International Young Naturists Organisation
Naturist Resources => Blogs, Videos, Articles about Naturism/Nudity => Topic started by: Danee on December 10, 2013, 01:42:15 pm
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If you’re a full-fledged naturist who’s happy to go naked most of the time it’s possible and physically comfortable to do so, congratulations. You probably won’t find much here that’s useful, except to share with people you know who are curious about nudity but aren’t so comfortable with it.
Otherwise, as we’ve already discussed, there will probably be certain boundaries on your personal comfort zone for being naked. You may not always know explicitly what they are, but you’ll know when you come up against them. The best way to deal with those borders is to experiment until discovering them, and then make a conscious effort to go beyond them, even if you experience a little hesitation and uncertainty. Once you do cross over and find that the other side is no big deal, you’ll be ready to tackle the next one that’s out there.
Just remember that little tune from The King and I:
Make believe you’re brave
And the trick will take you far
You may be as brave
As you make believe you are
You may be as brave
As you make believe you are
Note: If, for whatever reason, you don’t want most of your family and friends to know about your interest in naturism and social nudity, these suggestions probably won’t be very helpful to you. It’s usually possible just to find a naturist club or resort not too far away and inquire about visiting and joining. Then you can participate in naturism with only other club members, but it will probably be much less convenient. You still might want to look over these suggestions anyhow. Eventually you may feel prepared to spread the word to more people you know. That will help naturism itself grow and lead to more opportunities in the future.
The following suggestions are listed approximately in the order you may find yourself having to accept them as challenges.
Whenever possible, don’t wear shoes.
It’s a start to more completely reducing what you wear. Going barefoot is very pleasurable when you can’t be naked. Wearing flip-flops is almost as good. Not wearing ordinary shoes is acceptable almost everywhere (except maybe at work). Women often do this more naturally, but it may be unconventional enough for men to be an indication that one is comfortable with the extra exposure.
Always sleep naked.
Wearing anything while you’re asleep usually doesn’t make much sense. (Add another blanket if you get cold.) People you live with (but don’t sleep with) may see you naked occasionally, but generally not find that disturbing.
Deliberately wear only minimal clothing or none at all around your home as much as possible.
Unless people you live with object, of course. The more of the time you’re naked, the sooner it will seen completely normal to you. Cover up only minimally (at most) when answering the door. Your friends and acquaintances will quickly learn you prefer to be naked.
If you have young children and any other parent or guardian is OK with nudity, make it easy for them to adjust to your nudity at their own pace.
Pre-school children usually enjoy being naked themselves without any extra encouragement. Until they become teenagers children will generally tolerate your nudity without much question, unless they’ve already been conditioned against it. Try to explain nudity to children along with the other “facts of life” as soon as they are able to understand. Encourage any spontaneous experimentation with nudity at home that may occur, but don’t force it.
Practice some form of yoga or meditation naked.
Provided you find such things to be worth the effort, of course. There need be little expense except for time. Classes (very seldom clothing optional, however) are usually available in most places. Not only does being naked enhance practice of these disciplines, but it can probably be easily accepted by people you live with.
Consider reading the AANR/TNS series of articles on “Sharing Your Naturism”.
You can find the articles here. The material is much longer and more detailed that these tips, and a little more cautious too. For instance, it helps you decide whether you want others to even know of your interest in naturism, and it suggests many talking points that explain the benefits of naturism and offer ways to counter common objections to nudity that you may hear. But so far it doesn’t include many of the more “advanced” suggestions below.
Buy nude art, photography, and sculptures to display around your home.
Nude art is acceptable to most people who aren’t complete prudes. Reproductions of well-known works usually aren’t expensive. Having nude art around may provide conversational opportunities to discuss nudity.
Keep copies of books, periodicals, videos, and other naturist materials in accessible places around your home for visitors to see and peruse.
Like nude art, such things are conversation starters. You might even keep extra copies to lend to people who express an interest.
Write down and practice your “elevator pitch” about nudity and naturism.
An elevator pitch is a prepared and rehearsed summary of the topic you can repeat spontaneously from memory in just half a minute to a minute or two any time the subject comes up. You might use it in conversation with friends at a coffee shop (for instance) if anyone happens to mention the subject. It’s not necessary to go into more detail unless others present seem to be interested.
Make a list of the most interesting and significant specific experiences you’ve had while exploring nudity and naturism.
Once you have this list and can remember most of it, you’ll be prepared for longer conversations on the subject. Personal experiences are always more interesting and memorable to others than abstract general statements. You especially want to include things that might be humorous or even were somewhat embarrassing (at the time) – say, when you “forgot” to put something on when the pizza or UPS delivery guy came by. Also include anecdotes of any success you’ve had with persuading friends or family to try nudity. Talk about how that was successful.
Tell your friends and relatives you enjoy nudity and naturism.
If you’ve already taken the steps listed above, people you live with will know, and others you see frequently will probably know too. But don’t stop there – the more people who know of your interest and are not strongly opposed to nudity the better. They will then not be surprised if you happen to be naked in their presence, and may even suggest it to you and indicate they don’t mind if you’d like to get naked when you aren’t.
Talk about nudity and naturism with everyone who’s tolerant of nudity or at least willing to listen.
In the process of discussing nudity, you’ll think of many specific ways you find it pleasant and worthwhile – especially if you’ve already made the list just mentioned. While talking casually about nudity you’ll get over any lingering shame and embarrassment you still have about it. Surprisingly, it’s sometimes actually easier to be naked (in a spa, for instance) than to talk about how you like being naked, because in the latter case you are overtly advocating nudity.
Look for and acquire a few visual aids for explaining social nudity and naturism.
There are a lot of DVDs that deal with social nudity and naturism. AANR and The Naturist Society (in the U. S., and similar organizations in other countries) are good places to start. There is also similar stuff on YouTube. You can bring out these things when you have guests who seem especially curious and interested. Watch some of them, then discuss them with your guests.
Avoid using euphemisms for body parts that are exposed by nudity.
In any context where these body parts can be mentioned at all, never say “private parts”, “dangly bits”, “vajayjay”, or the like. Don’t hesitate to say “penis”, “testicles”, “vagina”, “vulva”, “breasts”, “nipples” or even more colloquial but explicit terms like “dick”, "cock", “balls”, “pussy”, “boobs”, etc. This helps overcome shame and embarrassment associated with those “naughty bits”.
If you haven’t yet been naked with certain friends or members of your extended family, invite them to your home sometime when it is clearly understood you plan to be naked most of the time.
There doesn’t need to be any suggestion that others will be naked, unless they really want to be, of course. There doesn’t need to be any other excuse than simply an occasion such as dinner or watching something on TV. You could say it’s just an experiment you want to try. This doesn’t have to be an occasion that you try to “sell” anyone else on the virtues of social nudity, though that might happen if there’s interest. Becoming comfortable as the only person in a group who’s naked can be a hurdle – but it may be the only option, and it can be the fastest way to make progress.
Repeat the preceding suggestion of inviting friends and relatives for a social occasion where you’ll be naked, but this time indicate you’d like to discuss it with them.
During the occasion you can talk about the experiences with nudity you’ve already made a list of, and perhaps offer to show and discuss appropriate naturist literature or videos you’ve acquired. You don’t need to suggest that others get naked too, unless they want to try it.
Plan parties and social events at your home (or at homes of appropriate friends) where clothing is specifically optional.
Gradually expand the extent of nudity that may occur, but make it clear that only guests who want to try partial or full nudity need to do so. The party could be a casual one for meals, watching TV, or playing poker (strip poker, perhaps?). But other possibilities could naturally include use of a pool or spa (if you have one), costume parties, “birthday suit” parties on someone’s birthday, and so forth.
Learn about any and all private or public facilities that allow nudity and are within a convenient distance to visit, then use them.
There are more such places in a few states like Florida and California where the climate and social attitudes are favorable, but for most of the U. S. population such opportunities exist close enough for weekend trips.
Invite family, friends, and acquaintances who are willing to accompany you to naturist places such as nude beaches or nudist resorts, even if they might not choose to get naked themselves.
Also invite friends to come along for hiking or camping trips where you’ll have occasions for being naked.
Install and use a personal spa.
Small spas are not too expensive to buy or operate, and if you have a private place to put them, they’re always available to make a good excuse for being naked, especially when nude-tolerant people are around.
If you have a private swimming pool, always use it naked.
Just about everyone will understand, and people who wouldn’t otherwise be tolerant of nudity can usually make an exception in this case. It’s your pool after all.
OK, that’s it. Perhaps you might make a “going naked bucket list” of all these suggestions and check each one off as you accomplish it. Or use it as a New Year’s resolution list – that you can start to work on any time.
from: http://naturistphilosopher.wordpress.com/2013/12/08/tips-for-expanding-your-naked-comfort-zone/comment-page-1/#comment-25 (http://naturistphilosopher.wordpress.com/2013/12/08/tips-for-expanding-your-naked-comfort-zone/comment-page-1/#comment-25)
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:3145
Brilliant
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Funny that I've discovered some of these on my own during my meandering existence. Great list to consolidate!
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You lost me at "Elevator Pitch".
Naturism, for me, is not evangelical. I don't feel the emotion to recruit, compel, convert or corrupt people to a naturist lifestyle and I am comfortable in my life. Without a 12 point plan most of my friends and family now join me naked at home or at the beach because they see it makes me happy and it has no social consequence to join in.
Do I want them to go home and then adopt a naturist lifestyle? I don't care - they can do whatever they enjoy doing and how they do it.
As for having magazines and DVDs around the house as instant props to my lifestyle, spare me - most of the articles in the magazines are puerile trash and the DVDs are just soft porn in a different marketing channel.
The best advertisement for naturist living is the smile on my face.
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You lost me at "Elevator Pitch".
Naturism, for me, is not evangelical. I don't feel the emotion to recruit, compel, convert or corrupt people to a naturist lifestyle and I am comfortable in my life. Without a 12 point plan most of my friends and family now join me naked at home or at the beach because they see it makes me happy and it has no social consequence to join in.
Do I want them to go home and then adopt a naturist lifestyle? I don't care - they can do whatever they enjoy doing and how they do it.
As for having magazines and DVDs around the house as instant props to my lifestyle, spare me - most of the articles in the magazines are puerile trash and the DVDs are just soft porn in a different marketing channel.
The best advertisement for naturist living is the smile on my face.
I understand where you are coming from, and agree with the dvd part. But, some magazines are quality reading and I ONLY the same as leaving other magazines that interest you around the house.
Regards recruitment, I don't see it as that per se, I see it as wanting to share an interest with friends and family. NFL is not big in Ireland, I convinced some friends to watch it with me as I hated watching it alone. I now have friends to share this with.
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Birthday suit birthday party... I wish! :/
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:3145 :3145 great tips for first timers and helpful info as usual Danee.
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always sleep naked is great idea, helps you feel comfortable :65
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Very nice! I :e4444 Thanks for sharing! :azn:
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Thanks for all of the great tips!
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These are really useful tips, Danee! I'm going to try a few of them soon
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You lost me at "Elevator Pitch".
Naturism, for me, is not evangelical. I don't feel the emotion to recruit, compel, convert or corrupt people to a naturist lifestyle and I am comfortable in my life. Without a 12 point plan most of my friends and family now join me naked at home or at the beach because they see it makes me happy and it has no social consequence to join in.
Do I want them to go home and then adopt a naturist lifestyle? I don't care - they can do whatever they enjoy doing and how they do it.
As for having magazines and DVDs around the house as instant props to my lifestyle, spare me - most of the articles in the magazines are puerile trash and the DVDs are just soft porn in a different marketing channel.
The best advertisement for naturist living is the smile on my face.
This is refreshing.
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You lost me at "Elevator Pitch".
Naturism, for me, is not evangelical. I don't feel the emotion to recruit, compel, convert or corrupt people to a naturist lifestyle and I am comfortable in my life. Without a 12 point plan most of my friends and family now join me naked at home or at the beach because they see it makes me happy and it has no social consequence to join in.
Do I want them to go home and then adopt a naturist lifestyle? I don't care - they can do whatever they enjoy doing and how they do it.
As for having magazines and DVDs around the house as instant props to my lifestyle, spare me - most of the articles in the magazines are puerile trash and the DVDs are just soft porn in a different marketing channel.
The best advertisement for naturist living is the smile on my face.
Totally agree, but keep in mind, it was a blog post. Perhaps post your comments if possible on the blog?
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Great post! These tpoics make for great discussions. :campfire:
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Don't know if I agree with all of these but I do agree with the previous post, it does make for great discussion.
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Great suggestions, first times you feel strange, but it's just a matter of getting used
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Whenever possible, don’t wear shoes.
It’s a start to more completely reducing what you wear. Going barefoot is very pleasurable when you can’t be naked. Wearing flip-flops is almost as good. Not wearing ordinary shoes is acceptable almost everywhere (except maybe at work). Women often do this more naturally, but it may be unconventional enough for men to be an indication that one is comfortable with the extra exposure.
This is something I learned within the last year!
I was a member of a gym that had gender-separate bathing facilities about a year ago. This meant separate locker room, showers, sauna and steam room. I had taken my shower sandals out of my gym bag at home for whatever reason and completely forgot to put them back in there. I was used to walking around from the shower to the sauna to the steam room with just my towel in my hand and my sandals on my feet. Everyone else was doing it, so I was very comfortable. I hate wearing shoes though!
On the day that I forgot my sandals, I was just going to skip the whole scene because the thought of walking on the floor kinda grossed me out :undecided: I decided to actually carry through with my ritual (I went on very stressful days and just meditated in the steam room) and the vibe that I carried was completely different from that of when I was wearing sandals. I felt a sense of "just me." I guess that I felt as if the sandals were keeping me tethered to the idea of having clothing. It was such a freeing experience.
I do tend to wear sandals at the gym showers (fear or germs or stepping in slime) and when I go to the beach (scared of stepping on broken bottles). Other than when necessary, the shoes are gone. My boyfriend usually takes off his shoes when we go to a restaurant and will sit with his legs folded in the seat, which I'm not a big fan of for sanitary reasons.
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All good tips
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But vajayjay is so much fun to say. XD
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Mmm these are great tips here. Thanks for sharing!
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Really good tips, thank you very much. I will definitely look to give them a go.
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Agree, I'll try
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Good tips but it's easier said then done. I still need the courage to actually tell my friends, let alone strip in front of them.
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I think most people have no way of implementing it anyway. This may work for some people, but not for me xD
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Good tips but it's easier said then done. I still need the courage to actually tell my friends, let alone strip in front of them.
Stripping in front of friends can indeed be embarrassing. Undressing in your bedroom en then just walk in to the room naked is a lot easier, I can assure you!
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I'm not really sure she meant the act of stripping down. It doesn't matter if you undress in front of your friends or walk naked into them on purpose, either way it's a big risk of ending your friendship forever, with most people.
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Looking at my previous comment it indeed looks like I mean walking in by surprise. :thinking:
That’s not at all what I meant, always inform them in advance and await their response!
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Not sure that was the concern Spongeman was expressing in his comment, or if it was just about the fact that it does not alleviate all concerns people might have about sharing their nudity with people they mainly know clothed.
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I'm not really sure she meant the act of stripping down. It doesn't matter if you undress in front of your friends or walk naked into them on purpose, either way it's a big risk of ending your friendship forever, with most people.
if people end a friendship over something like that they were never friends in the first place
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I'm not really sure she meant the act of stripping down. It doesn't matter if you undress in front of your friends or walk naked into them on purpose, either way it's a big risk of ending your friendship forever, with most people.
if people end a friendship over something like that they were never friends in the first place
True that!
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I'm not really sure she meant the act of stripping down. It doesn't matter if you undress in front of your friends or walk naked into them on purpose, either way it's a big risk of ending your friendship forever, with most people.
if people end a friendship over something like that they were never friends in the first place
So I guess I've never had a friend?
No, I strongly disagree with your statement. In a society where nudity is a sexualized taboo, people might get all sorts of ideas and never want to talk to you again. For example, it doesn't matter how good friends you are, if your friend gets the idea that you're a sexual predator, you're no longer friends. You never know what might get in people's heads if you do something as unexpected as purposefully showing yourself naked without a warning. Incidental nudity such as quickly changing clothes is fine, you can always appologize if it causes a negative reaction, and your intention is very clear (to change clothes). But if you leave your clothes in another room and emerge naked, your intention is not clear at all and imagination fills the gaps.
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I'm not really sure she meant the act of stripping down. It doesn't matter if you undress in front of your friends or walk naked into them on purpose, either way it's a big risk of ending your friendship forever, with most people.
if people end a friendship over something like that they were never friends in the first place
So I guess I've never had a friend?
No, I strongly disagree with your statement. In a society where nudity is a sexualized taboo, people might get all sorts of ideas and never want to talk to you again. For example, it doesn't matter how good friends you are, if your friend gets the idea that you're a sexual predator, you're no longer friends. You never know what might get in people's heads if you do something as unexpected as purposefully showing yourself naked without a warning. Incidental nudity such as quickly changing clothes is fine, you can always appologize if it causes a negative reaction, and your intention is very clear (to change clothes). But if you leave your clothes in another room and emerge naked, your intention is not clear at all and imagination fills the gaps.
If you have a textile friend and you are seriously considering getting nude in front of them outside of a nude venue, chances are you have already talked about nudity beforehand, they know your motivation and you know their attitude.
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I'm not really sure she meant the act of stripping down. It doesn't matter if you undress in front of your friends or walk naked into them on purpose, either way it's a big risk of ending your friendship forever, with most people.
if people end a friendship over something like that they were never friends in the first place
So I guess I've never had a friend?
No, I strongly disagree with your statement. In a society where nudity is a sexualized taboo, people might get all sorts of ideas and never want to talk to you again. For example, it doesn't matter how good friends you are, if your friend gets the idea that you're a sexual predator, you're no longer friends. You never know what might get in people's heads if you do something as unexpected as purposefully showing yourself naked without a warning. Incidental nudity such as quickly changing clothes is fine, you can always appologize if it causes a negative reaction, and your intention is very clear (to change clothes). But if you leave your clothes in another room and emerge naked, your intention is not clear at all and imagination fills the gaps.
If you have a textile friend and you are seriously considering getting nude in front of them outside of a nude venue, chances are you have already talked about nudity beforehand, they know your motivation and you know their attitude.
Fair enough. I guess I misread what @timnudist meant by "something like that". To clarify my point: you have to know your friend's attitude towards nudity beforehand. But if their attitude is such that they would panic for seeing a naked body, it doesn't mean they're not a real friend. It just means they're not comfortable with nudity, that's all.