Metaphysics and nudism

Metaphysics and nudism

Wei Chi (protective energy)

Extending on our concept of energy in the body, we can now look at one of the high frequency energies. The wei chi is a superficial energy that runs over the surface of the body just inside, and above, the skin. Some people can see it in certain light as a etheric whitish glow that can extend perhaps half an inch out from the body. (This should not be confused with the human aura that is an even higher frequency and extends much further.) It is classically referred to as our protective energy although, as we will see later, it has more far-reaching effects. It is really a mixture of frequencies, each controlling different aspects of protection - physical, climatic, emotional, psychic, etc. One can have strong physical wei chi but weak emotional wei chi.

When we are injured, the wei chi is the first energy to arrive in force and plan our defense and repair. It encourages the flow of meridian energy, nerve impulses and, eventually, the biochemical agents necessary for repair.

A person who has low or weak physical wei chi bruises or cuts easily. Whereas a person with strong wei chi, such as a top athlete, tends not to bruise and cut as easily. Martial artists develop the art of strengthening wei chi so they can take powerful blows or deflect sharp objects and not damage their skin.

Wei chi protects us from our environment. A person with strong wei chi can withstand sudden changes in climate and temperature. A person with weak wei chi suffers from sudden climatic change even to the point of serious health problems.
Part of our environment includes the bombardment from energy fields around us.

This includes negative energies from electrical appliances, power lines, radiation and numerous other man-made hazards. We can also be attacked by the negative output of people who are very emotional. Emotions are energy frequencies that, when experienced reactively and uncontrolled, can affect all the people around the emotionally charged person.

Wei chi depends on its ability to flow smoothly through the skin and over the body in order to function optimally. As mentioned earlier, wei chi is not like the aura. It appears as a thin film or envelope of glowing energy around the body of a healthy person. In some people it is only just above the skin. In others, it can radiate from half an inch to an inch. (In extreme cases - three inches.)

Clothing impedes wei chi
People who can see wei chi notice that it doesn't flow through the clothing as well as it flows along bare skin. It tends to dip into the body rather than tackle the fibers, colors, synthetics and electrical charges of clothing. For example, if I look at a naked person clothed only in a pair of pants, I will see the wei chi above the surface of the skin disappear where the pants are, and then reappear where the pants end. This means that the area of the body where the pants are is not being protected by the wei chi anywhere near as powerfully. That makes that area of the body more vulnerable to negativity. This is important because, if the wei chi flow is being impeded in any way, it reduces our ability to respond to life, and to respond to the damaging things that happen in our life.

The liver and the Soul
Wei chi has very strong metaphysical connections and implications. In natural (Chinese, Indian, Sharmanic etc.) medicine, if the wei chi needs to be strengthened, the organ that we have to treat is the liver and its associated energy systems.

In metaphysics the liver is the organ associated with the soul. There are many interpretations of the soul. Simply put, the soul is the part of our body, or energy presence that helps us to process life and records the processes of our life. (Whether it be just this life, and/or past lives.) Medically, the liver is the central processor and chemical warehouse of the body. Most cultures relate to the old concepts of cutting out a man's liver to take his soul and various other similar stories.

The soul processes life, sorts out our karma, and is constantly synthesizing all the events that are happening. It is also involved with the process of planning and making decisions. In Chinese medicine, each organ has a yin and a yang component. This is seen in other systems as well. (They just use different terms to denote the duality principle of yang - yin; male - female; positive - negative; expanding - contracting, hot - cold, etc..)

The yang aspect of the soul is the wei chi that is found on the surface of the body. Our wei chi is not only there to protect us from life but it is also our first contact with the world around us. All the inputs coming from our environment, people and events make contact with the wei chi first. Although some of it penetrates directly into the body through the five senses, most of the input is processed by the wei chi. Healthy wei chi determines how well we can process and digest our life on a psychological, physical and energic level.

This processing in the wei chi builds up during the day. When we go to bed at night a procedure occurs between 1am and 3am whereby the wei chi withdraws from the surface and travels internally to the liver and other major organs to synthesize and 'pass on' this processed information. (This time relates to the Chinese clock that demonstrates the internal concentrations of body energy according to the time of day.) That is why when we lie in bed at night (even on a warm night), our wei chi withdraws, and we feel more vulnerable, and often feel colder and need to cover up for protection. This also explains why shift workers who work through the night can often have many problems processing their lives and making plans and decisions. It also accounts for many of the negative effects of jet lag where the Chinese clock is disturbed, and the wei chi travels inside at the wrong times.

Healthy wei chi means healthy processing of life. Earlier it was stated that wei chi is best treated through the liver. In a practical, clinical situation it is very difficult to obtain significant results in this way. What works in theory doesn't always work in practice.

Denying our soul
Wei chi is most profoundly affected by the attitudes of each individual. This is what we talked about at the beginning of this article. When people are in denial of their body, when they are closing down their emotional and psychological body and need to hide behind a mask of clothing, they are also suppressing their wei chi. Their wei chi hardly extends above their skin. It is thin and very weak. As a result of that denial and shutting down of the body, they are also closing down the processing of life.

Our ability to process and synthesize the events that are occurring in our life is heavily dependent on our healthy attitude to our body and our openness to allowing our body energies to be 'out there' to do that processing. When people expose themselves to the world, they are opening up their wei chi and opening up to the processing of life. When people who can see wei chi observe people undressing, they can see the wei chi expanding as they undress.

'Baring the soul'
Throughout history in many different cultures, there has been a term relating to somebody going naked publicly. We talk about them 'baring their soul' to the world.

This is linked directly to the wei chi being on the surface of the skin and it being the yang of the soul.

When a person 'bares their soul' by going naked publicly, they are opening themselves up to the process of life, they are allowing themselves to synthesize life in a more powerful way, metaphorically, psychologically, spiritually, and physically.

When people are experiencing major traumas or events in life and find that drugs or alcohol only result in their shutting down the processing of the event, they often pass through a period where they feel compelled to take their clothes off. It's as if the shedding of clothes represents the shedding of the problems of the world. Many naturists talk about the feeling of leaving the world behind them once they have removed their clothes and mingled with other people similarly naked.

Many non-naturists in society have that inner urge to 'bare their soul' and take of their clothes, because at some level their subconscious is saying that they need their wei chi out there so that they can process what is going on in their life, and clear it all out. In general, people in a crippled 'mask' orientated society do not handle life well. They deny themselves the ability to process life, and proceed through the highs and low of living in this world in an unhealthy way.

In 'new age' terms, many people want to realize their karma and purpose in life. They go to seminars, read books, have realizations and paradigm shifts that they simply can't synthesize into reality. This is because their wei chi is so withdrawn it cannot perform its function of metabolizing and digesting those experiences. This is particularly important when therapy is involved.

Nudity in therapy
More and more people are attending processing type therapy sessions in psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, rebirthing, holotropic breathing, life management, Reiki and many other wonderful techniques. These techniques involve bringing out many issues in people, and getting them in touch with important realizations about their lives. One problem is that those people participating in that therapy are usually still clinging to their clothing mask, shutting down their wei chi and are, therefore, unable to process what they are learning.

People often attend great seminars or therapy sessions, learn a great deal and go through major 'ah hah' experiences. One month later they have made little progress because, although they have intellectually realized a few things, they haven't internally digested the experience.

The tendency is to drift back to the old ways. One can undergo years of therapy only to make minor shifts because the fundamental problem of opening up to the processing has not been addressed. In her excellent book, 'Therapy, Nudity and Joy,' Dr. Aileen Goodman gives many examples of the increased benefits of therapies that utilize group and individual sessions where the participants are naked.

The openness and honesty that the nudity encourages greatly helps the process. The consequent exposure of the wei chi facilitates the synthesis of the process and consolidates the results.

Massage
We often see people going for a massage and having their whole body covered except for the part being massaged. These people are denying themselves much of the effectiveness of the massage. They are not allowing themselves to be open to the process. Massage helps to distribute the wei chi and encourages it to flow more freely. If the therapist is good and relaxed, the wei chi will also be encouraged to synthesize the accumulated stress. The presence of coverings, both physically and psychologically, will discourage this process.

'Naked' versus 'Nude'
On a day to day basis, you are constantly receiving input from your environment, family, friends, work, television, traffic jams, etc.. It is essential that every day you give your body a chance to breathe, clear, and process by removing the obstructions to that process. You need to not only to take off your clothes, but to be totally open and vulnerable about it. Being totally naked - deliberately undressing with the concept of allowing your body to be physically and mentally open. Simply undressing doesn't always achieve this. When you undress for a shower, you are not necessarily naked in the sense of being totally open.

In the bathroom with the door locked, you can be clothed by the bathroom, by the environment of the bathroom. That, in itself, can effectively reduce the impact on your wei chi. It does something, of course. Simply being naked is always going to be more healthy, but it won't be as healthy as if you were psychologically totally open and naked as well. Being naked in public, or out in nature, is more beneficial because there is an exposure, a vulnerability, an openness, that will dramatically open you up to the exchange of energy.

You should take every possible opportunity to go naked and expose your body to life.

Weekends or holidays in the nude are very powerful therapies. They give your body, mind, and soul a chance to recuperate, synthesize, and regenerate.

'Naked'- a state of mind
It follows that 'nakedness' is a state of mind as well. Although it is extremely beneficial to physically expose ourselves, to be naked physically, and go through periods of time when we are naked, we should also realize that the state of mind of being 'naked beneath our clothing' is extremely important. (It is possible to be a nudist and not go 'naked.' There are nudists who use their nudity as a mask. They are nude in a confrontational or sexual way rather than being open.)

There are people who are unable to physically go naked because of climatic, religious, or cultural reasons. Some of these people are still able to process life well and have healthily functioning wei chi. These rare people have found a way to remain open to life in a positive way. They have a healthy unrepressed attitude towards their bodies, and aren't in denial of it.

They are 'naked beneath their clothes.'

This state of mind is very important even for the practicing naturist. It means that no matter what our situation, we can continue to live in the naturist philosophy even though our environmental situation requires clothing. It isn't necessary to be able to walk down the main city street naked. That is silly because it needlessly confronts the sociological and cultural conditions of the area. Although those attitudes may be wrong, we will not advance our cause by being deliberately confrontational.

However, there is no reason why we can't walk down the main street with clothing on and still be 'naked beneath your clothing' with all the advantages attached to that state of mind.

This healthy state of being means that you will have many of the benefits of naturism, and you will be more open and honest in you relationships with other people, and the world. You will be drawing on the energy around you much better, and empowering yourself from that energy. You will also be processing events as they occur rather than having them store up in your body to cripple it later with mental and physical disease. It is a compromise from the ideal situation of living naked. It is also an essential compromise for many people living under various conditions. People in Alaska might have trouble spending the winter naked. By being 'naked beneath their clothing', they can still enjoy the benefits of naturist philosophy.

Eliminating the mask
People who live naked or are 'naked beneath their clothing' are not using their clothing as a mask. They are not using it as an emotional or psychological character prop. They are saying, "I am good enough the way I am. I love and respect my body.

I do not need my clothing to hide me. I do not need this mask to relate to other people. I do not need the prop of makeup and fancy clothes to try and get prestige or recognition from the people around me." This enables people to relate to themselves, and others, from a position of empowerment and strength. They become part of the family of man, rather than a competitor in it.

Conclusion

It is a tragedy that the human race has allowed itself to create such a complexity of negative rules and belief systems around the body they have to live in from birth to death. One would think that when we have to spend so much time with something given to us by God, we would learn to love and respect it. We would want to look after it, and nurture it. We would want to train our children to grow up with healthy and positive feelings about it. To be able to enjoy its magnificence of structure and feelings. To respect, enjoy, and love the bodies of fellow life travellers without the denial, guilt, abuse, and hostility we see so commonly in this world.

The philosophy and practice of naturism will not solve all these problems because they are so ingrained into a system that has too much dependency on the negative fruits of disempowering rules. However, those individuals who choose to embrace the openness, honesty, and vitality of nudism, can at least profoundly enhance the experience of joy, health, and peace in their own lives and have a positive effect on those around them.

By encouraging a healthy positive attitude to our bodies, we are encouraging a healthy relationship with our mind, soul, spirit, and our environment. That will make a difference within our own lives and, if enough of us do it peacefully and responsibly, the world.