BY Heather Zollman
May 7, 2021

I was lying in bed, stuck in my body, when the vision came to me…Sedona.  The red rock, the beauty, the energy and healing.  I had never been there.  What drew me to her?  I just knew, ya know?  I was in the middle of a life quake when the vision came.  No one could figure out what was wrong with me.  I was 41, riddled with pain throughout my body, constant migraines, electrical zaps running from my brain to my feet.  A wrong diagnosis and medication led me to not being able to hold a conversation, not go for a walk by myself, somedays not move, cry all day, not be there for my kids, not run my business and wonder how in the hell my life got to this point.  I teach wellness!  How did this happen?  I still had enough of me left inside to know that there had to be a better way.  My gut told me that when the doctors said that I won’t do yoga again, will always be on a medication and will be different than I was…they were wrong.  And they were.  I practice yoga every day, in a different way, and teach others who want to be teachers.  I weened myself off of all of the medications they had me on, and have not been on one since.  Although I am different, it is in a positive way.  I am a stronger, softer more radiant version of myself…which came with A LOT of work…learning, growing, hoping, believing, accepting, striving, allowing and so much more!  So where does Sedona fit in?  In the form of a vision of hope and resilience.

I had insomnia to the tune sleeping 1 hour a night.  For weeks.  Maybe months, I can’t remember. I had insomnia for years that started after my first baby.  He’s 19.  Parents, you understand.  I now know how much hormones had to do with so much in my life from being a child through to miscarriages and not being strong enough to carry a baby, to early onset menopause.  During this time, I would lay in bed, while my family slept, and pray…BEG for sleep.  I screamed in pain from migraines and weird brain stuff.  I bit the pillow to keep my family from hearing the sobs.  One day, I opened a book (I surround myself with books wherever I go) that I got from the Christine Center in Winsconsin.  It had beautiful pictures in it from Japan.  The visions of trees conjured up the smell of nature, the feel of fresh air and the longing for immersing myself in Mother Nature’s artwork.  I had this thought…if I search in striving and allowing, learn how to help myself, find the right healers to collaborate with, do what I need to do and become well enough to travel, I am going to go to a place full of beauty and powerful energy.  I can do it.  I will.

When I set out to do something…try and stop me  It was February in Minnesota and freezing.  Another way I felt stuck.  So I started bring elements into the house, especially my bedroom…rocks, plants, oils that smell like trees, the sound of water…anything I could do to create the feeling of nature.   I let myself feel the feeling of nature from inside of our home.

I found my healers…all natural.  I gathered information and knowledge from all of them.  I figured out a new daily routine of healing movement verses working out.  I started to teach differently.  I showed myself grace.  I let go of perfectionism…I had to (although it always tries creeping back in).  I allowed more, instead of always striving.  I balanced my hormones.  I immersed myself in nature.  I experimented with MANY different approaches to food.  I reversed my brain trauma.  I found ways to help my long list of medical things that were made to sound like a dead end.  Me, my healers, God and mostly…nature.  We did it together.

I kept hearing people talk about Sedona.  The energy, the beauty, the nature, the hiking.  I looked up images of her and they seared themselves into my brain.  I scheduled a trip with 2 friends to go.  A pandemic, timing and life changed our plans.  I let it sit in the back of my brain and moved through covid shutdowns and uncertainty with the rest of the world.  Still, she called.  I talked about my dream of going often, especially with the ladies that come to the New Moon Women’s Circles I hold in our home studio.  I came home one day and said to my husband, “I’m going to Sedona.”  He said, “Okay.  Can I come?”  Sure!  Bryan knows after 20 years of marriage, when I get an idea, I make it happen.  It was happening.  I also informed him of my intentions for is trip.  It will not just be a vacation, it will be a Spirit Journey.  I had no idea how true that would be.

I had been saving money quite a while for this.  That night I looked up flights…booked it.  Then air b & b’s…booked it.  Car…booked it.  Experiences…a guided hike with a local man to gather information…booked it.  All done in a night.  Boom!  Now we wait and let the excitement build.  Every day, I said multiple times…”I can’t wait to go to Sedona!”  Bryan listened, smiled and did his every day stuff.

I didn’t plan much beyond the hike.  I talked to many other women about the trip.  Many moon circle ladies, friends and studio peeps offered advice on their favorite things to do there.  One sweet soul even brought her “Sedona File” she created including pamphlets, books, vortexes, maps, hikes and other information.  I did more research.  I packed a journal, all of my favorite jewelry (to soak up the energy of Sedona), hiking clothes and shoes, a few crystals, my travel yoga mat and my Animal Spirit Card deck given to me by a friend.   I use this deck in some personal sessions and classes.

They are fun, powerful and create a deeper connection with nature…if you are open to them  I planned on pulling a card for myself each day.  Bryan also brought a big suitcase, half full, for obvious reasons.  We made all the necessary arrangements for family and businesses and off we went.

We boarded the plane along with MANY snow birds and their tiny pets and took off from Minnesota.  In 3 short hours, we would land in AZ . . .