What does being nude mean to me.

When I am nude, I am raw… unable to hide behind labels, flattering clothing, filters or a style that, perhaps, indicates to you what sort of person I may be according to my ‘taste’.

I am me. In my most natural state. I am, again, reunited with the purity of birth. Born into this world with nothing. No labels. No style. No branding. No filters.

To feel the ocean wash over my body, the sun kiss my skin, the wind caress my breasts. I feel the elements more intensely, reminding me of the beauty of the natural world, projecting me into the present moment to realise the oneness between it and I.

Where, in today’s society, I feel there is so much disconnect. To be comfortable with my naked body and accepting of others’ means to accept and embrace the vessel in which my soul resides. There is harmony between my mind and my body. Connection.

Many of us have built such barriers in our minds and have been programmed to believe that nudity is either vulgar, sexual, offensive or inappropriate. We either find it difficult to be comfortable in our own skin without the layers, or we are too preoccupied in suffocating ourselves in labels in order to project a certain image of ourselves unto the world.

We use clothes, accessories, jewelry and make-up to express ourselves in such an artistic way, but there is something so beautiful when we remove all of those layers and are left with only what we were born with. We are left with this air of vulnerability, something so truthful.

The human body is a vessel through which our souls are able to experience this world as human beings. A vessel through which we experience via the senses. It is a miraculous one. One that should be celebrated and not exploited. Nurtured and not used. Admired and not judged.

Made up of the same matter of the earth. It and I are one. Atoms vibrating at different frequencies. We are energy beings.

So to be nude in nature is not something so foreign. It is at our roots. It is something we have all experienced.

There is so much more to us than just this body. To know me, you must be able to see beyond my physicality.

My body is just a blip in space and time through which consciousness is experiencing itself. So you could never truly judge me according to my body. My soul can tell you things my body never could.

For those moments, I am free from the disguises of my clothing, from the masquerade of branding, free from the impermance of materialism and at one with the divinity of being.

Of course I believe that you can glimpse beauty in the human body, it is a miraculous machine afterall…but it doesn’t compare to the divine beauty that the soul encompasses.

Being nude for me comes naturally. I feel free. It’s just easier! When I go to the beach, I don’t have to worry about coordinating a bikini, there’s less to pack…and the list goes on! When I am surrounded by other nude people in a natural setting, I embrace the sense of vulnerability that comes with baring it all.

So I am here to pledge my commitment to promoting body positivity. Freedom. Equality. My nudity is not here to promote sexualisation of the human body, nor is it here to entertain your judgement. However you choose to perceive my nudity is a reflection of your own conditioning. But remember, persepctive is not fixed. It is not permanent. Perspective is a matter of perspective is a matter of perspective is a matter of persepctive.

So without the layers, who am I now?