I have to wonder what percentage of people really feel that way. Perhaps the media zooms in on the ones who complain and ignore the people who have little negative to say about it.
I have little use for spirituality in the religious sense. If I were to talk about the spirit or the soul, it would be as figurative speech and not as anything immortal or supernatural. Maybe as analogies to psychological concepts like yearning or awe or imagination.
As an afterthought, I wondered about the rest of the community as well. Only a few were interviewed, and they may not be representative of the greatest Langport community.
I have always thought that there is a strong psychological aspect to nudism for at least some of us. For us nudism is not something we do, like a hobby. It is something we are, like being an introvert. There are certain behavior characteristics which are common to introverts. They don’t behave the way they do to become introverts. They behave that way because they are introverts. It’s their nature.
I’m not a nudist because I dislike wearing clothes, I dislike wearing clothes because I’m a nudist. It’s my nature. There is a significant difference that many people don’t comprehend.
I'm with you. If there was any ordinary environment in the USA that ought to have discouraged me from being a nudist, it was the one I grew up in. I think nature triumphed over nurture.
One does not swim against the current because it is great exercise. One does it because one must.
I find that naturism does buoy my spirit, my confidence, my outlook. What it provides me is more than some type of chemical change in my brain. It’s deeper, in my soul if that makes sense. Something that provides such enrichment, certainly has spiritual aspects to it.
People who want or need to feel “spiritual” will find it where they want to find it, almost invariably in something they enjoy doing - “spiritual” just gives them a moral superiority to go with it.
Spirituality goes beyond naturism. It can be experienced and felt with who we are at our core. The closer we get to tae feelings that are innate to who/what we are, I think the more spiritual we are or experience, feel.
Understanding and dealing with whether we are part of the LGBTQ+ community or on the that spectrum or hetro or etc can exhibit our spirituality also……
Nice post, but could be extremely deep and very wide, involving most aspects of our humanity.
I’m not religious at all by any definition of the word but consider myself spiritual.
To me spirituality refers to, as humans, our innate ability to reason, understand, the feelings we develop and rationalize them.
This all leaves no place for illogical religion as its described today.
The physical experiences we all have while swimming slowly, naked in a wild natural lake a dawn, mediating while sitting naked in a clearing in the forest surrounded by the sounds of nature. Concentrating on how this makes us feel as well as how it feels, to me, is spiritual. Connecting human mind, thought, physical sensation, naturally is spirituality, it is us, it has nothing to do with religion, it has everything to do with nature and naturalism and it comes with being naked.
Lots more can be defined as and attributed to naturalism and spirituality but works for me, for now
I have friends who grew up in Langport and other surrounding places, some still have connections to Langport etc. None of those that I've asked are aware that there is any feeling among their families and friends like this man claims to have. Don't tell him, but Nudefest is not the only annual naked event held at the same location. My survey was far from being scientific, but I doubt that there was much research done by the Scum newspaper. There was also a parliamentary by-election taking place in that part of Somerset at the time, the previous MP having been suspended by the Conservatives after a series of allegations emerged concerning sexual harassment and cocaine use. The Scum possibly found reporting on actual news stories boring and looked around for a bit of titillation based 'news'. This is the same news(?)paper that for many years featured a photo of a topless woman on 'page 3' for many years.
Glastonbury festival takes place not too far away at the end of June, you'll find a few rent-a-gobs saying similar things about that, you'll also find many more being positive about both the festival and what it brings to their community - income for businesses, funding for things like local food banks and other social initiatives, yet Mr Stevens Mark II will probably be persuaded to slag the festival off, for a pint or three.
Thanks for this report, Nick. It is always nice to have someone familiar with an area give us their take on it. The Sun article came across to me as a hit piece.
a very interesting article & equally nice comments. spirituality is an experience & it differs person to person. For a genuine naturist, naturism will be a spiritual experience, however it can't be for non naturist one. After all spirituality is a pure state of joy & the person can attain this state through various ways, naturism is being one of them.
You have mentioned that you know few religious groups who embrace naturism. Will you please name them because I wonder as to whether any religion embraces naturism..
As a naturist who still strongly identifies as Christian, I spend much of my online time talking about how simple nudity relates to my relationship with the life of the spirit and mind. Contrary to both popular perception and the arguments of many theologians, the Bible does not condemn simple nudity.
Since I'm always naked at home, of course I'm naked during my regular prayer times. Yes, I can pray anytime, naked or not; yet to "come naked before God" increases the openness and vulnerability in deep prayer. And remembering that under our clothes we're all naked precludes any sense of separation or spiritual superiority.
I've even attended a few nude church services. As in other nudist gatherings, there was an increased sense of community and communion in all the best meanings of those words.
Thank you, Jochanaan. I totally agree with your views here.
I am one of those who believes we are spirits in the material world, though of course I can't prove anything. There is a certain leap of faith, for sure, but also an innate feeling. I'm more into Eastern spirituality, but found a great anchor in Theosophy.
Having said that, I see the body as a vehicle to carry the spirit. Does naturism contribute to my spiritual essence? I think so. The harmony that the body and mind feel in naturism is soothing spiritually, no matter how immutable the spirit may be in its potentially immortal state.
Yes, I know that's heavy stuff, and not your typical lite naturism fare. But it was inspired by the headline on that Guardian piece -- because "spiritual" means different things to different people.
So, I was curious to hear from others about it all.
I have to wonder what percentage of people really feel that way. Perhaps the media zooms in on the ones who complain and ignore the people who have little negative to say about it.
I have little use for spirituality in the religious sense. If I were to talk about the spirit or the soul, it would be as figurative speech and not as anything immortal or supernatural. Maybe as analogies to psychological concepts like yearning or awe or imagination.
As an afterthought, I wondered about the rest of the community as well. Only a few were interviewed, and they may not be representative of the greatest Langport community.
I have always thought that there is a strong psychological aspect to nudism for at least some of us. For us nudism is not something we do, like a hobby. It is something we are, like being an introvert. There are certain behavior characteristics which are common to introverts. They don’t behave the way they do to become introverts. They behave that way because they are introverts. It’s their nature.
I’m not a nudist because I dislike wearing clothes, I dislike wearing clothes because I’m a nudist. It’s my nature. There is a significant difference that many people don’t comprehend.
I'm with you. If there was any ordinary environment in the USA that ought to have discouraged me from being a nudist, it was the one I grew up in. I think nature triumphed over nurture.
One does not swim against the current because it is great exercise. One does it because one must.
I find that naturism does buoy my spirit, my confidence, my outlook. What it provides me is more than some type of chemical change in my brain. It’s deeper, in my soul if that makes sense. Something that provides such enrichment, certainly has spiritual aspects to it.
People who want or need to feel “spiritual” will find it where they want to find it, almost invariably in something they enjoy doing - “spiritual” just gives them a moral superiority to go with it.
Spirituality goes beyond naturism. It can be experienced and felt with who we are at our core. The closer we get to tae feelings that are innate to who/what we are, I think the more spiritual we are or experience, feel.
Understanding and dealing with whether we are part of the LGBTQ+ community or on the that spectrum or hetro or etc can exhibit our spirituality also……
Nice post, but could be extremely deep and very wide, involving most aspects of our humanity.
I’m not religious at all by any definition of the word but consider myself spiritual.
To me spirituality refers to, as humans, our innate ability to reason, understand, the feelings we develop and rationalize them.
This all leaves no place for illogical religion as its described today.
The physical experiences we all have while swimming slowly, naked in a wild natural lake a dawn, mediating while sitting naked in a clearing in the forest surrounded by the sounds of nature. Concentrating on how this makes us feel as well as how it feels, to me, is spiritual. Connecting human mind, thought, physical sensation, naturally is spirituality, it is us, it has nothing to do with religion, it has everything to do with nature and naturalism and it comes with being naked.
Lots more can be defined as and attributed to naturalism and spirituality but works for me, for now
That is lovely, Ron. I totally get this.
I have friends who grew up in Langport and other surrounding places, some still have connections to Langport etc. None of those that I've asked are aware that there is any feeling among their families and friends like this man claims to have. Don't tell him, but Nudefest is not the only annual naked event held at the same location. My survey was far from being scientific, but I doubt that there was much research done by the Scum newspaper. There was also a parliamentary by-election taking place in that part of Somerset at the time, the previous MP having been suspended by the Conservatives after a series of allegations emerged concerning sexual harassment and cocaine use. The Scum possibly found reporting on actual news stories boring and looked around for a bit of titillation based 'news'. This is the same news(?)paper that for many years featured a photo of a topless woman on 'page 3' for many years.
Glastonbury festival takes place not too far away at the end of June, you'll find a few rent-a-gobs saying similar things about that, you'll also find many more being positive about both the festival and what it brings to their community - income for businesses, funding for things like local food banks and other social initiatives, yet Mr Stevens Mark II will probably be persuaded to slag the festival off, for a pint or three.
Thanks for this report, Nick. It is always nice to have someone familiar with an area give us their take on it. The Sun article came across to me as a hit piece.
a very interesting article & equally nice comments. spirituality is an experience & it differs person to person. For a genuine naturist, naturism will be a spiritual experience, however it can't be for non naturist one. After all spirituality is a pure state of joy & the person can attain this state through various ways, naturism is being one of them.
You have mentioned that you know few religious groups who embrace naturism. Will you please name them because I wonder as to whether any religion embraces naturism..
There are some Christian groups in the United States who embrace nudism/naturism, and probably in other countries as well. Just google "Christian naturists" and you'll find some. Here is a link to one article about a group in Texas: https://religionnews.com/2022/06/28/naked-and-unashamed-christians-strip-down-at-a-south-texas-nudist-community/
Thanks Jillian for the feedback..
As a naturist who still strongly identifies as Christian, I spend much of my online time talking about how simple nudity relates to my relationship with the life of the spirit and mind. Contrary to both popular perception and the arguments of many theologians, the Bible does not condemn simple nudity.
Since I'm always naked at home, of course I'm naked during my regular prayer times. Yes, I can pray anytime, naked or not; yet to "come naked before God" increases the openness and vulnerability in deep prayer. And remembering that under our clothes we're all naked precludes any sense of separation or spiritual superiority.
I've even attended a few nude church services. As in other nudist gatherings, there was an increased sense of community and communion in all the best meanings of those words.
Thank you, Jochanaan. I totally agree with your views here.
I am one of those who believes we are spirits in the material world, though of course I can't prove anything. There is a certain leap of faith, for sure, but also an innate feeling. I'm more into Eastern spirituality, but found a great anchor in Theosophy.
Having said that, I see the body as a vehicle to carry the spirit. Does naturism contribute to my spiritual essence? I think so. The harmony that the body and mind feel in naturism is soothing spiritually, no matter how immutable the spirit may be in its potentially immortal state.
Yes, I know that's heavy stuff, and not your typical lite naturism fare. But it was inspired by the headline on that Guardian piece -- because "spiritual" means different things to different people.
So, I was curious to hear from others about it all.