The Traditional Sweat Bath

The name Temazcal is made of two nahuatl words; temas, which means bath, and calli, meaning house. The temazcal has been used as a therapeutic instrument, an arm of the medical practices that were developed by the ancestors in the area known by anthropologists as Mesoamerica. Although sweat baths are known and used by many cultures all around the world, the traditional Mexican sweat bath differs in many ways from the others.
This traditional sweat bath is usually a small, round stone or mud structure. It is not primarily used for ceremonial purposes, nor for relaxation or bodily cleansing or for general well-being, it integrates all the above. The temazcal incorporates all the elements of the ancient cosmology, both in the way it is constructed and the way in which it is used. Temazcaltoci, the grandmother of the baths, according to the nahuatl culture of central México, is the goddess of medicine and medicinal herbs, that was adored by doctors and surgeons, as well as by those who have a temazcal at home.
Aztec cosmology considers the temazcal as returning once again to the womb, Mother Earth, The entrance is low and small, and through it we enter a small, dark, warm and humid space, thar recreates the uterus. After a time inside, the rebirth takes place as we go out through this narrow opening. The darkness and silence of the womb allow us to leave the outside world for a while and give us the chance to look inside and find ourselves again.