Til next time Playa Del Carmen!
So here is the final post from my trip to Playa Del Carmen and looking at these photos is definitely bitter-sweet. I can honestly say a little part of me is still somewhere on that beach living in an imaginary hut and enjoying those incredible sunsets. Hopefully someday I’ll be able to go back and relive every moment we spent there while drinking champagne and talking about life, love, friendship and everything in between. As for the details of our stay at the Blue Diamond, the resort definitely offered a luxurious escape that I can’t really call ‘home away from home’ because my whole apartment is probably the size of that bathroom alone, but it was still nice to be able to indulge in all the amazing food, specialty drinks, and five star (or shall we say five diamond) service! I have to give the amazing staff a special shout-out because without them our experience wouldn’t have been as amazing. There was not a moment when these super attentive guys (Jesus, Omar, Cesar, Florisel, and others) didn’t attend to us like we were royalty. I mean everywhere we turned there was a glass (or bottle) of champagne waiting for us. One of them even offered to “marry me” by the beach (if you follow our instagram, you’ll know what I’m referring to haha). Ok maybe the whole marriage thing was fake and a joke that only occurs to someone who spent 12 hours in the sun and drank three bottles of champagne, but on a serious note, it would have made an absolutely stunning location to get hitched if I had the right person next to me (not that my friend Marta isn’t amazing…but you know what I mean). In reality I’m probably nowhere near that moment at this point in my life since this year has been a total roller coaster when it comes to relationships, but I won’t get into too much detail here since this is a fashion and style blog after all, but I will tell you a little about an interesting ritual we exprienced there that did help me clear my mind and body and gave me some perspective on this subject…this native Mexican American ritual is called the Temazcal.
Now I’ll be honest, I’m very skeptical of any kind of ceremony that is performed in a luxury resort (even if it is in the middle of a jungle setting) by a handsome Mexican man who wears a red bandanna on his head and nothing but a sarong wrapped on the bottom, and who proceeds to put clay on my face and smoke all over my body before entering an igloo type of structure with hot lava stones where we chant songs while sweating profusely from every pore of our bodies in an effort to purify our minds and bodies. You can already picture my face right? Yea…it was definitely something “interesting and exotic” at first, only worth giving a try because it was included in our stay, but after going through it, not only did I realize its health benefit, but the true spiritual cleansing it offers those who can make it through the entire ceremony. You may be asking, what’s so hard about sitting in a hot igloo with a handsome, spiritual man (and a few other resort tourists)? Well, let’s put it this way, imagine that igloo being very small, and the door is closed so it’s completely dark, and the lava stones are hot, and the herb infused water spilled on them is producing more vapor than you think your lungs can handle, and through all of this you’re supposed to either meditate, or chant, or simply try really hard not to vomit or pass out. And to top it all off, the Temazcal has “four doors” (representative of childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age) meaning the doors only open four times for fresh air, and each time they bring more lava stones, and there is more hot vapor, and more meditation…oh and if you leave early, it is considered an “abortion” because the igloo is representative of a mother’s womb and you are the fetus that is about to be reborn into a new “YOU”. Sounds crazy right? No, it’s freaking awesome! I felt completely empowered after making it through the entire 2-hour ceremony. My mind hasn’t been this clear in years and my body felt amazing, clean, and free of all impurities we put into it every single day. Anyway, I can go on and on about this but it’s something that one must experience for themselves to understand how life-changing it could be. I mean ok, maybe my whole life didn’t change after it, but it did help me put things into perspective while I was going through it and it brought me just a little closer to my goal of letting go of the negative (relationships, habits, emotions, etc) and embrace all the positive things this life has to offer! So big big kudos to the Blue Diamond Spa for offering this ritual as part of the services! Anyway, I’ll stop here since this is probably one of the longest posts I’ve ever written, but if you want to learn more about this ritual that was practiced by many different tribes all over the Americas, including North American tribes like the Lakotas, check out this link.
Happy weekend loves and let’s hope this hurricane Sandy isn’t as bad as the weatherman is predicting!
xo
Katya
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