Sedona Story

By Jo Garner

Waterfall in the Healing Garden at Sedona Mago Retreat. Photo courtesy of Franklin Hughes

As I drove down through Oak Creek Canyon, the beauty of the Sedona area was almost overwhelming. I suddenly felt very emotional about my decision to attend Healer School. I had a lot of fears about my ability pop up that were very unsettling.

I was driving alone and had much time for my active mind to question my decision. I remember turning onto the gravel road that leads into the retreat center and called my husband. As soon as I heard his voice I started crying uncontrollably. I had to pull off to the side of the road and I sat there, listening to the encouraging words of my husband conflicting with the doubt of my own perception of myself.

After a 7 hour drive, I was ready to turn around and go back home. Suddenly, a calm came over me and I was able to continue my journey into the retreat center. When I arrived and looked around, I found my doubt creeping back in and wondered how I would be able to stay in that place for a whole week.

Each day of the training was a new level of understanding for me about who I was and how to heal myself. I learned to care for myself first and then to take what I had learned and share with others.

By the end of the week, when it was time to return home, more tears came. This time the sadness was about leaving this refuge in the middle of the Sedona and the healing power that prevails there. I was aware of a greatness and a power that made me feel one with all of earth’s citizens.

My transformation in this short week was to one who can tap into the power of the universe for healing of self and others. My path since then has been to continue to grow the ability to tap into this universal power and share it with others. Sedona holds a special rebirthing time for me; I hope you get to experience the same.

By Yelena Krasnov

The first time I visited Sedona was in the summer of 2004. After I finished attending Dahn Yoga Healer School at Sedona Mago Retreat, I had an extra day to spend in Arizona and decided to visit Sedona. I had heard many good things about it and could not wait to visit.

Three other people joined me on this trip and we met the night before to plan our journey using maps and a tour guide. It was very hot and we decided to take the hike that went by a creek, but for some reason, when we actually got to Sedona, we went on a long drive to see ancient rock drawings.

Photo courtesy of Franklin Hughes

When they came over my friend told me the Ranger has had a back problem since childhood and that I should try to heal his crooked back. I was not happy that we wasted our free day looking at little drawings on a wall and on top of it I did not want to heal this man’s back on some tiny trail surrounded by thick bushes. Everyone was waiting for me to try to heal this Ranger so I decided to try.

The Ranger kept telling me more and more about the issue with his back and the more he told me the less I knew what to do. I decided to put one hand on his chest and one on his back not knowing what to expect. Suddenly I felt his bones soften under my touch and I started to slowly push on his back. His back began to straighten as if it was made of clay and after a few minutes the Ranger was standing straight up.

Everyone was mesmerized by what had just happened and they were just staring at us in awe. At this point I remembered what someone had told me earlier, “When people who do not believe in God come to Sedona they begin to believe.”

On our way back, everyone realized that our journey to Sedona had nothing to do with looking at cliff drawings. Its purpose was for me to heal this man’s body.

Greetings and Salutations to All!

I wanted to share a message with you concerning the Holidays.

Often, we become so immersed in stress because of the season, that we forget the what and the why of the season.

Many Blessings of Light, Love, and Joy to ALL!

Dylan

Sedona, AZ: A special evening of rhythm and unity, Celebrate the Sedona Spirit: Collaborative Meditation for Global Healing, will be held at the Sedona Performing Arts Center, behind Red Rock High School, on November 12, 2011 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

It is a free-admission community gathering put on by the newly opened Sedona Meditation Center that expects a crowd of 700 people from in and around Sedona. A host of artists are preparing to bring the spirit of Sedona to the stage in a musical concert, including well-known Taiko drummer, Ken Koshio, Vusi Baba Shibambo who plays the African drums, and Sedona’s Rhythm, a local Korean power drumming performance troop. Lively chorus music will be also be performed by Red Rockapella and A La Mode; Hip Hop group, Light Vibe will give an exciting demonstration to drums, and Shondra Jepperson of Tom and Shondra Entertainment will serve as the host.

Special guest Ilchi Lee will present on the topic of Collaborative Meditation, a group meditation that will rise to new heights in the 700-person auditorium. He will also give a performance and lead a style of collaborative healing that is practiced every Friday at 6:00 pm at the Sedona Meditation Center.

Lee is the author of The Call of Sedona: Journey of the Heart (BEST Life Media, 2011), his most recent book and his 33rd on the topic meditation, peace and global healing. He is also an educator, mentor, and trailblazer who has devoted himself over the last 30 years to developing the awakened brain and teaching energy principles through numerous mind-body-spirit techniques. For that purpose he founded Sedona Mago Retreat, a place for spiritual awakening located in the wilderness of Arizona’s red rock country.

The Sedona Meditation Center is a special project of Dahn Yoga Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit. The center has a mission to inspire people to connect to their inner rhythm, to improve well-being and promote peace and happiness in the local community.

Celebrate the Sedona Spirit is a unique event that promises to be one of intimate sharing, dance and song, drumming and uplifted hearts. While the event is free to everyone, the Sedona Meditation Center asks attendees to RSVP by calling 928.282.3600 or emailing info@sedonameditationcenter.org.

By Dylan R. Marshall

I feel so blessed in my life because of many things.

One of those things is talking with people.

My guest is Haejung Jung, a warm, open, and kind woman.

She is a teacher.

We are sitting in the Sedona Meditation Center room as we do the interview.

It is very peaceful.

The energy of the room is harmonious and calm.

Come and join us!

By Dylan Marshal

I’m Dylan Marshall, host of The Heart of Sedona, a feature exploring “earth-centered living through self-realization.”

This time I have the opportunity to talk with Banya Lim of the Sedona Healing Center.

She is a fascinating woman, with an incredible depth and understanding of life. I will revisit Banya again, because she has so much to give to us.

In this show we discuss Energy, Spiritual Acupuncture, Tai Chi, and Banya using her brothers for punching bags.

Thank you so much for tuning in!

Blessings of Light, Laughter, and Love to you all!

Profile By Diana James

Gently & powerfully, song reaches into the depths of my heart, echoing off the ancient walls of red rock canyons. Coyotes call while birds soar overhead. Ocean waves dance with the wind and thunder. Whales move in silent power & grace beneath the surface, while the far-away cry of an eagle is heard. A feeling of profound connected-ness to all that is, permeates my being as the music ends, and the simple prayer is heard, ‘Peace to your journey, love & light to your path, one in spirit, journey well’. This whole experience of sound & Spirit, is produced by one man sitting quietly, in the center of a musical vortex & colorful imagery, playing his own hand-crafted bamboo flutes.

The story of my friend & brother of the heart Jesse, is a story of Spirit, finding joyous expression in the life-paths of individual human beings, who have actualized their dreams. As a native chamorru of the Mariana Islands, Jesse lived his early years on a tropical territory of the U.S. in the orthern pacific. Jesse remembers playing in his village bamboo grove as a child at the age of 4, and being treated by his native elders with herbal & natural medicines whenever he was ill. It was then, he began to hear the melodies within, that ‘danced in his heart’.

Jesse has lived and ventured in America, traveling through every state since 1976. The great vastness of the land, moved him to continue. Then in the red canyons of Sedona Arizona, Jesse felt he was finally home. His move to Sedona in June of 91, led to such profound experiences suddenly unfolding. That summer, yet to read or write music, his first time playing flutes,echoed in the heart of Boynton Canyon. In 92 with Sedona bamboo, he began making & naming his flutes to reflect, the inherent peace of the heart.

Then somehow, Jesse discovered wildlife calls and nature sounds through his flutes. Also, to sing in his native language, Chamorru. By 93, presenting his flute concerts locally in Sedona.

Then in 1994, began sharing throughout the U.S. & Internationally, his Heartfelt Presentation: with bamboo flutes, story, poetry & nature voices. In Jan. of 95, he was invited to share at a Yoga for World Peace Conference in Jerusalem, Israel. In 1996 through 2002, he toured several times in Austria, Germany & Switzerland. As he continues to present heart to heart, somehow he is able to play & create native american style flutes, from bamboo growing wild in Sedona.

Jesse has not trained nor understands technical music theory. Melodies from the heart, touchs his audiences in unique ways. Each flute has its name & song. Emanating through his hand-crafted flutes, are the wildlife calls of: doves, quails, loons, hawk, owl, seagulls, dolphins, whales, coyotes, wolf, elk & more. We attended Jesse’s flute concert in the Spring of 97, at a book store in Sedona. Looking out at red rock panoramas along with the music, evoking the ancient memories of gentle times living in creative harmony with nature & each other. I wiIl never forget my first experience with Jesse’s Art, and I’ve heard him play & sing many times since.

We ended up staying in Sedona, spending most of our time early on in Jesse’s home. He led us on countless walks on the land to secret & sacred places, always bringing one of his flutes along. We’d get to the top of an arduous climb, and he would disappear! Then we’d hear his enchanting music, echoing off majestic canyons, weaving songs of the land itself. For me, Jesse’s music is a bridge to many cultures, times & places. Yet, always centered Here & Now. I’ve experienced something different, every time I’ve entered the sacred space he creates.

E-mail: kalu@sedona.net
Phone: 928-204-1867
Click here to visit Jesse Kalu’s website.

By Paul Yanson

By Joseph Alexander

An interview with Terri (top) and Lew (below, with Terri).

Terri Diamond and Lew Favorite share a life together as healers. Their healing journey together began nearly five years ago in Dayton, Ohio. Lew was working in a bicycle shop and Terri came in looking for a bike. Five years before their meeting she had suffered a mild-traumatic brain injury in a classroom accident. Before her accident, Terri was a tri-athlete, so she was convinced that she would ride a bike again to regain some normalcy in her life. However, as a result of her brain injury, she could not withstand too much vibration. Over the course of her visits to the bicycle shop, she got to know Lew better and he helped her pick out a bike that would dampen road vibrations. He began planning bike trips for her, making sure the route was smooth and then accompanying her on the bike rides. They spent a lot of time together and the rest would be history, if the story that followed weren’t so interesting.

By Mina Kim

I drew this with the desire to heal a deep resentment I held toward a coworker. Coming to Sedona and being in her amazing energy helped me mend my heart.