
Image: Smoobs/Flickr
Standing around a campfire with a bunch of naked strangers is the stuff of most people’s nightmares. For me, it was a regular occurrence during my 20s.
This collection of random private parts being warmed by an open fire wasn’t a bizarre sexual ritual, nor was it a gathering of disciples ready to gulp down a glass of Jim Jones-style Kool-Aid. This was a sweat lodge, and despite providing the comedy for most of my dinner party conversations during the early 2000s, this Native American ritual was one of the most significant things I’ve ever done.
6 signs you’re stressed (and what you can do about it).
For the uninitiated, a sweat lodge is a purification ceremony designed to help give the Universe (and yourself) a kick in the arse. It’s easy to go through life knowing you’re not really happy without ever taking the time to work out why and a sweat lodge is all about giving you that time.
So if you’re feeling a little lost or underwhelmed with life and you’re comfortable with armpit hair (on women) and phrases like ‘the Universe will provide’ then here are the answers to a few questions you may not realise you wanted to know…
Why is it called a sweat lodge?
Because you’ll be sweating your arse off. It’s all part of the purification process and it’s also why nudity is embraced. If you go into this thing dressed like the Amish, you’ll be cursing the wagon you rode in on in five seconds.
Is it an actual lodge?
No. It’s a small dome-like structure made of sticks that isn’t tall enough to stand up in but that’s fine because everyone crawls in anyway (this is an eye opener when you’re naked….eyes down people, eyes down!). The lodge is usually covered in blankets with a pit in the middle that’s filled with heated rocks that create the steam (when they’re doused with water, not by magic).
Do you have to be naked?
Nope. You can wear whatever you like but you’re with a pretty open-minded bunch so if you’ve ever wanted to let go of your inhibitions there’d be no better place to do it. At my first one I thought there was no way I’d get my kit off with people who hadn’t even bought me a drink but once I saw how comfortable everyone was in their own skin I was sans strides in no time.
Curing depression just got delicious.
What happens inside the lodge?
There are usually four rounds with a break in between, and in each round you could be singing, chanting, talking about why you’re there, anything. If the thought of that makes you break out in hippy hives, remember this is all about individual experience so you only have to do what you want to do but it’s pitch black in the lodge so no one will have any idea what you’re getting up to anyway. It’s also important to remember you’re in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of naked strangers, so singing is the least of your worries.
Top Comments
I'm really sad to see this article here. Nudity is most definitely not embraced nor allowed by the Native American people in lodge. Far from it, women in all native nations across the US dress modestly in either a ceremony dress or long skirt and tshirt. Covered shoulders always. We've been going there for a long time, and know a lot of natives and medicine men, this is their way, not to be changed. Sweat lodge is a sacred ceremony and it sounds like this writer was attending one run by a non-native who threw a few of her own rules into the mix. I'm sorry that the writer had this experience and thinks that this is what sweat lodge is, and worse has misrepresented sweat lodge to others reading.