DANCE LIKE NOBODY'S WATCHING

As you're aware I'm in the midst of losing a ton of weight. I've got 45 pounds left to go, and am in a mid-loss plateau that has lasted a few months. That's okay, I'm still 50 pounds under my top weight, and the plateau means my body is stabilizing at this weight. Now we start "Round 2".

One of the fitness things I'm doing is dancing. That's what I did when I was in college: competitive dancing. That and swimming. I was, at the time, quite fit. Not "muscle guy" fit, "fitness trainer" fit.

And I've talked before about muscle memory and exercise and etc, but that's not what this column is about.

Recently I've added another component to the morning half hour routine. I do it naked.

Yeah, stark fucking bare-assed naked.

And it feels fantastic.

I feel open and free, and it's a real fun thing which keeps me motivated.

(I have often wondered about those Naked Yoga classes, and thought that it was really a great way to exercise considering it's an unleashing of both mind and body. My morning routine is much the same thing. It's immensely freeing and motivating to be able to move without the restrictions of clothing, and mentally it is an exercise in really letting yourself loose. As an exercise routine it allows you to concentrate on simply getting fit and not worrying about how you might look.)

The cool thing is that it's not a sexual thing. That's not how I'm responding or feeling. It's certainly physical and in its own way sensual, but I don't respond sexually to it.

(We've sexualized nudity completely in the American culture, which is unfortunate. Dancing naked with friends would be an incredible way to bond and have really uninhibited fun. When was the last time you had uninhibited fun and laughs as an adult?) (Without alcohol being a component, that is.)

I'm still well shy of my goal, but this is going to get me started back down that path to fitness. I'm at an odd stage where my musculature isn't bad, my fitness level is actually pretty good, but it's just covered by a shitload of fat. Dancing, and any aerobic activity, will help rectify that. So I dance. Half hour in the morning. In the dark. Naked.

Maybe, once I'm down to my goal weight, I'll post a video. Until then, the pics of other people shown here will have to suffice.

All too often we suffer from the fear of being judged by others. And by others' standards. Dancing in the dark with nothing on and nobody there to judge you is a way of letting the mid go and the body free. I'm not a nudist, but there are things I like to do sans attire.

And dancing has just become one of them.

(Not me. Yet.)