Loving your body when there is nowhere to hide

What naturism taught me about acceptance, presence, and unlearning shame

I did not come to love my body because I perfected it. I came to love my body because, as a naturist, I eventually ran out of places to hide from it.

That may sound dramatic, but it is also deeply ordinary. Most of us grow up negotiating with mirrors. We learn which angles are safe, which clothes distract, which parts of ourselves are acceptable to show …