تفسیر درس

Sweat Lodge – Commentary Lesson

Hi, this is Kristin again. Welcome back to the commentary for this conversation Sweat Lodge. Now in the conversation I had mentioned, well, actually in the vocabulary lesson I mentioned the purpose of doing a sweat lodge, which is for purification or for cleansing.

So I find, and, y’know, in the conversation I actually describe myself at the end after being in the sweat lodge, I describe myself as being very…feeling great, feeling really good and feeling really alive. So I was thinking about this commentary and how I thought it would be interesting to talk about when I do, when I have done, I should say, in the past similar things such as going to a Reiki retreat, that I can have a similar feeling actually.

So I’ll tell you, for example, for two different years now I’ve gone with AJ and Tomoe, we’ve gone and done a Reiki retreat, which involves going to this really beautiful place surrounded by redwood trees, which are really big trees here on the west coast of the United States and we’re in this beautiful setting and for four days we’re just doing a lot of different meditations.

So if you recall, if you remember from my vocabulary lesson, I described Reiki as being healing energy.

So we’re doing this healing energy work on each other as well as a lot of different meditations. So four straight days of doing meditation and being in this beautiful setting in nature, it has this very cleansing, purifying effect, similar to the sweat lodge, in a very different way though.

The sweat lodge lasted maybe, I don’t know, an hour? And, y’know, the Reiki retreat I’m speaking about that I’ve done two of was four days. But both very intense experiences, very…very challenging experiences.

So, and recently actually, me and AJ and his wife, Tomoe, we did a one-day Reiki day, just a Reiki day, where it was very…it was a shortened version of a Reiki retreat. So it was only one day. But it was a long day of doing these meditations. And again I left feeling very, very cleansed.

So what do I mean by that? What…well, let me, let me also say another way that I’ve experienced this is from getting body work. For example, massages, y’know, I get in such a relaxed state. My body relaxes so my mind starts to really relax. And when you get in these…in a relaxed state like that, a lot of healing can happen. So…and I leave a massage feeling the same way, very, y’know, it’s a very different experience but I still feel very cleansed.

So what I was going to explain about cleansed…cleansed, y’know, let me…let me talk a little bit more about that. Cleansed…cleansed meaning I feel light, very light and, of course, relaxed, like I just described feeling from the massage. Alive, like I described in the conversation after the sweat lodge. No, y’know, my…any negative thoughts that maybe I had are gone. Any blockages maybe in my body, those are gone so energy is flowing more freely.

All of these things happen, whether it’s from, y’know, doing an intense sweat or getting a massage or from intense meditations, or whatever it might be. These things can all happen. And the wonderful thing is if I feel great after doing something like this, then I’m going to have a positive effect or impact on other people, or hopefully I will. So if I’m coming…if I have positive feelings and I’m feeling really good and in harmony with myself, feeling at peace, calm, relaxed, that’s going to affect other people I come into contact with.

So if…even if somebody’s having a bad day, if I can, y’know, it can go either way. If somebody’s having a bad day but I’m feeling really great, like I’ve just described, feeling peaceful, calm, y’know, if I don’t let their negative thoughts or behaviors affect me then maybe if I’m able to be strong and still stay in that peaceful state then hopefully I can affect them.

So it’s like a ripple effect. In other words, it’s like…it’s like, it’s something that moves outward like a good way to describe it would be like waves in an ocean. They’re just constantly…let’s say you throw a rock into the ocean or into water. And you see small little waves going out from where that rock hit the water.

That’s how, if you’re coming from a good, peaceful, calm place…state of being…then you can, your positive feelings, emotions, attitude, it will ripple out to others. Just like throwing a rock into water and watching that…those, those little waves ripple out, move outward.

So what are ways that you take care of yourself and that you maybe cleanse yourself to get rid of negativity, y’know, negative thoughts or…or, y’know, ways that you get back to your true nature, who you really are, not covered up by negative thoughts or pain or doubts or fears, but coming from that peaceful place. What are things that you do for yourself?

Maybe get on the Ning site and share that with others. And if you don’t do anything, then maybe it’s a good idea to think about doing that for yourself. Because not only are you doing this for yourself, taking care of yourself, having an effect for you, but you’re affecting others as well. And we sure could use a lot more of that in this world.

Alright, that…this concludes the commentary for the conversation Sweat Lodge and I’ll see you next time.