Sedona Spirit Yoga & Hiking

Self-Renewal Retreats, Sedona, AZ

2010-02-11T01:52:00Z

Self-Renewal Retreats in Sedona AZ

Expand your aliveness

It is a challenge to find words to describe what happens at our Sedona Spirit Retreats. Yes, we do yoga (beginners welcome) and hiking amid the majestic red rock vortexes of Sedona. But, what we offer is so much beyond simply accessing the peace of yoga and the opening created by being out in Sedona's red rocks close to nature. We help you clear your mind, get in touch with your emotions, release all tension, access inner peace, launch intentions and feel empowered. A slogan we use is Relax, Release, Receive and Renew. Our focus is on self-inquiry as we guide you to look into your life with an open heart to understand what you have been experiencing and how you can make progress in your journey towards self-enhancement and contentment.

Clients have called their Sedona Spirit Yoga Retreat experience "life-altering" as they leave with a renewed sense of who they are deep inside and the steps they need to take to move forward. They leave Sedona with a new perspective on how to be open to new experiences and an empowered sense of being able to cope with whatever life may bring.

I invite you to attend a Sedona Spirit Self-Renewal Retreat with us and enjoy cozy Sedona accommodations with awesome views. Our team of loving experts includes caring yoga and hike leaders and a gentle sweat lodge leader who guides guests in a safe, sacred ceremony to release the past and summon strength.

Our leaders provide daily yoga that takes you deep within and hikes to red rock vortex sites where the majesty of nature inspires everyone with greater aliveness and trust. Our retreat offers a chance to gain a fresh perspective and renewed vitality.

A guest in our January 2010 retreat commented:

"Johanna, What can I say but WOW! Your leadership of our 4-day Sedona Spirit Yoga and Hiking Retreat was superb. From your expertise in hiking the Red Rocks of Sedona, to your extensive knowledge of yoga, to your attunement to the energy of the ecosystem---you are a masterpiece of nature! I was delighted to experience four glorious days in renewal and rejuvenation with you in beautiful Sedona. As a result, I am amazed at my newly-found clarity of purpose. I highly recommend you, your heartfelt presence, your passion for helping people, and your awesome Sedona retreat to anyone needing a well-being boost!
With Love and Appreciation, Cathy”
[Cathy Newton is a Motivational Speaker and author of Living Life in Full Swing.]

Contact www.yogalife.net 928-282-9900

News from Johanna--June 19

2009-06-19T21:00:00Z

Greetings from California!

Here's a funky photo of me in a forward bend beside a creekbed in Sedona, smiling at you. I have been busy leading private self renewal retreats. More requests for them are coming in as people choose to clear themselves of what's pulling them down and make decisions to move forward with greater aliveness. I just finished a retreat with a wonderful, powerful young woman, who was a pleasure to be with. I call this the "Roto Rooter" retreat as it clears away all of the accumulated crap--pardon the vernacular!

Today I am a writer. I will be attending a meeting of the Read Local San Diego steering committee of which I am proud to be a member. This is a new program whose mission is to connect local San Diego authors and readers. We are launching quarterly author-reader events starting mid November. If you know any San Diego authors, please send them my way. After our meeting, one member, Mike Torrey, will host a discussion of his photo book Stone Offerings: Machu Picchu's Terraces of Enlightenment and then another member Michaela Renee will be hosting a book publishing celebration party for her novel Teetering on Disaster. If I know Michaela, that party may go into the wee hours.

By the way, I just completed the marketing plan, comparative literature an bio for my book , CULTIVATE CONTENTMENT: Ancient Wisdom for Today's World ,and will be opening its new webpage this weekend www.cultivatecontentment.com. Then I plan to mail it all to the publisher on June 22nd--22 is my favorite number and I always think that the 22nd will be a powerful day! Please intend with me that the publisher accepts my CULTIVATE CONTENTMENT book and gets it out in print soon. In the meantime, my author's preface and Terry Cole-Whittaker's foreword can be read in one of the other articles on this blog.

I plan to be in Sedona for July to lead a self-renewal retreat July 23-25 (still open for one more person) and to work on the new retreat house on a secluded mountain top in Cornville, 20 minutes south of Sedona. We are preparing the house to be rented for retreats by families and groups, which is a very exciting project for me. I wil be starting a new website that will show photos and a virtual tour of this retreat house called SugarLoaf Sacred Space in a month or two called www.helpingretreatshappen.com and will be doing just that.

I will write more about the wonderful things that are happening in my life and look forward to hearing from you about yours. Please send in comments and photos about your Sedona experiences and about what you are learning about life! Namaste, Johanna Maheshvari

Thank You's from Vortex Yoga Hikers

2009-05-07T23:19:55Z

Read the Thank You Emails Below from our Sedona Vortex Yoga Hike Guests...
We would love to hear from you. Send us a comment about your
Sedona Spirit Yoga & Hiking vortex experience (with or without a photo)
and we will be happy to include you and your group on this blog.

About Kate’s Hike--

Thank you very much for arranging a wonderful Yoga hike for myself and my husband Michael. Last Monday we were led by Kate on a beautiful journey full of discovery.

Her knowledge of the environment around us, and the sacred traditions of the peoples here before us, helped us open our hearts to each other and the universe.

Our week in Sedona began with this memorable experience and allowed us to truly appreciate how fortunate we were to be in this magical place.

My husband was able to do some photography while we had a yoga practice. I thought you might enjoy his picture of us. (See photo above)

Peace,

Cindy

__________________________________________________________________

About Ed’s 6-Hour Hike--

Dear Johanna,

Just wanted to drop you a line and let you know how much Jolanta, Kathy and I enjoyed our 6 hour hike with Ed. I guess I was expecting a "Grizzly Adams" kind of fellow who may not have had a tolerance for three middle aged women on a personal quest for who knows what. Ed was perfect! He had so much knowledge about the land and history and shared this information with us making the hike even more interesting.

And though the climb was rather strenuous at times, his faith in our ability never faltered. This was a BID DEAL! We climbed that mountain! (insert TAH DAH!) I am especially grateful for the experience of walking that last hundred feet in silence and with mindfulness. The exhilaration of being at the top, heart pounding, almost brought me to tears as I thought of my accomplishment and the glory of God around me. (Catholic girl, Ed knows.) On our way down the mountain Ed made a medicine wheel. He revealed things to us that a stranger could not know...we nodded in agreement as he told of us our journeys.

We also enjoyed the labyrinth and the Tibetan Stupa. My sister and I carefully planned what each of us would give to Buddha and I know that I came there with a heavy heart filled with the stress and restlessness of working and having a family, feeling as though I had lost some sense of myself.

So what you have on your hands, are three "Chakra Khan Chicks" who are mad about ED! (Our nickname!) Please pass this email along to him. Let him know that I will be making a medicine wheel in my garden soon.

Thank You,

Wanda

______________________________________________________________________-

About Nanci ’s Hike--

Hi Johanna!
My sister and I had such a wonderful time hiking Cathedral Rock this past Saturday. Nancy was fantastic, and such a great leader and teacher. The day was absolutely amazing!
I also wanted to thank you for recommending the sweat lodge on Friday night. Fortunately, we made it up to Sedona in time to go over to Arties. We met sweet Maggie over there. That also, was an incredible experience!!!
I am so glad that I found your site, met you and experienced Sedona the Yogalife way!
Thank you... Namaste...
peace and love,
Sue

_______________________________________________________________________

About Johanna's Hike--

Dear Johanna,

With immeasurable gratitude, I thank you for taking me and Sue on a beautiful hike to such spiritual and healing locations. I am grateful that our paths have crossed. Through your teaching, I learned how important it is to see beyond challenges to solutions, and to grow beyond limitations into new revelations. I felt embraced with such comfort as you guided us on our own personal spiritual journey.

I came across this quote which reminded me of you: "Some people are truly angels on earth. They fill our hearts with gratitude for who they are and the wonderful ways they express love and caring to us and to the world." - Doreen Virtue

I will always cherish this experience in my heart, and i look forward to seeing you in the future.

With Love & Gratitude,
Tracy Gordon

Enjoying a Sedona Spirit Yoga Retreat

S

CULTIVATE CONTENTMENT

2009-04-28T13:42:00Z

Cultivate Contentment: Ancient Wisdom for Today’s World by Johanna Maheshvari Mosca

About the Book
Cultivate Contentment offers the opportunity for you to use ten life-enhancing principles — combined with the Law of Attraction and the Power of Intention — to upgrade the quality of your daily life. This is your chance to review your life in a unique blame-free process, let go of what you would like to release and enrich your present circumstances. Now is the time to clear out the old, set new standards to live by and design the life you want.

This book is a concrete step-by-step guide to help you look at your life through the lens of each principle, ask yourself specific questions, gain insights into what is most rewarding and set intentions from now on.

Johanna introduces the Four D's for transforming difficulties and enlightens you about the nature of your Monkey Mind. Easy-to-read and an eye-opening, rewarding journey. Send for the book now. You can order it online at www.yogalife.net/yogalife_store.html We will announce the audio CD book shortly.

****************************************************************************

Author's Preface --Johanna Maheshvari Mosca

I have been writing to you for years it seems. But maybe I have just been writing to me. They say that the book writes the author. It’s been about eight years in the writing and re-writing, to be exact. The message is so important to me that I wanted to get the words clear enough for them to mean to you. And perhaps I needed

the time to write and re-write what I was learning so that I could fully integrate it in my life.

Yes, I have made all of the mistakes that people can make, and then some! They were good lessons disguised as mistakes. While I have taken every growth course I could find, it feels as if I have still lived my life by trial and error. Sometimes it feels as if I am starring in my own soap opera – “As I Live and Learn.”

It’s a bold step for me to launch a book called “Cultivate Contentment,” as I am not a “Sally Sunshine” type of person. I am rather intense with a sun in Sagittarius, Aries rising and a moon in Virgo, which gives me a fiery personality and a dose of perfectionism to orchestrate. I always see what needs to be made better and strive for excellence. Yet, over the years, I have learned to consciously cultivate contentment as I ride through life’s challenges and become less resistant to the bumps and pot holes.

In these times of current economic uncertainty, we are all experiencing more stress and anxiety. It is as if America is like the phoenix rising from the ashes. First, we had that feeling of safety ripped out from under us by the terrorism of 9/11. Then we had the comfort of our never-ending credit and earning power threatened by economic uncertainty.

If there ever was a time, THIS IS THE TIME to focus on steadying ourselves from within and maintaining our own individual sense of core strength. While we are all aiming to practice the law of attraction, we need the foundation of a set of core values to accomplish our goals. We need to have our integrity intact to manifest what we want.

I have a solid core of values that guide me like a lighthouse through the dark or challenging moments. It is these values, gleaned from the wisdom of ancient yoga sages, that I feel it is my legacy to share with you. Whenever I tell someone what I am writing about, the response is always an “ah-ha” of agreement that we do need a return to values.

The principles I am highlighting in this book are not at all new. It is the way that I am presenting them that is unique. I am offering them to you as a way to review your life up to this point in time, clear out the past with compassionate forgiveness, and start living these principles newly to cultivate greater contentment in your life moment by moment, day by day.

I am publishing this book because I am so sure that it will help people thrive. In some workshops I have attended in India, the teacher would start with a prayer that the content be nourishing and that peace prevail. Thus, I turn these words over to you with a prayer that you will find them nourishing and they will contribute to greater peace in your life.-1

Read on, my friends, and let me know how much you enjoy cultivating contentment.

******************************************************************************************************************************************

Foreword by Terry Cole-Whittaker

When I wrote What You Think of Me is None of My Business, my intent was to encourage readers to let go of the need for approval from others and focus on the wealth within. I feel as if this book might be called—What I Think of Me is All of My Business. In this age of quantum physics, it’s becoming common knowledge that we manifest what we think, so our most important business is to mind our thoughts as well as our actions.

In bringing you this ancient wisdom, Johanna is opening the opportunity for you to look at your life vis-à-vis following ten important principles. She compassionately guides you to use tools for centering yourself, letting go of the past and designing what you want.

I have spent several years studying the ancient truths in the Vedic scriptures of India and know, personally, the strength of embracing this timeless knowledge. While many current texts contain the author’s own opinions of what will make you happy, Johanna’s book is revealing irrefutable, time-tested truths handed down by ancient sages.

As we are faced with the challenges of a troubled economy and mounting feelings of insecurity in the aftermath of 9/11, we need, more than ever, to rely on our core inner strength and spiritual development. We must remember to abide by the core values of compassion and truthfulness. We need to consciously practice non-stealing, moderation and non-hoarding and limit what we consume.

We have to study ourselves and have the discipline to clean up our lives and develop daily contentment. We must surrender our ego’s attachments, let go of trying to control the way life happens and set up a system of “quality control” for our own behavior such as Johanna recommends in this book. Lastly, and primarily, we need to explore inner silence and dwell on our soul’s connection to the Divine Source of energy that pervades all beings.

I am writing this foreword because I believe in Johanna and the way she has chosen to present this most important work. I believe that people need what she has to offer. And I look forward to the benefits that ripple out from this book as more and more readers practice this ancient wisdom to uplift today’s world.

Imagine what a wonderful world it would be, how good we would all feel, if everyone practiced these principles. As you delve into the content of Cultivate Contentment, you will undoubtedly begin refining your life so as to become the best possible YOU. Actually, isn’t that all we want—to be our best selves and be happy? My students know that whenever I see something wonderful in the world or in other people, I am fond of saying—“That’s for me!” Well, all I can say about the prospect of having a world in which more of us practice these core values is a hearty-- “That’s for me!”

Terry Cole-Whittaker
Adventures in Enlightenment Life Coach
Author of Dare to be Great and
What You Think of Me is None of My Business

An Accident, A Burglary and Many Knights in Shining Armor, by Johanna Mosca, PhD

2009-01-23T23:01:00Z

As Charles Dickens wrote, “It was the best of times and the worst of times.” After spending a deeply peaceful six weeks in Oceanside, CA, meditating at gardens on a cliff above the ocean and taking long beach walks, I came home to Sedona for a wonderful Christmas dinner with my favorite yoga teacher and some friends. I then led a custom retreat for a lovely lady named Patricia with some great people joining our hikes each day. After one very uplifting hike (Aren’t they all!) on Dec. 29th, I stopped in at the Sedona Chamber of Commerce to visit with the Chamber ladies. While I was chatting with two of them, a woman appeared at the open office door and told me she had hit my car and we had to exchange information.

Well, I was so mellow after my hike and my six-week vacation that I did not register any upset, but simply told her that I would be out in a few minutes. So I promptly finished my meeting and calmly went to see that the back door of my van was smashed in along with the bumper. I did my best to soothe this distraught woman was quite naturally upset over having rear-ended my car when she backed up from her parking space.

We filled out the insurance company information and copied her driver’s license and registration. Then I thanked her warmly for notifying me instead of letting it be a hit-and-run, and I gave her a big hug. When she left, I thought to myself that this was a good opportunity for the Universe to fix those scratches and scrapes I had made on the side of the bumper. I stopped at Vince’s Auto Body and they told me that it would entail at least four days and that her insurance company would pay for it.

I was quite pleased that all I felt was gratitude, and this incident really did not cause a problem. So I went about leading my retreat hikes with more lovely people and said farewell to Patricia. The car accident was on a Monday and it was the very next Monday, January 5th, that I took a lovely family of five from Costa Rica on a hike to a plateau on Bell Rock. I was a little apprehensive about leading a meditative experience when I found that family members had to translate everything I was saying for the mother to understand. I can remember surrendering to God and asking for help as we spread our yoga mats in a circle on Bell Rock.

Well, it was wonderful! I had them scan thoughts, feelings and body tension and let it all go and guided them to breathe in trust, compassion and peace. Then I guided them to ask God what messages they should know about at this point in their journey. We followed this with silence and affirmations. At the end, I had the family hold hands in a circle and each in turn expressed his/her gratitude and prayers for each other with tears streaming down everyone’s faces. I was amazed when the nine-year-old boy said– “I am so happy to be a part of this family” – and started to cry.

So, feeling the bliss and joy of the moment, we all thanked God and headed down the hill to the bathroom. I opened my trunk to put away the mats, and it was a while before we saw that the passenger side window had been smashed and there was glass all over the dash board and seats. I was kind of in shock but still with clients and they helped me call the police and my credit company to cancel my Visa. They were all extremely supportive as we waited almost two full hours for help in the cold air.

I called 911 twice and then the police station, which told me that Bell Rock was not in the policed area so the call had gone to the sheriff’s office. Finally, someone came from the sheriff’s office and told me that it was not his jurisdiction, something about his being a Yavapai County deputy and this was a Coconino County district. Anyway, he took three of my clients to their hotel to get their car and left me with the other two.

In about twenty minutes, he returned and told me that Coconino County was not sending anyone so he would take the information. He was very kind and helped me by taking the glass out of the window and the car. With a blanket covering the window so that glass would not fly into my face, I headed home, shocked. No purse, no credit cards, no driver’s license and registration, no cell phone with all of my contacts, no eye glasses, etc., not to mention the missing cash and other credentials.

It took days to get a new credit card and debit card, purchase a new phone and start to insert numbers, and I kept hoping that whoever did this would toss my purse somewhere so I could get my seamless bifocals back. I prayed to have the pocketbook returned and imagined how happy I would be to have my glasses. While I was grateful to that family and officer, I was somewhat shaken by the feeling of violation.

Funny thing about insurance. It’s a catch-22. The contents of the car fall under home insurance. On my policy, there is a $500 deductible for an incident. My fabulous agent Lori advised me that the insurance company would take away my “no claims discount” and I would then have to pay about $50 more for the insurance. We decided that it was not worth reporting and I would just take the loss.

About a week after this burglary, there was an ad in the paper that the sheriff’s office had arrested two men from Cottonwood, the town below Sedona, who were caught driving away with stolen contents in their car after a car’s rear windshield was seen smashed. The sheriff told me that they two men who were caught had a record of similar prior offenses and would probably be incarcerated for quite a while. I wonder if they were the ones who took my purse. I like to think that they were the ones because they got away with the spare key to my car that I hide in my purse.

While my car was in the bodywork shop, I had a free rental of a 2009 Dodge Grand Caravan van with unlimited mileage that I was able to use for a quick run to CA and back without putting the miles on my van—how lucky is that! As life went on, I embarked on another Sunday hike with a group of sisters for Marti’s birthday. We had such a grand time that we turned the 3-hour hike into a 6-hour hike. Part of that was due to a half hour of surgery removing cacti from Marti’s bottom—that’s another story I can tell if you are interested.

When I got home from the full day hike, delightfully exhausted, there was a phone call from a man named Duncan in the Village of Oak Creek. He asked for Dr. Johanna Mosca to call him as he had found a purse while hiking on a trail about 25 minutes from the Bell Rock parking lot. Naturally, I immediately drove to his home to get my bag and found that it still contained my old phone, my $400 seamless bifocals, a checkbook (they are not interested in checks) and some expensive make-up. The strap had been badly chewed up, probably by coyotes. I thanked Duncan for going out of his way to pick up the stuff he had found scattered around my purse and for calling me. I offered to give him something for his trouble and he said that was not necessary for he was happy to help.

Well, I still have to replace my CA driver’s license and registration (which I need to be in CA to do). Lori, my insurance agent, told me to stay out of parking lots on Mondays! I have a sense of vulnerability that was not here before. It was a wake-up call to reality, rousing me from the sweet little yoga bubble I live in—often not locking the house or the car and not thinking that anything bad is going to happen to me. That day on Bell Rock, we went from a sublime feeling of connection to God as we did yoga on the mountain and came down to the reality that there are some people who do bad things in the world. I learned that I have to remember that and be more cautious (but not fearful) in order to protect myself.

Now, I am a bit more cautious and feel much gratitude for the good people in the world. First, I am grateful to the lady who hit my car and showed up to tell me about it. Then I am thankful to that marvelous family of hikers for being so supportive of me as we all stood in the cold waiting for help. And of course, my appreciation extends to the deputy who finally became my “knight in shining armor” for taking such good care of me. I am thankful to the sheriff’s officers who caught the bad guys. And last but not least, I am grateful for the kindness of the hiker who found my purse and was more into helping that getting a reward.

As they say—“All’s well that ends well!” What does it all mean? Am I being tested? It’s easy to be calm when all goes smoothly. The test to pass is to remain calm when the drama comes. These incidents will definitely appear in the Sedona soap opera I am planning to write one day. Is the Universe corroborating my decision to spend more time in California? What is there to learn? Don’t leave anything visible in the car that can be stolen; make a back-up of telephone numbers just in case; make sure you do lock your door every time you go out; remember to focus on the good and heal any bad feelings; and know that not everyone has high integrity, just most of us.

An Accident, A Burglary and Many Knights in Shining Armor, by Johanna

2009-01-23T23:01:00Z

An Accident, A Burglary and Many Knights in Shining Armor, by Johanna

As Dickens wrote, “It was the best of times and the worst of times.” After spending a deeply peaceful six weeks in Oceanside, CA, meditating at gardens on a cliff above the ocean and taking long beach walks, I came home to Sedona for a wonderful Christmas dinner with my favorite yoga teacher and some friends. I then led a custom retreat for a lovely lady named Patricia with some great people joining our hikes each day. After one very uplifting hike (Aren’t they all!) on Dec. 29th, I stopped in at the Sedona Chamber of Commerce to visit with the Chamber ladies. While I was chatting with two of them, a woman appeared at the open office door and told me she had hit my car and we had to exchange information.

Well, I was so mellow after my hike and my six-week vacation that I did not register any upset, but simply told her that I would be out in a few minutes. So I promptly finished my meeting and calmly went to see that the back door of my van was smashed in along with the bumper. I did my best to soothe this distraught woman was quite naturally upset over having rear-ended my car when she backed up from her parking space.

We filled out the insurance company information and copied her driver’s license and registration. Then I thanked her warmly for notifying me instead of letting it be a hit-and-run, and I gave her a big hug. When she left, I thought to myself that this was a good opportunity for the Universe to fix those scratches and scrapes I had made on the side of the bumper. I stopped at Vince’s Auto Body and they told me that it would entail at least four days and that her insurance company would pay for it.

I was quite pleased that all I felt was gratitude, and this incident really did not cause a problem. So I went about leading my retreat hikes with more lovely people and said farewell to Patricia. The car accident was on a Monday and it was the very next Monday, January 5th, that I took a lovely family of five from Costa Rica on a hike to a plateau on Bell Rock. I was a little apprehensive about leading a meditative experience when I found that family members had to translate everything I was saying for the mother to understand. I can remember surrendering to God and asking for help as we spread our yoga mats in a circle on Bell Rock.

Well, it was wonderful! I had them scan thoughts, feelings and body tension and let it all go and guided them to breathe in trust, compassion and peace. Then I guided them to ask God what messages they should know about at this point in their journey. We followed this with silence and affirmations. At the end, I had the family hold hands in a circle and each in turn expressed his/her gratitude and prayers for each other with tears streaming down everyone’s faces. I was amazed when the nine-year-old boy said– “I am so happy to be a part of this family” – and started to cry.

So, feeling the bliss and joy of the moment, we all thanked God and headed down the hill to the bathroom. I opened my trunk to put away the mats, and it was a while before we saw that the passenger side window had been smashed and there was glass all over the dash board and seats. I was kind of in shock but still with clients and they helped me call the police and my credit company to cancel my Visa. They were all extremely supportive as we waited almost two full hours for help in the cold air.

Our wonderful Nov. 6-9, 2008 Sedona Spirit Yoga & Hiking Retreat

2008-11-16T17:25:00Z

Our Wonderful Nov. 6-9, 2008 Retreat Group
Seated left to right: Cathy, Shari, Jessica, Nancy, Val, Jenn and Lori

We had a fabulous time sharing the peace of yoga and fun red rock vortex hiking experiences. It was a magical group of seven powerful ladies (eight with me) and a joy for me to be leading them on their latest transformational adventure. One of the gals, Cathy, was a dedicated full-time nurse. Four of the ladies--Shari, Jessica, Nancy & Val--were having the reunion they have had every year since college. Jenn and Lori, who also have been friends since college, were set for this vacation when Lori discovered that she is to be a Mom. Congratulations! This photo was taken overlooking Boynton Canyon, the vortex that has perfectly balanced male and female energy. The group shared so much love with each other and with me that it was a huge heart opening for all of us and a great gals' retreat. It was also open to men, but for this group, the men were at home taking care of the kids. What great guys they are to give their wives a solo adventure like this. Thank you, husbands! I am inviting the ladies to share about their Sedona Spirit Yoga & Hiking retreat experience on blog. Our next retreat is Dec. 29-Jan. 1st. You are invited to join us. Love to all!

Sharing Sedona Experiences

2008-10-23T22:19:00Z

Greetings and welcome to our brand new blog, the Sedona Vortex Voice! I invite you to send in photos and jottings about your Sedona vortex experiences. You need not write anything lengthy or elaborate, just your free flow impressions.

The journal below was sent to me by Doug Lowe, who had journeyed to Sedona on a vision quest to celebrate the anniversary of the day he died twice and came back to life. I was honored to share this experience with him. While the journal entry is a bit long, it is so well-written and heartfelt that I did not want to shorten it, so feel free to skim it.

Well, my team and I have just finished leading our October retreat and are gearing up for another on November 6th. If you would like to know more about our 4-day Sedona and Encinitas retreats, please visit our website at www.yogalife.net We are hosting a very special retreat after Christmas to celebrate the New Year. Would you like to come to Sedona for New Year's Eve? We are also offering a $100 per person discount for 2009 retreat registrations paid in full by check by Nov. 30th.

It's October 31st--Happy Halloween! I am going to a costume party tonight masquerading as an angel. Let me remind you that next Tuesday is Election Day, so don't forget to vote for whoever you would like to lead our country into prosperity. In the meantime, when times get rough, just remember to breathe and count your blessings. I hope you enjoy reading these blog entries and look forward to hearing from you soon.

All the best, Johanna

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Happy Anniversary

Gina and Wayne Childress

Gina and Wayne were married in Sedona in a chapel in Telapaque three years ago, and every year they come to Sedona to celebrate their anniversary.

This year they decided to have me take them on a special hike with a long outdoor red rock yoga experience.

We had a great time doing fun warm-ups and poses. After our deep relaxation, we ended with a beautiful prayer for their ongoing happiness that just came to me in the perfect words for them both.

Gina and Wayne, may your love continue to grow and may you always empower each other. Many blessings.

________________________________________________________________________________

The Search for Spirit: A Journal Entry by Doug Lowe

January 29, 2008

Driving up I17 from Phoenix and coming over the ridge to Fort Verde Valley, the dark roiling thunderheads gave way to a sunlit valley with a rainbow stretching welcoming arms across the highway into Sedona with the promise of so much more. I was sure this would be one of those lifetime experiences, and it was.

Earlier that day I had noticed a Sedona guide on the web, Sedona Spirit Yoga & Hiking, and discovered a way to combine my hearts desires yoga, spiritual experiences, hiking and the Sedona vortexes all in one! I thought to myself this is too good to be true; surely they must be booked up already. When I called I spoke directly to Johanna, owner, director and the real deal guide, who said she was available tomorrow for a custom tour as long as I didnt need to do the heavy duty buns of steel hike (not that she couldnt do it!). I was looking for the spiritual quest, vortex experience with a little yoga and hiking on the side so we had a perfect match! "The spirits were just toying with me," I thought, "this cant really be happening, can it?"

Rain gave way to more rain that evening; yet as I drove back from a delicious veggie dinner at the India

Palace Cuisine with the torrential downpour on my windshield, the rain was prompting me to consider how much this nourishment was needed by the earth and to let go of the worry of what tomorrow would bring – whatever it was would be perfect for that time. Rising before dawn, with excitement I peered out of my hotel room to see a perfectly clear sky. I rushed outside to see if I could spot the planetary alignment – Venus and Jupiter conjoining, with the moon in the southeastern sky; and sure enough, there they were bright and bold in all their heraldic glory. What did it mean? Coincidence?

Coincidence that I should be here in a vortex capital at exactly one year to the day that I died of congestive heart failure, twice, and was revived twice? Coincidence that, unknown to me when I planned this trip, a planetary event should occur at this time? Hmm - no, not coincidence– synchronicity. And just so, I met Johanna later that morning and we began our day of play and learning that spirit was shaping up for me!

Johanna picked me up at my hotel and we proceeded to Bell Rock. From there, she led me a short distance across icy pathways to an extraordinary place – the exposure to the three visible, major vortex
areas – Bell Rock, Cathedral Rock and Airport Mesa Rock. We proceeded to take in the magnificent views from this location and seated ourselves on our yoga mats and pillows facing east, towards “the
portal”. Johanna led us through pranayama (breathing) exercises to calm and center ourselves. As I stilled my mind and let the sun awaken my chakras, I could feel my energy mingle with that of the
surrounding areas, and my spirit lifted, expanded – my senses flowing outward to the nearby pillars of electromagnetic force.

It was there, in that moment, that Johanna suggested I address the spirits of that place with a prayer of my intent for today – whatever it was I needed or hoped to achieve that day. I opened my heart and spirit to that momentand I felt my intentions fulfilled in an instant – confidence in my direction, compassion for others and the earth’s condition, and a sense that I was already able to help others with healing energy. What a fabulous moment to recall as I write about it. Before we left that area it was time for play. A few yoga poses, sun salutations, loving the body we were given and lots of time for pictures. All the while, Johanna was pointing out this feature and that – so many fantastic formations and figures for the fertile imagination.

When we left the area, Johanna provided a first class tour of West Sedona, uptown Sedona and pointing out the other scenic and she provided detail directions on hiking to the other vortex spots I should check out tomorrow. These directions, by the way, later proved to be flawless and priceless for someone like myself, who gets lost when stepping between two trees. As we stopped for lunch at the New Frontiers Natural foods, Johanna began talking about Yoga, Patanjali and the 8 Limb path. She asked me if I knew anything about it, and my mind seemed go blank. I told her I thought that postures, breathing and meditation were part of it – since that was the part I was really practicing. She proceeded to talk about how those fit into the Eight Limb path (Ashtanga) as we munched in the car. It was like having many parts of my life fall into place as I listened. The concepts she described were very similar to ideas from many authors teaching about spiritual growth, and in addition she described the framework to hang all of it together. This really helped to put my physical yoga practice together with the thinking and spiritual sides of it.

After lunch we headed out to Mescal Mountain overlooking Boynton Canyon. Johanna told me that she awoke that morning with an intuition that we needed to be sure to go there today rather than to Cathedral Rock and Airport Rock. She said that this was a place (an electro-magnetic vortex) that provided balanced yang and yin energies (doing/being, male/female, active/receptive, etc.). We left the car and headed up a mild and sometimes muddy trail that turned into a moderately challenging climb for half an hour. The afternoon sky was clearest blue and Johanna was intent on teaching the 5 Yamas (principles of restraint guiding how we interact with the outer world) which I learned are part of the code of conduct from Patanjali thousands of years ago! Walking and learning is such a great opportunity because my mind was free to absorb and reflect on what iwas being said in terms of my own experience all the while Johanna was providing me with thought provoking examples of her own. As if on cue, Johanna would turn to me and ask, so what do you think of about this in terms of your own experience? And so the friendly exchange would continue all through the hike to the top.

Very near the highest poiMahesvari and Doug Lowent in our journey, we stopped to play at the fire pit – a 20 foot circle of flagstone seats around the perimeter, complete with high backs for seated resting. As we surveyed the area Johanna asked for help in “fixing up the place,” so we put seats and backs together, rearranging a few stones here and there until we were satisfied with the result. We sat facing the west this time to enjoy the setting sun energy. As we settled into breathing meditation, the quiet and balanced energy of this peaceful location saturating our own, I could feel arrival of the essential elements of my intentions. I could feel my emotion chakra (solar plexis) clearing and expanding, and my speaking chakra (throat) growing stronger. Our clearing chakras with sound and color, harmonizing with mantras and prayers, and anointing each other with sacred oils remains a remarkable tapestry of play and spiritual intent that I will treasure.

After that we climbed up a bit to reach an upper knoll where I sat on a way out overhang and enjoyed the vertigo. As the sun declined we finished up with some light yoga postures to limber ourselves up and
soak in a bit more energy. Johanna captured me in warrior pose silhouette against the late daylight and I captured the enchanting vistas of red rock formations just across the canyon where the Kachina woman guards the western gate. As we reluctantly headed back down the trail, Johanna continued to talk about the 5 Niyamas (guidance for our inner world) and I was struck by the beautiful symmetry of this hike in discussing the Yamas and Niyamas for reflecting on our outer and inner world restraints. In the same sense of balance we had talked of this and that in our lives - sharing our hopes and goals, our fears and concerns.

As we neared the end of the trail, Johanna turned to me and said “I’m getting a strong energy from you that you should be publishing articles about some topic with a number in them – a five or a six in it.” I said “that would be on Six Sigma – my specialty area!”. I really love a direct hit!

We reached the car and celebrated our journey with a hot cup of peppermint tea that Johanna had brought in a thermos. Johanna and I headed back to town ready for some rest but wholly refreshed in spirit. I think together we each accomplished what we set out to do earlier that day. I came away with a renewed sense of purpose, confidence and direction in starting my consulting practice. The feelings of energy, confidence and concentrated intent were with me now. It was a perfect end to a perfect day and I’m still soaring.