Traditional Andean Sweat lodge is an experience that is so elemental, so primal, so raw that it seems almost otherworldly at times.  It is something that indigenous tribes have been doing since their inception and a tradition that has been handed down from generation to generation.  Each sweat is a time for healing, prayer, meditation, community, connection and spirit.

The family we work with is lead by Mama Ruth.  She is the anchor for the ceremony and for planet earth.  A hug from this woman is like a hug from the mother of mothers.  I’m not quite sure what would happen if Mama Ruth and Amma from India met, but it would be something awesome.  To see this lineage revering its Matriarch is endearing, exemplary and sweet.  Her two sons, Christian and Roberto, guide the group with song, love and strength.

The sweat is an invocation to the four elements (tawaapukunas), earth, wind, water and fire.  Each element (apukuna) has it’s own doorway, it’s own energy which is opened and closed by group prayer and offerings.  The chulla chukka is constructed of clay and mud with a hole in the center for the hot rocks.  Fresh medicinal plants and herbs, hand picked by Mama Ruth, are suspended from the ceiling to absorb energy and then used for healing. 

Before entering the chulla chaka, each participants makes a Q’inti which are three coca leaves sealed with animal.  Mama Ruth calls you over one by one, you set your intention into the Q’inti and offering it to the fire where the hot rocks are being charged.  She then cleanses you with smoke and invites you to enter the sweat.  Kneeling at the entrance of the sweat with your forehead on the ground you repeat a blessing then enter the experience.

Just as the four elements, there are four rounds to the experience, each representing one of the elements.  Each round, 13 hot stones are brought into the lodge and placed in the pit with deer antlers.  Each stone is welcomed into the sweat by celebratory chanting and excitement.  Apuchai is what that call the stones or the little grandfathers in the native Quechua tongue.  Once they enter, Mama Ruth marks and blesses them.

The door to the lodge is then shut and offerings are made in the form of medicinal water which as various plant essences and herbs.  A cup is passed around and each person gets to make an offering to the rocks.  The steam created is soaked into medicinal herbs and plants that hang from the low ceiling.  After each person has made their water offering and the steam soaks, the physical door is then opened and 13 more Apuchais are brought in.  By the last door Mama Ruth makes the offerings for all of us and then works one-by-one giving each person a massage and healing treatment with the medicinal plants she had concocted.

Every experience I have with a sweat or Chulla Chuka (Quechua word for “bridge of dew”) is simple, profound, and physically beneficial.  The obvious health benefit comes from the sweating.  This helps eliminate toxins from our bodies, boostsimmune system, lowers risk of kidney stones, and releases endorphins.  The shamans will remind us to lie on the ground and receive healing from the mother earth.  This ancient insight has now received scientific credibility in the movement called Earthing or Grounding.  Some of the benefits of Earthing are: reduced inflammation, improved blood flow, increased energy, and relief of muscle tension.  

The sweetness to this experience is something that can heal on many levels.  Song, community, and celebration is medicine for the soul no doubt.  Everyone that has come through the sweat enters one way and yet leaves a completely changed person.