Volunteers to be nude

[Abc122]

Has your wife or girlfriend ever volunteered to be nude?

What was the purpose and why did they agree?

For example my wife volunteered to model nude for artists initially for a small group when the convenor was having difficulty finding a model.

[shower1000]

At my brother in law's meeting room, in 2004. My sister Susan's husband Don is a psychologist specializing in marital issues. He conducts support group therapy meetings for singles and couples with many kinds of interpersonal problems. One group is couples suffering from body shame and acceptance issues. Specifically, these couples had one member with a fear of being seen in some state of undress by anyone, even their spouse. He had worked with these and other couples in groups and individually. This would be a big step for the 5 couples most likely to be helped overcome their fear of nudity.

He usually has 2 or 3 of these meetings a year. Normally Don and Susan, would be the "example couple" at these sessions and another therapist would conduct the meeting. However, Susan could not attend as she was treating her granddaughters to an overnight at Disneyland. So my wife & I thought it would be fun to be the "example couple" at this meeting. By the way, as the therapist Don could not say that he was a practicing nudist ( although he and Susan are ), only that he was comfortable with his own nudity and being seen by others.

It was kind of like an AA meeting. Clothed, we all ( 5 couples, Don and us ) sat in circle and told everyone what bothered us about our bodies and why we did not like others to see us. A small mirror was used as the "microphone" and passed along to the next person to speak. I think that most were not being as open as they needed to be because they only mentioned superficial things like flabby belly, body fat and scars. No mention of religion, family, breast or genetal concerns. I lamented my sour looking face and receeding hairline and Julie her alergic reaction to hair coloring products, thus her white hair.

We then broke for a few minutes for coffee and chatting. After a few minutes Don announced that it would be time for the nude phase of the discussion circle. Even though they all knew beforehand that nonsexual social nudity would be required, he excused anyone that wanted to leave. After some debate one couple admited that it was too much for her to handle and left.

Don pointed out some tables at the back of the room where everyone was to put their clothing. Folding and neatly stacking their clothing was a focus task intended to help take their minds off of being nude. To put everyone at ease and lead by example, Don, Julie and I undressed, folded our clothes and placed them in neat piles the table. The floors were tile, so we kept our socks on. Don had previously placed hand towels on the chair seats, so we sat down to finish our coffee and wait for the others.

At first, only one couple followed our lead and disrobed down to her underwear. After a little coaxing by the husband those came off, too. They stacked their clothes and came over to the seats. After they sat Julie quietly complimented them for being brave enough to be the first to overcome their fear of public nudity. The rest were still fumbling with buttons, zippers and belts. Then, with a little encouragement from Don, the pants and shirts, then underwear started coming off.

In the end, since full nudity was not absolutely mandatory, one woman kept her panties and bra. As directed, they folded clothes in separate piles on the tables and walked into the circle to their seats. It was interesting to see the "modesty demon" in action, as almost all of them used their arms and hands to strategically cover their breasts and pubic areas, even seated.

The second discussion circle was more revealing because while naked they had no clothing to hide behind and were somewhat less inhibited. The woman in panties said that she grew up very religiously and was taught to never let anyone see her "private parts", even her husband. In fact this was the most naked that she had ever been with anyone. Her husband admitted that he often fantasized of both of them being nude at home just doing every day things. Actually, they were a good looking couple, in their early 50's both in fine physical shape. I felt sorry for him, but by being in this group she was at least willing to try the first step.

The other women were mostly lamenting the loss of their youthful figures and were afraid to embarrass or offend their husbands with the sight of their flat or sagging or bulky or misshapened body parts. The men were concerned but not obsessed with penile size and flabby bellies ( no surprise here ). Some had even considered trying to have Don's recommended "nude days" at home but had encountered significant pushback from their reluctant spouse, who just knew there was "something unnatural" with it.

Julie & I were the last to speak, revealing that we were lifelong social nudists that were normally nude at home, visited many nudist parks and were frequent guests at other nudist homes. Julie pointed out that simple nudity was not about sex and that there was no difference in our activities and behavior at home than any clothed home. We got a mixed response from the group. Some laughed nervously, implying that we were not being completely truthful. Two couples stated that they were here to overcome the fear of nudity among themselves and thought that our practice of social nudity crossed the line and would eventually lead to sexual preversion and infidelity. I could see that they had a problem separating simple nudity from sex. The other couples seemed interested in our story and wanted to learn more about the details of how we conducted our nude lifestyle.

We then broke for a second session of coffee and chatting with everyone remaining nude ( except for the woman in her underwear ). Having them take a cup of coffee was a tatic designed to make them to remove at least one hand from covering their brests or pubic areas. We noticed that as we talked to each couple their arms and hands gradually went from shielding their body parts to holding their coffee cups and gesturing with their free hand. According to Don, this controlled first nude social gathering was an important tactic used to promote body acceptance and breaking the stigma of body shame and the fear of social nudity.

After coffee, Don had all of the couples return to the circle but remain standing. He had one of the nude women hand out some applicable AANR pamphlets. Handling and looking at the literature was a tactic to demonstrate that they could perform everyday tasks while nude. Don asked each couple try some level of nudity in the privacy of their home, either as a "nude hour" or even a "nude day" and build on that until they were comfortable being nude. Over a short time they would become at ease with their mutual nudity and find how natural it was to perform everyday chores while nude. He closed the meeting by asking each couple to turn and shake hands with the couples on either side.

Julie and I waited to be the last to dress as we answered many questions about how we deal cooking, yard maintenance, and other everyday activities. I think that some wanted to broach the sex questions but were too timid to ask. And Don had asked us not to introduce new sensative topics without his direction. We then dressed and went to Denny's for dinner.

Some months later I asked Don what ever happened to the group. I was curious about the couple with the underwear lady. Because of client privacy, he could only tell me that one couple was giving home nudity a genuine try. The others tried once or twice but returned to their no nudity lives. And the lady still has her underwear and a frustrated husband.