I have noticed lots of benefits with having a foreskin instead of being circumcised. I wrote previously about the joys of masturbation with a foreskin. Now I want to tell everyone about another benefit, and it has nothing to do with sex or my penis.

I am very body aware. I have lifted weights since high school. At one time I had aspirations of being a body builder. I have long practiced yoga. I have studied some of the more philosophical or mystical avenues of life. All this has given me an awareness and understanding of my body. That includes the physical aspects, as well as the mental and emotional aspects. In other words, I believe it important to know yourself. These are the reasons that I am able to notice the more subtle, but important, changes and benefits of restoring.

I remember in my teenage years and when I was in my 20s. I did not like physical contact with others. Even though I was married, I did not like to be touched. It was a struggle to allow my wife to touch me. When she tried running her fingers through my hair I would move my head out of the way. Not only was I physically separated from others, I was emotionally distant. In my mid-thirties I divorced my wife and my emotional and mental well-being was in turmoil. I passed through that phase of my life by becoming more accessible physically and emotionally. As I entered my 50s, my life had settled down again. I was no longer physically and emotionally separate from others. Although, I still had close boundaries.

Then, I started foreskin restoration. After about 2 months I was able to pull my growing foreskin over my glans and hold it there with a retainer. I used a cut up silicone baby bottle nipple that fit over my penis to hold my new skin forward. After about 6 to 7 months, I had enough skin that I did not need to wear the retainer during the day. My briefs are tight enough that they hold my skin over my glans. At night, I wear the retainer because I sleep in the nude.

I noticed that I felt different the longer I kept my skin over my glans. I felt more comfortable. My penis was securely shrouded in its restored foreskin. What little irritation I had from my penis rubbing against my underwear disappeared.

The benefits I noticed are intangible. With my glans protected by my foreskin, I realized that I felt more confident. I have always had a good body image and have not lacked for self-esteem. It is difficult to express the change. Unfortunately, I do not have the vocabulary to explain this change. It is as if the foreskin covering my glans makes me whole again.

A part of my body that was exposed before is now protected. I am no longer naked. The sense of being covered and protected has given me a little more confidence in my life. I am more self-assured.

In my other post, I described how my penis became more sensitive, physically. Well, being covered has made me a more sensitive person. By sensitive I mean that me, the person, not the dick, is more sensitive and more receptive to my surroundings. This change is much more marked than almost any other change I have noticed from restoring. I feel an empathy that I never felt before.

Instead of my typical detached response to life, I am emotionally reacting to what I read, see, and hear. This is very new to me. For example, I see a movie that has a sad scene and I am moved to the verge of tears. I often find that I have to sit back and collect myself because of how I am reacting. I am becoming a sensitive man.

I have always been a man's man. I have been the strong silent type who did not let anything bother him. I have read where men, by nature, have a feminine side. Not me. At least, not before I started restoring. I like the person that I am becoming.

The name of my site is Restoring Tally. As I notice these changes in myself, I believe that I am restoring myself to what I could have been, indeed, should have been, if I had been left intact at birth.

• More information on the benefits of undoing your circumcision can be found at Restoring Foreskin.org.