My first temazcal made me feel like I’d been reborn

Published December 15, 2022

I’m trembling a bit from pure anticipation and excitement. I am minutes away from my first temazcal experience and, to be perfectly honest, I hadn’t even heard of it before officially moving to Mexico this year. Knowing my appreciation for health and wellness, local friends encouraged me, rather profusely, to try it.

So here I am.

Where, exactly?

I’m in the town of Tepoztlán, in a mountainous area of Morelos hailed as both an energetic and spiritual epicenter, the fabled birthplace of Aztec god Quetzalcoatl. I thought it the ideal location to pop my temazcal cherry.

The word temazcal, derived from the Nahuatl temazcalli, which may be translated as “house of heat,” refers to both the experience and the hut itself. The tradition is at least 1,000 years old.

Because of its healing properties, it was often practiced before and after battles, sports tournaments, and childbirths. It remains a common ritual in Mexican culture.

While I wait in my fluffy, white robe and a bikini for the shaman to arrive, I fill out a health form, scanning the various conditions listed: blood pressure, heart problems and some others that I can’t translate. Trusting that my health status is up to par, I tick “no” to all and sign my life away just as he appears.

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