Competition

I maqii almost every night now.  (probably why I have been such a poor blogger)  It is warm and relaxing and I am with such good company when I maqii, I just can't say no to a good hot maqii :-) 

Anyways... I wanted to talk about maqii a little more.  Some of you are familiar with with it from previous posts but I feel that I am now experienced enough in the maqii to speak to some of the little nuances of the tradition.  I have come to find that the experience can be quite different depending on who you maqii with.  I usually maqii with one family but I have been to several others.  Usually, I'm not given any warning as to when or if we will maqii that night.  Some families maqii every night while others think it is bad to maqii every night.  I always have a maqii bag packed because when the maqii is hot it is hot!  I usually get a text or call from one of my friends telling me to come maqii.  I usually drop everything that I am doing, grab my bag, and head out.  In my bag is a wash cloth which is wet and then held over the face when we pour (pouring water on the lava rocks to create steam), a hand towel used to sit on to keep from getting boils on your bottom (I've heard they are incredibly painful and would like to avoid experiencing one at all costs), a scrub used for two things.  First and most obviously, to scrub/wash your body with and secondly, to tie around your head to keep your hair off of your face and neck.  Also in my bag is shampoo, conditioner, soap, and a water bottle (you need to stay hydrated or you will wake up with a headache the morning after). There are usually 4-6 people in the maqii at a time.  We usually end up going in to pour in rotations so a few of us are in the outside room cooling off while the rest of the group is in pouring.  When one group crawls out (literally!) the other will go in.  Maqii can get pretty competitive.  As strange as it sounds it is something that you really have to work at.  I have been told that I am getting really good!  Maqii is more social for women and more competitive for men.  I have heard stories of men literally running out of the maqii into the snow and others that have had 2nd degree burns on their skin from the steam. 

So... you go in the inner room to pour and usually you sit for a few minutes to enjoy the heat and then someone will start to pour.  Some people slowly pour (a can attached to a wooden stick) a can a time while others like to splash on the water quickly and sometimes several canfuls... especially when they are trying to out-steam me!  LOL!  So as it gets hotter... and this is nothing like a sauna down states, it gets so hot I feel like my skin is actually burning!... you would continue to pour.  If its too hot you would leave but the goal is to stay in as long as you can.  I have been told that  maqii is good for your skin and your aura.  You do two or three rotations and on the last rotation you would bring in your toiletries and bathe using a basin full of water.  After you bathe you squeegee the floor around you to clean up and sit in the outer room until you dry off.  It is quite the experience and it is something that I think everyone should experience once in their life.

I will ask a few friends if I can take some pictures of the maqii to post.