Get Naked: It’s Good for Your Brain
Okay, buck naked? I am. Fun. Toes wiggle in the shag carpet. Butt cheeks stick to the chair. Nipples goose-bump. We’re natural... nudists! Our huge organs (skin) tingle with sensual data that’s zipped to our thrilled brains. We feel... wild, healthy, alert, spunky. Alive.
Clothing is crushing us! Trapped in tomb-like textiles, we exile our flesh from experiencing the environment. We atrophy the majority of our epidermis. If you put a plaster cast on a broken arm, the skin starves for Vitamin D; muscles weaken due to strangled range of motion; nerve synapses depress to a whimper of their former joy. Twenty-first century hominids shroud the entire skin palette, obliterating symbiosis with the planet except via face, neck and hands. (Burqa-clad Muslim women lose nearly 100%.) We hide in cocoons, when we could be free as butterflies.
History reveals many cultures that were not clothes-minded. Spartans were basically bare and their victories in pan-Hellenic sports competitions enticed all neighboring Greeks to exercise nude, creating the word “gymnasium” (Greek gymnos = naked). Romans mingled in magnificent bathhouses, enjoying dense communal nudity as they drank, dined, defecated, bathed, read books, argued politics, and watched theater. Adamists — naked heretics — performed stripped-down church services in North Africa, Bohemia, the Netherlands, and England. Pre-Hitler Germans were avid adherents of Freikorperkultur (“Free Body Culture”) with 70,000 attending co-ed Nacktkultur schools. There’s naked Japanese in hot springs, naked Finns in saunas, “sky-clad” Jain monks in India, plus millions of nudists worldwide going to “Nakation” camps, beaches, and resorts, still sporty as Spartans. They hike naked (“free bush rambling”), canoe naked (“canuding”), bicycle naked, ride horses naked, run naked, play volleyball, badminton, ping-pong and chess naked, swim naked, dance naked, do Naked Yoga, Naked Tai Chi, Naked Gardening, Naked Bowling, and you and I, dear reader, we’re both NIFOC — Naked In Front of Computers.
Many famous figures are bare-all aficionados; too many politicians to name, so I’ll just list sci-fi and scientists: Leonard Nimoy, Alexander Graham Bell, Robert Heinlein, and seismologist Charles Richter. Of course, most movie stars skinny-dip at the French Riviera, trying to elude paparazzi seeking pix of Bruce Willis’ willy or Natalie Portman’s port side.
Specific studies have not yet proven that full-scale nudity directly benefits brain performance, but here’s peripheral evidence indicating that skin-only is superior:
1. The Clothes You Were Born In. Pediatricians agree that infants thrive with a daily dose of “naked time” because the unhampered range of motion aids brain development. Recent discoveries reveal that the “plastic” brain changes and develops throughout our entire lives. Neuroplasticity pioneer Michael M. Merzenich believes, “everything you can see happen in a young brain can happen in an older brain.” This indicates that “naked time” is equally valuable for humans of any age, especially the elderly.
2. Barefoot Medicine. Going shoeless is now recognized as an anti-Alzheimer’s, brain-boosting activity because the sole sensation entices your brain into growing extra, efficient neuron connections. Merzenich believes our brains decline if we “limit the sensory feedback from our feet.” He advocates walking barefoot (to improve balance, posture, and co-ordination functions in the vestibulocerebellum.) Dr. Norman Doidge (author of The Brain That Changes Itself) concurs that skipping shoes will increase brain flexibility and youthfulness, and many podiatrists now advise going barefoot as much as possible. Bare feet are today’s prescription. Tomorrow’s elixir will take the next step: Bare Body.
Clothing is crushing us! Trapped in tomb-like textiles, we exile our flesh from experiencing the environment.
3. Soothe Away Your Crazies. Massage is recognized as a therapeutic treatment for mental health issues like depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolarism, borderline personality disorder, learning difficulties, and low self-esteem. The skin stimulation of massage — improving blood flow and detoxifying the lymph system — is duplicated by the warmth, freedom, and improved circulation generated in Nakedness.
4. Socialization. Self-actualization proponent Abraham Maslow believed “Nudism... is itself a kind of therapy.” Health benefits of social nudity include stress reduction, satiation of curiosity about the human body, reduction of porn addiction, a sense of full-body integration and developing a wholesome attitude about the opposite gender. Research at the University of Northern Iowa discovered that nudists have significantly higher body self-acceptance. Another study by Lawrence Casher concluded that teens at a New York nudist camp were “extraordinarily well-adjusted, happy, and thoughtful.”
5. Weak Body, Worried Mind. Clothes are a breeding ground for filthy fungi and bad bacterium, causing yeast infections, urinary tract infections, rotting toenails. Lyme Disease deer ticks can grab onto your sweater and sea lice can sneak into your bathing suit crotch. Testicular cancer is linked to tight briefs, breast cancer to tight bras. Cinched-up belts, ties, and clothes impede breathing. Men’s snug pants raise testicle temperature, lowering sperm count and fertility. Plus, sunlight that nudists receive produces vitamin D that creates strong bones and prevents osteoporosis and cancers.
6. Comic Relief (Just Joking!). Have you noticed that the furry Norway Rat only lives 2-3 years, while the Naked Mole Rat survives to be 28?
In addition to all this, clothes are a huge money/time-suck with shopping, laundry, taking on-and-off, stashing in closets and dressers, plus gazillions of hours wondering what so-and-so looks like with their undies removed. Americans spend at least $900 million annually on bathing suits alone; our carbon footprint would shrink like a wool sweater if fabric was no longer manufactured.
So... is the future going to be full frontal? Will the post-Singularity planet be stripped, once climate is controlled by nanobots? Will everyone choose to be nude, strutting around like the Nuba dancers and wrestlers of Leni Reifenstahl? Trends point to a time where there won’t be a stitch to worry about. Fodor’s Guide says nudism is tourism’s fastest-growing sector, and American naturist clubs claim their enrollment is growing 20% annually. The German airline OssiUrlaub.de offers nude chartered flights to a Baltic sea resort, and today’s lengthy luggage searches at airports might steer travelers to destinations where they only need carry-on towels and sunblock. Twenty million Europeans already go to nude beaches and spas. Will the rest of the globe burn their garments to revel in raw flesh and simple skin?
I am pulsating imagining it, are you? Can 100 billion brain neurons simultaneously fire?
Hank Hyena is senior editor of The Extropist Examiner. He also wrote “SexBots Will Give Us Longevity Orgasm” and “Eight Ways In-Vitro Meat Will Change Our Lives” for h+.
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Comments
This makes me think of the Samuel Delany's Trouble on Triton. In that future, going naked is as accepted as wearing clothes. People's choices on the matter varies by the day.
Great article! Thank you for sharing this and the other links as well.
I would also like to encourage any naysayers to at least give it a try, then make your decision. Most of us have a "first time" - for me I was 30 and lived in NY at the time. Never did I imagine myself at a nudist club--but once I did, I just enjoyed the freedom so much.
That feeling of swimming without a (wet!) bathing suit is true free body culture.
Visit the nude beach (here in NJ it's Sandy Hook/Gunnison) or a local club. (ours is Rock Lodge Club in New Jersey)
Enjoy life>>> Naturally!
Hank: This is a terrific article, one in which I agree with you 100%. Participating in nudist activities in the proper context -- i.e., a nudist beach, park or private home -- should be encouraged as a technique to overcome the oppressive, Puritanical cultural programming against the nude human body as somehow obscene.
The pre-Nazi naturism movement in Germany is one of the most important social movements to come out of the past century. In the early 21st Century, the biggest challenge facing legitimate nude recreation is the introduction of sexually-oriented resorts for swingers -- I have nothing against consenting adults engaged in private sexual activities, but the growing confusion between family-oriented nudism and swinging is a potential threat to family nudism as form of wholesome recreation.
I've been a member of the American Association for Nude Recreation for some 23 years, and hope that someday I'll become a 24/7 nudist in retirement. Personally, I've always preferred the egalitarian feel of traditional nudism, as you'll see nudist couples in their 70s, down to families with small children. My hope is that someday, you'll see more nude beaches in the US, as well as public parks with areas dedicated to nude sunbathing, much like those in Central and Western Europe.
I would suggest that your readers try "The Society for Barefoot Living", and www.aanr.com, online, for more information. Stay bare, my friend.
HI - this is Hank Hyena, the author. I really appreciate your comments! Yes, I agree with your ideas regarding the pre-Nazi naturalist movement in Germany in the 1920's and 30's. If I didn't live so far away (san francisco) i'd be happy to go to your beach regularly, but I will definitely check it out whenever I'm on the east coast. Thanks again, and I, too, dream of retiring naked - there's a place called Laguna del Sol near Sacramento that seems to have a retirement community for nudists. If you end up there, let me knw and we'll go for a swim.
First, the article is good as it turns out to be an interesting read. However, as pointed by other comments, this lack substantial proof that absolute nudity is good thing. Well, if nudity's good for our brain, how about sleeping nude then you have 8 hours to benefit your brain. I just wonder if there is somebody who would still love to live in Alaska just to have his brain healthy by means of nudity. And I am quite not sure if working people like nurses could be comfortable dealing with their clients or patients without any medical scrubs on.
What a load of complete hogwash!
Human beings occupy the majority of the land surface of the planet, including zones which would be uninhabitable were it not for clothing. Our bodies have changed over several thousand years to adapt to these climates on the basis of the fact that we have other means of protecting our sensitive skins from the elements, chiefly through clothing. For the vast majority of us, including we Europeans, nudity is a state we adopt for showering/bathing only, and we intend to keep it that way.
For the small minority who have a compulsion to expose their genitalia, there are nudist beaches and other facilities.
Nudists do not only air their genitalia. We bare our arms, legs, chests/breasts, backs, etc. In the early 1800s physicians did prescribe air baths for the over-industrialization of Europe. Nudism is still an antidote to this civilization allowing humans to de-stress, relax, and get back to innocense.
I have been a nudist for more than 40 of my 62 years, a card carrying one of The Naturist Society as well as the American Association for Nude Recreation.
A feeling of well being overcomes people who shed their constrictive clothing and relax with friends and family in the air or surf around them. It makes great sense to do housework without clothing except I do have to wear at least shoes when vacuuming as I've a habit of running over my feet with the vacuum cleaner.
It's a great article. Children are natural nudists; they are taught body shame. Even the late John Paul II said there was nothing wrong with simple nudity.
Clothes do indeed have practical purposes, to be sure. I live nude much of the time because I can. I live in south Florida where it is warm enough to be comfortably nude 10 months out of the year. I reap the benefits often. I attend nude yoga classes, which only yield rewards if performed under the watchful eye of a good yoga instructor, not a video lesson.
I agree with some commentators that this article would be more persuasive if it cited verifiable studies. I found nothing in a search for "Lawrence Casher" except this article.
If you really want to latch on to a current trend, cite how "green" a nude lifestyle can be: fewer clothes worn means less raw goods consumed, less water and detergent used, and of course less resulting pollution. To say nothing of the money saved on clothing and laundering. I guess that makes it twice green!
Anyway, as long as the Internet is allowing people to live vicariously through the blogs of others who enjoy the benefits of a practical nude lifestyle, it is only a matter of time before they give it a try themselves. The tide is indeed turning, as can be seen at ever-growing crowds at public nude beaches such as Haulover in Miami and Sandy Hook in New Jersey.
I am Hank Hyena, the author. Here's three links for you, with info on nudity health benefits.
205 Arguments in Support of Social Nudity
http://familyskinnydippers.com/public/205args.php?arg=107
Nudity in Ancient to Modern Cultures--Aileen Goodson
http://www.primitivism.com/nudity.htm
Empire of Ecstacy http://www.escholarship.org/editions/view?docId=ft167nb0sp&chunk.id=d0e9...
Anyone can practice nude yoga using an nude yoga instructional video series, Naked Yoga school.
http://NakedYogaSchool.com
I don't see a problem with allowing nudity, but I have some doubts as for the recommendation of it and highlighting only the positive side... being naked is not as hygienic in public places and it risks easier spread of diseases. It could be said that it can be both beautiful and ugly.
"If you put a plaster cast on a broken arm, the skin starves for Vitamin D; muscles weaken due to strangled range of motion; nerve synapses depress to a whimper of their former joy."
I wonder if this also means feeling more pain from skin.
"Clothes are a breeding ground for filthy fungi and bad bacterium, causing yeast infections, urinary tract infections, rotting toenails. Lyme Disease deer ticks can grab onto your sweater and sea lice can sneak into your bathing suit crotch. Testicular cancer is linked to tight briefs, breast cancer to tight bras. Cinched-up belts, ties, and clothes impede breathing. Men’s snug pants raise testicle temperature, lowering sperm count and fertility. Plus, sunlight that nudists receive produces vitamin D that creates strong bones and prevents osteoporosis and cancers."
Here it forgets to say that clothing also serves as protection for the skin, from diseases and insects as well as from the cancer causing sun and the weather.
Yes, it can be a breeding ground for bacteria, etc. That's one reason bare ettiquete demands you sit on your own towel.
There's one GIANT flaw in this entire article: how will we go outside in the winter?
Jackets without pants?
Though I like this idea, I really do, society's collective concern will be getting their feet cold; this will be enough of an encouragement against nudity.
Unless of course nudity takes a break during the colder seasons.
When nudists "lost" the clothes, we didn't lose our common sense. When cold, put on something when chilled.
Your "GIANT flaw" is lacking common sence, but it is okay. We understand.
They will need to invent some sort of belt with pockets. Have you tried going nude? There's no place to put your wallet or car keys. It's really annoying. Plus how do I hid my flask? Sure if you're a woman you can carry a purse, but just because I'm ready to go naked doesn't mean I'm ready to carry a "man purse". Maybe genetic engineering can fix this. Kangaroo pouches that's where it's at.
PS
Global warming will take care of the cold issue. Why do you think we can't seem to get concise coordinated global action against carbon emission. It's because most of the worlds leaders are nudists. They have been pushing for global warming all along. Seriously though, go Naked! Our society is way to uptight about nudity. There's no reason why it should be illegal for me or anyone else to walk down the street naked.
As I told Hank further down, I do think clothing will always exist. It will however change functions. Once the nudity taboo has finally vanished, and we've found ways to enhance and beautify ourselves to our satisfaction, clothing will be either functional, i.e. environmental protection, utility, or it will be strictly decorative, designed to display.
There are numerous factors involved, but nakedness by itself will simply cease to be an issue. Being nude in public would simply be a matter of choice, and clothing will likely be far more revealing than concealing. There is also the strong likelihood that as we make advances in technology and biology, we might even enhance ourselves to the point where we could all stand naked in a blizzard and feel warm like a Tibetan monk. Adjusting the human body to deal with temperature extremes is a normal function of the species, so we'd simply be tweaking things a little.
For now, why not just enjoy being nude as often as you can?
Hey Hank,
Great article. However I think it is a little optimistic to think Americans will overcome the socially required taboo thinking associated with naturalism. That said I want to share with you and your readers an interesting observation. As my wife and I raised our children we did indeed follow a European outlook and philosophy regarding open nudity around the house and during our recreation time. Before anyone goes off on this, we taught our kids the concept of a proper time and place for everything which we as a family followed. A way of life they are now using to rear our grandchildren. Often times the kids friends were also exposed to this openness but only after their parents gave the okay. Two things stand out as very memorable regarding these interactions.
First is that for the most part none of the other parents had any kind of objection which was actually kind of surprising. Mostly the only concern was that privacy was maintained. Seeing we had a large enclosed yard and an indoor pool this was not a problem. As the kids grew, swimming and staying over at our house never became an issue most likely because this was the norm since the kids were little. Sex never entered the picture at all and we attribute that to the very openness and body acceptance that was fostered from such an environment. But also, later on in life several of our kids friends have said to my wife and I that they had realised a much more secure self image when dealing with nudity in common scenarios than most of their friends. One once told me while she was studing to be a marine biologist, that she never realised how much time was waisted while changing into and out of diving suits because most of the students would search out private corners to change in. She would just change right there next to the van and be in the water in no time. She attributed that ability to the time spent growing up around our house.
Next I would like to respond to one of the individuals who wrote about keeping your cloths on, and just because they did it in the dark ages doesn't mean we should allow it now. I guess the experiment was successful. They actually taught a monkey not only what to think but how to type it on a computer. Being an anal retentive type I hope he can at least understand the pressure of everyday life needs to be relieved regularly or you may end up - well writting responses out of your butt. Anyway, when I get stressed out I use a simple form of relaxation that has never failed me. As you know, totally nude exposure of the body senses provides an intense sensory imput to the brain. I relaxe by taking the time to stop and in my mind place myself back on that beach and feeling all those sensations of sun, air and water. The sound of the surf, the smell of the sea mist. And the next thing I know I feel like I have been decompressed and ready to deal with what ever is in front of me. So to all of you that think Hank's article is a bunch of bunk-- I have one thing to say. Good Monkey.
Hi Seth -- this is Hank Hyena, the author. I have never been so happy to read a comment as yours! thank you for telling the readers what you have personally gained, and what your children have gained, from the family nudity that you have espoused. I am deeply grateful for your observations, and I'm quite amused by your last paragraph. Yours truely - ! Hank
I tried posting a comment earlier but it has not shown up. Are these getting through to anyone? Most other websites display comments immediately. Also, in your code verification box, it is very hard to distinguish between x & X.
Hi Mark -- I am Hank Hyena, the author. Here's three links for you, with info on nudity health benefits.
205 Arguments in Support of Social Nudity
http://familyskinnydippers.com/public/205args.php?arg=107
Nudity in Ancient to Modern Cultures--Aileen Goodson
http://www.primitivism.com/nudity.htm
Empire of Ecstacy http://www.escholarship.org/editions/view?docId=ft167nb0sp&chunk.id=d0e9...
"Testicular cancer is linked to tight briefs, breast cancer to tight bras."
I'm not sure about testicular cancer but the idea that a "tight" bra (many want to link it to underwire) has any effect on your risk of cancer has been pretty thoroughly debunked now.
Dear Hypatia -- this is Hank Hyena, the author of the "Get Naked" article
your comment above is so WRONG and I strongly suggest that you immediately take off your tight bra.
I don't know where you got the information that you so casually tossed out, that tight bras leading to cancer
"has been pretty throughly debunked" -- because I've referenced three sources that state the opposite.
http://www.hawaii247.org/2009/12/07/ross-the-mammogram-scam/
http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/bracancer.html
http://healthmad.com/conditions-and-diseases/bra-and-breast-cancer/
The tightness=cancer connection is more related to constriction of the lymph system than the underwire.
Please Hypatia, do some research before you post erroneous information. People's lives depend on the truth.
Actually, none of the articles you posted are peer-reviewed or official medical or government statements, and therefore are no more true than Hypatia's comment. These are NOT reliable resources and should not be taken as such.
So was the iceman that was found in the Swiss Alps a few years ago living in a "beauty" culture? He was clothed and it seemed to me like the clothes were there for a reason & it wasn't because he was afraid of someone seeing his penis or his gut.
Being naked is great, I'll grant you. But in the real physical world, there are only a handful of latitudes at which a naked life is even remotely feasible. And even in those climates, people still wrap their loins to protect them from unfortunate events like snags!...ouch. Those are our baby-makers, and people have been trying to protect them from the outside elements since there have been people. Why? They do it because it is in the best interest of our species to have future generations.
Also, something has dramatically increased the life expectancy of human beings since the times of widespread nakedness. Maybe wearing clothing in inhospitable climates has something to do with that?
Also, in viewing the tragedy in Haiti, I am reminded of just how resilient the human body is. Do you really believe that wearing a slightly constrictive waistband 16 hours a day is going to hurt you that badly?
Hi scopesmonkey and others - this is Hank Hyena, the author. I have heard many complaints from folks in the UK and USA that it is cold today where they live, as if that negates my whole thesis. I believe their complaints obfuscate the truth; their fret about weather is diverting and dishonest. Right now, there are Finns and Scandinavians in a clime more frigid than yours -- they're naked in saunas. There's Japanese relaxing nude in mountain hot springs or enjoying a bath with their entire family. When spring and summer arrive, Germans and Czechs will fly to Croatia and the Baltic to enjoy nude beaches, while Spanish and French flock to their naked villages on the Mediterranean. In Zurich and Berlin, citizens will swim naked in park lakes. You say it's too cold where you live, but in the summer, you're not going to be naked either. There's an Anglo-American phobia about nudity that much of the world does not share, and my disagreeing readers ought to just cop to it rather than use low temperatures as an excuse, or use weird anthropology on me, such as the finding of a clothed caveman in the Alps. Nudity is natural, it feels good, and its healthy.
Hank,
Believe me when I say that I do thoroughly enjoy being in the nude. I understand that nudity is our natural state and I am very attuned to sensory experiences. However, what you present that I am taking exception with is the idea that clothing traps us & does us harm. My stance is that while people in the US & UK may be sexually repressed, that does not mean that clothing is bad. All I was trying to say was that there are not many a society that completely shuns clothing (maybe there has been, but I wouldn't expect a culture like that would survive very long), while there are many cultures that have shunned nudity (Eskimo, Inuit, Bedouin, etc.). I don't know why it is like that in America, but I am an American and I love to fuck & skinny-dip & cavort around the house in the nude. But I would never cook in the nude, just for instance. Nor would I cook barefoot. I sure would like one of those confounded "cocoons" when I am frying bacon.
So maybe we can compromise: Nudity & clothing both have appropriate arenas. You speak of the sensory explosion that comes from being naked. Clothing simply serves to protect us against the other extreme of that sensory input. Everyone loves to walk barefoot on sand, but who loves 2nd degree burns?
Hi scopesmonkey -- Hank Hyena here again. Yes, you're right -- there's a time and a place for clothing. I actually have a cold today because I went for a run 3 days ago with perhaps not enough clothes on. Now I have the sniffles. I do wish there were more clothing-optional choices though -- a skinny-dipping pool would be nice! And in the summer, I wish the USA had clothing-optional parks like Europe does. The Nacktkultur schools of 1920's Germany sound interesting too -- Also, please read the posting at the top by Seth, I think it is very valuable. Thanks for reading my article and chatting with me
Hank, dear, sadly they are mainly reacting to the cognitive dissonance that is caused by the American culture of sexual repression. Naked = Sex. Period. and since we're taught from birth that Sex is taboo, despite being bombarded with it every second of the day, when you talk about nudity, it triggers the Sex is dirty reflex.
American culture refuses to deal with the fact that sex is a natural function of life. Children are expected to simply KNOW instinctively how to do it, and for parents to even make a hint about teaching their children about sex is tantamount to child abuse. Obviously if you try to teach your child about sex and sex safety, you're a dirty filthy child molester.
Luckily sexbots and VR will probably mitigate some of that. At least we can hope so.
Interesting article, however, I have a few criticisms. First, in most parts of the world (like the Northeastern US, where I live), it is simply too cold to go nude all the time, even indoors. In the warmer months, it could be feasible, and I do agree that being barefoot and/or nude is enjoyable, but for much of the year, you'd risk hypothermia if you went outside nude.
Second, I would appreciate it if you provided a link to the medical literature you referred to, or at least a proper citation.
Third, some people just don't really want to be seen fully nude. I, for example, don't mind being seen in my underwear, but the full monty is something that is for my lover alone.
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