As a spiritual guide, I’ve noticed something I call the “The Sedona Spiritual Triple Whammy.” It comes at a point in life when find ourselves called to change our home, career and relationship…all at the same time! When I help people through it, here’s what I share with them.

It all smiles and sunshine on the outside, but is the “Sedona Spiritual Triple Whammy” stirring within?

First, it’s important to realize that change – even well-founded, positive change – is inherently anxiety-producing. Fears arise when we undo the established patterns of life. Sometimes they are fears of failure, sometimes they are fears of success. Always, there’s a fear of the unknown, since we can never be as certain of the future as we have been of the past.

Second, the triple whammy is surprisingly common for people on the spiritual path. Walking the path means raising awareness, shifting consciousness, and opening inner eyes. Awakening to what is real often reveals that things previously comfortable now no longer serve us. With these inner eyes open, we may realize that we’ve labored under an antagonizing boss in a soulless job. We could become aware that our values and our spouse’s are no longer in synch. Maybe our home, our community represents our past, while we seek a new future.

Third, more than a change, this is a crisis. A crisis has three vital elements:

<   In a crisis, the speed of the changes is overwhelming. Things feel like they are coming at us faster than we can handle.

<   In a crisis, the size of the changes is scary. Doing nothing or keeping the status quo is no longer possible…and yet executing the change seems too much to manage.

<   Third, in a crisis, it isn’t just a change of circumstances that’s at issue: It’s a change in our identity. More than a shift of situation, this threatens our self-perception.

If you’re amidst Sedona vortex energy and get  hit by the “Sedona Spiritual Triple Whammy,” it feels like much more than a “big change.”

On the spiritual path — as I call it, “The Trail of Consciousness” –a unique type of crisis can emerge. I’ll discuss it in an upcoming post.

Exercise outdoors, and you gain so much more.

Why hike Sedona? A Sedona hike, or for that matter, any good walk that gets you outside, seems to provide much more health benefits than the gym treadmill can offer.

The evidence is building that where we exercise matters almost as much as the activity itself. A study at England’s University of Essex suggests that just five minutes of exercise in a “green space” can boost mental health. In particular, vast improvements in mood and self-esteem were found among people doing a wide number of activities outdoors. In just five minutes, participants noted an elevated mood, with the biggest boost among young people. Likewise, other research suggests depression is better battled by a walk outdoors, rather than a walk in a shopping mall.

Many notice that when they hike Sedona or elsewhere in nature, improved cognitive also follows. Children with attention disorders, for example, were found to concentrate better after a walk in the park, according to a 2010 University of Illinois study. Among other good effects, outdoor exposure allows us to receive vital vitamin D from the sun. In Sedona, where we’ve got sun over 300 days of the year, that’s as easy as stepping out the door.

I believe that in nature, we unleash a primal, encoded enjoyment. When we hike Sedona, our exercise is accompanied by adventure and natural beauty. Now it is clear that wherever you are, a hike is a smart choice. Inner health benefits follow from an outdoor excursion.

Is “Mr. Sedona” joining the Dow Jones?                      No, he’s helping the Jones’ get the best of Sedona.

I’ve decided to “go public.”

Not launching an IPO, just exchanging my backpack for a microphone.

For autumn 2012, instead of guiding a lucky few, I intend to empower everyone!

Why take a pause in guiding, given how much I love it? Is it the expenses, from insurance and gasoline to forest fees and trail mix? Is it the time, outdoors on the trails and indoors responding to clients? Is it the energy, well-spent on great adventures, but drained nonetheless? No. Guiding costs more than people appreciate, but the rewards are always greater.

The real reason is that instead of helping hundreds, I’m ready to reach thousands. Too many visitors are missing the real Sedona, and I intend to change the situation.

Everywhere, economic and technological change are increasing stress. Yet the antidote – Sedona’s natural beauty – is can be more accessible than ever. Think you need a private guide? Consider the new reality:

+ Our GPS tracking can keep you safely on the perfect Red Rock trail

+ With my recorded meditations, you can tap Sedona’s energy, at your leisure

+ You can get my restaurant reviews updated this week, not this decade

+ Geology? Native history? You can pick what you want to learn, and when to learn it

With my public events, videos, books and apps, Sedona can be  yours as never before, and for less.

It’s been a pleasure guiding some 5,000 clients over 15 years.

Now it’s time to sprinkle the “Mr. Sedona” magic around.

When we’re not hiking and tapping into Sedona’s energy, we’re guiding to amazing places around the world. If you’re going to become a global adventurer, it helps to speak a language. Unfortunately, most people experience language-learner as a boring task with little reward. Stuck with textbooks and unable to practice these skills outside of a classroom, no wonder it’s a chore.

Instead, it is better to see language-learning as an adventure to be taken step-by-step. Achieving small victories along the way helps people take on the task, and stick to it. As a multilingual speaker, here are three tips that have enabled me to learn languages quickly.

First, just say “Yes.” This isn’t an exhortation to focus on the positive, but a better way to engage conversations. Linguistic statistics say the simplest way to stay in a conversation is to answer, “Yes,” when in doubt. Over 90% of the time, saying “yes” will be interpreted as an appropriate answer. More importantly, it keeps the conversation going. This gives you more time to keep listening to the other speaker, boosting your chances of understand what’s being spoken about! Make the first word you learn, “yes,” and use it often.

Second, learn the words that matter most. Any language will offer several thousand words of potential vocabulary. Yet 500 words will commonly make up over 85% of conversational dialogue. Five thousand words make take a decade to learn, but learning 20 words a day, you can grasp most of the words ever spoken in less than a month. Use your mental RAM effectively, but searching and learning your target language’s make common vocabulary.

Third, buy time by borrowing. Because new speakers need more time to process what’s being said, techniques that help us stall for time as extremely valuable. One of the easiest is to respond to any question by utilizing the words used by the questioner. In English, if you were asked, “What do you think about the education system?” you might simply reply with your opinion. In a foreign language, “borrow” the speaker’s own words to begin your sentence. “About the education system…I think..” and then, add whatever you like to say. It’s just a few extra seconds, but it keeps you in the game longer. That gives you time to figure out what has been asked, and what you’d like to say in response.

Stay tuned for more tips for global adventurers – especially in learning a language quickly – to come.

Our exciting adventures in Italy, Peru, Nepal, New Zealand, and even the American Southwest expose our clients to brand new languages. Over the years, I’ve found that learning  a language is like hiking a trail that climbs higher and higher. Higher elevations mean better views, but how do you get there without getting tuckered out? Here are three more tips that provide encouragement as you go.

First, think big. Usually, the vocabulary for “small” words in other languages differs greatly from their English equivalent. Nothing about “tenedor” and “cuchillo” in Spanish hint that they mean “fork” and “knife.” By contrast, “university” and “institution” in Russian sound a whole lot like their English equivalents. So when in doubt, use a longer word. Not only will it be easier, it may make you sound smarter too!

Second, let verbs help you. Conjugation of verbs for 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd person endings, singular and plural, and tenses (past perfect, etc.) takes painstaking study. Instead, place an auxiliary (or “helping”) verb before the infinitive of the verb you have in mind. Hard to say “hiking?” Substitute “be able” + “to hike” to get the same point across.  Native speakers will never notice the difference.

Third, learn what to say when you have nothing to say. Even fluent speakers unconsciously say something aloud while they figure out what to say next. In English, we may say, “Um.” However say “um” in French and you’ll be instantly recognized as a foreigner. Ask a native speaker what they say in such situations and insert it into your speech. You’ll sound like a local…even when you have nothing to say at all.

Is meditation something you’re attracted to, but find hard to begin? While hiking is itself meditative, sometimes it is meditation itself that can seem hard.

“Soul Centered: Transform Your Life in 8 Weeks with Meditation” is for you. The new book by Sedona’s own Sarah McLean is a well-thought out and helpful guidebook, offering a path to mastery. For once, creating a meditation practice looks like something that anyone can accomplish.

First, it’s a step-by-step approach. McLean’s eight clear chapters break it down just right. She discusses the need for and benefits of meditation in a way that is practical, with lots of scientific data backing her up. Just as importantly, she explains the resistance and distractions that can get in the way.

Second, Sarah McLean knows her stuff. Having assisted Gary Zukav, Byron Katie and Deepak Chopra (who warmly endorsed the book), she’s preaching what she has successfully taught to thousands. In this book, every question and doubt gets answered, even as she provides the encouragement we need to persevere.

Ultimately, what really separates this book from the crowd is the quality of Sarah McLean’s personal story. This is a woman we can identify with who learned many lessons the hard way, before finding the path. Best of all, her sense of humor takes the starchy dogma out of meditation.

The stories of Sarah and her students prove that meditation could do what her title suggests: Help us find, and stay centered in, the Soul.

Here’s a trailer for the book.  

Click here to view the embedded video.

Visit www.Soul-Centered.com for an excerpt of the new book. It can be ordered with B & N: http://bit.ly/x7XTSG, or Amazon: http://amzn.to/xNTF6K. Hay House, 198 pgs

What’s summer in Sedona like? Summertime in Sedona is pretty hot but wonderful in the early morning hours and the evenings. Temperatures are usually in the mid nineties from around May 15 to September 15. Evenings can be cool due to the elevation.

Spring in Sedona? A wonderful time of year. Marked by wildflower and absolutely beautiful weather to match Sedona’s scenery.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Autumn in Sedona

The Fall season in Sedona is picture perfect weather. Usually a dry season the fall in Sedona is the city’s high tourist season. It’s no wonder, the temperatures are usually in the 70 & 80′s during most days of autumn in Sedona.

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What’s Winter like in Sedona? It’s not exactly bikini weather but it’s usually pretty wonderful in Sedona during Winter time. Not much wind and not too much rain, it’s like autumn in other parts of the country. Because of Sedona’s elevation temperatures at night sink down anywhere between  20 – 40 degrees.  If it does snow in Sedona the snow usually melts by noon.