Native American Sweat Lodge

Sweat lodges are commonly used in most Native American cultures as well as others. Many people who participate in sweat lodge ceremonies do so for various reasons and all have different outcomes. All tribes are unique and they all seek different benefits, individually and in a group.
The main purpose of the sweat lodge is purification. When you are in the lodge you can say anything you want to get off of your chest. So usually what’s said in the lodge stays in the lodge. It is commonly used to get out the “toxins” in your body and to get rid of the negativity or anything bad inside you, which is like smudging. Another purpose of the lodge is praying to the creator. Each round you pray for each of the four directions. For example, in the east direction, which is red, you pray for new beginnings such as a second chance or to start over.
Since experiencing part of a sweat lodge ceremony, I believe that it is very refreshing and a great experience. Also going in was really fun and I am glad I had done it. At first, going into the sweat lodge was scary because I did not know what to expect, but as it went along it got easier and wasn’t as scary. As the grandmothers were being carried in you could feel it getting hotter and the air getting thicker and a little harder to breathe. Once the water was splashed onto the grandmothers, the air got hotter and there was more moisture as the steam was created. As soon as I got out of the lodge, I felt refreshed, calm and clean. I am glad that I had gone into the lodge, it was a really fun experience.
Prior to going into the sweat lodge I thought that it would be much worse than it actually was. I thought that is would be extremely hot and unbearable, but afterwards I realized that the purpose is not to sweat as much as you can, but to rid yourself of the harmful things in your life through sweating.
What I knew before entering the sweat lodge was that on average, there were seven rocks per round, with four rounds there would