naked yoga studios. Oftentimes, it’s an event or a weekly something. So I often do naked yoga alone at home. I also like to practice, whenever I can find a beautiful nature location. I have some content I’ve created next to pools in Palm Springs, where it’s hot and beautiful and there’s good weather. I love to be out in nature. I was doing some naked yoga in Malibu recently. Somewhere with a beautiful view that’s expansive. Any location that makes me feel as broad and open as being naked. I wanna be in similar places.
Which yoga pose is the sexiest?
That’s so hard! Everyone wants to accentuate different things and every pose has a different movement to it. What’s the sexiest yoga pose to do naked? Hmm… I don’t know why, but humble warrior seems so sexy to me. I know that sounds so crazy. I just think having that deep flection of the hips and long, strong beautiful legs. Your muscles are turned on. Then just allowing your back to open with the muscles in your arms stretching. It doesn’t give you everything, but it’s a nice silhouette of a posture. Also, a good puppy pose is super sexy.
You’ve packed up your life in three suitcases as you travel the world. What are your must-have items?
It depends on the trip. Right now, I’m on a long-leg trip: Puerto Rico, Miami, Norway and New York. I do have my carry-on suitcase and my medium-sized suitcase. Usually, I prefer to just have a carry-on, because I don’t want to deal with waiting at the conveyer belt with my luggage. Not having any extra stuff—ah!
But my must-haves for traveling: I definitely always have my laptop, my yoga mat. I always have my toiletry bag with all of my facial essentials, my tongue scrapers are in there. Make sure you scrape your tongue every morning. If you don’t scrape your tongue, once you start doing it, you realize how gross it is. Buy a tongue scraper. Not a tongue brush. You have to actually scrape your tongue. Cleansing your body, it’s so important! Otherwise, I always have a bathing suit, because you never know. When you’re always doing yoga, I’m pretty in much always in yoga shorts and shirtless or wearing a tank top. Have a couple of cute outfits, and you’re set! But in can be hard when you’re in different ecosystems. I was in Norway, and it was f*cking freezing. I had one sweatshirt. Not the vibe.
On that note, it seems like you undergo a lot of spiritual adventures. What’s one of the more adventurous things you’ve done?
I do so much stuff. Hmm… I think with yoga, there’s so much potential to go so many places. Even right now, I’m doing a monthlong intensive in Puerto Rico. It’s a really beautiful studio with amazing teachers and amazing practitioners. It’s so special to be in a place where the language is so strong. With the language of yoga, you don’t necessarily have to speak Spanish, because yoga speaks for itself. I think that’s really special. With a strong yoga practice, you don’t have to speak the same language. You can really communicate on a deep level when your souls are talking to each other. That’s really special. I also do breath work. I will say, that opens up a whole new container of people being able to really let go. I’ve made many people cry in yoga, people are releasing stuff and being moved very deeply. Then taking that a step further, in breath work, people also like, in a half hour, go on a psychological ayahuasca journey.
We’ve talked so much about your life on the mat. What do you enjoy doing off of it?
I love theater and musicals and performances. Anything live: live theater, live dance, live concerts. Being in the art of people in their craft. I love to be an observer of that. I love dancing myself. I went to EDC recently, I go to Burning Man. I do love to party and go out and be part of festivals. I do that sober. I’ve been sober for three years. Watching the sun rise bright-eyed after a night out dancing is one of my favorite things to do. I love eating fantastic food. I love to travel, obviously. I’m always somewhere. I’ve had my passport punched five times this year already. And I love talking. You put me in a room with some really good friends, we can just sit down and chitchat and make jokes and connect. Share and get vulnerable. Those are some of my favorite nights, me and four friends just bullsh*tting for hours and hours.
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