One of the highlights of our Mt. Shasta trip was the Sweat Lodge experience. Tina Sacchi, our facilitator, has a lot of experience leading sweat lodges and she prefers to run them in the Hawaiian Style. Apparently that means it is not as hot as the traditional Native American sweats, and she is very open about allowing participants to leave the circle if they feel they have to. 

The purpose of a Sweat Lodge is to release all our blocks and limitations and things we have been holding on to that are holding us back. With intention, we release on all levels: mind, body, spirit and emotional…an old tradition with different variations across different cultures.  Many times, the actual sweat lodge is a temporary structure that is constructed and covered by the participants as part of the ceremony. However, at the Gatehouse Retreat, the building is a permanent structure, much like a hogan on an Indian Reservation. And the fire is contained in a wood-burning stove with a flat container of lava rocks on the top where the leader pours water to build up the heat.

In all the experiences I have had over the past 25 years, I had never had the opportunity to be in a Sweat Lodge. Deep down, I was a little nervous about it from all the stories I had heard. But I was certainly willing to give it a try. 

The session consists of 3 “rounds,” where we spend some time inside in the heat and then come out to cool off and spend some time writing in our journals about our experience and the thoughts that have come up.  Then we would go back in and Tina would add some heat to the fire.  During the sessions, we were able to talk about things that were coming up or sing a song or say whatever we felt moved to say.  Tina would play her drum and keep adding herbs and oils to the lava rocks as she added water to create more steam heat. Each session was hotter than the last, and the 3rd round was REALLY hot–but, to my surprise, not TOO hot. The last round is meant to help us really move the energy and release whatever it is that we have been hanging on to that just is no longer serving us. 

I was amazed to see that I was literally dripping with sweat. I hardly ever sweat, and it was fun to see me sweating like a basketball player. All in all, I was very proud of myself and of everyone else because we were able to stick it out to the end, with no one breaking down and having to leave.  I truly did enjoy it and made some huge shifts in some issues I have been dealing with. Just before we started our first round, a raven flew right over our circle from west to east, and Tina said that that indicated New Beginnings and would bring clarity.  During one of the sessions, Annie St. John-Wilkins shared a song that she has recently written, and I was amazed that the words totally explained a previous message I had received from a very intuitive friend of mine–there was the clarity!

 I can’t wait to do another one!

 In my next article, I’ll talk about our experience of looking for UFOs!

 That’s it for now!   Heather

Well, we just got back from an awesome “Enlightenment Journey” to Mt. Shasta with 10 totally awesome ladies.  We flew up to Medford, Oregon, rented cars, and then drove town to Mt. Shasta City which is located in Northern California, about an hour and a half drive south of Ashland, Oregon. 

Tina Sacchi was our Spiritual Facilitator and did an outstanding job of following her guidance and leading the group to exactly where we were supposed to be in every moment.  We stayed at the Gatehouse Retreat Center that was just perfect because we had full run of the property which gave us access to the firepit, the Sweat Lodge, the hammock, the gardens, the trees, the house, the kitchen, the huge living room and plenty of beds for everyone so nobody had to share beds with anyone else.

 We spent the first day on a 5 hour tour with Ashalyn, owner of Shasta Vortex Tours. She took us way back on the mountain roads to waterfalls, parks, fabulous tree circles, and meditation portals, as she gave us an introduction to the Mt. Shasta area. We packed sack lunches every day so we never had to hurry to get home from all the powerful spots we were visiting.

Saturday morning we reserved the Stewart Mineral Springs bathhouse so we were able to spend a full 2 hours relaxing in the healing spring waters, laying in the sauna, and then, for those who were brave enough, dipping into the 58 degree spring pools outside.  The bathhouse was just lovely with beautiful, calming energy and a perfect place to start the day with the sounds of Enya wafting through the building. We had another picnic lunch and visited the Headwaters Park, where the Sacramento River begins. You can take jugs there to fill up with the pure, delicious water. The park has trails all through an enchanting woods where we had a guided meditation and then had some free time to just wander through the paths.

Then we had LOTS of shopping time at the delightful little shops in Mt. Shasta City…crystals, books, clothing, gifts, etc.–not to mention the refreshing Hawaiian shaved ice and root beer floats!  We had such a great time connecting with the people in the shops and restaurants. Everyone seemed to be “on the path” and open to sharing their spiritual experiences with us.

Sunday afternoon we drove up to Castle Lake, just 15 minutes from the retreat center, and basked in the gorgeous sunlight and cool breezes. We were able to get a quite a few fascinating “orb” pictures in the surrounding woods.

Later that afternoon we had a Sweat Lodge experience that I will describe in my next post. I had never done one before and was quite pleased that I was able to stick it out!

All in all, we had an outstanding trip. Everyone got along with each other, strong new bonds were created between the group members who had not even met each other just 4 days before. I love how these journeys bring people together like that.  We could NOT have asked for better weather and the experiences we had are priceless. ”Enchanting” and “Magical” were the words we heard over and over again.   Take a peek at our pictures here.

We invite you to join us in one of our future Enlightenment Journeys as they are announced in the coming months. We had such a good time in Mt. Shasta that we decided to go again every August.