Sweet Indulgence: Indulging Our Sacred Bodies, Magical Selves

By Loba

“Indulgence” doesn't always mean bingeing, slacking, or waste. It's vital we learn to indulge in our emotional needs and physical hungers, the sensual delights and carnal joys, in playing hard... and indulging.
- Jesse Wolf Hardin

Slowly the wood fire heats up the hot tub, sending smoke and steam like a prayer into the sparkling New Mexico sky Freshly bathed women can be seen brushing each other's hair and painting one another's bodies with henna and woad, while a second shift adds aromatic oils before stripping off their clothes to get in. Nearby a group circles barefoot on the ground, grinding cooked herbs on an ancient stone metate, sensing the spirits of those who lived here thousands of years before us. They the same timeless motions that the Old Ones once did, and indulging in many of the same pleasures and treats they enjoyed in their own special day.

The tribal songs of those black haired maidens seems to rise up from the metates themselves, as though released by the magical act of having plants ground on them again. Two sisters return to camp carrying between them a large cloth laden with wild lamb's quarters, others carrying armloads of wood for the tub and dinner fire. We feel like an ancient and primal tribe ourselves, living intimately with each other and the gifts of this enchanted land. We pass around bowls full of wild fruits and greens, roasted local pinon nuts and yummy cheeses. Few words are spoken besides heartfelt invocations and thanks. Words melt into murmured “mmmmmms,” like the gooey pieces of decadent chocolate cake we hand feed each other... savoring every breath and every bite.

We've temporarily left the people we usually take care of, to focus on the sacred dimensions of loving and tending care of ourselves. In these busy times, it's all the more important that we learn to give the gift of deep nurturance to our own beings and bodies, to better be able to give it to each other and to the living world. Creating personalized rituals of body-honoring helps heal our neglected inner selves, blessing our happily embodied spirits.  The best foundation self knowledge and self love, knowing we're worthy of every reward, challenge and assignment, inspiring truth and self acceptance in others. We set an example as responsive priestesses of our own pleasure, manifesting - through the skillful employment of our hands and the investment of our hearts - the treasured rites of Sacred Indulgence!

We all know what it's like to indulge in unhealthy things, whether junk food or laziness - but indulgence isn't neither excess nor lack of discipline, it's “knowing and responding to our natural desires and real needs.”  Nor is it self-centered. To best nurture our families and friends, we should first learn how to indulge our selves in the healthiest ways: a hot or cold cloth on our forehead, the feel of silk against the skin, or the mood altering affects of a change of clothes or the lighting of incense. We're more sensitive to the needs and feelings of others when we're attuned the pleasures of candlelight and soft music, beautiful clothing and clean sheets on the bed - when we burn sage in the morning, make meals with love, and eat them with prayerful attention. We can practice loving, caring for and responding to every part of our bodies, making any changes like weight loss or gain in a spirit of honoring our beings, rather than out of self-hatred or self-doubt.

After dinner we circle beneath the moonlit cliffs, a huge pot of river water simmering over fragrant oak coals. Big bowls of hot water are passed around and we drip essential oils of lavender and rosewood into them, breathing deeply as we begin our water-kin ritual. Slowly and consciously we wrap each other's feet with thick warm washcloths and together sing wordless songs of connection, celebration, and honoring. It's a sight so magical, so powerful: glowing women affirming each other's beauty and worth with presence and grace. It's a circle of heartfelt giving, and feels like an impossible dream, but it's as real as the warmth penetrating our skin and our hearts. We unguardedly give and accept mindful coconut - oil foot rubs, share poems, sing in honor of the Goddess within us.  It's past midnight before we climb into our blankets spread on the soft giving sand, lulled to sleep by the whisperings of the Sweet Medicine River and our many contented sighs.

From nearby come the sounds of night swallows swooping down on a flight of insects, and a mountain lion lustily calling for its mate. Like theirs, our needs are natural, and our hungers holy. “Respect yourself!,” the whole canyon seems to say. “You're worthy to indulge” in your authenticity, in wild colors, yummy flavors and exciting adventures! Indulge in the delicious meal and precious offering that is your life.

Loba is codirector of The Earthen Spirituality Project, and a columnist for the esteemed SageWoman magazine. Together with her partners, she tends an enchanted wilderness sanctuary and ancient place of power, where they host wilderness quests, resident apprenticeships and the annual Sacred Indulgence weekend (Sept 23-25): The Sweet Medicine Women's Center & Earthen Spirituality Project, Box 820, Reserve, NM 87830 mail@earthenspirituality.org