Bathing with Strangers

The Naked Truth

Hilton - Mt Yotei

One of the things everyone says you should defiantly do when visiting Japan is to go to a Japanese onsen. An onsen, if your wondering, is a traditional bathing facility with naturally heated hot water from geothermal heated springs. As a volcanically active country, Japan has no shortage of thermal springs meaning theres little chance of missing out, unless the idea of getting naked with a bunch of strangers is far too daunting and is way out of your comfort zone. 

You can often visit and pay to use other hotel facilities as a non-guest like I did, prices for non hotel guests were 1000yen at both Mominoki in Hakuba and Hilton in Niseko Village which has the most amazing view of Mt Yotei.

In my attempt to convince you its all worth while, I thought you would be pleased to know onsen water is believed to have healing powers derived from its mineral content and have been a part of the culture here in Japan for millennia becoming even more popular with the arrival of Buddhism to Japan in 552 AD where onsens were used and still used today as a means of cleansing and purification.

Onsens are primarily associated with this idea of purification and relaxation, I don't know about you, but the idea of bathing nude with complete strangers is not my idea of relaxation!

My first onsen was definitely an overwhelming experience, I went in without anyone explaining properly what I was meant to do, other than clean yourself and no swimsuit allowed! I chose to go in the middle of the day when most people would be skiing and snowboarding, hoping there wasn't many other women there. I was correct, however my downfall was I had no one to copy to see how it was all done but in hind sight I would have looked like a right creep staring at all the other naked women while they washed and tried to relax, so hopefully by reading this you will avoid any accusations of being a pervert. 

After spending a month in japan I became quite familiar with the process and on my last day bumped into some girls I knew from my hotel. They had that first time look of terror about them so I gave them a run down of whats what, recalling my first time and wishing I had had someone to fill me in on the correct etiquette of what to do and where to go. 

knowing I wasn't the only naive westerner I thought I'd help out some of you onsen virgins by writing an onsen etiquette blog. 

The Onsens are separated in to male and female baths so once you enter you can get undressed and place all your clothes and belongings in the baskets provided. Leave your larger towel with your clothes and take a smaller hand towel to hold over your front torso to cover up as necessary while you walk to showers and onsens. 

Instead of bathing in someones second hand sweat, after they have just been doing laps of the mountain, you have a sit-down shower prior to entering the onsen. Once you find the 'low walled shower' cubicles clean your stool with soap before you sit down (it's not a stool, it is a seat apparently) and thoroughly wash yourself, take off your makeup and wash your hair, soap and shampoo is usually provided. 

Now you and your birthday suit are ready to make your way in to the onsen and submerge and indulge in the hot, healing, mineral rich water which is often not clear and can be Bone white, emerald green, muddy gray, tea brown even rust red which are just some colours that can be witnessed and enjoyed, the variety of colors is just one of the amazing aspects of these japanese hot springs to contemplate. 

If your feeling a bit prudish then you can wear your towel over to the onsen and remove when your ready to enter, leaving your towel on the side (be sure not to let your towel fall in) or bundle your hair up with it, which is what I typically do, as you'll need to tie long hair up anyway and also means I have my towel right there to grab for swift coverage when I'm ready to leave.

Regardless of knowing everyone would be naked I was still self conscious about the whole experience. Getting my fuzzy funnel web legs out for a bunch of strangers to judge made me super insecure, but once I was there and stripped off, I realised that this is normal for the japanese and they are not phased by female nudity and most of the other westerners and especially onsen newbies, are probably feeling the same awkwardness as me.  

Revealing ones self physically or metaphysically, most people will feel some amount of insecurity. Whether thats their weight, their scars, their stretch marks, their lack of muscle, too hairy, tan lines, pubic hair shape, seriously its simply endless the amount of internal critiquing we do and the amount of fear we have about being judged. The naked truth is we all feel it, we all do it and not one of us cares about how hairy you are or your scars or weight. The only thing I felt was how empowered and inspired I was by everyone of those women who over came those initial fears and let themselves been seen in their rawest state. 

Once I was in, the experience was deeply relaxing and who would have known that bathing naked with a bunch of strangers could be such bliss. Word of warning though, don't stay into long or you will over heat and that bliss I just mentioned, quickly transforms into "shit, I think I'm going to pass out, drown and be found floating stripped of all dignity".

If your having these kinds of thoughts, you've definitely stayed in too long and I suggest retreating to the outside bath (if there is one) which is usually cooler, to regain your composure or exit completely and get some water into you. I recommend going in anywhere from a quick dip to 15mins. 

Now Ive become a regular at the onsens, and knowing the etiquette and overcoming my initial fear of being exposed and in my most vulnerable state, in the company of strangers,  has become a wonderful, purifying, healing and indulging experience.

It has allowed me to view saucha, and especially the physical aspect of this niyama in a new light and can see why the onsens are frequented by buddhist monks as part of their purification rituals.

For me the whole process is a meditation and act of self love. I allow the heat to penetrate my muscles and help ease any of my aches and pains, I then close my eyes and become still and give myself time to meditate and clear my mind, cleansing it of any toxic thoughts. Afterwards I have a quick wash off in the "tall walled" shower with no soap and get a cup (or five) of water to rehydrate. After drying off, consider the "after-feel", the lingering change to your skin and mind? My face is usually left shiny and bright red like a tomato.  You can then moisturise, dry your hair and get in to your clean clothes…..The purifcation ritual is complete. 

Hopefully now you can enjoy your onsen experience with less confusion and navigate your way through this ancient, traditonal cleansing ritual like a pro. 

Mountains of Love

Laura xxx

Hi, I'm Laura, Passion-fuelled Yoga teacher, Snow seeker, continusouly exploring my boundaries to get the most out of my time on this wonderfully diverse planet. - welcome to my blog! 

You can connect with Laura on Google+ and Facebook 

The Lunar effect - Moon Migraines,

Tackling them head on 

For as long as I can remember I have suffered with Migraines and i was constantly told to keep a diary to observe patterns that may be "triggers" setting off my migraines. Migraine sufferers have different triggers and full moons are definitely one i feel very strongly about.

I first decided to keep a food and drink diary, after being advised by my mum (a migraine sufferer herself) and doctors. After reading all the negative information about trigger foods like chocolate, citrus, cheese, nuts, soy products, wine….the list is endless and was pretty depressing to think that so many foods could be effecting me.

Personally i was not making a connection through food, I could eat any of these and sometimes they were around the time I had a migraine and other times I felt fine and found no correlation between any particular foods or drinks, except if I had a few cheeky wines too many, but i think we are all guilty of that!

rather than pumping my body full of heavily toxic medication, i began searching for alternative ways to keep my migraines at bay. I heard magnesium was great as its helps to relax muscles, reducing tension, which is ironic as magnesium is found in chocolate which is considered a "trigger" food.  After taking it regularly, i defiantly saw an improvement, but I still got migraines.

After my obsessive food tracking, I had made no advance in ending any triggers but the one thing I was able to discover was that my migraines nearly always fell on a full or new moon!!

At first I (and everyone else) thought it was a crazy idea, just a coincidence but then, living a stones throw from the ocean, we were always keeping an eye out on how the moon would effect the tides, and when I considered the astonishing power of the moon on the 5 tides, this influence was understandable. 

Knowing that the moon has the capacity to move the ocean which is an enormous amount of water, and that on average the human body is about 60% water, surely the moons energy and gravitational pull could easily have an effect on me. 

When the moon is full or new, the gravitational pull of the moon and sun are combined and although the moon exerts a pull on the Earth on other days, it is not as powerful as on the days of full and new moon, and maybe that was the hidden key I'd been searching for that was to unlock the puzzling triggers of my migraines.

The Mooon is not only responsible for the movement of the ocean but it's amazing to realize the power the Moon has on humans and other living beings, that goes almost completely unnoticed!

The moon Triggers many natural rhythms and breeding cycles, birds use the moon phases to navigate their migration patterns, the full moon amplifies the electrical charge in living cells and is notifies coral when to mate, and Herbivores and humans often ovulate or menstruate around the Full and new Moon, the moon can change the levels of serotonin which is a major player when it comes to migraines because a trigger can be as simple as a change in the levels of that neurotransmitter and exercise and digestion are key to serotonin production.

For great healthy recipes check out Luna and lotties blog Soul food and my vegan babe on instagram Tessa or Sprouted Kitchen 

So I put my theory to the test and kept a diary of my migraines and the moon cycles and as if by clockwork my migraines, menstruation and moon phases were in perfect sync.

If you are a migraine sufferer firstly, I empathise with you and secondly, you would know that they can be completely debilitating; they make your skin sensitive to touch, your eyes sensitive to light, nauseous, and can be so aggressive they make me personally vomit, and unable to even sleep to escape the pain, sometimes relying on heavy medications and sedatives to cope and if there is any way to stop, reduce or understand them then I'm all in!

After making this connection I started to dread the full moon and new moon. I wished the syncronicty I had discovered could have been food based as that was something within my control and could simply just avoid particular foods, but I can't change the moon cycles and felt helpless to the idea that every month I would be subject to agonising, debilitating migraines.

Im not here to tell you I have the cure to migraines, unfortunately I still suffer but I can be more prepared, lessen the severity and instead of being fearful of the moon, I now embrace its energy and the positive effects that can be harvested from her luna power

To better understand the qualities of each moon cycle and how you can use them to your advantage ill take a short detour to try and explain the different energetic qualities that the new moon and full moon process. 

The New moon is the non illuminated, or dark side of the moon and possesses raja-tamaistic qualities. what the hell is that you say?

In yoga and Ayurvedic philosophy Raja is the active, stimulating or positive force that initiates change, disturbing the old equilibrium. 

Tamas being the passive, obstructing, destructive or negative force which sustains previous activity. 

With this knowledge we can use the new moons energy to shift and change, move through (raja) our negative, destructive habits and patterns (Tamas) and over come our obstacles. its a time of new beginnings, and planting the creative seeds, set intentions and ideas you'd like to develop, cultivate, or manifest. There are many ways to initiate this communion with the Universe from writing your thoughts on paper, to elaborate rituals.

The Full moon is the illuminated, light bearing side of the moon, or sattva in yoga and Ayurvedic terms and is the quality of light, love and life that allows us to evolve in consciousness. 

The full moon acts like a giant cosmic torch illuminating the darker or shadowy aspects of ourselves we don't usually like to address. Here we can align ourselves with our truth and move forward with confidence and clarity in a loving and nurturing manner. It is a great time to cleanse and purify and let go of that which no longer serves us and with the decrease in the Raja-Tamastic qualities  any of our self-destructive habits or stagnating energy is lowerd or removed.

So hopefully you have a better understanding of the energetic qualities each moon phase possess…...but how do I use the moon to help me navigate through my migraines your wondering? 

Well, I am particularly mindful of my thoughts, actions and intensions during these phases because I believe in the ability the moon has to effect my mental, emotional and physical state of being.  I keep up regular exercise, (find my free online videos here) but i adopt a softer Yin yoga practice to ground myself and draw my energy down towards earth in opposition to the strong gravitational pull upward from the moon, with mediation helping calm the fluctuating tides within my mind. I set intentions and goals based upon the yoga and Ayurvedic qualities of each moon phase and use foods to help with any Guna (raja-tamas-sattva) imbalance.

You can create your own rituals using candles, oils and incense, smudge sticks, crystals, yoga and mediation, to remove fear and help bring focus and intention (and hopefully avoid migraines) surfing the lunar tides with ease, rather than swimming up stream against the current. If your not sure where to start Wabisabiwell.com has a 'new moon ritual and meditation guide' to get you started and if your wondering how to keep track of the moon then their are some great apps you can download on your phone or this online calendar will keep you in the know. 

Well now i hope you have some tools and are ready to tackle that migraine head on. 

Mountains of Love

Laura 

XXX

Hi, I'm Laura, Passion-fuelled Yoga teacher, Snow seeker, continusouly exploring my boundaries to get the most out of my time on this wonderfully diverse planet. - welcome to my blog!