Sweat Therapy Heals Traditionally
Sweat Therapy Heals Traditionally
By Stephen Colmant
Driving between Gallup and Shiprock on Highway 666 into the Navajo reservation, I was full of anticipation. I just graduated with my master’s degree in counseling and was ready to apply my psychotherapy skills at my new job at a treatment center for Navajo boys. After a few months at the job, my excitement turned to frustration and self-doubt as I found my Western therapy techniques ineffective. I was doing more limit-setting and crowd control than psychotherapy. Then, a Navajo traditional healer took me to a sweat lodge ceremony.
After the leader ordered that the door flap be dropped, plunging the group into darkness, he said that the purpose of the first round was to pray or meditate for resolving a personal problem or bettering oneself in general. He then poured a special mixture of water and herbs over the heated rocks. Hissing blasts of hot steam filled the darkened lodge and I experienced my first real world lesson in psychotherapy – Navajo style. Following that initiation, I incorporated the sweat lodge ceremony as a weekly practice at the treatment center and the positive affect on the boys was dramatic.
After I left the Rez, I missed the sweat ceremonies. I also thought my clientele at that time -- youth coming out of detention centers and psychiatric hospitals -- could benefit from the ritual. So, I made a deal with a local gym owner to use his sauna and created my own sweat therapy sessions. Now, I’m a second-year, doctoral student and leader of a team at Oklahoma State University Counseling Psychology Department researching sweat therapy.
Sweating as a physical and mental cleansing ceremony is an ancient practice. Most Westerners are familiar with the physical benefits of a sauna such as improved cardio functioning, purifying the body of toxins and keeping the skin healthy. Few understand that there are also psychological benefits. The American Indian sweat lodge, Finnish sauna, Russian bania, Jewish shvitz and Turkish hamman are international forms of sweat therapy. One would be hard pressed to find a culture or era in which group sweating was not a common practice.
Michael Winkelman, an anthropologist from the University of Arizona, asserts that the universality of basic experiences related to shamanism, like group sweating, illustrates that these practices are not strictly cultural but have psychobiological features. The practices are significant in that they promote socialization, elicit altered states of consciousness and have contributed to the evolution of society and consciousness.
People often report that a good sweat session helps them relax and de-stress. Research is showing that the effects on sleep, availability of negative ions and neuroendocrine response produced by sauna affect not only stress management but also psychiatric disorders. A fundamental way our brains function is through the attraction and repulsion of negative and positive ions. The splashing of superheated rocks in a sauna or sweat lodge produces an abundance of negative ions, which promote feelings of refreshment and well-being as well as improved work efficiency. If air is charged with few negative ions and too many positives, humans become anxious, fatigued and tense. The blockage of positive ion build-up and retention of negative ions have long been identified as important in the treatment of numerous psychiatric disorders.
Studies by M.I Hannukesela and S. Ellahham, published in The American Journal of Medicine [110,118-126], indicate that saunas activate the sympathetic nervous system, the rennin-angiotensin-aldosteronesystem and the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal hormonal axis. This causes releases of hormones including adrenocorticotropic, aldosterone, angiotensin II, argininevasopressin, atrial natriuretic peptide, beta-endorphin, cortisol, epinephrine, glucose, growth hormone, norepenephrine, prolactin, renin activity, thyroid and thyroid-stimulating. These increases return to normal within a few hours and have no permanent effects.
Sweat lodges also improve sleep. In research comparing sleep-EEGs, post-sauna sleep was deeper producing 72 percent more deltawave sleep than in control recordings.
Anger management is facilitated by sweat therapy. It has been shown to cause desensitization to states associated with aggression and anxiety. For people with anxiety or anger behavior, over-reacting to one’s physiological response to provoking stimuli is a key part of the problem. The heat of a sauna or sweat lodge is a dynamic force. For the first 10 minutes, the average participant will likely experience the heat as pleasurable but this will gradually change to an effort of endurance as time passes. When the experience changes to an effort of endurance, those with problems of frustration tolerance will be especially challenged. Similarities between anxiety/anger provoking situations and sauna are that body temperature rises, heart rate is increased, sweating is induced and negative self-talk begins. Learning to cope with the sweat induced state seems to help with control in anger situations. One aspect of sauna use that makes it a good match with counseling is that the activity allows a therapy session to be conducted while participants face the challenge of enduring the heat. Being an intense physical activity that does not require movement, sauna may be especially useful to those with physical disabilities. However, it is physically dangerous for those with acute heart and respiratory problems to take part in sweat therapies.
Studies have long shown that the psychological effects of sweat ceremonies are particularly conducive to the goals of group therapy. The process seems to promote interpersonal bonding and personal disclosure. People are less defensive and open up more in a sauna than in a standard office setting.
A sweat session is a traditional way to mark the beginning or completion of a personal journey such as starting a new health regimen or other personal commitments to change. Basic instructions on how to use a sauna are usually posted in most fitness centers. Shower-up, have plenty of water on hand and do about four, 10- to 15-minute intervals in the sauna with about a five-minute break between each sweat session. Develop your own ceremony by adding music, aromatherapy, meditation or prayer. Sit back and relax, get into the heat and go off into your altered state of consciousness seeking the ancient wisdom of your ancestors in the primordial womb of the sweat lodge.
Stephen Colmant, MA, LPC is a second year doctoral student in counseling psychology and licensed counselor at Oklahoma State University. He has several publications and national presentations on using sweat therapy as a counseling technique.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SWEAT CEREMONIES
American Indian sweat lodge ceremonies are sacred gatherings. No matter how authentic the session, for non-Indians to conduct such ceremonies and charge a fee is tantamount to someone dressing up like the Pope and charging admission to a church service. The following are some respectful options to go sweat.
Breitenbush Hot Springs
Oregon
503-854-3314
Nestled in the Oregon Cascade Mountains, Breitenbush has monthly sweat lodge ceremonies. Following tradition, there is no charge but participants are asked to bring gifts or contribute to cover the costs of wood and caring for the leaders.
Seven Circles
Richmond, Calif.
510-236-3512; www.sevencircles.org
Fred Wahpepah, a Kickapoo and Sac-and-Fox elder, is providing an opportunity for people to participate in traditional ceremonies such as the sweat lodges and sacred pipe, without charge.
