When each of my kids were infants and toddlers we made sure they got plenty of "nekkie time." Before they could crawl this looked like playing on a mat on the floor, then when they could crawl they got put in their play pen, and once they were walking... well we just tried to catch things before there were too many messes on our floor.
My oldest (now 17) would run around the house in just her underwear from about age 3ish to 6ish. My son was still running around in just his underwear at 5, and now at 10 I need to ask him to put a shirt on for dinner.
I started practicing being literally naked more when they are off at their dad's for the weekends shortly after we first separated. Sleeping naked, walking around the house naked, etc and now proudly label myself the “naked window neighbor” because in the evenings or when I first wake up, clothing is fully optional.
It is incredibly freeing to be without clothes, to move about without any type of restriction. This was true for my kids as infants and toddlers and true for me as a 50+ year old adult.
Embracing actual physical nakedness was not an easy feat. I have plenty of issues with my body; I was raised in this culture too and my body does not look like the women in the standard fashion magazine and I could go on for hours, if I let myself, pointing out all the faults of this amazing body that birthed two babies and has been through its own versions of hell and back. But I don't let myself do that anymore. Or when I look in the mirror, I stop myself and remind myself of all this body has done for me.
There is more to being naked than physical nakedness. There is the vulnerability of being seen, and we don't have to be physically naked to feel that. Emotional and psychological nakedness can be as terrifying and overwhelming as wandering around the house without clothes.
Being seen, sharing our Self with another, is intense. It can be truly scary. We all have our own long list of "flaws" we see in ourselves, we all have moments (or hours or days or decades) of feeling unlovable for any myriad of our "faults".
Nakedness comes when we set boundaries, when we ask for what we want, when we express ourselves through pleasure. These are all vulnerable things to do, these all set us up for potential rejection.
And. They also set us up for potential joy, contentment, and yes pleasure; all of which are part of thriving in our lives instead of merely surviving.
Today, as you continue to consider the ways you use your armor to hide and "protect" yourself, I invite you to also begin to consider what it means to be naked; what vulnerabilities will be exposed as you take off the layers of armor you have worn so well for so long. To consider the initial discomfort of being naked, in whatever form, and how to learn to tolerate it as you learn to remove more and more of your own armor and use your voice more and more.
EMBODIMENT EXERCISE
Neck turn
Sit or stand and *slowly* move your head (so that your neck moves too) from left to right and back again, noticing and commenting on (either in your head or out loud) every thing you see. Comment on colors, textures, how the light or shadows are, etc. It is important to move your head and neck and not just scan with your eyes.
Grounding
Sit on the ground or floor with your feet flat on the floor (knees bent) and palms of hands also flat on the floor. Focus on the connection between your feet, hands, and butt to the floor/ground. Notice textures, the pressure of the floor/ground pushing up on you and you pushing down on it.
STREAM OF CONSCIOUS WRITING
Before doing the exercises above, think about these questions below for a moment and then once you have completed the exercises, write our your responses in your journal.
What does being naked mean to you?
As you consider becoming naked, either physically, emotionally, or psychologically, how does your body respond?
What stories pop up in your mind?
How can you explore nakedness more?
If you’d like to support my writing and work (and get some extra goodies too) you can subscribe for $7/month. The extra material paid subscribers recieve will be available for the lifetime of your subscription and the archive (all public posts over three months) is available to all new paid subscribers once you join.
Ways for us to connect
Embodied Relating/Trauma Informed Embodiment on Insta*
Gwynn Raimondi Writes on Insta*
Soothe Your Nervous System Card Deck
Individual Sessions (I currently have three bi-weekly and one weekly spots available. If you are interested in working with me, please click the link and use the email shown to request a free 30-minute consultation to see if we are a good fit.)
Tarot Readings Every month I offer four readings and they are given on a first come, first served basis.
Ancestral Healing & Journeying Work - (Re)Connecting to who we were before whiteness. Individual sessions to find reconnection with your ancesters, healing ancestral curses/processing ancestral trauma, and nourishing our ancestral strength and wisdom.
*Please note I am slowly moving away from social media. The best way to connect with me and my work is right here.