Nigamananda Paramahansa, yogi and Hindu leader, India, 1904. While many practice naked yoga at home and in anti gravity yoga reading, there are a growing number of participants in group classes. Naked yoga should be considered in relation to the dress code at yoga courses, varying from different times and yoga directions. Yoga has been practiced naked since ancient times.

A person in the renounced order of life may try to avoid even a dress to cover himself. If he wears anything at all, it should be only a loincloth, and when there is no necessity, a sannyāsī should not even accept a daṇḍa. A sannyāsī should avoid carrying anything but a daṇḍa and kamaṇḍalu. Alexander the Great reached India in the 4th century BC. Along with his army, he took Greek academics with him who later wrote memoirs about geography, people and customs they saw. One of Alexander’s companion was Onesicritus, quoted in Book 15, Sections 63-65 by Strabo, who describes yogins of India. Modern naked yoga is practiced in Germany and Switzerland through a movement called Lebensreform.

The movement had since the end of the 19th century highlighted yoga and nudity. In the early 20th century, the term gymnosophy was appropriated by several groups who practiced nudity, asceticism and meditation. Organized naked yoga is known to have existed since the mid eighties, mainly among naturists, particularly in Central Europe. 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. Another person famous for the promotion of naked yoga in the West is Aaron Star, owner of Hot Nude Yoga. He began his version of nude yoga in April 2001 becoming an instant «underground sensation» as quoted by Time Out New York.