Spiritual Nudity – a higher form of naturism

Model: Gregers | Photographer: D^A^O

As a naturist, I have come to appreciate different kinds of nudity. The basic kind is simply to be nude. I am nude when I am in the kitchen cooking dinner, I am nude when I sweep fallen leaves in the garden, I am nude when sitting with some friends watching a movie.

I like it. It is uncomplicated and immediately enjoyable.

But then there is also this other form of nudity. I call it spiritual nudity. This form of nudity is more than removing my clothes. It is a religious kind of experience that allows me to submit myself to nature and feel fully alive, awake and joyful.

This is not everyday stuff. But it is achievable by everyone with a bit of effort.

Spiritual nudity is a walk into the garden of God's beautiful natural creations. It is a bath in the life giving rays of the sun, drawing from my naked skin the strength and energy both physically and spiritually that I need in my everyday life.

For many people, a naked nature walk is the best way to experience this higher form of naturism. In Thailand, you must use your good sense and discretion in choosing a place where you feel comfortable and unlikely to disturb others. If possible, you should walk alone. Alternatively with other people observing silence.

After a few kilometers, your body and mind will start feeling an overwhelming sense of freedom. This state may culminate in the spiritual state of so-called "high possibility". This is when new ideas and thoughts are born spontaneously, followed by a subsequent feeling of warmth or joy in your heart. Your spirit goes in unison with your natural surroundings and returns to you with renewed energy.

At Barefeet, I do not have the luxury of kilometers of undisturbed forest trail. But I can enjoy a similar experience using the technique of a meditation walk which can easily be performed in a much smaller space of nature, like in your own garden.

Naked meditation walk

To perform a meditation walk, I start by selecting a time when there are no other guests or when the other guests are also willing to explore the spiritual side of nudity. Walking in meditation often looks strange to other people if they don't know what you are doing. You do not want to be distracted by the thought of how other people look at you.

If you cannot find a good place to perform a meditation walk naked outdoors, it is worth trying to walk naked indoors so you can at least enjoy the feeling of being in nothing but your own beautiful body.

At Barefeet, I advise that we start going to a corner where we are surrounded by green plants. The best time is in the morning or at dusk when nature is most beautiful and mysterious. Stand there and stabilize yourself. Relax your breathing. Relax your tongue. Feel the energy radiating from the plants onto your skin.

Touch the leaves gently. Close your eyes. Open instead your mind and feel how the subtle energy of the leaves brings you into communion with the spirit of nature.

With your eyes closed, let your awareness inspect all parts of your body. Start with the part of your body that is closest to the ground and work your way up. Begin with your feet and then move to your ankles, to your shins, your calves, your knees, your hips, your genitals, your tailbone, your spine, your stomach, your chest, your shoulders, your arms, your neck, and then lastly your jaw.

If you get stuck on the way, for instance at your genitals, just linger there until you are ready to move up. If you are a man and get an erection, let it strut. When it falls down, you are ready to move upwards. Being aware of your body does not involve any thinking. Feel the energy flow in the open air around your body unhindered by clothing.

Now, prepare yourself for walking. Your body is relaxed, your spine is straight, you have good posture. You can hold your hands in front of you as in prayer or let them hang loosely by your side..

Take the first step, stop to breathe in and breathe out. Repeat that a number of times. Walk slowly and take small steps. Remember that you are walking to connect to your body and mind, not to get a good workout.

Then start walking continuously for a longer time. Still slowly. When a physical object prevents you from walking forward, simply change your direction to whichever side feels most natural.

Walk for a long time. Walk beyond the self conscious feeling of doing a meditation walk. Notice how your feet feel touching the ground. Notice how your muscles contract as you take a step. What kind of sensations are you experiencing in each part of your body? Feel the energy flow and airflow around your naked body.

Focus on the walk, not on the destination. Focus on the moment, not the past or the future. If your mind wanders, let it. Watch those thoughts pass, and let your mind come back to the present, to your breath.

A meditation walk is a wonderful way to explore spiritual nudity. It opens your eyes to the beauty and harmony of your naked body. Spiritual nudity reconnects you to your natural state of human being, purges your mind and frees you of complexes, strengthens your willpower and determination to live properly, act properly and think properly.

Chakra balancing and
spiritual nudity

Another approach to spiritual nudity is to focus on the energy flow around our body. This energy is our aura and it is closely linked to our seven energy stations or chakras that are positioned from the base of our spine to the top of our head.

Strengthening your aura and balancing your chakras while in the nude will make your energy flow respond surprisingly quickly. Like the meditation walk it is relatively simple to start practicing. Try the following approach. Later, listen to yourself and develop your own way.

We start by standing still for a while, barefoot and naked in the open air facing the sun. Feel how the energy of the sun is spreading on your naked skin like warm oil flowing around you. Let the sun warm up your chakras, your aura, your nerve lanes under your skin across your body.

Engage your senses. Open your imagination. Visualize yourself as a tree. Your feet are firmly on the ground, your roots are deep and broad, giving you support in any kind of weather. Look around you but do not turn your head. Stretch your arms outward and upward, feeling the air.

You’re still a tree. Stretch your right hand towards the sun. Let the sun charge your palm with warm energy. Put your warm hand over your belly button and imagine the light and the heat from the sun warm you all the way through. Imagine your branches growing and your leaves soaking up the sun, giving you energy while at the same time providing shade to people, animals and smaller plants.

You are still a tree. Put your hands on your lower belly and sway your body gently as on a windy day, feeling your ‘roots’ anchor you in the ‘soil’. Imagine rain quenching your thirst, imagine birds landing on you and nesting on you, imagine people and animals walking by. Be happy with the life within you and around you.

Sit down. Place your hands over your heart, and imagine a beautiful flower blooming in your heart – starting with a tiny bud, all the way to its full and glorious bloom. Imagine the fragrance of this flower, and how people appreciate it. Offer them your beauty and fragrance, just for the joy of doing so.

Still sitting, place your fingers on your throat, and hum. Feel the vibration. Imagine yourself sitting on a mountaintop, singing at the top of your lungs, for the whole world to hear. Imagine everybody enjoying your special song.

Stand up and be a tree again. Imagine your favorite place where you would like to be ‘planted’ as a tree. Take in all of the sights, sounds, smells, etc. around you – the temperature, any living things moving around, sun, moon, stars, weather… look closely at the tiny things around you as well as looking as far as you can on the horizon.

Imagine a bright, warm light shining into your head. Imagine this light moving down through your body all the way to your feet and down into the earth. Give thanks for being alive and for all of the wonderful things in your life.

Spiritual nudity allows us to feel more acutely the relationship with the breeze, the wind, the skies, the light and dark, the ground beneath us, the warmth of the sun or flames, the touch of snowflakes or raindrops, the fullness of the natural world, and so encourages a richer, more genuinely felt interaction.

Being nude, you connect with everything around you – trees, rocks, moonlight, people, rain – they become part of you and you become part of them.

Model: Gregers | Photographer: D^A^O

Sources:
Carol Tuttle: Chakra Healing
Gertrud Hvidberg-Hansen, Gertrud Oelsner: The Spirit of Vitalism: Health, Beauty and Strength in Danish Art, 1890-1940
Margaret Grundstein: Naked in the Woods
Volkmar Elmauthaler: An Argument for Naturism
Emma Restall Orr: Living Druidry
www.druidry.org: Clothed with the Sky - A Spiritual Form of Naturism within Druidry

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Responses

  1. I also experience my nakedness spiritually, as described in this article. Only in the Dutch summers. I always do my exercises in the sauna at home. I am naked as much as possible, and meditate to Buddha.

  2. I like this a lot Gregers as it corresponds to my understanding and experience of Naturism in my own life. I just wish there was a place available for a nature walk in Thailand. In general . . .the further away from nature I am when naked, the less comfortable I am. At home OK. I am naked all the time at home but being naked indoors with others for what ever reason somehow gives things a new dimension that I find disturbing. This is my own take on Naturism and I know many naturists have a much more relaxed view of things.

  3. I like this a lot Gregers as it corresponds to my understanding and experience of Naturism in my own life. I just wish there was a place available for a nature walk in Thailand. In general . . .the further away from nature I am when naked, the less comfortable I am. At home OK. I am naked all the time at home but being naked indoors with others for what ever reason somehow gives things a new dimension that I find disturbing. I must share what was my worst Naturist experience. At the evening dinner at NATCON 2021, I kept asking myself WHY are we all naked? Then, when the naked dancing began . . . I had to leave the hall. For me Naturism demands Nature. This is my own take on Naturism and I know many naturists have a much more relaxed view of things.