Tantric Massage and Nudism

Good things happen when you are naked.

We have been sun kissed from the beginning of the lockdown, and our lazy clouds didn't seem to have any intention to return. With good weather, London’s parks have become a display of creamy flesh, colourful thongs and grilled skin catwalks. Fashion has stripped off its non-environmentally friendly polyester layers, and everybody has agreed to make the same statement: semi-nude is the new trend.

Nudism has been on the increase during the lockdown. While many are enjoying the liberating feeling of being naked at home others are making it official. The British Naturism organisation has reported a 100% rise in new affiliated members during the confinement months. Some online events such as Naked Yoga and Coffee Morning are held by British Naturism where proponents can discreetly enjoy a way of life. As with the lockdown there is no need to dress up for the office, and the weather is unusually warmer, more people are realising skin-to-air contact is bliss.

One of the wonders of the human body is to allow it to express itself, without ornaments, without constraints. Enwrapping it in thin air and setting it free as it first arrived in the world is what is known as ‘Freikörperkultur’. That is how the Germans call it—a profoundly liberating philosophy. The lightness, the aliveness, the freedom of being naked exposes our vulnerability, yet it is the strongest feeling of connection to nature.

Freikörperkultur/FKK (Free Body Culture) is a German movement that promotes nudism in public. Naked Germans who strip off at designated FKK areas such as saunas, swimming pools, the beach, lakes and even parks are common place. But, how is that a country whose reputation is more conservative than laid-back learned how to love being naked?

In the late 19th century, stripping and bathing textile-free was considered healthy in Germany. It was also believed that sunbathing could be a possible cure for consumption and rheumatism. Germany established its first FKK club in 1898 and nudist beach in 1920 on the island of Sylt. Ten years later the Berlin School of Nudism held the first international nudism congress. After WWII nudism was particular popular in communist East Germany. East Germans were free to practise nudism, a rare liberty in their repressive regime. West Germany embraced this philosophy and spread it to other countries in Europe, leading to other nudist resorts opening in France, Yugoslavia and the Baltic Sea.

To this day, nudism remains a common cultural practice in Germany. However, FKK has reported a yearly loss in members of around 2%. Many Germans are reportedly turned off by invasive stares of foreigners and a fear of being filmed. What’s your personal stance on nudism? Would you be confident enough to publicly flash your genital power to an audience?

Does nudism have anything to do with sex?

The FKK and other nudist groups around the world reject the claim. Nudist philosophy is based on health, freedom and lack of self-consciousness. Everyone is afraid of freedom and yet deeply desires it. Cultural conventions are so rooted in our societies that direct political or social dissonance creates conflict. However, nakedness is empowering; just strolling naked down the beach is an act of rebellion. Isn’t that incredibly amazing? Just wearing your skin can be absolutely defying but yet profoundly meaningful.

Our bodies are beautiful. Nature is a constant work of art. It is part of our physical dimension: a translation of a self-regulatory perfect machine. Why be ashamed of nakedness when it is a marvellous idea? Nudism should be embraced, celebrated, experienced by all with joy and respect.

Photographer Spencer Tunick is a fierce advocate of destigmatising nudism. Through his art, he has made countless statements that our worst enemy is fear of our own bodies. He is well known for large scale installations where he has managed to photograph a maximum of 18,000 people naked at the same time, and for having been arrested a few times as a result of his campaigning. Can someone rationally explain where the harm is!

Tantra promotes a philosophy of social nudism and, for this reason, tantric massage can only be practised when we are completely naked. Ready to exchange our best energy, raw, bare and pure, our sexual energy can create an interconnected electric circuit between two bodies. We are made out of cells, molecules and atoms, i.e. energy. Quantum physics has been exploring this concept and realised that atoms are vortices of spinning energy constantly vibrating and transmitting their own hallmark. This means that energy is flowing through our bodies constantly whilst creating our physical, emotional and perceptual experiences. Nudism requires a certain mental state that can change our energy. If we realised this, we could positively transform our cultural beliefs about the body and human sexuality.

Workshops or retreats in tantric massage are a perfect opportunity to experience nakedness in a public environment. The aim of these workshops is to train the mind so as to feel at complete ease with our bodies. The fact that we are giving permission to others to notice our nakedness is a preliminary step to connect sexually in this particular context—we do agree that nudism on a beach for instance does not carry any sexual intention. The simple act of being naked in front of others is a self-defying experience, once we overcome this blockage, we are set to conquer the next phase: mind control over body sensations.

The practice of nudism as a way of life is not essentially sexual. Nevertheless, creating a social standard that normalises the courage and naturalness of being naked in public brings about a positive outlook of our sexual lives. For sex starts by the awakening of our bodies, our senses, our consciousness. Nakedness has undoubtedly that effect.

Do you feel comfortable in your own skin?

Watch the interview below of two proponents of nudism who are bold enough to make their statement while naked.

Nerea, an Independent Tantric Masseuse in London