(Foreword / disclaimer- when I googled a pic to accompany Alice’s tale, I was frightened off by some stories whereby people died at sweat lodges!
I immediately emailed Alice and told her to stop doing them immediately!
I wasn’t sure then, if it was responsible of me to publish this story..
Alice assures me, like everything there are dodgy and there are responsible Sweatlodges- I trust my High Heeled sister’s judgement on this and suggest you use your own if choosing to sweat it out Native American style!! )
This is Alice’s experience…
Sweating the Spiritual Stuff By Alice Grist
Image not mine, from www.mtshastagatehouseretreat.com
I am essentially a modern girl who only ever sweats at the gym, and these days, even that is rare.
However I have discovered a new way to temporarily shed a few pounds, and indeed a whole lot of karmic weight from the mind in one fell swoop.
It involves holing up with a dozen strangers in a pitch-black tent and hoping you don’t pass out!
This bizarre hobby I refer to is a native American favourite… a Sweatlodge!
For those of you afraid of a two-minute stint in the sauna, look away now!
For my first ‘sweat’ I drove alone to an empty Scout camp in the middle of nowhere, where I met Matt.
Matt was a total stranger to me and was carrying an axe.
Matt directed me into the woods, and whilst I knew that wandering into the woods, with a stranger, carrying what amounted to a lethal weapon was foolhardy, off I trotted anyway!
Matt, of course, was a gent, however he did make me clear a hole in the ground to put his Grandfathers in!
Whilst I did this he gathered several twigs and amazingly fashioned a small tent that would house eight persons, plus a hole in the middle stuffed full of magnificently hot rocks aka ‘Grandfathers’.
The four-hour experience was physically and emotionally difficult. With a variety of symptoms ranging between the torturous, to absolute ecstasy.
The hair on my body felt like it would sizzle and melt, whilst the air was thick and difficult to breathe.
I felt I would melt into the ground and veered mentally between joy and panicked desperation.
By the end I crawled out of the tent, flesh matted with mud as though I had spent a day in the trenches.
However with sweat soaked eyes the lake before me sparkled like it were supporting the floatation of a million diamonds.
I experienced a true sense of peace, and felt distinctly connected to the planet and all life upon it. This feeling stayed with me for weeks after.
My most recent Sweatlodge was very different from my first and it has apparently catapulted me into a learning curve and into a little bit of a spiritual healing crisis.
For those unfamiliar with the term healing crisis, consider one to be a liability to mood swings, and a good deal of personal junk coming to the surface of your mind to be dealt with!
My life appeared to have come to a standstill over Christmas and the New Year and the Sweatlodge gave me a serious kick up the ass.
As a result I was emotional, but my life was booted back on track, and the Sweatlodge was the catalyst.
I’m intrigued to see where the next one will take me.
Sweatlodges are my new life changing habit and I can’t get enough!
The Sweatlodge experience has to be one of my most memorable life undertakings, and one that I now repeat as often as possible.
Some people have hugely spiritual or emotional experiences in a Sweatlodge.
My sweaty path has been one of mind against body, of arduous, painstaking endurance followed by the bliss filled relief of fresh air and freedom at the end.
In the days after undertaking a Sweatlodge my mind is clarified and pure.
Life comes at me in Technicolor and a great deal of personal growth and learning can be found in the days and weeks that follow the event of the lodge itself.
Each lodge is different from the previous one.
The uncertainty of how your mind and body may react to the darkness, heat and proximity of other perspiring people all form part of the testing nature of a lodge.
But it is those factors that also add to the euphoric and spiritual aspects of the undertaking.
To me a sweat lodge is like a personally imposed limbo.
You leave your life at the door and exist as pure essence for the four rounds of heat, prayer, song and meditation.
I find that it is a great place to sit and be in my own personal process, to take stock of who I am and where I am.
It is a reality check with my own mind and my deeply held values.
A Sweatlodge is like coming home and then rebirthing.
Each time I take a little something divine away with me, or rather, and perhaps more accurately, I find and rekindle the little bit of divine that is already inside me.
A Sweatlodge helps me to reflect on my place in the world and my connection to a greater universe that consists of spirit, animals and elements.
Not only does a sweat cleanse your soul and test your staying power, it can also heighten the senses and bring about a renewed closeness to the natural world.
Indeed a side effect of this spiritual activity has been a burgeoning love for the planet, and a deep concern for all the horrific abuses we commit upon her.
Frankly, there is no point sitting upon an enlightened pedestal and then watching the world you love turn to garbage around you.
Indeed any wannabe enlightened being had better get used to the idea that balance, moderation and mindfulness are going to be key to her peaceful and spiritual journey.
Such things come as part of the deal, and impeccable spiritual credentials include more than a love of meditation and a connection to spirit.
In our consumer culture, being spiritual also means treading lightly on the earth.
Undertaking a Sweatlodge can build that connection between you and Momma Earth.
My spiritual hobby of ‘sweating’ has brought strong spiritual focus to my love of nature and the environment.
It was good for my soul and in tandem I rediscovered the naturally shamanic part of me that adores the world we live in and the creatures and flora that reside upon it.
For all green, spiritual warriors a side dish of Sweatlodge style spirituality can help bring a meaningful mix of harmony and super consciousness to your eco-friendly, divine modern lifestyle.
Read more about Shamanism, Sweatlodges and other alternative spiritualities in Alice Grist’s book, The High Heeled Guide to Enlightenment available in all good bookstores.
http://www.alicegrist.co.uk
http://highheeledenlightenment.ning.com
www.o-books.com
