Okay, I’m about to get reallll hippie dippy on you guys…
Last month, my friends and I took a road trip to Sedona, AZ and stayed at the Angel Valley Spiritual Retreat Center. It’s a little center that’s set back about two miles down a dirt road in the desert. My friend Kim had just received her yoga instructor certification, so we were going to take some professional photos of her, and this looked like just the place.
The center has nine little wooden cottages all lined next to each other (the only downside is that the bathroom is in a separate cottage next door, so it’s kind of like luxury camping.)
They have a kitchen that overlooks the creeks, and all of their meals are vegetarian and homemade. They also have a separate building where they hold yoga and meditation classes, and have a little gift shop. It was so damn peaceful and cute.
It’s also a short drive to some of the major hiking attractions, like the Cathedral Rock trail.
After the photoshoot, we had meal at the BEST restaurant, Timo, on Portal Lane. It has a cozy atmosphere with a fireplace, good wine, and killer food. I got a fruit and cheese plate with brie, fig jam, crackers, walnut bread, grapes and apples. Then I topped it off with some caramel gelato. Sedona tourists: if you’re looking for a good spot to dine out, look no further!
Anyways, back to Angel Valley. They have a labyrinth in the middle of the center (featured in this first photo), which is a trail lined with rocks that has 11 circuits, and the center is the 12th step. Now I don’t really understand any of this, but the owners explained that the center of the labyrinth is an energy vortex and when you reach it, you’re brought into a higher level of consciousness. So basically, you’re supposed to go in with a question, walk the labyrinth, and by the time you reach the center, you have your answer.
They also told us they see UFO’s there, so while part of me thought the whole energy thing sounded cool, another part me was a teeeenny bit skeptical.
Alas, we return from the restaurant, and there is a lightning storm, which was really effing awesome to run around in the desert in a lightning storm. And I’m being completely serious. So we grabbed some wine, headed over to the labyrinth, and I went in with my question, which I had absolutely no answer to and was totally over thinking during the first half of the walk.
And sure as shit, wouldn’t you know. When I got to the center, I totally knew the answer.
The way I see it, it’s sort of like things that we know deep down, but sometimes don’t want to be honest with ourselves about. And to top it off, I felt like a million bucks when I reached the center. Very calm. Very unexpected.
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