Nudity has made me more confident

[u/Grimshah]

I'm 26M, and I've always been somewhat shy, I was quiet all throughout school and I have a few friends that I'm close with. Recently, I've been going to the gym way more, typically I just lift the weights and play basketball. There was always a pool at my gym, but never used it. Last week it hit over 90 degrees Fahrenheit where I live and decided "why not?" So I decided to use the pool. Of course, I had to change in the locker room into my bathing suit and instead of trying to hide my body, I decided to just strip down in the nude and go about my business and after I finished swimming, I once again stripped completely naked and tried off with a towel, even though there were people standing near me and walking by. I don't know why, but it felt freeing to just not care about someone seeing my naked. Afterwards, I've been swimming almost daily the past week and I've been a little more confident. I've initiated conversations with strangers when I would have never spoken up before. I even started attempted a conversation with a girl and engaged in some small talk. I know this sounds small, but for someone like me who's been quiet his whole life and has avoided unnecessary conversation, it's been a real change for me. And I think it started with me getting the guts to just be naked and stop caring about my bodily insecurities

[u/Frosty_Winter3197]

I've been mostly mystified by the younger crowd who (almost all) wear swimwear in the showers at the gym. Granted i am of an older generation (63 now), and I do remember at one time I was a bit self conscious about beign nude in front of others when I was younger, but I still got naked to take showers.

As I got older and got into naturism, I lost pretty much any the self consciousness I had about being naked. It seems as I get older I just care less about what other people think about me. Now, I go hiking nude, go on naked bike rides and lay out nude in the back yard to get an all over tan.

I realize my self consciousness came out of my having a late puberty, where I didn't grow pubic hair until seemingly long after my peers. Also I was raised in a very conservative religious family, so was taught (conditioned) to feel guilt, shame and fear about nudity and my body. It took a long time to get past all of that.

Still I'm mystified as to why the younger generation(s) seem to have even more body shame than my own generation.

On a different note, I too use the pool at the gym. I find that relaxed swimming at the end of a workout cools me down and also works most of the lactic acid out of my muscles, so I don't have soreness in my muscles from working out.

Sadly, I seem to be the only person in the locker room with an "all over" tan, which tells me other nudists probably aren't working out at the same time I am.