For many nudists, nudism is either a lonely activity or a hidden one. A lot of nudists go to the nude beach or to nudist resorts, without telling their friends or their family. They refrain taking pictures of themselves to avoid disclosing their sheer joy of being naked socially. While I believe it’s truly important to be accepted as who you really are, I understand the fear of consequences of disclosing you are a nudist. Here are four ways that I find useful to explain nudism and why you are a nudist. This complements my post on 10 reasons why I am a nudist.

Use the International Naturist Federation definition: “Naturism is a way of life in harmony with nature, expressed through social nudity, linked to self-respect, tolerance of differing views together with respect for the environment”. Naturism is shared by millions of people worldwide and there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s legal in most countries. Ask the following question: “If you were on a desert beach and sure at 100% nobody’s around, would you bath naked or with a suit?” It’s strange that a lot of non-nudist people will keep their suit. It’s a great start for a conversation on body self-acceptance and the joy of skinny dipping. I’ve found actually that even the most reluctant to nudism people end up accepting they would bath nude. You’ve broken the ice to explain why you always go to the nude beach. Here’s another question: “if you were to be able to change something in your body, what you it be and why?” People always want to change something: get rid of their love handle, show their 6-pack, or get a firmer butt. The idea here is to start having a conversation on body acceptance and explain this is all driven by media and their quest of the perfect body. Then tell you have come to accepting your body completely, not that you are not seeking to make it better, but you are well in it up to a point, you’ve joined a naturist resort because you feel you have nothing to hide anymore. Invite people to come with you to the nude beach or to your local nude resort. This is the most direct way, but it works surprisingly well. It may require some guts the first times, but once you are used to the surprised eyes, it will become a second nature.

Of course, people will still think you are nuts, or will find this offensive, or will ask you to avoid this topic in the future. Body acceptance, and particularly naked body acceptance is a huge taboo in our society. Religion, society and media are to blame, as they may preach respect of others, but do actually ostracize differences, and particularly nudity as it’s linked to sexuality. The only way to make progress is to talk freely about nudism, to bring more people into undressing with others to enjoy the well-being of social nudity, and to show that a human body is nothing to be ashamed of.

Change starts with each of us. Make it a goal to stop hiding your nudism life. Nudism is good, nudism is healthy, and nudism is fun!

Get Naked, Stay Naked, Live Naked, and Share the Naked Love!