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Upcoming Sweat Lodges In Rivonia / Johannesburg March 2008 Thursday
6th March
- Sunmoon Lodge (Purification
Lodge) Join our Mail list Contact us |
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| Sweating is an ancient physical and mental cleansing practice. It is a powerful introspection tool that enables us to connect to our source, to release that which no longer serves us and receive that which we need to move forward in our spiritual growth. It is fast becoming recognized in the Spiritual communities that have emerged in this country over the last few years, as a very positive form of therapy for a wide variety of conditions ranging from addiction to stress relief. It also provides a positive environment for people to meet and exchange knowledge and information. Sweats are conducted in different ways. They may include the making of prayers or declarations, chanting, singing or drumming to create a ritual with spiritual or healing intent. Other lodges may be held in silence. During the Sweat, toxins are removed from the body; negative ions are released into the air, thus relieving fatigue and stress. Participating in a sweat lodge is an individual experience; it is an intimate adventure into your spirit reality. Inside the Purification Lodge |
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| Sweat practices differ slightly amongst cultures; however they all share the elements of purification, prayer and deep connection to life. In most traditions, this powerful ceremony is a place of spirit where one goes to cleanse the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual body, and to pray. All sense of race, color and religion disappears in the heat and darkness of the lodge. In the womb of Mother Earth, we are all the same and have the ability to sit with the Great Spirit. It is a place to seek answers and guidance by asking spiritual entities, totem helpers and the Great Spirit. As the steam rises so do our senses and our prayers. In the heat and darkness of the lodge we can come closer to ourselves, our creator, and to understanding each other. The Sweat Lodge is literally a place of rebirth. The ceremony is designed to facilitate the release of emotions that no longer serve us (anger, jealousy, frustration or any other emotion). Each sweat has an introspective, a release and a consolidation round where individuals have the opportunity to silently request that what is needed in order to move forward. They exit the lodge a new person, reborn with a new perspective from the womb of the Sweat Lodge, having let go of the old. There is always a fire keeper who consciously tends the sacred fire and carries the hot stones into the lodge. The stones used represent Earth as both Grandmother and Mother, an eternal matrilineal kinship and are symbols of endurance in the same manner in which Earth endures. They are alive. Stone absorbs the essence & power of fire and when water is splashed on them in the lodge, the steam or vapor produced is considered powerful and holy, the visible symbol of Creator's Breath. Finns call this vapo r "loyly," spirit of life. The greater underlying intention in all such ceremonies is to acknowledge, feel and experience our spirit bodies. When groups of people come together and focus their intent, it becomes a potentially powerful and creative situation. By doing these ceremonies we gently weave a web of connections between those present and all of our Relations (all of creation or all sentient beings). The SunMoon Lodge |
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| Niyan has been running Sweat Lodges since 1993, learning from the teachers that have come to South Africa over the last 15 years and traveling to Brazil to learn from the medicine people there. In the last two years Niyan and Leeane have been learning more about the Temascal of South America, through participation in the Sun Dance and medicine ceremonies with the Native Medicines Alliance and Santo Daime communities in Brazil. They are both committed to attend the Sun Dance in Brazil over the next four years, and wish to bring much of what they have learned into the community in South Africa. They do this through the SunMoon Lodge, which is run once a month in Rivonia and once a month at Marimba House/Rustlers Valley over a weekend. They teach the songs of the Sun Dance and work with people who will support the Sun Dance, which will be hosted in South Africa in 2012. In the Sunmoon lodge, we come together to acknowledge the elements. They are alive; they exist within us and within the Earth. We experience oneness, with the lements and with the Earth. The Sweat Lodge represents the womb of the Earth Mother. When we are inside, we are back in the womb where we can experience rebirth and death of those parts of our ego that hinder us. We sweat for four quarters, each of which represents one of the four elements or directions. The first round is a round of prayers for the self, a space to go within and consider our lives and our path. It is usually a round of silence but sometimes we will share a song or a prayer. The elemental focus in this round is Air. The second round is focused on Fire, a round of prayers for others, so in this round our meditation is for all sentient beings, awakening the chakras with the Rainbow light meditation. The elemental focus in this round is Fire. In the third round we sing songs we have learned on our medicine path with the Sweat Lodge; songs praising the Grandfathers and Grandmothers. The songs show appreciation for creation; clearing away obstructions to clarity and growth. They lift our spirits and call upon helper beings, ancestors and Creator. The elemental focus in this round is Water. The last round is one of gratification and celebration. We sing more songs of appreciation. The elemental focus in this round is Earth. The Rounds last for aproximately half an hour each, but on occasions can last as long as a hour. So we are inside the Lodge for two to three hours. Once leaving the lodge a silent space is held and people can cool off in the pool or on the grass. We prepare a soup (Veg) and bread which we all share. |
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 Niyan & Leeane |
Physical
Benefits
Sweating practices have been used throughout the world to help people gain physical, mental and spiritual health. It promotes positive effects on sleep, mood and on hyperactivity, specifically for people with anorexia nervosa. Examples of different forms of group sweating include the American Indian sweat lodge ceremony, the Finnish sauna, the Russian bania, the Jewish shvitz, the Islamic hammam, the African Sweat Hut, the Mexican Temascal and the Japanese mushi-buro. References to group sweating have been cited as old Celtic and Teutonic practices, important in tribes of Africa, Melanasia, Australia, New Guinea, Polynesia, and was a central practice to the Greeks, Romans, and Aztecs. Bikram Yoga, which combines group sweating with yoga, is also becoming increasingly popular. One of the most consistent descriptions is that sweating facilitates relaxation and stress relief. The heat of a sweat bath and the often rapid cooling afterwards, conditions the body. A well-tuned body is more resistant to colds, disease and infection. Depending on how hot the sweat bath is and the climate in which it occurs, a fifteen minute sauna or sweat can perform the heavy metal excretion that normally takes healthy kidneys 24 hours to accomplish. Body sweat flushes toxic metals such as copper, lead, zinc, and mercury from the body. A sweat lodge or sauna is often recommended as a supplement to kidney machines. Sweat can also remove excessive salts; this is generally believed to be beneficial for cases of mild hypertension. Sweat can also eliminate urea, a metabolic by-product. Sweat may also draw out lactic acid responsible for stiff muscles and a contributor to general fatigue. Lungs benefit, too. Clogged respiratory passages are opened by heat; this gives relief from colds or minor respiratory problems. Recent Finnish tests validate the practice of splashing water on superheated rocks as a means to produce an abundance of negative ions. This seems especially true if the rocks are heated by a wood fire. It is known now that where there are too few negative ions and too many positive ions, have been linked to heart attacks, aggravated asthma, migraines, insomnia, rheumatism, arthritis, hay fever and allergies. Sweat baths are not recommended for persons with pneumonia and major respiratory problems. Sweating is also contraindicated during high-risk pregnancies and for patients with unstable angina pectoris, recent myocardial infarction, severe aortic stenosis, decompensated heart failure, and cardiac arrhythmia.
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Near Cape Town |
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