Given the mercury dropped to -6degC in Dunedin on Saturday morning, it was not surprising some of the hardiest members of the Southern Free Beaches naturist club chose not to participate in their annual winter solstice polar plunge.
Southern Free Beaches naturist club member Paul Campion makes a splash at the club’s annual winter solstice polar plunge at Warrington Beach on Saturday. Gregor Richardson
However, about half a dozen members saw it as a challenge and bravely ventured into the frigid surf at Warrington Beach, despite some of the sand being hard and white with frost.
One member, who declined to be named, described just how cold the water was.
The New Zealand Naturist Federation expects about 130 people to show up to its 66th national festival in Te Marua which runs for a week.
The New Zealand Naturist Federation expects about 130 people to show up to its 66th national festival which runs for a week sylv1rob1/123RF
Its president Donna Miller said going nude has physical benefits such as absorbing vitamin D without the barrier of clothes.
“It relieves stress and it also [goes] back to when you were a child, when you would run around without clothes and without a care in the world,” she said.
“You’re going back to that freedom … before so-called responsibilities and interactments came in and it’s a great way to be. Continued…Read full original article…
This year the New Zealand Naturist Federation are creating a powerful summer campaign to create awareness of the benefits of naturism to a person’s body, mind and soul.
The concept is “Love the Skin You’re In” which aligns to our gonatural brand tag-line of ‘health and well-being’ and will focus on two really important issues that many are faced with today – positive body image and mental health awareness – and sometimes these are interlinked.
New Zealand Naturist Federation
Body image is the mental representation that one creates of themselves, and because it is subject to all kinds of internal elements like our mood, our experiences and social attitudes, it often doesn’t bear any close relation to reality or how others see you.
A negative body image is one of the key reasons that more people do not embrace the naturist lifestyle. They mightn’t have any issue with nudity per se and might even realise the many benefits that can be experienced physically from being clothes-free, but think it’s only for other people feeling too self conscious or body shamed to partake themselves. Many of our members can attest to having similar feelings and issues with acceptance of their body before embarking on their naturist journey however almost as soon as they took that first step, or at least very early on, they found they were looking at themselves through very different eyes. Continued…Read full original article…
