Temazcal in San Juan Cosala

Yesterday Gwyn drove Sarita and I to the Temazcal in San Juan Cosala, near Lake Chapala. Monte Coxala was reallyl beautiful - breathtakingly beautiful. We had this amazing view of Lake Chapala. I've posted Gwyn's link below if you want to see photos of the grounds and nearby Chapala.

So about the temezcalli, with about 10 strangers (and Ana, Lucy and Jorge - Sarita and Gwyn's friends) we entered this dark cave room, and then the hot bath began. We had to go around the room and tell everyone our intentions for being there. I kept my simple - I wanted to cleanse my system and sweat out toxins (aka wine and tequilla). Other people went into long poetic explanations that this once Mayan ritual would help align their spirit with their body...etc. Then we had to ask permission to the grandparents and gods of the past to be in this dark, sweaty room. There was chanting, singing, and yelling of "fuerte." It lasted about 75 minutes. I think. It was long and there were times I couldn't breath. I didn't know the human body could sweat so much. I had to sit on the floor in order to escape the heat because at times it was so hot in there that I thought my skin would peel off. It burned and could barely breath. I only took little breaths because to breath fully burned and I could feel the heat enter my lungs and stomach. At the end of the sweat journey, we had to give each other big sweaty hugs. Imagine everyone is covered in head to toe in sweat and we had to hug each other. It was tough! Afterwards we all went into a natural spring bath, then they wrapped us in blankets and fed us honey and water. All this for $10 dollars. Honestly, I loved it. I could do without the hugs - but that's probably the American in me. The spa itself was gorgeous. I could have stayed there forever.


Here are G's photos:
http://flickr.com/photos/g_w_y_n/tags/sanjuancosala/

Here is some information on the ritual Temezcal:
http://www.tlahui.com/temaz1.html

The SPA:
http://www.montecoxala.com/