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A post shared by ? Daniella Smith (@daniellasmithmusic) on Oct 3, 2018 at 9:03am PDT

When I started to post nude yoga pictures on Instagram, the positive responses were overwhelming.

Feedback from viewers told me that the photos connected to a primal part of them that wants to be free. Viewers were not only living vicariously through the images, but they also found inspiration in them for their own lives.
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A post shared by ? Daniella Smith (@daniellasmithmusic) on Aug 15, 2019 at 10:30am PDT

With the praise also came criticism, rejection, silent admiration (people who would not in any way support the content publicly despite how much they liked it), shaming, and typecasting. I’m both fascinated and overwhelmed by the different responses people have when they are confronted with nudity, and the implications these deep-rooted beliefs have on society and the human psyche.

From the beginning of our lives, we are taught that our nude bodies, our homes, our creative vessels are dirty, always sexual, and pornographic—something to be hidden and ashamed of if revealed. It’s no surprise that people have such a strong response to nudity.

I have challenged myself as an artist to present nudity as not just inherently sexual or pornographic, but also something spiritual that speaks to the deep human desires for creativity, freedom, and connection to the natural world.

 

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A post shared by ? Daniella Smith (@daniellasmithmusic) on Mar 23, 2019 at 8:50am PDT

We live in a world where we’re only comfortable talking about nude bodies and sex to shame or embarrass each other. The topics are tabu, shameful, or inappropriate. Because we are our bodies and sex, this belief system makes who we are and our nature tabu, shameful, and inappropriate. The consequences of this conflict within ourselves shows up every day in endless ways like abuse, repression, and unpunished crimes.

We live in a wold where the amount of skin you show and your sexual expression can determine how seriously one is taken in other, unrelated areas of life. We live in a world where such personal choices are an acceptable cause for discrimination and victim blaming.
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A post shared by ? Daniella Smith (@daniellasmithmusic) on Jan 9, 2018 at 11:58am PST

It has taken a lot of courage to move forward with my own creative expression and choose to embrace what is true to me despite the risks. Given that each of us plays a role in shaping society by the things we embrace and reject, I have chosen to embrace what is true to me despite the risks. After all, progress has only come through the rejection of the status quo and our willingness to speak about and stand up for what we believe in.

All of us want to live in a place that is safe for us to express our nature—a human right which is robbed from many when society continues to hold the same archaic values of always seeing the body as “wrong'” and “demeaning.” Robbed from us when we believe the way a persons looks, their choices in lifestyle, or personal expression are reasons to label them and put them in a box.

Not only will you receive enjoyment, entertainment, and inspiration from this issue, but you will be contributing to changing the way bodies and sexuality are seen. You will have the opportunity to help broaden our collective understanding of what it means to be human and to express ourselves.

Together, we will widen our vocabulary around nudity and sex, which is crucial to understanding who we are.

 

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A post shared by ? Daniella Smith (@daniellasmithmusic) on Aug 22, 2018 at 8:50am PDT

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