I was turning 30 and something had to give.  Like many women in western culture, I had spend most of my developmental years feeling inadequate physically.  I struggled being comfortable in my skin starting with the onset of puberty.  Prior to that, I didn’t think about my body much.  I enjoyed the thrill of being nude, despite believing it inappropriate by cultural standards, and snuck out with friends to streak through neighborhoods at night or secretly skinny dip in lakes.

In Junior High School, young men and young women became keenly aware of the way our bodies were changing.  As we continued to become uniquely ourselves, I desperately wanted to look like anyone but myself.

Fast forward through years of discomfort and shame, I decided enough was enough.  I called the local Art Institute applied for a position as a nude Artist model.  There is no hiding flaws or an aging body when posing nude, on a platform, under a spotlight in front of a bunch of twenty-something art school students!

  I began accepting my body instead of being embarrassed of it.  Being the muse of some artists certainly helped.  But, an environment where nudity and the human form were both appreciated and normalized, made worrying about concealing myself feel like a waste of energy.

I began practicing yoga nude and spending time alone disrobed.  By the time I got to Lupin, almost 5 years after my turning point, I was relieved that nudity wasn’t anything to fuss about.

You will surely meet people here who have been naturists most of their lives or where introduced to nudism by their families.  You may meet people who have fought for the right to be natural in nature and protested for their freedom.  But you will also meet people who are new to naturism.  You will meet people who are dipping their toe in the water and learning to be comfortable in their skin, without clothes.

Wherever you are on your naturism journey and in your relationship with your body, you belong here.  We all do.  Naturally.