Baked Naked

The First Time I Was Naked With Others Was Scary, Now I’ll Strip Any Chance I Get

Here’s why

My first naked adventure with others was admittedly tame, to those of you who are regularly naked with people. It was in a homemade sweat lodge on a friend’s property in Colorado, with my husband of the time and the friend’s wife of the time.

It was scary because I’d never been naked with anyone besides my husband, but also because the friend was my first love at age 13, and I’d never gotten over him. He and I would see each other naked for the first time. His wife and I would see each other naked. My husband would see him and his wife naked. He would see my husband naked. You see the issues.

He and his wife stripped down and went into the sweat lodge. As she crawled in, I noticed she was lubricating. That added to my discomfort.

When they entered, the hot rocks were waiting in the middle to be sprinkled with water. My husband went next, as I removed jeans and T-shirt and stood outside in my underwear.

I cried a little.

When I noticed steam coming from the tent flap, I quickly shed panties — I didn’t wear bras in my twenties — and dove through the flap, the steam providing some camouflage.

Once inside, with the rocks sending off sizzling sounds and healing steam, I relaxed. We did a Native American chant, and the space began to feel sacred.

After 20 to 30 minutes of sweating out the toxins and clearing my mind with the chant, I crawled out and jumped into the icy mountain stream next to the sweat lodge. I’ve never before or since felt so clean.

Since then, I’ve had numerous naked adventures with other people. I became somewhat addicted to nudity.

The adventures were usually, but not all, in transformational settings with people I cared about, even if I barely knew them After the experience, I knew them barely.

One time was also in Colorado. I’d attended a seminar called “Money and You,” which I also helped produce. The instructor invited a few of us who worked the seminar to his home. There were six of us. I was well acquainted with everyone except one younger woman in her 20s.

The instructor and his wife had a large hot tub and an even larger shower.

Five of us got in the hot tub naked. The 20 something came out in her bathing suit.

She looked surprised, said she didn’t think people our age would be comfortable naked — we were in our thirties and forties — and peeled that bathing suit off.

It was a beautiful night under the Colorado clear skies and stars. Like pinpricks in black velvet. As we relaxed in hot water, we talked and shared and laughed.

After, we adjourned to the shower. It was bigger than my current home office.

It held all of us, and was equipped with spigots that mimicked rain, and others that gave strong spray massages. One man washed my hair for me. There were no overt sexual connotations or actions, but it was very sensual. Hot water flowing, cooler water from the rain taps caressing my body, a man behind me massaging shampoo into my hair.

That was my favorite naked time with others.

Since then I’ve been naked on numerous beaches, including one in Austin, Texas — Hippie Hollow. The best experiences were the Cayman Islands beaches, and beaches in Martinique and St. Martin. The French are as nonchalant about nudity as they are about, well everything. Except perhaps wine. Especially bad wine.

I’ve been to a French island nudist colony. There is nothing quite like the vision of naked people of all ages sitting side-by-side on benches in a cafeteria eating. I wasn’t nonchalant enough to do that, and probably never will be.

There were all types of bodies at the nudist colony. They weren’t all attractive. Unfortunately for them and me, who worships the sun, hanging out on a beach nude for long periods or time or most of your life is not conducive to supple skin. However, their self-possession and freedom made them beautiful to me.

There have been several other times I’ve been naked with others. One in another hot tub under the Georgia pines. Moonlight from a full moon filtered through the pines, as in the Ray Charles song, as my husband, his friend and the friend’s wife and I luxuriated in the hot water and our friendship.

Two other times are too intimate to write about.

Nudity with others isn’t usually about sex, although of course that can be a choice. It is about being vulnerable. It can certainly be sensual. Most of all, it’s freeing. Freeing of western cultural norms. Freeing of shame about our bodies. Freeing from the clothes and other coverings we use to proclaim our identity and impress others.

Uncovered, we can finally be fully ourselves.