today  25 August - Community Lodge
account_circle  facilitated by Claudia Goncalves and Mark Halliday

schedule  11am to 7pm. The arrival time is around 10:30am for 11am start and finish around 7pm. If we can, we will finish earlier.

Please leave the evening free so we don't have to rush. Sometimes, depending on the numbers, the Ceremony can finish later.

place  location: Community Woodland, Cockburnhill Road, Balerno, EH14 7JB

suggested donation:    £140 | £130 | £120 | £110| £100

According to your financial means, you choose which one of the above applies to you.

About the Sweat Lodge Ceremony

The Sweat Lodge, is an ancient sacred ceremony, and as such, it is a very powerful healing ceremony. It is symbolic of entering the womb of the Earth Mother, so that we can be reborn; it is a ceremony for cleansing and purification. The hot stones that we bring inside the lodge are like the bones of the mother. The steam that comes up from the rocks is the breath of life. By sweat and prayer we can clean our bodies of toxins, clear our mind of negativity, drop old habits or limitations, clear feelings that create separation and heighten our spirits.

It is good to participate in a lodge at times of new beginnings in our lives with for example, marriage, divorce, birth, death, new year, birthday, new enterprise, new relationship, etc. The Lodge is a good way to prepare ourselves, do a clearing, make space, release 'the old' and call in 'the new' that we want to bring into our lives.

Some restrictions for participating in a Sweat Lodge

If women participants are in their moon time (menstruating) around the time of the ceremony, then please contact Claudia. Depending on the day of your flow, it will not be possible to take part in the Ceremony. The reasons are rooted purely in honouring the Feminine, as it is not a time to put extra hardshiop in our body, it is a time of rest, nurturing the self and be in stillness to receive inspiration. At moon times there are big changes in the flow of energy in our body and it is a very powerful time, it is like having a small sweatlodge in itself as our body is already letting go of the old and making space for the new.

Sweat Lodge is not compatible with pregnancy. It is also not possible for you to participate in a Sweat Lodge Ceremony if you, have high blood pressure, angina, migraines, panic attacks, claustrophobia, strong allergy, back pain, ashma, heart problems, diabetes or if you have any strong medical condition. Please talk to us if you have any health condition listed above or are taking any strong medication. All information given is confidential.

Preparation

Three days days before please avoid alcohol, red meat and cigarettes (if you are a smoker), this will assist and begin your cleansing process.

We will meet in the morning and work together as a community, preparing for the lodge, gathering the wood, the stones, clearing the area, making the fire, covering the lodge, etc. The fire needs to be on for 2 or 3 hours for the stones to get hot. After the fire is done we will have time to share, prepare and talk about the lodge.

Fasting on the day will heighten our awareness. We recommend just breakfast on the day and plenty of water all day. If fasting all day is really difficult for you then we recommend you eat fruit, something light during the day or just a spoon of honey.

The mound of the earth outside the lodge is the altar. It is sacred and powerful. You can bring small objects or crystals to place in the altar if you wish. Absolutely no alcoholic beverage, drugs or smoking are allowed around the ceremony.

If you have to wait for your lodge to begin, please be patient, and use the time to consider what you want to release and what prayers you would make for yourself, your loved ones, your Earth Mother and your relations upon Her.

During the lodge, we can rub parts of our body that have pains or sickness, putting our hands on it and directing energy towards it and praying for healing.

If you are too hot in the lodge, keep your face to the ground and breath in the coolness of the Earth, let go of what may be holding you back and pray hard. Within the sweat lodge, when you are offered water to drink, remember this is the lifeblood of the Earth Mother, and feel its healing energy flowing through you.

After leaving the lodge, it is best to rinse your body to wash the toxins you have released and to close the pores. Also after the ceremony, give yourself a quiet space before you go back to the group. Relax or meditate.

What to bring

We are asked to be modest and to keep ourselves clothed while inside the lodge.

Please bring 1 towel, a bathing suit, sarong if you have one (for women), shorts (men).

Also outdoors warm clothes, a torch if the lodge is happening during winter time.

Please also bring plenty of water to drink all day and some food to share afterwards. We will fast all day.

The process after the lodge

It will really help if you can avoid any doings until next morning or if at all possible even for the whole day. The integration process takes a few weeks, however, the time and space that you give to yourself after the lodge will be the foundation for that process to go as smooth as possible. Also, if a few days after the lodge you feel you need to talk to us, please do get in touch. The lodge is very powerful and it is a wonderful experience of transformation, releasing and getting in touch with a greater meaning and love inside of yourself. Sometimes that process is not so easy and if that is the case for you, please do get in touch and we will support you in all the ways we can.

We recommend a shower after the lodge with the intent to clear any energies that might get stuck in your energy field if you were not able to completely let go of them inside the lodge.

The Ceremony will open up a doorway of deep healing, purification, new beginnings, clarity and more joy and love into your life.