Yesss I wrote like 3 pages in my journal after my first visit to Wi Spa which really healed me.. living in a big fashionable city & constantly being on social media really distorts the idea of what the “normal” body looks like and being among a bunch of naked women across the age spectrum was very beautiful and necessary for me!
You’re absolutely right: the naked human body is mundane and yet also sublime. I experience this every summer, when I visit my local nudist resort. It, too, is a “Mutually-Assured Body Acceptance Zone” (I love that phrase!). There is something profoundly reassuring about being immersed in the rich diversity of human bodies. It gives you the sense that there is no “right” or “wrong” way of being. You feel more accepting of your body and yet also transparent, because you realize that the difference between your body and that of others doesn’t ultimately matter.
Once again, thank for this post! It caught my attention because I, too, have tried to write about that weirdly enriching experience of being naked in a communal setting.
I’ve come to this same revelation this year! Just trying to make the non judgmental moments bigger like you say - there’s a woman in my gym who I swear I have never seen with clothes on in the locker room (everyone is relatively in half dress but she is casually bare), and at first I thought it was silly and now I just think it’s fucking fabulous. I should be more like her!
I went to a sauna in Korea earlier this year and on the whim decided to strip down and go into their spas too. Felt a bit awkward at first but u realise that no one actually cares about what u look like! And vice versa! Great article 😊xx
Yes I'll never forget the first time I went to a sauna here in Germany and it felt so liberating for all the reasons you mentioned here. I go now on a regular basis, mostly for the natural high, but definitely also for the mutually assured body acceptance!
If you have the opportunity, you might enjoy visiting a naturist park. :) For me, there's nothing as amazing as feeling the sun, breeze and water on bare skin, and then layering in the rest of a similar experience that you describe at the spa.
We are so separated from our bodies and pressured to dress them to appear in a way deemed appropriate by society, it's no wonder that there is a jarring effect when we see them naked. The tragedy is that the self-hate that can be triggered in these moments actually starts to change to self-love in an organic way with the somatic experience of being clothes-free. But so many people will never experience this.
Social nudity means no more hiding, no more status symbols through clothed, no more living in the world of being willfully blindered. Similarly to how freeing it can feel to wash your life of social media and fake filtered bodied, it is even more freeing to truly feel the breeze and sun on your body and appreciate your body as a trusted and loyal companion, free of judgements.
Just because I won't change my language doesn't make me transphobic. Deleting my comment doesn't change my mind, or the minds of those who likes my comment. Apparently you're not worth following anymore if you're so woke sensitive.
Yesss I wrote like 3 pages in my journal after my first visit to Wi Spa which really healed me.. living in a big fashionable city & constantly being on social media really distorts the idea of what the “normal” body looks like and being among a bunch of naked women across the age spectrum was very beautiful and necessary for me!
I did the same thing after my first visit to Wi Spa!! It was so liberating
100000%! I'm glad you get it
What a wonderful post! Thank you for sharing it.
You’re absolutely right: the naked human body is mundane and yet also sublime. I experience this every summer, when I visit my local nudist resort. It, too, is a “Mutually-Assured Body Acceptance Zone” (I love that phrase!). There is something profoundly reassuring about being immersed in the rich diversity of human bodies. It gives you the sense that there is no “right” or “wrong” way of being. You feel more accepting of your body and yet also transparent, because you realize that the difference between your body and that of others doesn’t ultimately matter.
Once again, thank for this post! It caught my attention because I, too, have tried to write about that weirdly enriching experience of being naked in a communal setting.
Thanks, Franco!
I’ve come to this same revelation this year! Just trying to make the non judgmental moments bigger like you say - there’s a woman in my gym who I swear I have never seen with clothes on in the locker room (everyone is relatively in half dress but she is casually bare), and at first I thought it was silly and now I just think it’s fucking fabulous. I should be more like her!
Totally I miss these from living in Korea. These can be a big communal and honest place for men, too. And the cold plunge is sooo good
I went to a sauna in Korea earlier this year and on the whim decided to strip down and go into their spas too. Felt a bit awkward at first but u realise that no one actually cares about what u look like! And vice versa! Great article 😊xx
Yes I'll never forget the first time I went to a sauna here in Germany and it felt so liberating for all the reasons you mentioned here. I go now on a regular basis, mostly for the natural high, but definitely also for the mutually assured body acceptance!
Comparison - a thief of joy!
If you have the opportunity, you might enjoy visiting a naturist park. :) For me, there's nothing as amazing as feeling the sun, breeze and water on bare skin, and then layering in the rest of a similar experience that you describe at the spa.
We are so separated from our bodies and pressured to dress them to appear in a way deemed appropriate by society, it's no wonder that there is a jarring effect when we see them naked. The tragedy is that the self-hate that can be triggered in these moments actually starts to change to self-love in an organic way with the somatic experience of being clothes-free. But so many people will never experience this.
Social nudity means no more hiding, no more status symbols through clothed, no more living in the world of being willfully blindered. Similarly to how freeing it can feel to wash your life of social media and fake filtered bodied, it is even more freeing to truly feel the breeze and sun on your body and appreciate your body as a trusted and loyal companion, free of judgements.
Just because I won't change my language doesn't make me transphobic. Deleting my comment doesn't change my mind, or the minds of those who likes my comment. Apparently you're not worth following anymore if you're so woke sensitive.
Yep great pls don't follow me thanks
goodbye, transphobic comment!
Comment any further nonsense like that and I will block you. If this isn’t the Substack for you, that’s fine, but just keep it moving elsewhere.