Tis the season to be not only jolly and merry, but also to move through our obstacles and challenges. Let’s face it, Christmas time and end of year parties are not always tinsel and sparkle, peaches and cream. In the heat of summer and the sizzle of our human foibles, difficulties do arise and challenge our ability to be our divinely lighthearted, joyful self. Many opportunities to transcend our old and tired ‘unhelpful’ ways can present. Relationships with self, family and peers will often reflect back to us things we don’t like. It can be all too tempting to escape, avoid or attack, overshadowing the joys that are inherent in our everyday experiences at this time of year. Yet there is another way through it, which we love to share with people at this time of year. Summer solstice invites us to ‘be in the north’ so to speak.
For anyone who has attended our sweat lodge ceremonies, ‘being in the north’ is a state of being where we embody a state of stillness, courage and strength to become greater than our ordinary human foibles. This practice is something that becomes deeply embodied through participation in sweat lodge and helps us to become transformed as powerful, conscious and loving beings on this earth. From the moment of inception, where the thought, or invitation to join a sweat lodge presents, our sabotaging mind can threaten our ability to embark on the opportunity to sit with the pain and shadows that hold us back in life. In a sweat lodge we have the opportunity to acknowledge and dissolve them. Often it is tempting to distract ourselves from the discomfort of this process, yet it gives us a liberating experience of shedding the thoughts, painful memories and patterns that are doing us a disservice. The rewards for letting go in this way, are countless and immeasurable.
It is very common for people to talk themselves out of attending sweat lodge, and not just because of the first time anxiety of the unknown. As someone who has participated in sweat lodge ceremonies for around 10 years, I still feel a few little saboteurs surfacing at times in the lead up to a sweat lodge ceremony. I describe it as a heaviness or resistance, to the effect of “I don’t feel like playing today”. At times it has shown up as feeling that it is too hard, wanting to hide away, having an argumentative mind which questions the effectiveness or validity of the experience, and physical malaise such as headaches or bone tiredness. These are the times that I have had the greatest rewards and transformations with sweat lodge. The headaches get washed away with tears, the argumentative mind finds peace and stillness, the tiredness and heaviness gives way to a lightness of being and the feeling of hiding becomes an open hearted and expressive feeling.
Last night we were blessed to introduce our unique soul nurturing sweat lodge ceremony to many new people and reflected on the obstacles around coming to a first sweat lodge experience. Having participated and facilitated in hundreds of sweat lodge ceremonies over the past ten years we know all too well some of the saboteur experiences and thoughts that come into play for both ourselves and others. Michael himself revealed the barriers and challenges he felt leading up to the ceremony. Having not facilitated one for over a year, he soon realised that if he allowed himself to be carried by the story all would flow as it should. These are some of the saboteur experiences people have shared with us over the past ten years:
Doubts about coping with the experience
Worries that it would be disruptive for their days following sweat lodge
Life became too busy and out of control
Fear of being affected by dark energies
Fear of entering into a life threatening experience
Very interesting reflections, considering that the crux of a sweat lodge experience is about dying to our old ways of being, shedding our dark energies and letting go of all control and doubts to experience the wisdom and power of our intuitive and wise self. When we emerge from the sweat lodge, our new self is birthed into the world.
In response to questions and worries about participating in this ceremony, these are some of the things I can share to enlighten you.
You are always the master of your journey in a sweat lodge.
You have the choice to leave the sweat lodge at anytime that your body wisdom tells you to
In the process of participating in a sweat lodge you access a kind of strength and guidance that you would not receive in ordinary circumstances
So long as you drink adequate water and do not fall into victim mentality, you are able to feel balanced and centred in the days following a sweat lodge.
If you wish to start the New Year with a ceremony that prepares you for new life and to be rejuvenated to create your new self for 2019 we are now taking bookings for sweat lodge. We are planning a sweat lodge ceremony to be held at Witchcliffe near Margaret River in the first week of January and would love for you to join us. We welcome your enquiries and feedback by email, Facebook or phone Michael 0417 534 647.
Or if you feel to let it all go with a massage or Kinesiology session, a debrief, bodywork, laughter, and any other ways of releasing that organically arise in the session, we are available for consultations over the Christmas and new year period. Phone Simone 0427 320 302
Wishing you a Summer Solstice of positive transformation