Have A Very Naked Holiday

It’s been a rough year and with the holidays upon us, everyone is looking for a way to de-stress and shake 2020 off of our shoulders.

Like most of our google searches, this one began with the word ‘naked.’ But we were looking for ways to end 2020 on a high note… would taking off your pants be the answer? Apparently, yes.

Men’s Health wrote about the idea of a naked Christmas in 2015, because a poll suggested that 13% of men and 21% of women would give up sex for the month to have a stress-free holiday. And if regular holiday stress wasn’t reason enough to forego the Two-Person Push Up, here comes the Charlie Brown Christmas tree made out of trash that was the last 12 months.

Dr Natasha Turner says skin-to-skin contact is a huge help in de-stressing. “We all benefit as it reduces cortisol”—sometimes known as the stress hormone—“and it boosts the hormone of connection oxytocin.”

But what if you don’t have someone to snuggle with under the mistletoe, let alone if you are foregoing doing the horizontal hula this year? Doctor Turner says you should still take your clothes off. “Being naked helps maintain the health competency of your skin barrier.”

Just think of the holiday-related things you could do naked for both mental health. Trimming the tree. Sending out your newsletter. Baking cookies for Santa. And, actually, all of those are pretty good euphemisms for the ol’ parking the Plymouth in the garage of love.

Hell, you could be like Emily Ratajkowski, who in 2016, sent friends and family hand-made naked Christmas cards. But maybe don’t write ‘spread joy,’ at the bottom of them.