Baring the Belly...

In 2012 I went to a yoga festival in southern California called Bhakti Fest. While I was there almost everything I wore was bare midriff. When I came back to default (what many folks in the Burning Man community call the everyday world) I just wanted to keep wearing my festival clothes. I found that belly covering shirts actually bothered me. I breathe better, more deeply, when my belly is uncovered, and in fact I feel happier when my belly is free. The navel is often considered the seat of the soul and in many cultures you're supposed to cover it. I read that in feudal Japan, for instance, part of the clothing worn was a sash tied in a certain way, to protect the navel. When we look at behavior in the animal kingdom, we often view baring the belly as an act of submission, displaying your vulnerability. It is the home of you vital organs and your chi (life force). This got me thinking about the idea question of whether it should or should not be covered. Thinking spiritually and/or energetically. It is the Stomach chakra, which in Sanskrit is called Manipura (beautiful jewel or city of jewels). And that's your power center, the seat of your personal power, the color is bright yellow. I believe it should be free and uncovered to let the light shine. I want to share my jewels. There is personal truth around baring the belly. For years women fight their belly battles. Battles with the media and projected standards of beauty. There are so many names, which run from relatively innocuous to downright offensive, for a woman's soft belly. Buddha belly, mama pooch, muffin top. There are others that I wont even share here; they are too hurtful to repeat. This idea that you have to have rock hard sculpted six-pack to be healthy is a fallacy. Our social ideals and imagery of health is not based on wellness; but on aesthetics. You do need a strong core to protect your spine and organs, to support yourself. That strength is internal. It is both physical and metaphysical. Softness of the belly is not a bad thing, we are meant to shimmy and jiggle. Even as much as I work out I still shimmy. In fact, first time I worked out with a personal trainer I told him, I want to get really strong, but I don't want to lose my shimmies. Then there is the question over whether there is eroticism to the belly. In America the midriff came out as fashion in the 30s, but the belly button was still covered. It was also covered on TV into the 1960s/1970s (think I Dream of Genie). There's an ongoing taboo around it. What is it that is so sexy about the belly button? Is it because it is so low? A hint to what lies beneath? When we think of the bare midriff now, we often think about young girls wearing low rise jeans and crop tops. Brittany spears in her high thong strings, low jeans phase of the late 90s. This is a perfect example of the sexualizing of the navel. I think we need to step away from that and recognize that while the navel space does have eroticism, it doesnt mean it has to be obscene or sexualized or pornographic or hidden either. Just as with the rest of the body, which is the point of nudism, it should be allowed to breathe and be free. How does this connect to yoga and social nudity? We women, we fake so much. The very word glamour means illusion. We enhance our breasts with implants or cotton padding and underwire. We suck in our tummies under shirts and pants that are too tight. We fake our height and the curvature of our legs and behinds with high heels. Everything is enhancement and hiding, Black sliming, this belt will give you a waist, kind of thinking. Even thin women often dont like their bellies. So your belly has been on a journey, that beautiful. Thats part of baring the belly too; claiming and being ok with that part of yourself. When youre nude there is nothing to improve or enhance your feature. It is complete honesty. It empowers you to be honest with everyone around you and with yourself. And when everyone else is being honest, you no longer feel that you have to hide. You can let Manipura shine!!