An article by ANW bloggers RnR that investigates how simple and rewarding it can be to take part in naturism.
First Time Naturist Lesson.
By RnR
ANW has an ongoing "living" article about First Time Naturist Stories, where members share various illustrated memories accounts. RnR after taking part also wrote a larger article in the Blog library. This is a revised version of that post shared for public reading. This and other articles shares here intend to educate people about the joys and benefits of naturism and inspire them to join ANW and hopefully try naturism for themselves.
There is a lot of irrational fear when it comes to nudity, most of it driven by media, or a puritan social media, and as a result, a lot of people fear being seen undressed. We use the term irrational, because it is an unfounded fear, and what people fail to understand, is that actually, Nudity is the natural state of a human being.
I do not really remember my first naked experience around people that well, I grew up with a group of Rock and folk music loving people who attended many festivals, so camping and washing in streams was pretty much a day to day thing to us, it just happened like it was normal. By the time I was seventeen, I had stood in a few ice-cold streams naked with my friends and washed. For me, this was just the way of things, but there again, I was fresh out of school, and quite used to communal showers after gym, in an all-boys school. I think I somehow just felt it was the same for the girls my age, which is why my girlfriend at the time had no qualms wading in with me, even though there were other guys around.
I was a little bit naïve back then, and I was too busy chasing bands, and surrounded by people who all loved the music, and were as dedicated to it as I was, there again, we were more than a little wild back then, and that helped. As I grew older, I began to understand that choosing to live and be naked with others, was for many a lifestyle choice, and there were groups of people who came together to share their joy of it. My wife and myself have adopted the life, and our kids have been raised with it, so even though we do not actively advertise it, when asked, we talk happily about it, and strangely enough we get asked occasionally by others if they can join us.
In 2019 I got a request from my wife’s sister, and I would like to tell of how I helped her with someone and their first-time experience, which for me was quite an eye-opening experience. My wife’s younger sister had joined us many times here at home, and sunbathed naked a lot with Rin, so she was very aware of our naturism. She had told us how she wanted to try it, and after some convincing, because we were unsure her husband would agree, we finally gave in and she joined in with us, and would visit us regularly, and jump at the chance to be naked.
She is an artist, and in her mind, the human naked body was art, and so for her, it was a natural thing, and she took to it and loved it very quickly. She had a picture of herself on her phone of her sat in our living room, which she asked us to take one night, and during a conversation with a male friend, she showed it him, and it appeared this was something he had always wanted to do.
The problem for him, was he was bullied a lot in life for being a little overweight, he was early thirties, and it was still happening. He had low self esteem, and he had some very bad thoughts about himself. This obviously had a huge impact on his life, especially in the area of depression. People can be so cruel, and the crazy thing was, he was a big guy, and could be quite intimidating to look at, and yet deep down inside he was very insecure.
After badgering my wife’s sister for a while, one night she rang me, and asked if she could bring him up and would I help her to help him? It was getting quite late, and my wife had already gone to bed about ten minutes prior. So with my phone in my hand, I went up to see if she was still awake, she was, but was tired, although she told me to help him, but she just wanted to sleep.
I texted back to my wife’s sister, and told her to bring him up. I am going to call him Ralph (Not his real name) My wife’s sister texted back that they were grabbing a cab and were on their way, and I prepared, laying out clean towels on the furniture, thinking I would do my best to help him, and give him a little time to see how it went, and then they could all head back home.
I was not at all prepared for what was to come. They arrived with another friend, I will call him Jake, he was Ralph’s mate, now I will add at this point, I am not of fan of Jake, he is a bit of an attention seeker, and takes his clothes off for shock tactics at parties etc. To be quite honest, he was not someone I would put on our guest list. In the cab on route, my wife’s sister had been explaining how naturism worked, and he was starting to understand it all a lot better, but honesty, when Ralph walked in, I was really surprised. The guy was bright red, shaking from head to toe, and sweating like crazy. I looked at my wife’s sister and had to ask, if he could even do this, he was so terrified? I cannot deny, it shocked me a little, he was such a big tough looking guy, it was hard to imagine he feared anything. I actually really felt sorry for him, and I was not at all sure he would be able to through with this.
I sat him down and handed him a beer telling him to relax, his hands shook so much, I had to open it for him, I was not at all sure this was a good idea. My wife’s sister was ready to strip, and really eager, as I have said, she was a natural and had no fear at all. I cannot deny, she is tiny at just five feet, and he is over six foot, and yet he was the one shaking, and she was pulling at her clothes ready to go.
I told her to wait a little, whilst I helped calmed him down. I spent the next fifteen minutes talking him through what naturism was, and about body confidence, and understanding we are basically the same, just the proportions are different, and it was not sexual, it was about comfort. I smile as I think back, because my wife’s sister kept asking, “can we do it now?” I kept looking at her and asking her to be patient, as I explained to Ralph how for us it felt freeing and liberating, and through being able to be naked around friends, we had both felt our confidence soar, and it made a huge difference to us as people.
Ralph told me of the bullying, bad thoughts and feeling he had suffered over the years, and I assured him, that if he felt able to do this, (I still was not sure) then it may help him understand his body and feel a little better about it. He talked of how he had once mentioned it, and his friends had been disgusted, and called him pervert and deviant. I explained to him, not everyone gets it, their fear is too great to even consider trying it to find out. Sadly, it was a product of society, and the narrowed minded influence of the media. The moment arrived, and I felt I had done as much as I could to calm him down, so I then told him, that we were going to disrobe, but there was no pressure to join in. All he had to do was just relax, and if he wanted to join us, he was welcome to. I also added, he could leave his boxer shorts on, I really was not sure he could do this.
We all got up, and disrobed, my wife’s sister could not wait, and was undressed in seconds, and she relaxed on the floor on a towel, and gave him a talk about comfort and being at one with oneself. I stripped, grabbed myself a beer and sat back at his side, and continued to fill him in on what it was like, and the importance of eye contact. Jake was naked sat in a chair, although to be honest, I don’t think it was such a thrill for him, as he was not the odd one out. Ralph seeing us all, stood up and stripped to his shorts, and looked around the room, and then he grabbed them, looked at me and spoke. “It is now or never.” He took them off, and sat down really fast.
He looked so surprised, and I welcomed him to his first experience, and talked with him. I was keeping him distracted and doing everything I could to get him to relax, as I explained more about the comfort and simple joy of being free of clothing. For twenty minutes we all talked and normalised everything, and I watched as he slowly relaxed. After sometime, I smiled at him and simply asked. “Do you know that you are naked?”
He blinked at me. “What?”
I had to chuckle as he looked down, and then realised, the fact was that whilst talking to Ralph, and keeping him engaged, he passed through his fears and just fell into the relaxed state of good company, and it blew his mind. He commented he did not even feel naked, he was certainly a lot calmer than when he arrived. We talked for an hour and half, but it was late, and so they left, and I headed to bed.
I heard from him a week later, he messaged me on Facebook and told me, it had changed his life. He had talked to his wife about his experience, and she told him to be naked in the house, and so over the week at home, he relaxed even more, and started to feel very different about himself. I had explained to him, that if he could normalise being naked at home, and catch glimpses of himself, in reflections etc, eventually he would find he would become used to the sight of his naked body, and become more at ease with it, and thankfully, he took my advice, and his experience became a very positive one.
I hear from him occasionally, and it always ends up with him telling me how it has changed his life forever, and it is nice to hear that. He is so grateful, for him it truly was a life changing experience, and it is something I have often sat in thought about. Here on ANW we are so accepting of the lifestyle, as we are in it, but I think that if you sit back and look at the world, you can really start to see and understand why people have become so critical of each other.
Modern life is all about consumerism and how it looks to most of the masses. Social media is a prime example, so is celebrity culture and the media. I get tired of online media filled with so-called news articles of whichever celebrity is in vogue, or the latest bikini or shorts they wore at the beach last week. How many times have we seen an article about so and so, who posed on Instagram looking toned or tanned? It boggles my mind, how is this even news? It is no wonder two thirds of the world are ignorant to naturism, and have body confidence issues.
Advertisers are the worst, they target people’s insecurities with endless products, shaming with subtle insults into buying yet more, so people feel they fit in with what is a fake ideal, usually enhanced with photoshopped imagery. I feel sorry for women, they are bombarded with this drivel from dawn until dusk, although it is getting just as bad for young men today, and all for the sake of extra sales. No wonder the western hemisphere is filled with clinics, where people suffer body dysmorphia or have plastic surgery, when will it stop, it is insane?
For a large chunk of my life, I have worked as a counsellor, and have noted that fear of shame is a strange thing, and it has the strangest effects on us. I have grown weary of the line. “What will people say?” The simple truth is, with good support, it can be overcome, and is a doorway that opens into something very wonderful, and that certainly was the case for Ralph.
He wants to go naked camping, and we did talk about it, but the virus swept in and everything shut down. Maybe one day he will, I talk to him occasionally, and the benefits for him have been huge, although the saddest aspect of it all, is his circle of friends do not understand it, and would shame him even more if they found out. I suggested he find better more understanding friends.
There are a lot of mental health benefits to being naked socially, Doctor Keon West of Goldsmiths University of London, has done a lot of research on it, there is certainly a link between life satisfaction and happiness connected to it. As a counsellor, in the past I have recommended and encouraged people to walk around the house naked to come to terms with their bodies. I have seen for myself that it does have its merits, even if they do look at me like I am raging pervert when I first suggested it. If you are interested, there is a good article I have shared with others that explains some of it, copy and paste this link into your browser.
Ralph was an enlightening experience for me that made me really think, I had never encountered anyone so afraid before, as I have said, for me it felt like a natural progression from the school showers, to the river camping out with hippies and rockers on route to Glastonbury. I think I had really cool friends back then, I am not sure the youth of today with all the social stigma, would be as liberated?
Ralph is aware of ANW, but as yet, has not made in on here, I hope that one day he will. We would both love to follow his journey of understanding himself on here, as he met like minded people, and maybe one day he will, we shall see.
The important point here is, he listened to others, and in doing so, it shattered his self esteem and body confidence. There are a lot of people out there who would love to try naturism, but they allow others to fill their heads with negatives, most of which are simply not correct.
You have one body, and it is for life, and if you do not accept it as it is, then you are doomed to live unfulfilled. I take it you are reading this because you are curious, and deep down have a yearning to try it? Our advice as a couple who live naked and are raising our family to understand there is no shame in that, is ‘Just do it.’ You will find, you feel more alive than ever before. The reason for that, will be because you are living your life in your natural state, and finally, your whole body is back in balance.
I hope this has shone a little light on the wonder that is the ANW first time naturists stories page, because just reading the stories as I have on it, it really has made me believe even more in the lifestyle, and mental health benefits of naturism. It is a joy to read through the experience of others, and really understand how thrilling it is to be liberated enough, to simply accept ourselves, nothing could be a greater advert for body positivity.
We are all natural beings, and yet taught we are not by a society that is driven by money, it is time that stopped. We do not look at an animal and point, and shout, “Look a naked animal!” We take joy from seeing a living creature in its natural form.
You were born in your natural form, there is no shame in it, embrace it, and be happy.
RnR are bloggers for the site, A Naturist World (ANW) If you want to read more of their blogs, as we well as many other blogs and articles based on a naturist life, come along and join a community that is world wide, to anaturistworld.com, it is free to join.
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