Fue muy poderoso, y estoy tan agradecido. It was very strong and I am so grateful.
Wow. Holy cow. What a purge. 3 hours of sweating in a hut heated by steam created from tossing water onto hot rocks. Welcome to the Temezcal.
Holy blazing-hot heavens.
If you want to bring yourself back to the tangible present of being in your body, please, please, do this!
This is an ancient indigenous Mexican tradition, used for the purpose of cleansing and detoxifying. In the physical sense, by sweating until you’re drenched, clearing any toxins from your skin until you start sweating clean. Yes, you read that right, after I got out of the hut, I actually felt clean (but still definitely had to shower before dinner =P). And also in an emotional and spiritual sense.
Emotional, by the way it gives you a greater understanding of what your internal resistance feels like, and by the way the intelligence of your body kicks in when such an experience forces that sort of presence in order for you to withstand what it happening.
I may be making it sound much more difficult than it really is, although that’s not my intention. I’m just trying to highlight the way this experience impacted my being while I was in it.
Now, for the spiritual part. When you’re in la oscuridad, the dark, pitch back, it can serve as a blank canvas for the mind. And sitting in a space where you are stationary, tuning into your body while it’s purging, you can expect to tune deeper into the parts of self that may need healing, and in turn, you can receive information from those parts, and from energies and guides that can assist you in your healing. A sort of feedback loop.
There were 4 puertos (gateways). The first two were done with the outside covers of the hut pulled up to let the light in. The last two were done in the dark. The final one was the strongest, which was expected.
Holy cow. Holy butterfly. Holy my drenched body.
I went deep into a wound that needed my love, and attention. It’s hard to articulate as it was much more feeling-based, accompanied by a few images. I time traveled a bit to places where the wound was reopened. Went to those places and did some energy work. I felt it be fed and nurtured by my other chakras. A sort of coming back to myself in a way that was much needed, which happens naturally when you have to make yourself, will yourself, to stay in a hut that’s steaming a 110 degrees plus! But God it felt phenomenal. I’m so grateful for this powerful heat, water, and body tool.
Around the perimeter of the stones were a couple bowls, glass bottles of herb water, a drum, and a rattle.
One bowl contained pieces of fresh aloe vera, and the other some barro, which is a restorative clay from the area of Veracruz, MX.
Midway through the experience, I took a piece of aloe and gently tore it open with my fingers. I wiped the gel onto my face, the cool pulp was so refreshing. I then proceeded to spread it onto the rest of my body.
Then, with the barro. The paste smelled rich and earthy. I smoothed it over my arms and my legs, and then spread it upon my face as I would any other clay mask.
It felt like so much goodness all over me, mixed with a touch of TLC.
Julio, the native holding the ceremonial space for us, also did some drumming while in the hut, and at some points, I accompanied with a rattle.
There was something trance-like about creating a rhythm while in such a space. It’s as if we all became the sound, instead of our purging sweating bodies. We were present with the collective rhythm rather than our individual minds.
I felt both calm and ecstatic after I got out, physical body relaxed yet energetic body vibrating resonantly.
Julio had a hose ready to shock our bodies to get the blood moving, and also had a delicious vegetable dinner ready for us.
I still awestruck at how powerful sweating in ceremony is. I highly recommend it to anyone who has the chance to do so. I plan on finding a Native American sweat lodge that allows community members outside of the tribe to attend once I get back to California.
If you plan on taking a trip to Mexico City and are interested in joining in ceremony with Julio, you can find him through AirBnb experiences. Please feel free to reach out if you’re unable to find him on there.
Thank you, water. Thank you, warmth. Thank you, bodymind. Thank you, Julio. Thank you, Temezcal.
And thank you, to the 250 year old Moctezuma Cypress (a.k.a. Old Man of the Water) who held strong grounding beside us throughout the ceremony.
