Naked Nurturing

One of the most effective therapies for me with regard to feeling better regarding my body was what I call “Naked Nurturing”.

Previously I mentioned how as a child we look to our parents for approval of our bodies when we are naked before them. I believe Children love to show their bodies off. I think they do this because they naturally know the beauty and sacred nature of their bodies and are excited to show others and also because they are looking for validation. Children look for validation that they (which they do not distinguish from their bodies) are OK, are beautiful and are desirable.

I once was doing an assignment for my church. I went to a house in my neighborhood to speak to a member regarding a church matter. When I got to the door it was not closed but was ajar. I rang the doorbell and soon heard the sound of little bare feet heading toward the door. Two completely naked little girls about 3 and 5 years old appeared at the door. They had just come from a bath. They looked at me giggling and then ran off. It is obvious to me that children naturally love to be naked and love to show their bodies.

My belief is that many of us were not blessed with parents that freely felt physical affection for our bodies as children. When we ran around the room naked feeling wonderfully free our parents may have unwittingly stifled our freedom and gave us the feeling that there was something wrong with being naked and perhaps even instilled a feeling of shame or disgust regarding our naked bodies.

Around the time I was divorced a friend of mine who had many health problems had, at the advice of another friend, gotten a massage. I thought I might like getting a massage so I asked her who the therapist was and made an appointment. In the past I might not have had the nerve to get a massage but through my Holosync® therapy (mentioned in a previous post) I had become more confident and less fearful about being close to others. I even looked forward to it with a degree of excitement.

The massage therapist was a woman in her forties. She was friendly and pleasant. She left the room while I got completely undressed and lay down under a sheet. Her touch was delicious. She showed gentleness, firmness and affection in her touch. I came out of that first massage session floating on a cloud. It was not just the physical stimulation of having my body worked on but it was an emotional stimulation. I was being nurtured in a way that had never happened before. I felt emotionally whole immediately after the massage.

I have found that good massage therapists love their jobs. They have special regard for the human body. They would not stay in the profession if they did not enjoy what they do; if they did not enjoy working on naked bodies.

What I felt was a warm nurturing feeling. I felt accepted. I went to this therapist several times and she told me she enjoyed working on me. This made me feel even better about my own body. My body wasn’t an ugly thing. I am in my fifties and I am not much to look at but I felt I was desirable. I got emotional benefit as well as physical benefit from her nurturing touch.

I have since gone to many different therapists. I always ask them if they like what they do. As I have said, the best therapists are the ones that enjoy their work the most. They are also the ones whose strokes have an affectionate feel to them. They are not just rubbing your muscles in a cold medicinal way. They touch you like your mother or father should have touched you. They touch you with the feelings that your mother or father should have had for you and your body when they bathed you, dried you off or gave you a back rub. I believe a good massage therapist is not only technically knowledgeable and skilled but also feels physical affection for the person’s body as they work on them.

An affectionate massage is “naked nurturing”.