WHY SLEEPING NAKED IS SPIRITUAL AND HEALING
Article by Courtney Allison
Why Sleeping Naked is Spiritual and Healing
I love crystals. I love lighting candles and incense. Moon work and sun gazing are a standard practice for me. I love connecting to spirit and sitting between realms. While these things keep me centered and linked with my own spirit, I was still lacking in my spiritual care. Bashing my external self for not fitting into a standard that I deemed fit for a spiritual person. If your body is a temple, I was treating mine as if it was a ruin.
In my early 20’s, two of my best friends and I rented this cute, three bedroom house. We were each hardworking, wild little things and completely at ease with our figures. Like Greek Muses, singing and dancing around the house, cooking breakfast in our bra and panties or doing our make up in the bathroom while the other was in shower; it was the norm, and it never really phased us. We were so comfortable with ourselves that we consecrated Sundays as “Nearly Naked Sunday”. In those days it was comical and amusing but now in my late 30’s and two kids later, those days of walking out of my room with bedroom hair/not a care, were long gone.
When I look back at living paycheck to paycheck and a string of sour relationships I wondered why memories of that time would even make me smile. The truth is we remember more accurately how a memory made us feel than when we try to logically list off facts. While my friends and I had little money (a fact), we treated each other like mini goddesses (a feeling). It was nothing but respect and appreciation. So why not now? Why not treat myself with that same respect and appreciation today? My ego, which I have affectionately named Lila, had no reservations about harshly answering these questions. However I wanted that feeling back again.
It’s interesting, being naked symbolically in dreams can implicate a fear association. Dreaming of being naked in public reflects our awake self’s vulnerability, lack of confidence, or criticism. Being physically naked invoked the same fears for me.
As my spiritual-self matured, so did my body, but not in the same pleasing evolution. It sounds ridiculous but I was legitimately fearful of walking around naked in my own house. Alone. Truthfully it was too much. Lila pointed out every scar, every freckle, and every flaw. Eventually doing some shadow work unveiled very obvious reasons why but it also graciously offered a beautiful remedy…sleeping naked.
I could manage this. Going to bed without clothes, of course! It made perfect sense. I was still technically covered under my sheets. No big deal, right? And it really wasn’t. It changed so much of my psyche and the result ended up reflecting on me physically; my Ruin, my Temple.
So what’s so spiritual and healing about sleeping naked? Well, everything actually.
// Sleeping patterns improve drastically. The body’s temperature self-regulates itself and melatonin production normalizes. I noticed I wasn’t waking up in the middle of the night. It is said that your subconscious connects to the spirit realm usually between the hours of 1 am and 4 am. My improved sleeping habit allowed me better dream recollection as well as partial dream control.
// Skin improvement; its texture, its color, and its elasticity. Clothing’s restrictive nature can not only cause you to overheat in the middle of the night, but it can also can prevent the human growth hormone (HGH) from being released, which provides restorative magic powers for skin and hair.
// Confidence, confidence, confidence! Where flaws do not actually disappear, it seems as if they do. You stop observing the flaws and start noticing the good stuff. Walking around naked becomes permissible and normal.
// An activated/unblocked sacral chakra: Your sexuality, reproduction, and creativity center. This is a powerful chakra and when balanced it is expressive, sensual, gracious, and fertile. In its underactive state it can evoke feelings of shame, insecurity, and guilt. While being over-active it can be overly sexual, emotional, and selfish. Balance keeps you in the space of loving and cherishing your body.
// Feeling sexy af. That skin-to-skin contact with your partner! Not only does it release oxytocin for that intimate bonding connection, but it also boosts arousal. And since you’re already naked…
// Spiritual Metamorphosis. Seeing yourself as you are. Being able to transmute the negative self-talk into a healthy, forgiving, and a beautiful understanding of what you are. Stars and scars. A home of flesh and bone. An Eve in Eden, naked, unafraid, and unjudged.
