Nude Perspectives

An exhilarating sense of complete freedom

There is a special freedom found in no place else on earth outside of a quiet, serene walk in the woods among nature. When you can shed all your inhibitions and preconceived notions about your body and find the courage to rid all your clothes to make that hike, there is an inner freedom and peace that cannot be matched.

During my morning walks, I often meet complete strangers along the paths, many of whom are also nude and enjoying Naturism. The facades of our daily lives, the masks and uniforms we wear, are removed. Others do not judge your body or look at what we see as physical flaws in ourselves. There is no shame or hiding.

Instead, we see the real person, who they are on the inside. You meet many genuine, beautiful people who share the same daily struggles in life. The immediate connection we share as humans is unimaginable when you meet a real person.

Recently, a friend of 45 years asked if I knew of any trails where he could practice his newfound hobby of photography. He lives in an apartment in a major city and has always enjoyed getting away into the mountains as a retreat and sanctuary. I suggested he accompany me on my morning hike on a community naturist trail.

He was unsure of seeing naturists along the trails, but I assured him nobody would attack him, and he was more than welcome to remain fully clothed. I advised him not to have his camera out or to capture any images when anyone was around, but when we were in solitude, he was welcome to snap pictures and may come across other amateur photographers or bird watchers along the paths.

His initial reaction was shock at seeing other people walking completely bare. He continued to express that he could never be nude in the company of others. He said he had developed a pot belly, was not well endowed, and had a scar from his open heart surgery a few years ago. He would uncomfortably laugh and say nobody would ever want to see that. I assured him everybody we would meet along the path carried the scars of life and that if he decided to remove his outer barriers to allow people to see his true person, he would not be judged, and people would look at what was inside him as a person.

That morning, I let him snap my photograph as I walked along the trail. He kept asking if I wanted him to delete the picture. I told him it was his camera, and he could do what he wanted with the image. I have no shame in my body. Over the next 90 minutes, we met seven other hikers along the path. My friend was the only one on the path clothed, but people treated him no differently.

As we neared the end of the trail and began our route back, my friend asked if I thought it would be okay for him to undress and see what the appeal of naturism was. He was a little shy at first as other hikers would approach, but once we came off the trail, he told me he had never felt so invigorated and free in his life.

Four years later, he is a naturist and says his only regret was that he did not explore naturism much earlier. He is now a full AANR Life member and a member of Cypress Cove Family Nudist Resort. He asked me recently if he could use my photograph from our hike that first morning. He wanted to enter a naturist photo contest with that image. He told the backstory of how that day and looking at that image afterward changed his life outlook and opened up a freedom he never imagined.