Harbin. I love it, and it's time to write about it. It's a fun place, not just because of the nudity - although that is integral to the vibe - but also because of the peaceful, mellow, laid-back nature of the place. In brief, it's a mid-sized retreat / rustic space, set back in the woods and hills above Ukiah. It can house a few hundred people at once, plus the residents that run the pools, cafe, mini organic market, restaurant, workshops, and teach yoga and give workshops. There's always something going on at Harbin. It might be a Reiki Healing Circle in the lovely temple (built without straight walls) or the Unconditional Dance on Thursday Nights or just the free yoga three times a day. The residents and guests also have their own interests, and while I've never met anyone there, more than just in a passing way, I overhear extremely interesting conversations and even the passing remarks guests do tend to make are a cut above average.
You'd think that a place which is clothing-optional would, in general, attract a certain element of slightly creepy - or maybe just overly desperate-seeming - men, but Harbin has done a good job of keeping it all very mellow. There are a whole series of pools (see below) and some are designated as silent...and platonic: the warm pools sport a friendly-font hand-painted sign that says "Please...keep this area free of conversation and sexual activity."
And, for the most part, people do just that. They move slowly in and out of the pools in a quiet, measured, almost reverent, manner. They are open to friendly eye contact but most keep gently to themselves, self-contained, grounded. Everyone behaves with positive intent. This isn't to say I haven't seen a couple in the warm pool seem more sensuously appreciative than their embrace in the enveloping waters warrants. But if anyone ever has sex, it's the most calm, discreet, subtle sex you can possibly imagine; you will certainly never know for sure. And as they say, a difference that makes no difference is no difference.
That's also not to say I haven't had a gentleman brush suggestively against me in the warm pool, but mostly it feels like gentle curiosity or inquiry. Do I get the idea that if I responded, he would be happy to take things further? Yes, but I find that most of the men at Harbin are specifically skilled in doing this is a totally non-creepy way.
To understand Harbin, you need to have an idea of it, physically. It's a series of buildings, different sizes, kind of Catskill-style hotels with a few cabins, dorm-style rooms, a communal kitchen, a room with lockers and shared bathrooms, the office and stores, the massage rooms, the pool areas, and some grounds, all of which are extremely well landscaped, perfectly natural-looking yet very well kept, designed, pleasing to the eye. Lots of giant tall shade trees - there is an enormous and magnificent fig tree over the warm pool - and a hillside behind it all with deer trails; you can relax in the warm pool while you watch the baby deer scamper by. The complex is lit at night by dim solar lights, illuminating pleasantly crunchy gravel paths. There's a porch swing I took a nap on. Statues of the Buddha in the yard, and stained glass in the buildings. Custom wrought iron railings and a beautifully sculpted fish whose mouth is the hot pool spout. A dragon gate with a light-up mouth and curling tongue. A stone labyrinth, and sundial, and fountains.
In short, it's lovely. The pools consist of the following:
On Thursdays, they have Unconditional Dance, way over in the conference center area, which is a sort of drug- and alcohol-free (as is all of Harbin) rave. Cute topless white boys with dreads and tight abs do fascinating things with light sticks, and there are floor cushions you can flop sweatily down on when you get tired. There's always at least one naked guy, just to prove he can be, although I never see any females topless. I once danced wearing this skirt I made out of tee-shirts, including one (from a turkey vendor) that said "I'm an all natural perfect ten." I think the phrase was supposed to be the turkey boasting he was all-natural, but when I made the skirt, because of the way the slogan was placed on the shirt, the line had to be either in front of my crotch or across my butt.
Now, in order to really understand that dilemma, you have to realize I am not just plus size (I'm very proportional) but I also have a sort of shelf butt - as numerous people have commented, it's like a black butt on a white woman. It's prominent, I am saying, especially for signage; it's also not everyone's thing, but it has gotten me followed home or approached on the street or, in this case at Harbin, admired. I had danced my little heart out at Unconditional Dance, and then the next morning as I was the restaurant for breakfast, just finishing, I came across a gentle, middle-aged man, slightly balding, and slightly effeminate, who he stopped me as we passed.
"Excuse me," he said. "I just wanted to tell you that I was watching you dance last night, and I loved that skirt you were wearing." He went on to tell me how I had so owned who I am, how I seemed so comfortable with my body, so present, so self- possessed, and how he loved the saying, putting it right there on my ass, and how I had really owned my ass, and how he so wished that he could someday be that confident, could someday have such possession of his body, and really be able to be who he was. And how I had inspired him.
It was one of the kindest and most wonderful things anyone had ever said to me. I had been at the dance alone, and had no idea there was anyone who even noticed me. I guess life is a lot like that - sometimes the best things happens when you think no one's watching. I love a surprise connection.
Well, that's Harbin for you. I already talked a little bit about the naked part of Harbin, and how it's weird at first maybe (although not for me - I have experience in European saunas and Japanese baths) but the nudity becomes basically immaterial. If you're curious, try it. It's great to be in the water without a suit, and it's healthy to be naked around a lot of people who totally accept all kinds of bodies. I can't promise you will be inspired to own your ass, but you probably will be.
You'd think that a place which is clothing-optional would, in general, attract a certain element of slightly creepy - or maybe just overly desperate-seeming - men, but Harbin has done a good job of keeping it all very mellow. There are a whole series of pools (see below) and some are designated as silent...and platonic: the warm pools sport a friendly-font hand-painted sign that says "Please...keep this area free of conversation and sexual activity."
And, for the most part, people do just that. They move slowly in and out of the pools in a quiet, measured, almost reverent, manner. They are open to friendly eye contact but most keep gently to themselves, self-contained, grounded. Everyone behaves with positive intent. This isn't to say I haven't seen a couple in the warm pool seem more sensuously appreciative than their embrace in the enveloping waters warrants. But if anyone ever has sex, it's the most calm, discreet, subtle sex you can possibly imagine; you will certainly never know for sure. And as they say, a difference that makes no difference is no difference.
That's also not to say I haven't had a gentleman brush suggestively against me in the warm pool, but mostly it feels like gentle curiosity or inquiry. Do I get the idea that if I responded, he would be happy to take things further? Yes, but I find that most of the men at Harbin are specifically skilled in doing this is a totally non-creepy way.
To understand Harbin, you need to have an idea of it, physically. It's a series of buildings, different sizes, kind of Catskill-style hotels with a few cabins, dorm-style rooms, a communal kitchen, a room with lockers and shared bathrooms, the office and stores, the massage rooms, the pool areas, and some grounds, all of which are extremely well landscaped, perfectly natural-looking yet very well kept, designed, pleasing to the eye. Lots of giant tall shade trees - there is an enormous and magnificent fig tree over the warm pool - and a hillside behind it all with deer trails; you can relax in the warm pool while you watch the baby deer scamper by. The complex is lit at night by dim solar lights, illuminating pleasantly crunchy gravel paths. There's a porch swing I took a nap on. Statues of the Buddha in the yard, and stained glass in the buildings. Custom wrought iron railings and a beautifully sculpted fish whose mouth is the hot pool spout. A dragon gate with a light-up mouth and curling tongue. A stone labyrinth, and sundial, and fountains.
In short, it's lovely. The pools consist of the following:
- The swimming pool proper. Traditional. Some lanes for laps, goes to 8 feet, natural temperature, which means it's nice in the summer and too cold in the winter - when I was just there, it was almost perfect, thanks to a recent hot spell.
- The Heart Shaped Pool. 3 feet deep, and yes, shaped like a heart. Naturally warm, naturally carbonated - these are Harbin Hot Springs after all. You can talk in this pool, and the sky above is open, so at night you can float on your back and stare at the stars. It's pretty blissful, really, as blissful as it sounds it would be.
- The nearby Cold Plunge. Recently put in. Seems sparesely use. It's moodily lit at night in blue, though - very attractive.
- Sauna and steam room - the steam room has European-style (at least that's the only place I have ever seen them) individual bucket seats, lining the walls, looking like the spaceship at the end of Gattica. You can wash the seat off with a hose before you sit down, and they have stools for the shorter people. The bucket seats = no sitting cross legged, my favorite position, but that's probably for the best. You have to be very comfortable with yourself and others to sit cross-legged naked - hell, everyone else has to be comfortable for that.
- The Warm Pool. The best pool at Harbin, and basically my favorite place in the world. Again, it's naturally maintained, but these springs yield a hot water (see Hot Pool) that gets cooled to a fluctuating 96 - 98 degrees, which means it's basically always almost exactly body temperature, which means you stay in there indefinitely and never get too hot and never get too cold. I love the Warm Pool. I could live in there. Whenever I go, I stay in there, sometimes for hours. I fell asleep sitting up in there once for an hour. It's got a seat-shelf on one short side, a ballet-like barre on a long side, steps in two places, and the rest is standing room. People move slowly here, and at night, it's like a dream, because you can't really see anyone clearly - they are just shadowy shapes, bodies strangely genderless when submerged, and you walk through the people with a strange feeling of both connection and anonymity.
- The Hot Pool. The Hot Pool is a big feature of Harbin. People who know it will speak of it to each other outside of Harbin. It connects people, when you know you have both been in the hot pool at Harbin. Because it's remarkable. It stays around 113 - 115 degrees all the time, which is pretty damn hot. It's so hot that you can't go it into it the first time (or first 10 times) without getting first into the Cold Plunge (right next door, conveniently). The heat of the water is shocking; it's so hot, it's right on the edge of not burning you. It's so hot that once you get in and are still, your body is cooling off the millimeter of water around your skin, so any minimal movement sends waves of even hotter water. This makes it harder to get out, because you are already SO hot you can't stand it, but moving heats you up. But....BUT...if you can get yourself in there, for 90 seconds or so, at least - it's very effective. Some warm pool, cold plunge, hot plunge, cool off, warm pool, repeat: it relaxes all your muscles, even if your brain is still tense. It works magically!
- The Cold Plunge, up a couple of steps on a little platform behind the Hot Pool shack. It's right under the tangled forest of fig trees, and they've made it lovely, with chimes, and a statue of Quan Yin (all white, but the staff keeps a fresh flower in her hand), vases of flowers, a chair made from redwood branches and a bench you can lie on and cool off after the Hot Pool, where the air on your skin feels delicious, and the water tingles as it dries, and the canopy of fig trees looks like a daytime version of the nighttime stars: same splendor, same beauty of God's Creation type thing.
On Thursdays, they have Unconditional Dance, way over in the conference center area, which is a sort of drug- and alcohol-free (as is all of Harbin) rave. Cute topless white boys with dreads and tight abs do fascinating things with light sticks, and there are floor cushions you can flop sweatily down on when you get tired. There's always at least one naked guy, just to prove he can be, although I never see any females topless. I once danced wearing this skirt I made out of tee-shirts, including one (from a turkey vendor) that said "I'm an all natural perfect ten." I think the phrase was supposed to be the turkey boasting he was all-natural, but when I made the skirt, because of the way the slogan was placed on the shirt, the line had to be either in front of my crotch or across my butt.
Now, in order to really understand that dilemma, you have to realize I am not just plus size (I'm very proportional) but I also have a sort of shelf butt - as numerous people have commented, it's like a black butt on a white woman. It's prominent, I am saying, especially for signage; it's also not everyone's thing, but it has gotten me followed home or approached on the street or, in this case at Harbin, admired. I had danced my little heart out at Unconditional Dance, and then the next morning as I was the restaurant for breakfast, just finishing, I came across a gentle, middle-aged man, slightly balding, and slightly effeminate, who he stopped me as we passed.
"Excuse me," he said. "I just wanted to tell you that I was watching you dance last night, and I loved that skirt you were wearing." He went on to tell me how I had so owned who I am, how I seemed so comfortable with my body, so present, so self- possessed, and how he loved the saying, putting it right there on my ass, and how I had really owned my ass, and how he so wished that he could someday be that confident, could someday have such possession of his body, and really be able to be who he was. And how I had inspired him.
It was one of the kindest and most wonderful things anyone had ever said to me. I had been at the dance alone, and had no idea there was anyone who even noticed me. I guess life is a lot like that - sometimes the best things happens when you think no one's watching. I love a surprise connection.
Well, that's Harbin for you. I already talked a little bit about the naked part of Harbin, and how it's weird at first maybe (although not for me - I have experience in European saunas and Japanese baths) but the nudity becomes basically immaterial. If you're curious, try it. It's great to be in the water without a suit, and it's healthy to be naked around a lot of people who totally accept all kinds of bodies. I can't promise you will be inspired to own your ass, but you probably will be.
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