ayearoferewhon: I’m back from Breitenbush. You feel disoriented when you return from this plac
ayearoferewhon: I’m back from Breitenbush. You feel disoriented when you return from this place to the “real world.” I met so many wonderful people, everyone seemed so joyful. Teachers by the bushel–America, you should know that your children are being taught by many teachers who seem to love the hippie hot springs! thank the bejeezus–a woman from England with an Australian accent and a degree in art, a therapist who teaches the psychology of creativity, a homeopath, a serious running coach, a couple from Humboldt Co. on their hot springing honeymoon, a burlesque dancer, a gaggle of yoga goddesses, a fireman, a woman who came prepared to the sauna above and shared her salt scrubs with me, a younger woman who melted my heart in my last minutes in the sauna before I left by smiling at me as I showered myself with ice water from the hose inside and saying: “I can totally see you as a little boy right now, playing in your bath.” That’s me, basically. Er…I also met some folks who are best friends with someone I work with and we soaked and hung out nude, no biggie I guess! I was assigned a roommate who turned out to be amazing, and we soaked together a lot and traded contact info by the time I left. I’ll post some of my own snaps, just basic cell snaps, soon. I soaked, I hiked through ancient cedar forests, I listened to the river, I spent hours in the steam sauna pictured here and the ice shower and ice plunge tub outside. It’s my favorite thing. The rain fell much of the time, seeping into your skin like the spring waters. The food is amazing, as always. But I feel like the hobbits after they come back from the forest of the Ents! I drank so much pure spring waters, and soaked so long in them, that my hair and nails seem to have grown double quick! I look in the mirror, and I tell you I look different. My hair is curlier. There is a sparkle there I didn’t see before. Breitenbush is a paradise. PS. The last time I visited, almost a year ago, I encountered a beautiful woman named Danielle and we spent much of our time there together. A hypnotist from Portland. This current visit, right after arriving, I went to the sauna pictured here, where I had first met Danielle last May and taught her to use the cold plunge. She never had done anything like that before. Thinking of her still, I entered the sauna the other day and thought it would be mine alone, empty, as no one’s clothes hung on the pegs outside. But there was a beautiful woman inside, and we laid on opposite benches on our backs, and I slowly realized she was vocalizing, singing a little, but more chanting. She looked over at me and asked me if it was bothering me. The room was so resonant. I told her no, on the contrary it was beautiful. She explained it was about the chakras. We spent my first hour there together with me listening to her wonderful voice, and steaming and plunging, and talking. Her name was … Danielle. I learned this when her best friend walked by while we were standing nude outside the sauna, our skin steaming in the cold air. He called out to her, “Danielle!” And then she called out to him. His name was mine. We had exactly the same name. Breitenbush magic. Memory. -- source link