Category: Naturist recreation

Hooping naked

Who would have thought there’s a Web site just for devotees of hula hooping? Well, there is: Hooping.org.

And what’s more, some of them (like Vera) enjoy hooping naked

I recently hooped naked for the first time. I was hanging out at Baker Beach with some friends and some hoops, and since Baker Beach is a nude beach, it made sense for us to hoop naked.

Besides the obvious feelings of freedom and unrestraint, naked hooping brings with it another benefit: the traction of the skin. When hooping with my knees, I was never very good at pushing the hoop back up to my hips with my thighs. But the traction of my naked skin made it very easy for me to wiggle the hoop up from my knees.

After the naked hooping practice it has been much easier for me to bring the hoop up from my knees, even with clothes on. The nudity has served as my training wheels.

Another naked hooping enthusiast (Sarah) says

Naked hooping (sometimes even naked fire-hooping) is a popular activity up at Hollyhock, a retreat centre on Cortes Island, BC, where the organization I work for holds workshops. We make up a big batch of hoops each time we’re there, and naked hooping under the stars inevitably follows the naked hot-tubbing. One of the first times I ever hooped was naked under a full moon… It’s so beautiful to watch your own naked shadow, cast by moonlight, swinging around a hulahoop!

Originally posted January 13, 2006

Naked bungy jumping

Now that the Winter Solstice is past, Valentine’s day is rapidly approaching. Got plans yet?

How about naked bungy jumping in tandem with a really close friend? Or even on a first date….

It’s a Valentine’s weekend tradition at the Bungy Zone in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. This year, that’s February 11-12. So make your plans quickly… it’s only five weeks away. In years past, jumpers who go naked also go free (only on this weekend), so it can be a bargain, apart from travel costs.

As the company says,

You can bungee jump “classic style” or join the growing group of naked bungee jumpers that gather annually to “let it all hang out” as they bungee jump in the buff.

Think you’d be scared shitless to try this? Yeah, probably. But having this “ultimate adrenaline rush” appears to be the main point. And maybe the ultimate bonding experience as well. Of course, you could always just make the trip to Nanaimo to watch, and wait to see (and let lots of others see) whether you have the (ahem) balls to go through with it.

That’s what Seattle reporter Kristin Dizon did several years ago:

Free Falling! A stripped-down version of bungee jumping

Who knows what brought these jumpers to Nanaimo, a logging and fishing town of about 70,000 on the east coast of Vancouver Island. Overcoming fear, trying something new, exhibiting one’s body or perhaps some deeper existential search for meaning drew them to the Bungy Zone.

Kristin notes that not all couples who do the naked tandem thing are in a serious relationship:

Alison Behrner and Wade Anderson, both of Campbell River, B.C., are no exception. Fused together, chins nuzzled into shoulders, their arms tightly clasp each other for a tandem jump.

“Are we a couple?” Behrner, 28, ponders when asked. “I don’t know.”

“This is like our first date. We’re just getting to know each other,” Anderson, 25, chimes in.

But then, maybe the guy was just being flippant. Despite her reluctance, Kristin eventually allowed herself to be talked into stripping and jumping. Even so, it was anything but easy, and there was an audience:

Clad in nothing but hiking boots, I think of leaping feet first, but that seems so spineless. A minute ticks by, then another.

I don’t notice the people watching and wondering, will she or won’t she?

Clearly, Kristin (who jumped alone) lived to tell about it, with no injury other than the indignity of being fished out of the water and being released from the cord, where “Legs up in the air, I look like a baby during a diaper change.”

Here’s another report, from another year, by writer Kimberlee Jensen:

Naked tandem bungy jumping

For our first Valentine’s Day together, my partner and I wanted our celebration to truly reflect our relationship, so naked tandem bungy jumping sounded just right.

This is a popular event, so you may have to wait some time in line — about three hours Kimberlee reports. But the experience was romantic enough to make up for that:

As we spun upside-down we shared a thrilling kiss. While embraced he reached around and pinched my bottom. We were bare and it was there, so I hardly blame him. The jump was over within minutes, but we both wanted it to last longer.

Originally published January 7, 2006

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More info:

Video: here

Still pictures: here

Miscellaneous links, 12/23/05

In recognition of the Winter Solstice Season, here’s a gift from the Naturist Place Blog to you — links to a variety of interesting pages about nudity and naturism. This is a very special time for naturists in the northern hemisphere, because the days now start getting longer (if not warmer), and we can look forward to the gradual return of our friend, the Sun — the source of life itself.

There will be more selections of miscellaneous links in the future, but for now, Happy Holidays!

[Note: “*” indicates the link is still valid, as of this update.]

How to Introduce a Friend to Naturism

Here are some great tips from the Federation of Canadian Naturists on how to turn your friends on to the pleasures of going naked.
* Naturist Guide to the Movies

ClothesFree International has prepared a very useful list of movies that contain scenes with non-sexual nudity. There’s a brief description of the movie, an indication of suitability for the whole family (i. e. whether there’s sex or violence as well as nudity), and still images from a few of the movies.
Bibliographie Naturiste

My friend Rouslan, who lives in France, has compiled an extensive list of books in many languages (mainly English, French, and German) that deal with nudity and naturism. It’s organized into categories, like children’s books, guides, essays, art, and health. The home page of this site is a directory of links to many sites in France and elsewhere outside the U. S. that should be of interest to people who like nudity.
The Offense of Public Nudity

Mark Storey offers a thoughtful essay that critiques the idea of public nudity as being “offensive”. It provides good arguments to use with people (such as public officials) who object to nudity in any public context (such as beaches) on the grounds that some people might be “offended”. The essay is located on the Body Freedom Collaborative site, which has a great deal of information about non-sexual public nudity in various forms.
Bare Bushwalking in Australia

This looks like a pretty comprehensive guide to nude hiking just about anywhere (within reason) in Australia. It includes news, opinions, and general information provided by an extensive list of nude bushwalkers. There’s a page of good advice for nude hikers anywhere, and a list of relevant external links.
* Nude Hiking in the Yukon & Alaska

Here’s another site for people who enjoy both nudity and hiking in the great outdoors. It includes a page of nude hiking etiquette and tips and a list of online sites that can help you find hiking partners. This main page contains lists of useful external links and books about nudity and naturism.
* Nudity in Ancient to Modern Cultures

This is a chapter from the book Therapy, Nudity & Joy: The Therapeutic Use of Nudity Through the Ages from Ancient Ritual to Modern Psychology by Aileen Goodson. It provides a quick historical overview of nudity in many societies and cultures from “primitive” ones, through ancient Egypt, Greece, and India. From there the focus narrows to China, Japan, and European cultures such as Wicca, early Christianity, the Victorian age, and 20th century naturism.

Originally posted December 23, 2005

Southern California trip report

Jan C’s Netnude is one of the finest naturist sites on the Web. It’s a true community, and regularly promotes real-world gatherings for its members. Not only that, but among many other good things, it also hosts contributed trip reports on naturist places all over the world.

Here’s a very nice example of one such report, by “Nevada Naturist” on the occasion of a trip to Southern California for a gathering. The text and pictures describe and illustrate several outstanding naturist destinations: Deep Creek Hot Springs, San Onofre State Beach, Black’s Beach, and the De Anza Springs Resort in the Anza-Borego Desert.

Nevada Naturist’s Journey to the April 2005 Netnude Gathering

All/most links here are still valid.

Originally posted November 7, 2005

Canuding

Canuding simply means canoeing without being burdened with clothing. It’s a popular form of nude outdoor recreation.

We just came across this interesting account of canuding in Canada, although it’s several years old. It’s a report by a Buffalo (NY) naturist about a canuding trip that seven adults and three children enjoyed for five days in 2001 on several lakes in Canada.

One of the most charming details of the story is how well the nude people were received by clothed people they met. Near the end of the trip, the naturists disembarked on a floating dock and were actually welcomed by the folks there. Eventually

there was a mix of nude people and people with suits on, all having a grand time… Then a small boat pulls in loaded with more kids. Four girls and two boys. Two of the girls were the younger daughters we had met the night before and the rest were neighbors. They joined in swimming and one of them took our kids out in a 3 seater paddle wheel boat, to trip between the barge and the tower. The barge btw had a motor on it and was able to go out on the lake… It had a picnic table, umbrella, grill for cooking and was made for partying away from shore.

Now we have our six adults and three kids nude and semi-nude mixing and having a great time with 6 girls and 3 boys ages 6 to 17 with suits on…

Other parts of this naturist’s site are well worth reading too. From here you can find stories about canuding the Weeki Wachee in Florida, being topfree on a main street in West Palm Beach, FL, and topfree at a bus depot in Toronto, Ontario.

For more on canuding, have a look at the Yahoo discussion group for nude canoeists and the Web site of the Paddling Bares Canoe Club based in New Jersey.

Originally published July 16, 2005

The hills are alive with the sound of … nudists!

Yes, it’s really summer. Besides naked biking and rollerblading, there’s also just plain old naked hiking. Steve Gough is perhaps an extreme example. But if you’re going to be anywhere near southern Germany or Austria at the beginning of July, the highlight of your summer could be a 5-day naked trek across the Alps from Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany to the South Tyrol in Italy.

It’s being planned now in some detail by a small group, but everyone who wants to join in is welcome. The plan is to cover about 20 km per day, so it’s not for total wusses. However, provided you can find the group en route, you can connect up for any part of the trip you want. Clothing is optional, which means you can even wear something (besides boots) if you absolutely insist.

If you start right now, you have two whole weeks to plan…

For more information, visit the organizer’s Yahoo discussion group, Naked Europe.

Originally published June 15, 2005