TORONTO - All it took was a pair of exposed breasts in public to set a milestone for Canadian women.
Gwen Jacob was 19 when she arrested in Guelph for indecent exposure in 1991. She and a fellow university student noticed a group of guys naked from the waist up playing sports in the blistering sun and decided to take off her top after musing about the inequality of it all.
She was charged and fined $75.
Five years later, the Ontario Court of Appeal overturned the conviction and gave her back the money.
On July 19 this year, Jacob’s fight officially celebrates its 20th anniversary.
“With my hands shaking furiously, I took my shirt off and jammed it down the back of my shorts and I can’t tell you the freedom that entailed in that moment,” Jacob, now in her late 30s, said during a recent interview with Bare Oaks Family Naturist Park in Sharon...
CONTINUE READING
SOURCE: Toronto Sun
Showing posts with label Women. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Women. Show all posts
Women Not Exercising Their Topless Rights
TORONTO - More women are interested in being topless on the street – but actually going through with it is another story, according to the Topfree Equal Rights Association (TERA).
Since Gwen Jacob’s appeal to overturn a conviction of being bare-breasted in public, TERA has been receiving more questions about the legalities of going topless. Some people may not know that, in Ontario and most likely across Canada, because of the ruling, it is legal to publicly expose breasts...
CONTINUE READING
SOURCE: Toronto Sun
Since Gwen Jacob’s appeal to overturn a conviction of being bare-breasted in public, TERA has been receiving more questions about the legalities of going topless. Some people may not know that, in Ontario and most likely across Canada, because of the ruling, it is legal to publicly expose breasts...
CONTINUE READING
SOURCE: Toronto Sun
Danielle Lloyd does a 'Demi' as she shows off her bump in nude photo shoot...
Many expectant women in their final trimester can be forgiven for feeling tired and weary.
But pregnant model Danielle Lloyd is feeling so confident about her body, she has peeled off for a nude photoshoot in the style of Demi Moore.
Taking inspiration from the Hollywood star's iconic naked shoot for Vanity Fair magazine in 1991, the 27-year-old brunette poses in nothing but her make-up and jewellery in the new issue of Closer...
CONTINUE READING
SOURCE: Mail Online
Parallels in Censorship
By Cathryn Jiggens, Tantra practitioner
I am a proud new member of British Naturism! And here is my story of why. Until fairly recently I hadn’t thought of British Naturism as a cause that might be relevant to me, as something I might actively vote through membership to support. I have, though, quite naturally and spontaneously for many years enjoyed the liberating feeling of being naked in nature, mainly during my many years of travel abroad. The desire to actively support BN as a cause has come about through my own personal experiences of increasingly prohibitive and censorious attitudes to the body, and the extent to which I now see this infringing upon my personal choices. BN information about censorship and briefing papers such as “The Health and Wellbeing of Young People” (see here) on the BN website really spoke to my own experiences, and gave me a feeling of being aligned with the aims of the group.
A six-month spell living in Berlin in 2007 really sealed it for me as a naturist. Entering the sauna in my local health club I encountered a naked man. Assuming it must be ‘men's day’ I promptly left for a swim instead. Only on the third occasion of this happening did I realise it was quite normal to be naked in a mixed-sex sauna in Germany! I happily settled into this new paradigm, so different from the body self-consciousness of my Catholic school upbringing. After all, it seems ridiculous to cover opening and detoxifying sweat glands with synthetic, chemical-based fabrics. Also, walking in forests such as the Grunewald I really enjoyed the sight of whole naturist families – parents and young children – happily hiking along. This expression of naturism particularly touched me, speaking as it did of a loving ease, naturalness and innocence of being – so striking by its absence in the world we have in general created.
Leaving Berlin, I settled in London and was hit by the contrasting attitudes to nudity. At the London Fields Lido and Hampstead pools I have longed to strip off and plunge refreshingly naked into the water as I did so often in Berlin and elsewhere. I spent some time looking on the Internet for a naturist area but apart from the men's area at Hampstead was unable to find anything obvious or designated where I could turn up alone and feel safe to strip off. For reasons of both health (vitamin D intake) and indeed civil liberty, I have felt somewhat aggrieved at this infringement upon my right to choose to be naked. Especially as I, like so many Londoners, have no access to a garden, where I might at the very least exercise this right in private. Even if I did have this private facility though, I feel that what is being discussed here is nothing less than a national public health issue. To cultivate collective health and wellbeing – physically, spiritually and mentally – there is I believe a pressing need in the UK to create an intelligent and considered public sphere for the expression, experience of and dialogue about, the naked human form.
Parallel to my journey into naturism I have for many years been studying and practising Tantra. Tantra is an ancient spiritual discipline no different in its origins to any yoga, Buddhist or meditation class you might find in your local community centre. Because various forms of Tantra incorporate sexual practices though, it is subject to much misunderstanding and misrepresentation. There are many different kinds of Tantra and many different ways to practise it. A genuine Tantra practice is a discipline that involves regular yoga and meditation-style practices, enhancing our capacity to feel aliveness, and cultivating an approach to life rooted in consciousness. Consciousness means that we see life more deeply: we understand ourselves to not be separate from or different to that which surrounds us, and so act with greater integrity towards our fellow beings and the world in general. I have studied mainly neo-Tantra – an evolvement of original Tantra teachings to forms suitable for the western practitioner. These teachings generally place an emphasis on Red Tantra, which includes the cultivation of sexual energy within the context of meditation and breathing practices that increase consciousness.
Put in simple terms, in the West we have been taught for generations that heaven is above us, and hell is down below. For salvation and all that is good, look up; for all that is dirty, sinful and shameful, look down. As pointed out in the BN paper Health and Wellbeing of Young people this leads to shaming euphemisms such as ‘naughty bits’. How sad that this should be the way in which so many conceive of the generator of new life, our sex and reproductive organs. An open approach to sexuality and the body is taboo to varying degrees in much of the West, and particularly so in the collective psyche and attitudes of the UK. It is interesting however to note that the original Polynesian and South Pacific origin of the word ‘tabu’ actually refers to that which is sacred: the application of a taboo actually designating that which is holy. However, it is how we choose to exercise a taboo that has massively varying consequences.
Because something is designated sacred and holy, do we give it a special and thoughtful place in our collective consciousness? Or do we seek to banish, prohibit and outlaw that which is taboo from the public realm? Our society and lawful structures seem to labour under a collective misapprehension of how to approach the taboo. Instead of creating a sacred space for our life force as expressed through the amazing wonder that is our body and sexuality, the force of our law seeks instead to banish that which is most precious from the public realm. The consequences of this are well stated in the BN paper cited above when it states:
“There are thousands of censors, official and unofficial, but there is absolutely nobody with responsibility for combating harmful censorship. Censorship mainly serves to restrict the content of the mainstream media but it does little to restrict the availability of pornography, poor role models or erroneous information.”
The practices of neo-Tantra have evolved in ways that address the circumstances and the collective attitudes towards the body and sexuality prevalent in the West. Tantra is not about sex. It is about how we awaken the energy and aliveness of our spirit, the joyfulness of our being. How we drop into being completely our natural selves without censorship, and without falling into automatic and unquestioned patterns of behaviour that may no longer serve us. And most of all, Tantra is about how to do this fully with consciousness and awareness: in integrity within the context of our relationships with ourselves, our families, fellow beings and the rest of the world.
The experience of ‘energy’ is central to an understanding of Tantra. You may be familiar with concepts of energy through having seen diagrams of the energy centres known as the chakra system, or perhaps you have experienced acupuncture, tai chi or chi gung which all work with the energy body. This may all seem a bit esoteric (or potty!) if they are concepts you are not familiar with…
But the expansion of energy is something that naturists experience every day!!!
In fact from my perspective as a Tantra practitioner, it seems clear that the experience of an expanded energy body is fundamental to the benefits that naturists receive from the experience. A seasoned naturist said to me something like "I can't say what it is about naturism I love. But I just feel so alive, so good about it, I don't know why - but I just do". Tantra and its teachings about energy can help us to understand why this is so. All feelings such as meanness, separation and depression have a tendency to express themselves as a contraction of the energy body. Our energy body quite literally shrinks away from the world, contracting to hide in a safe place deep in the core of our body where no one else can reach it. When we feel open and loving on the other hand, our energy body tends to expand outwards to reach and meet other people. Imagine an open and loving person that you know and think how ‘big’ they feel when they enter the room. How their presence and warmth often announces itself even before we shake their hands. This is the expanded energy body in action! Through our energy body love reaches outwards to meet the other, fear on the other hand contracts energy deep within and away from the other.
Through the act of taking our clothes off, and interacting communally in this way, we tend to stimulate an opening of the energy body. Where collectively we contract and hide away behind clothes, protecting ourselves from what may seem a fearful and chaotic world, the fact of coming together openly in our nakedness tends to have the opposite effect. It encourages the energy body to expand and to open. Stimulated by the sun, fresh air and especially contact with nature and each other, our energy body is encouraged to come out of hiding and to fully meet the world. So a naturist meeting between people can feel much more open, alive and positive than the alternative! And as naturists will know, this is not about sex as some ‘textiles' will perceive naturism to be. It is simply about feeling more alive and connected with the wholeness of our being. You don't have to believe what I am saying about energy, Tantra is not a religion and does not ask for belief. It is an experiential path that asks you simply to notice and observe your experiences, and to draw your own conclusions.
I now work with people offering experiential Tantra work. Most of the one-to-one work that I offer is conducted nude. Because of the taboos of our society, the area where people have contracted most through guilt and shame is generally around the sex centre. My work deliberately includes sexuality in the context of a healing, learning, pleasurable and often transformative experience. The techniques that I draw on incorporate tantric practices utilising breath, movement, sound, meditation and touch. I am also interested in and teach how our capacity to be creative and to play contributes to our overall sense of health and wellbeing. People who come to me may feel that something in their aliveness, naturalness and capacity to feel 'whole' has been blocked. I support them on a creative journey of discovery to move beyond their current conditioning and experience.
Tantra shows us our sexuality not as something isolated and separate, but as a natural and integrated part of a healthy whole. It is probably easiest to understand if you think of receiving a regular massage, during which the whole of our body is treated to healing and attention with the exception of one or three triangular bits depending if you are male or female! There are many studies that show how touch, contact and the feeling of being seen and appreciated are essential to our general health and wellbeing. Yet many people grow up with their whole being appreciated and validated, with the notable exception and exclusion of their sexuality. Mirrors for young persons, in particular when learning about their sexuality, will often come - if at all - in distorted forms through pornography or playground rumour. Using the tools of Tantra, I work with adults of all ages and genders to help them address and move past the consequences of these unhealthy, yet shockingly prevalent attitudes to sex and the body in society.
A final note on censorship - I used to freely advertise my work within the context of health and holistic therapeutic listings through a few popular free sites on the Internet. Recently and without warning, myself and other Tantra practitioners have found their adverts being removed. The only place I can now promote my work on these same sites (if at all), is in sections reserved for prostitutes. It is true that much of what masquerades as Tantra on the Internet is little more than a euphemism for sex services. These misrepresentations are a distortion in the absence of widespread knowledge or understanding about Tantra, set within the context of societal wide prohibitive attitudes to the body and sexuality. These distortions have absolutely nothing to do with Tantra as an authentic path of disciplined learning and growth.
Similarly, the naked body in itself is not about sex, it is simply the naked body in all its natural and wonderful beauty! But somewhere between pornography and 'page 3', the naked body and sex as portrayed in the public sphere has largely become corrupted and corrupting. It is against this backdrop that interests such as Tantra and naturism - which seek to be either body- or sex- (in the case of Tantra) positive - become tainted with suspicion and fear. This has nothing to do with naturism or Tantra at all, and has everything to do with the fears and prejudices of a society that has collectively forgotten how to simply honour and be a person naturally and at ease in the body.
Thus I find myself signing up to the BN cause as I find so many parallels between BN values and that which I promote through my Tantra practice. In fact the potential for body-positive experiences through both Tantra and naturism are so numerous that a cross-fertilisation of ideas, discussion, participation and membership between the two communities seems to me to be a very fertile endeavour. Because naturism has been so misrepresented in various ways in the UK, it has taken me some time to really get to the truth of it. I hope that fellow members of BN will apply the same consideration and take time to understand the real truth of Tantra.
I will be happy to answer questions anyone may have in the BN forums! And I look forward to my participation in BN, particularly the proposed London naturist swim - that gets my vote for sure, and I'm sure many people from the Tantra community will be eager to come along with me!
Visit my new website at www.tantra4tigers.com.
I am a proud new member of British Naturism! And here is my story of why. Until fairly recently I hadn’t thought of British Naturism as a cause that might be relevant to me, as something I might actively vote through membership to support. I have, though, quite naturally and spontaneously for many years enjoyed the liberating feeling of being naked in nature, mainly during my many years of travel abroad. The desire to actively support BN as a cause has come about through my own personal experiences of increasingly prohibitive and censorious attitudes to the body, and the extent to which I now see this infringing upon my personal choices. BN information about censorship and briefing papers such as “The Health and Wellbeing of Young People” (see here) on the BN website really spoke to my own experiences, and gave me a feeling of being aligned with the aims of the group.
A six-month spell living in Berlin in 2007 really sealed it for me as a naturist. Entering the sauna in my local health club I encountered a naked man. Assuming it must be ‘men's day’ I promptly left for a swim instead. Only on the third occasion of this happening did I realise it was quite normal to be naked in a mixed-sex sauna in Germany! I happily settled into this new paradigm, so different from the body self-consciousness of my Catholic school upbringing. After all, it seems ridiculous to cover opening and detoxifying sweat glands with synthetic, chemical-based fabrics. Also, walking in forests such as the Grunewald I really enjoyed the sight of whole naturist families – parents and young children – happily hiking along. This expression of naturism particularly touched me, speaking as it did of a loving ease, naturalness and innocence of being – so striking by its absence in the world we have in general created.
Leaving Berlin, I settled in London and was hit by the contrasting attitudes to nudity. At the London Fields Lido and Hampstead pools I have longed to strip off and plunge refreshingly naked into the water as I did so often in Berlin and elsewhere. I spent some time looking on the Internet for a naturist area but apart from the men's area at Hampstead was unable to find anything obvious or designated where I could turn up alone and feel safe to strip off. For reasons of both health (vitamin D intake) and indeed civil liberty, I have felt somewhat aggrieved at this infringement upon my right to choose to be naked. Especially as I, like so many Londoners, have no access to a garden, where I might at the very least exercise this right in private. Even if I did have this private facility though, I feel that what is being discussed here is nothing less than a national public health issue. To cultivate collective health and wellbeing – physically, spiritually and mentally – there is I believe a pressing need in the UK to create an intelligent and considered public sphere for the expression, experience of and dialogue about, the naked human form.
Parallel to my journey into naturism I have for many years been studying and practising Tantra. Tantra is an ancient spiritual discipline no different in its origins to any yoga, Buddhist or meditation class you might find in your local community centre. Because various forms of Tantra incorporate sexual practices though, it is subject to much misunderstanding and misrepresentation. There are many different kinds of Tantra and many different ways to practise it. A genuine Tantra practice is a discipline that involves regular yoga and meditation-style practices, enhancing our capacity to feel aliveness, and cultivating an approach to life rooted in consciousness. Consciousness means that we see life more deeply: we understand ourselves to not be separate from or different to that which surrounds us, and so act with greater integrity towards our fellow beings and the world in general. I have studied mainly neo-Tantra – an evolvement of original Tantra teachings to forms suitable for the western practitioner. These teachings generally place an emphasis on Red Tantra, which includes the cultivation of sexual energy within the context of meditation and breathing practices that increase consciousness.
Put in simple terms, in the West we have been taught for generations that heaven is above us, and hell is down below. For salvation and all that is good, look up; for all that is dirty, sinful and shameful, look down. As pointed out in the BN paper Health and Wellbeing of Young people this leads to shaming euphemisms such as ‘naughty bits’. How sad that this should be the way in which so many conceive of the generator of new life, our sex and reproductive organs. An open approach to sexuality and the body is taboo to varying degrees in much of the West, and particularly so in the collective psyche and attitudes of the UK. It is interesting however to note that the original Polynesian and South Pacific origin of the word ‘tabu’ actually refers to that which is sacred: the application of a taboo actually designating that which is holy. However, it is how we choose to exercise a taboo that has massively varying consequences.
Because something is designated sacred and holy, do we give it a special and thoughtful place in our collective consciousness? Or do we seek to banish, prohibit and outlaw that which is taboo from the public realm? Our society and lawful structures seem to labour under a collective misapprehension of how to approach the taboo. Instead of creating a sacred space for our life force as expressed through the amazing wonder that is our body and sexuality, the force of our law seeks instead to banish that which is most precious from the public realm. The consequences of this are well stated in the BN paper cited above when it states:
“There are thousands of censors, official and unofficial, but there is absolutely nobody with responsibility for combating harmful censorship. Censorship mainly serves to restrict the content of the mainstream media but it does little to restrict the availability of pornography, poor role models or erroneous information.”
The practices of neo-Tantra have evolved in ways that address the circumstances and the collective attitudes towards the body and sexuality prevalent in the West. Tantra is not about sex. It is about how we awaken the energy and aliveness of our spirit, the joyfulness of our being. How we drop into being completely our natural selves without censorship, and without falling into automatic and unquestioned patterns of behaviour that may no longer serve us. And most of all, Tantra is about how to do this fully with consciousness and awareness: in integrity within the context of our relationships with ourselves, our families, fellow beings and the rest of the world.
The experience of ‘energy’ is central to an understanding of Tantra. You may be familiar with concepts of energy through having seen diagrams of the energy centres known as the chakra system, or perhaps you have experienced acupuncture, tai chi or chi gung which all work with the energy body. This may all seem a bit esoteric (or potty!) if they are concepts you are not familiar with…
But the expansion of energy is something that naturists experience every day!!!
In fact from my perspective as a Tantra practitioner, it seems clear that the experience of an expanded energy body is fundamental to the benefits that naturists receive from the experience. A seasoned naturist said to me something like "I can't say what it is about naturism I love. But I just feel so alive, so good about it, I don't know why - but I just do". Tantra and its teachings about energy can help us to understand why this is so. All feelings such as meanness, separation and depression have a tendency to express themselves as a contraction of the energy body. Our energy body quite literally shrinks away from the world, contracting to hide in a safe place deep in the core of our body where no one else can reach it. When we feel open and loving on the other hand, our energy body tends to expand outwards to reach and meet other people. Imagine an open and loving person that you know and think how ‘big’ they feel when they enter the room. How their presence and warmth often announces itself even before we shake their hands. This is the expanded energy body in action! Through our energy body love reaches outwards to meet the other, fear on the other hand contracts energy deep within and away from the other.
Through the act of taking our clothes off, and interacting communally in this way, we tend to stimulate an opening of the energy body. Where collectively we contract and hide away behind clothes, protecting ourselves from what may seem a fearful and chaotic world, the fact of coming together openly in our nakedness tends to have the opposite effect. It encourages the energy body to expand and to open. Stimulated by the sun, fresh air and especially contact with nature and each other, our energy body is encouraged to come out of hiding and to fully meet the world. So a naturist meeting between people can feel much more open, alive and positive than the alternative! And as naturists will know, this is not about sex as some ‘textiles' will perceive naturism to be. It is simply about feeling more alive and connected with the wholeness of our being. You don't have to believe what I am saying about energy, Tantra is not a religion and does not ask for belief. It is an experiential path that asks you simply to notice and observe your experiences, and to draw your own conclusions.
I now work with people offering experiential Tantra work. Most of the one-to-one work that I offer is conducted nude. Because of the taboos of our society, the area where people have contracted most through guilt and shame is generally around the sex centre. My work deliberately includes sexuality in the context of a healing, learning, pleasurable and often transformative experience. The techniques that I draw on incorporate tantric practices utilising breath, movement, sound, meditation and touch. I am also interested in and teach how our capacity to be creative and to play contributes to our overall sense of health and wellbeing. People who come to me may feel that something in their aliveness, naturalness and capacity to feel 'whole' has been blocked. I support them on a creative journey of discovery to move beyond their current conditioning and experience.
Tantra shows us our sexuality not as something isolated and separate, but as a natural and integrated part of a healthy whole. It is probably easiest to understand if you think of receiving a regular massage, during which the whole of our body is treated to healing and attention with the exception of one or three triangular bits depending if you are male or female! There are many studies that show how touch, contact and the feeling of being seen and appreciated are essential to our general health and wellbeing. Yet many people grow up with their whole being appreciated and validated, with the notable exception and exclusion of their sexuality. Mirrors for young persons, in particular when learning about their sexuality, will often come - if at all - in distorted forms through pornography or playground rumour. Using the tools of Tantra, I work with adults of all ages and genders to help them address and move past the consequences of these unhealthy, yet shockingly prevalent attitudes to sex and the body in society.
A final note on censorship - I used to freely advertise my work within the context of health and holistic therapeutic listings through a few popular free sites on the Internet. Recently and without warning, myself and other Tantra practitioners have found their adverts being removed. The only place I can now promote my work on these same sites (if at all), is in sections reserved for prostitutes. It is true that much of what masquerades as Tantra on the Internet is little more than a euphemism for sex services. These misrepresentations are a distortion in the absence of widespread knowledge or understanding about Tantra, set within the context of societal wide prohibitive attitudes to the body and sexuality. These distortions have absolutely nothing to do with Tantra as an authentic path of disciplined learning and growth.
Similarly, the naked body in itself is not about sex, it is simply the naked body in all its natural and wonderful beauty! But somewhere between pornography and 'page 3', the naked body and sex as portrayed in the public sphere has largely become corrupted and corrupting. It is against this backdrop that interests such as Tantra and naturism - which seek to be either body- or sex- (in the case of Tantra) positive - become tainted with suspicion and fear. This has nothing to do with naturism or Tantra at all, and has everything to do with the fears and prejudices of a society that has collectively forgotten how to simply honour and be a person naturally and at ease in the body.
Thus I find myself signing up to the BN cause as I find so many parallels between BN values and that which I promote through my Tantra practice. In fact the potential for body-positive experiences through both Tantra and naturism are so numerous that a cross-fertilisation of ideas, discussion, participation and membership between the two communities seems to me to be a very fertile endeavour. Because naturism has been so misrepresented in various ways in the UK, it has taken me some time to really get to the truth of it. I hope that fellow members of BN will apply the same consideration and take time to understand the real truth of Tantra.
I will be happy to answer questions anyone may have in the BN forums! And I look forward to my participation in BN, particularly the proposed London naturist swim - that gets my vote for sure, and I'm sure many people from the Tantra community will be eager to come along with me!
Visit my new website at www.tantra4tigers.com.
Breast-Feeding Mother 'Told To Leave Council Headquarters Because She Would Offend Muslim Visitors'
A breast-feeding mother has been ordered out of council offices after staff said it would 'cause an uproar' among Muslim visitors, it has been claimed.
Emma Mitchell, 32, was about to feed her 19-week-old son, Aaron, when a receptionist at Oldham Civic Centre told her it was a 'multicultural building'.
When she was told to use the toilets of a nearby shopping centre she argued with a manager before being offered an empty room under supervision.
Ms Mitchell, a carer who is currently on maternity leave, said: 'It was just awful. I felt humiliated, intimidated and guilty through the whole thing.
'We all live in Oldham and we all use this building, and I was doing what was one of the most natural things a mum can do....
CONTINUE READING
SOURCE: Mail Online
Femen On The Belgian TV
The public Belgian TV Channel VRT made a great documentary on the activities of the Ukrainian women's organisation FEMEN. It was broadcasted in the weekly 'Terzake' news show on July 11, 2011.
Why Do We Give Children Such Confusing Messages About Their Bodies?
Last week, during one of the hottest Easter holidays on record in the UK, my three children and I went to the local park.
It was sweltering, and after an hour or so of running about with a football, my daughter, Phoebe, who has just turned 11, had turned into a sweaty, par-boiled lobster and desperately wanted to take her T-shirt off to cool down. But she didn’t.
When I asked her why on earth not, she said in an exasperated voice, as if I didn’t understand anything, ‘Mum, I can’t take my top off in a park. People will stare and point!’
Once I’d picked my jaw up off the grass and tried to make sense of what she’d just said, I realised to my utter dismay that her fears were probably completely justified.
Where boys often take their tops off in the hot summer months, many girls, even as young and totally undeveloped as my younger daughter, already feel that they ‘shouldn’t’ expose their top halves in public. Because their nakedness is somehow . . . wrong...
CONTINUE READING
SOURCE: Mail Online
Nudism Helped Me To Love My Body At Last
Stripping off revived KERRY HIATT'S marriage - but would YOU dare to bare?
When friends told me about Britain’s first naturist spa hotel in Birmingham — Clover Spa, which opened in March — I couldn’t help but giggle as they expressed their horror at the very idea of holidaying naked.
They pondered the discomfort of sunburned bits and shuddered at the thought of baring all for the world to see. Little did they know that I’d already been to a naturist spa, and loved it.
I have always been insecure about my body. In fact, for the first year of our relationship, my husband never saw me naked in daylight.
In the morning, when I was having a shower, I would pull the blinds in the bathroom to keep it in semi- darkness. In the bedroom, I favoured candlelight.
Though it may sound silly to some, back then, my body felt like the stuff of nightmares — I have stretch marks, dimples and lots of flabby bits.
On a good day, seeing myself naked would prompt me to go to the gym on my way to work. On a bad day, it would cause me to spiral into depression.
A year into our relationship, Joe and I got married at his father’s home in Florida. Surely, now that we were wed, I’d feel more at ease?
I wasn’t. In fact, being in Florida made the situation worse.
While the family frolicked on the beach in tiny bikinis and swimming trunks, I watched from a sun lounger, sweating under a long black skirt and T-shirt.
Joe was concerned by my insecurities, but was nevertheless full of compliments — even when I felt I was at my worst — and told me how beautiful he found me. I believed him, yet I couldn’t quite overcome my phobia. Until I tried nudism.
Seven months later, we were back in Florida and drove past a ‘clothing optional’ hotel. I couldn’t help but wonder what went on inside.
‘Have you ever been in there?’ I asked Joe. ‘No,’ he grinned. ‘Do you want to have a look?’
Of course, he expected me to dismiss his suggestion. Yet my interest was piqued. Perhaps it would help me to see other people at ease with their bodies.
I wouldn’t have to strip completely, I decided before making a decision. ‘Let’s do it,’ I agreed.
As we pulled up and I opened the car door, I saw three older gentlemen walking towards me swinging tennis rackets, clad only in sparkly, white gym shoes.
They looked as though they hadn’t a care in the world. Then, two ladies in their 30s whizzed by on a golf cart in nothing but their sunhats...
CONTINUE READING
SOURCE: Mail Online
Can Mother-in-Laws & Nudity Mix?
This is a live recording with no editing from the DejaNude Net's Cam. In this lengthy topic we discuss personal situations with our mother-in-laws.
The Plot:
Jerry is okay with his nudism and he tries to confront his mother-in-law about his personal lifestyle. Listen to this vlog to hear a letter she wrote in reply to Jerry's desire to gain her acceptance. Also witness a personal part of Melissa's life while she strives to continue living a naked lifestyle even after her mother-in-law moves in to her one bedroom apartment.
Amanda Palmer & The Young Punx - "Map of Tasmania" Music Video
A fun song about taking pride in one's body hair by Amanda Palmer.
-VIDEO-
Director: Michael Pope
Camera: Hillary Spera
Merkins & All Things Art: Zea Barker & Cassandra Long
Producer: Michael Pope
© 2011 Amanda Palmer & Michael Pope
-SONG-
Written by Amanda Palmer, Hal Ritson, and Michele Balduzzi
Lyrics & Vocals: Amanda Palmer
Ukulele: Guthrie Govan
Keyboards & Programming: Hal Ritson, and Michele Balduzzi
Producers: Amanda Palmer, Hal Ritson, and Michele Balduzzi
Mastering: Mick Wordley at Mixmasters Studios in Adelaide, AU - mixmasters.com.au
© 2011 Amanda Palmer & The Young Punx
Topless Femen Activists Protest Pension Reform In Kyiv
Three activists of the movement FEMEN organized a protest against the adoption of the pension reform by the Ukrainian parliament near the parliament building on Tuesday.
The topless girls, who had wreaths on their heads, ran in front of the central entrance to the parliament building, shouting "Down with Bull Reform!" They were holding red placards saying "Rada Is Bullpen."
After being detained by the police, the activists continued chanting their slogans and demanded their release.
Some time later, the girls were put in a police car and taken away. The police said the women had been detained for violating public order.
FEMEN leader Oleksandra Shevchenko told reporters the protest targeted the pension reform, which discriminates against Ukrainian women, "many of which will simply not live to their pension."
READ MORE
SOURCE: http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/73100/
Naked Conversations with Nude Women
Nude women talk about woman, body, equality and science. This is a "pilot" directed, written and produced by Thomas Lundy of Lundoxia Pictures.
A Bedfordshire naturist tells the naked truth
A Bedfordshire naturist says there is a common misconception that all naturists are exhibitionists.
Roni Fine, who was first introduced to the lifestyle by her husband Deane, has been a naturist since 2004.
The couple regularly practise their pastime at the Blackthorn Sun Club near Sharnbrook.
"It's a wonderful feeling of freedom, to be outside on a warm day and feel the air on your body" said Mrs Fine.
According to figures from British Naturism, the UK's national naturist organisation, about 1.2 million people describe themselves as a naturist, with between 10 and 20 times that number admitting to have sunbathed nude or "skinny dipped"... Read More.
TEXT SOURCE URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-13809624
Roni Fine, who was first introduced to the lifestyle by her husband Deane, has been a naturist since 2004.
The couple regularly practise their pastime at the Blackthorn Sun Club near Sharnbrook.
"It's a wonderful feeling of freedom, to be outside on a warm day and feel the air on your body" said Mrs Fine.
According to figures from British Naturism, the UK's national naturist organisation, about 1.2 million people describe themselves as a naturist, with between 10 and 20 times that number admitting to have sunbathed nude or "skinny dipped"... Read More.
TEXT SOURCE URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-13809624
Body Acceptance
By Judy Williams
Be comfortable in your own skin
And become your own best friend.
Open yourself to new friends, experiences,
activities and points of view.
Develop positive self-talk.
Yield not to the image-makers and yearn for
The stars but remember that peace begins
Within.
Acknowledge and work with your body the
way it is, not the way image-makers say it
should be.
Challenge and compare social and cultural mores.
Cuddle and cherish the child within.
Encourage self-respect, respect for others and
the environment.
Push past fears to permit yourself the freedom
to let down your pretenses.
Think of your whole body as a temple, not as a
collection of fragmented fantasy body parts!
Abandon the mask that you wear and appreciate
yourself for who you are, not for how you are
packaged.
Nurture your naked self as you would your own child.
Celebrate your medals of honor from scars to love handles.
Explore your sensuality and connectness with others.
TEXT SOURCE URL: http://www.naturistsociety.com/tns/resources/WomeninNat.html
Be comfortable in your own skin
And become your own best friend.
Open yourself to new friends, experiences,
activities and points of view.
Develop positive self-talk.
Yield not to the image-makers and yearn for
The stars but remember that peace begins
Within.
Acknowledge and work with your body the
way it is, not the way image-makers say it
should be.
Challenge and compare social and cultural mores.
Cuddle and cherish the child within.
Encourage self-respect, respect for others and
the environment.
Push past fears to permit yourself the freedom
to let down your pretenses.
Think of your whole body as a temple, not as a
collection of fragmented fantasy body parts!
Abandon the mask that you wear and appreciate
yourself for who you are, not for how you are
packaged.
Nurture your naked self as you would your own child.
Celebrate your medals of honor from scars to love handles.
Explore your sensuality and connectness with others.
TEXT SOURCE URL: http://www.naturistsociety.com/tns/resources/WomeninNat.html
When I am old I Shall wear NOTHING!
By Marilyn R. Lovell
(inspired by Jenny Joseph’s poem “Warning…. When I am an Old Woman I shall Wear Purple”)
When I am an old woman I shall wear NOTHING!
I’ll carry a towel and let my wrinkles show.
And I shall spend my pension on good wine and beach towels.
And hiking sandals, and say we’ve no money for clothes.
I shall sit down in the sand when I am tired
And gobble up desserts at potlucks and press for hugs
And run my mouth at naturist gatherings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go without my slicker in the rain
And wear in my hair the wild flowers I’ve found
And learn Akido.
You can wear nothing at all, grow more fat
And lie in the sun all day; or the shade
Or go to all the naturist gatherings
And give your clothes to Mission instead of hoarding them.
But now we must have clothes that keep us covered
And pay our rent and not moon anyone in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must meet friends for dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So more people can understand and appreciate
And enjoy their wrinkles openly, too.
TEXT SOURCE URL: http://www.naturistsociety.com/tns/resources/WomeninNat.html
(inspired by Jenny Joseph’s poem “Warning…. When I am an Old Woman I shall Wear Purple”)
When I am an old woman I shall wear NOTHING!
I’ll carry a towel and let my wrinkles show.
And I shall spend my pension on good wine and beach towels.
And hiking sandals, and say we’ve no money for clothes.
I shall sit down in the sand when I am tired
And gobble up desserts at potlucks and press for hugs
And run my mouth at naturist gatherings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go without my slicker in the rain
And wear in my hair the wild flowers I’ve found
And learn Akido.
You can wear nothing at all, grow more fat
And lie in the sun all day; or the shade
Or go to all the naturist gatherings
And give your clothes to Mission instead of hoarding them.
But now we must have clothes that keep us covered
And pay our rent and not moon anyone in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must meet friends for dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So more people can understand and appreciate
And enjoy their wrinkles openly, too.
TEXT SOURCE URL: http://www.naturistsociety.com/tns/resources/WomeninNat.html
The First Time
Hesitating
She was among strangers.
Clothed
With them skyclad
Trying
They looked so free
Slowly
It was natural for them
No shirt
No one was staring
No pants
Everyone else was comfortable
Nothing on
Men, women, and children, all happy
Walking into the crowd
Everyone is so accepting here
Freedom, Pure Naked Freedom.
TEXT SOURCE URL: http://brain17.tripod.com/COprose.html
She was among strangers.
Clothed
With them skyclad
Trying
They looked so free
Slowly
It was natural for them
No shirt
No one was staring
No pants
Everyone else was comfortable
Nothing on
Men, women, and children, all happy
Walking into the crowd
Everyone is so accepting here
Freedom, Pure Naked Freedom.
TEXT SOURCE URL: http://brain17.tripod.com/COprose.html
The feminist naturist. A.k.a. the “naked grandmas” post!
I became a naturist in a totally feminist fashion – all due to a man.
When he told me that he believed that genuine nude beaches were the best, my initial reaction was, “Um, hell no. Wtf?!”
Roughly 24 hours later, I was standing on a nude beach, having been dragged there. I was really tired, due to the dragging and whatnot. We were camped out near a group of naked strangers, most of whom were middle-aged Ukrainian men. They were busy roasting something over an open fire. A couple of little boys, also naked, really wanted to be part of the roasting experience. “Alright, who farted?!” One of the naked men yelled. “If you little bastards are going to cook, you’ll need better manners!”... Read More.
When he told me that he believed that genuine nude beaches were the best, my initial reaction was, “Um, hell no. Wtf?!”
Roughly 24 hours later, I was standing on a nude beach, having been dragged there. I was really tired, due to the dragging and whatnot. We were camped out near a group of naked strangers, most of whom were middle-aged Ukrainian men. They were busy roasting something over an open fire. A couple of little boys, also naked, really wanted to be part of the roasting experience. “Alright, who farted?!” One of the naked men yelled. “If you little bastards are going to cook, you’ll need better manners!”... Read More.
Why Women's menstrual cycles Get in Sync?
Imagine this, a man's worst situation (besides the ending of football): All the women in his living are on their cycles. At the assonant minute. Wholesome equal discipline falsity? Try field fact. Women who expend at minimal ternion life a hebdomad in fold junction with other women yet signal to see their menstrual cycles locomote into sync with each additional (provided they are all growing and not big). Why is this? The fulfil deals with humans as a species and our beggary to make effectively, and also with how our bodies are designed to apply to reach this.
Women's Orgasms 101: Tips for successful women to achieve Orgasms
Way sustain when humans position began roaming this location, sex and belonging had zip to do with orgasms. In fact, the quantity "orgasm" wasn't straight known or created until 100 of age subsequent. Yet now that we jazz of this joy, both for men and women, we essay to use sex for that outlet. The requirement to procreate is not so exalted, so now we determine to be poet of that enthusiastic sensual joy. The Orgasm.
Women's hair loss
As women age all kinds of nasty things. The outbreak of the body, the skin loses pigment and hair hanging down and starts outside NORMA. This is a bad joke by Mother Nature. Fortunately, the world today cos AO joke, what can be done on each of these issues, if you know where to look. In this article we want, focusing on hair loss, what causes that and what we can do.
Loses a certain amount of hair every day. From 50 to 100 strands of hair deemed to be a joke, Äúnormal, band Au. However, if the hair loss begins a two-, three-and four in number, joke time to discover what might be causing the problem.
Loses a certain amount of hair every day. From 50 to 100 strands of hair deemed to be a joke, Äúnormal, band Au. However, if the hair loss begins a two-, three-and four in number, joke time to discover what might be causing the problem.
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