Longer than anticipated - perhaps therapeutic writing it down! ;D
My progression to being more comfortable naked has been a steady climb to where I am now at 27. Or should I say, regression... I remember being perfectly comfortable as a toddler, of course, on the beach or in the back garden, and confused and embarrassed when I started having to cover up and conform.
I'm sure that desire to show my full self and inquisitiveness about "what if I wasn't clothed" never left. I've always liked to gently challenge authority, and so it was that the perfectly innocent game of "show me yours / show you mine" as a schoolboy felt so fun, so reassuring (they are the same) but so "wrong".
Body consciousness set in from about age 10, to the point that I waited until the last day of a holiday in France to try the swimming pool in baggy shorts, having managed to finally remove the t-shirt superglued to my only slightly flabby torso! I was never the biggest lad by some way, but perhaps that made me more of a target for snide comments.
With the freedom of later school and sixth form college, I took to cycling as a way to feel free from everything and improve my physique. Starting in tracksuit bottoms, then loose shorts, and gradually acquiring more "gear", it felt a really big deal to wear tight lycra for the first time. Cycling down a quiet off-road trail midweek, I remember my heart jumping seeing someone coming towards me and was convinced they were staring only at the shorts, that they found them weird or unsightly on me!
Trying to vary the exercise, around age 23 I finally took the plunge and visited the local swimming pool, having not stripped down and swam for over 10 years. Standing in an alcove of the open changing rooms, I remember glancing at the bloke behind casually drying off - a sudden wave of normality hit my brain. I had to wait until he left to pull down my jeans and change into (baggy) shorts, but suddenly I felt a new ownership of my body: as if I was the only one who needed to be concerned about it and that at this age, at last, no one cared anyway.
Naturism had not escaped my attention through all this, and in some ways felt like an idea simply waiting for its time. Perhaps I was inspired by pictures seen online of "secret naturists" in the British landscape (maybe some of you!), or perhaps I was simply impatient, but one mild February day I suddenly had to try it.
Cycling down my normal trail, I stopped at a large area of woodland with a clearing criss-crossed by rarely used footpaths. Pushing my bike towards the centre gave me a good idea that I was likely the only person there this weekday afternoon. Bike hidden behind a bush, I walked on further looking - and looking again - all around. The late winter landscape was barren with good visibility through the trees. Stopping at a good spot, I dropped my bag and unzipped my top. Keeping my boots on, the last thing to lose were the black lycra shorts. Hobbling on one leg, they finally stretched off and a cool breeze immediately struck my body.
I kept a pair of loose shorts in a side pocket of my rucksack and immediately began walking, off the pathway into the denser woods. That feeling, of feeling so very bare but so very normal for the first time, never leaves you. The freedom of movement was astounding, the comfort (especially in cool temperatures) was surprising. Yet because it didn't feel "wrong" I almost didn't feel naked until I looked at myself. Looking down at my bare body, with this feeling of normality, was like rewriting my brain.
Striding over thorns and snapping branches underfoot, I remember looking down at the crisp daylight hitting my pale skin and thinking simply... this is absolutely brilliant.
Good story - & then to follow in the footsteps of Andy P - very brave I think. There are easier ways to start in naturism you know!
I really should have been born on a tropical island
Welcome.
Thanks for sharing your story, so far, and can I commend you on your excellent writing style.
Cheers.
Paul
Welcome to NC
I'm so pleased that you have grown in confidence to the point that you are comfortable enough in your own skin to join this group.
Thanks for sharing your story of acceptance; especially as it highlights how important it is that we are accepting of our own bodies and not that it is just about other being accepting of our naturist lifestyle.
You are not alone in enjoying a nude ramble or bike ride!
Everything is better nude 😉
Good Morning All,
Thank you for sharing your story, i thoroughly enjoyed the read. Very different from our own climb to nudity but somewhat just as important and special to the individual.
Ours was at first undressing at home, after all our 3 children had fled the nest completely in 2010. Then finding a naturist caravan holiday, we spent one week there, only getting dressed to top up on food supplies. It was during this week break, as the weather was mixed, i had taken my laptop with me, and was surfing the internet for Naturist UK Beaches, holidays and the like, and i stumbled across the ad for The Sociable Bares to which we are now heavily involved, and are very passionate about. We have made such fantastic Naturist friends through this group, that we wouldnt have done just from holidaying or even attending naturist swim sessions. We have holidayed with other couples from this group and never looked back. We say all the time, which i am sure I am not alone here, why didnt we do it sooner!!! Me personally have my thoughts and answers, 'Timing'.
When my youngest daughter came home to live in January 2014, through personal circumstances, we decided to tell her straight out, that we were Naturist, and should we have friends over whom are also Naturist, she could either stay in her room or join us.
Much to mine and her dad's joy, she joined in, without a moment's hesitation, slow at first with her dressing gown at bay. Now Charlotte fully partakes in our social events and is at present joining YBN along with her boyfriend whom had his first experience only a few weeks' ago, and was amazingly overwhelmed by how comfortable he felt.
So for us The Timing of our Naturist Journey was perfect, even if it was only 4+ years ago.
Happy Nakedness to you all xx
Denise 🙂
Live Today as if it were your last, as Tomorrow is promised to nobody <3
Thanks all for your nice words!
I ended up making the most of that first summer in 2012 with several more woodland wanders and walks up high, often taking advantage of how deserted our planet can be at 5am. This continued again for the past two years, even getting the then relatively new boyfriend to join in once walking through the woods. Hopefully I'll share some stories and photos here in time.
Now I'm hoping to increase the frequency a little and make my first move into something social - perhaps the nearest swim or Waterworld to begin with, if I'm brave enough - the social aspect of meeting lots of new people makes me more nervous than the nudity now. My partner is keen for a trip to Morfa too, I can't wait. ;D
Slowly, slowly catchy monkey... Great that your partner is warming to the idea 💡 Morfa is a great introduction... Lot's of space, fantastic views and friendly naturists to chat with. Plenty of posts on NC about places to stay. Enjoy 😀
Everything is better nude 😉
I applaud each of you.
I have not yet reached the stage that you each have willingly embraced.
I have walked into my enclosed rear garden several times during last summer - I wasn't sure whether what I felt was exhilaration, fear, or the worry that someone would see me doing something outrageously 'non-ordinary'. 🙂
I remember that part of me wanted to remain in the garden (with a devil-may-care attitude) and part of me wanted to rush back inside.
I compromised by strolling indoors in an apparently relaxed and nonchalant manner.
My heart was beating like a hammer by the time I was safely indoors again.
Hence my joining NC, and 2015 being the time when I find out if I really do want to become part of the naturist community. ;D
Too old to have regrets, but still young enough to make mistakes