Photo credit: JasonRogersFooDogGiraffeBee

This month, our guest spiritual contributor from Sedona, Greg Drambour, shares some of his personal experiences and muses on his relationship with the red rocks of Arizona.  If you’re local (or from nearby southern Utah like me, or one of our Four Corners area neighbors) I have a feeling you’ll totally relate to the pop-culture impetus of Greg’s post.

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A few nights ago I was watching the movie Forrest Gump (tenth time!) and a rush of gratitude went through me during the scene where he is running through Monument Valley. The rocks there resemble many of the red rock formations here in Sedona. In that moment, I just felt so grateful to be part of this amazing place called Sedona. Suddenly, that beautiful feeling opened a door inside to many realizations about myself and my work here in the Magic Kingdom. I thought I would share them!

My relationship with the Grandfather and Grandmother Rock People (as I refer to them in the Native American tradition) really started when I moved to Sedona seven years ago. But when I look back over the years, I notice whenever I had the chance I was always scaling and scrambling over some rocks. It just made me feel good to be close to them. I felt they were friends.
At first here in Sedona my relationship to the Rock People grew without me noticing it. Every day, I would find some new boulder field or dry creek bed to explore. I felt at home among the rocks. I just kept following my heart and discovering incredible places. I saw how in a few tight situations the rocks saved me. People will ask what do you mean, “Saved you?” I can’t explain that in words, only that I always seem to be guided over them to the safest route or one boulder was exactly where I needed it to be. It was a feeling that they were supporting me. I started thanking them for this help on hikes and climbs. I would stop and talk to them, asking how they were. And soon I began to hear them speak to me. My trust deepened that they would support me on tricky scrambles or boulder-hopping. The Rock People are strong and solid. They have much wisdom they want to offer you if you are open to listening.
On Sedona Vortex experiences, I always feel their support of the mission here in Sedona. I honor their wisdom during Experiences by asking for guidance; they always see the big picture. If I accidentally kick a small rock, I bend down and apologize, asking if it wants to return to its original location or begin a new journey. I always tell clients when we are boulder dancing, “Don’t worry, you are in my personal power and I’ve never had anyone fall.” Perhaps what I really mean is the Grandfather and Grandmother Rock People honor my intent of trust and faith and will not let you stumble or fall. I have never had a client fall nor have I fallen myself in all these years.

When I saw that scene of the Red Rocks in Forrest Gump, I heard myself whispering, “That’s my place, my place.” I felt so honored to be in a relationship with these grand rock formations. To have a place in my life which I am deeply committed too and that commitment is honored. My gratitude for these feelings is overwhelming. I have waited so many years to be able to have these rich feelings and to open myself and take these relationships to a deeper level. Perhaps most of all I am grateful to be who I am. I know many of you, know what I mean. And if you don’t, come to Sedona and I will do whatever I can to guide you back to yourself on a Sedona retreat.

If you show your heart, my friends, if you acknowledge that everything has life, if you trust—you can experience these deep feelings of gratitude and honor.

So on this day in the Magic Kingdom, “I humbly thank all the Rock People and the Grandfather and Grandmother Rocks for becoming my friend. I am honored to be kin to you, to be your grandson and brother. My heart is full. I am standing before you. I go, you go. A Ho. A Ho.”

*Dedicated to my beloved, Shyheart.
Greg (the guide)
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Photo credit: rogerbarker2 on flickr.com

Guest blogger, Gregory Drambour, has some wise words for us all today. I encourage our readers to check out Sedona and the spiritual retreats that are available there. Our website, Sedona.net is a great resource for finding ways to reconnect with yourself in Sedona. Of course, Greg is one of Sedona’s premier retreat providers, so be sure to check him out as well.

When you own who you are–you will tend to attract people who get you.

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Last week during a session with a very courageous client on a Sedona retreat, I asked her this tough question:

Describe yourself to me, tell me who you are.

She really struggled with it and I have found most clients do when posed this question. It’s hard for people to see what is unique about themselves. And we do all have uniqueness but it’s seldom encouraged. So I model for them by telling them how I see myself. Here is an example:
Yesterday, I had aquatic-garden-specialist over at my house to give me an estimate on putting in a goldfish pond and a little waterfall. The waterfall would start at the front of the house, flow into a pond with goldfish and then into a stream, running by the side of the house and into another small goldfish pond at the back of the house. Sounds cool, doesn’t it? After he showed me how it would work, I asked him, “Would the little goldfish from one pond get to visit the goldfish from the other pond?” That’s the me deep inside speaking, that’s Greg in one sentence; knowing that I care about this, makes me smile. I love it when I let this part of me flow out. It took me a long time to own who I am. I want to encourage clients to see who they are and be proud of it.

When you feel yourself deep down, that place feels certain. And also, when you own who you are–you will tend to attract people who get you.
If you’re in relationship and your partner doesn’t get you—then you have a few choices: One, find a way to communicate to them that’s its important they see who you are. Two, consider if you’re with the right person. You deserve to be seen!
I have so many wonderful women who come to my office and tell they don’t feel acknowledged by their mates. And when that happens continually over years, bad things begin to happen. You deserve to be appreciated. Don’t give up.
I want to encourage you right now to take five minutes and write down who you are, what’s unique and special about you. Go for it! Start anywhere. It’s important, brothers and sisters–see your specialness. Let it flow out. I promise you, it will feel wonderful!
Come discover yourself in the beautiful red rocks of Sedona!
A Ho,
Greg

Photo credit: carbonNYC on flickr.com

If you asked 10 people who have been in therapy why they started seeing a therapist, I’ll bet 9 would say it was because of a negative experience, past or present.  I think the same goes for people who visit Sedona with the specific purpose of reconnecting with their spiritual side.  But in this month’s post from guest blogger Gregory Drambour, we learn that it can even more beneficial to come on retreat or seek guidance when we’re feeling good about our lives.  Enjoy!

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I got an email from a regular client a few days ago wanting to cancel her phone appointment because she was doing well. Now, this was a client that is working with me prior to her coming here for a Sedona retreat. I have had a handful of clients do this in addition to enrolling in the Long Distance Clearing Work before their trip. I have found that we are getting very powerful results with this pre-retreat work.

I wrote the client back and said I thought it was important to keep the appointment because when you are in a good place you are much more likely to hear something at a deeper level. After I finished the email, it surprised me that I haven’t written about this dynamic sooner because it’s important!

It’s a logical idea: when you are in a low mood or insecure or reactive, it’s hard to hear something deeper. You are in a place of needing an answer and that’s a difficult place to hear something from. I have communicated to clients who are in low-mood and answer to their issue and their response is: “No, that’s not it.” Then half hour later, when there mood is better, I have said the exact same thing and they get it!

I got sober in Minneapolis 25 years ago and I was very lucky to meet a therapist by the name of Joe Bailey. Joe is now a best selling author and a leader in his field. I met Joe very soon after he was introduced to Health Realization, a new paradigm in psychology. Eventually I moved back to New York but every six months would fly back for a little retreat and spend time with Joe and his associates. I was always a wreck when I got there—depressed, angry, sad, etc.. After my third trip, one of Joe’s associates, who always annoyed me with her perceptiveness, pulled me aside and said, “Greg, next time, why don’t you come back when you’re in a better place, you might just hear something!” How annoying! She was right, of course. Thanks, K.

That was very sound advice and one I would encourage people to hear. One of the things I am teaching people is how they psychologically function via an insight. That’s important distinction– thru an insight not their intellect. So it’s much easier to receive an insight when you are in a higher place. When clients who are here on Sedona retreats quiet their negative or unproductive thinking, they hear deeper.

Does this mean you shouldn’t call me or come for retreat when you are in a bad place? No! But sometimes I try to get clients feeling better before I really start to talk to them. Remember, brothers and sisters, nice feelings, higher feelings are always the path to your wisdom. The more you are in them, the more you access your wisdom or live in your wisdom.
So next time you are feeling really good about yourself and your life, give me a call! I invite you to come explore the magic of Sedona with me.

A Ho,
Greg

Wow! What a big subject! I have had many clients here on Sedona healing retreats who are stuck in illness. And, personally I’ve had a great deal of experience with also being stuck in this place.

What does it mean to be stuck in illness? Simply, when you can’t seem to get well.

You can arrive at that stuck place many different ways: Conventional medicine has no more answers for you and then you explore a few alternative methods but you never seem to get totally well. Or conventional medicine doesn’t believe you’re really sick and you just live with the pain or on pain medication. Or you’re sick and never do anything about it, living with it. Or you just simply run out of the energy to try and get well.

The reasons are plentiful and sometimes very subtle but they all arrive at that same place—living in illness.

How do you get unstuck? In this first part, I want to talk about getting the right knowledge. This has been a theme of many of my drifts in illness. And it does feel like a drift. In 1990, I got very ill with intestinal cramping–the pain was bad. It went on for three years. No one could figure it out. And at some point, I just gave up trying. The cramps would come on suddenly and for no apparent reason. Sometimes it was so bad; I would end up in the emergency room where they didn’t know what to do with me. This illness and pain changed my way of being in the world.

For 6 months, I was afraid to leave the house that I would be stuck somewhere—sick. For most of that time, I followed the advice of a holistic doctor who prescribed specific supplements to me. I believed in him and still do but I didn’t get better. I would never leave the house without a carry-bag of medications and herbs—a habit that took years to let go of.

One day, I was in Albuquerque and decided to stop and say hello to a famous holistic doctor who was close to some friends of mine. I decided in that moment to ask her to evaluate me. She said I had a tape worm and parasites! As soon as she told me, it made perfect sense to me. I started her program and in a matter of weeks I was finally better!

Where did I innocently go wrong in this journey?

First, because it would come and go, I got fooled into thinking I was getting better. And thus didn’t take more aggressive action. But I knew inside I wasn’t getting well. I didn’t listen to that voice inside. I didn’t have the depth of knowledge then how important that voice was.

Second, I didn’t know there were reliable holistic ways to diagnose me. This can be described as a lack of knowledge or not asking the right questions or not asking what questions I should be asking.

Third, I should have accepted that the wonderful holistic doctor I worked with was not going to get me better. The proof was evident. I was afraid to venture out into the unknown and stayed with what was familiar—even though it wasn’t working! Sound familiar!

Fourth, I didn’t push the conventional doctors to give me more extensive testing. I just sat back on it, almost like I went to sleep around the idea of being well—make sense, brothers and sisters? Being sick became familiar.
It blows my mind to think that during that time if I had the right knowledge, I could have walked into any health market and asked for herbs for parasites and in a matter of weeks I would have been well. I was sick for three years! I can’t even describe the pain I went through. Many of you know exactly what I am talking about.

Fifth, maybe I should have found someone like me! Maybe, I didn’t look for that person. A person who would say, as I say to many clients, “I know you’re tired of going to doctors, of trying this program and that one—I know you’re exhausted but you can’t give up! Keep trying, keep looking—there is always a cure—whether it’s inside you or in some office somewhere—there is an answer. You can be well again!”

A wise friend once said to me,” The thing that will cure you is always close at hand.” She was right–it was right down the block at the health store!
Wow! I have waited a long time to write this one, brothers and sisters! There are many more subtlies to this theme and I hope to talk about them in future parts and continue to explore these issues with clients here on Sedona retreats with me.

I truly hope this has helped.

To be continued!
A Ho,

Greg

Photo credit: NASA.gov

Today we’re happy to have Gregory Drambour as a guest contributor to ArizTravel.com’s Spirituality Week.  Gregory is a shamanic healer and guide.  He is the author of the well-acclaimed book, The Woodstock Bridge, endorsed by Richard Carlson of Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff.

Conversations With A Sedona Retreat Leader:

3 Rules For Making it Easier!

Yes, there are a set of rules for making it easier! If you follow them even a little bit, you can be certain that you will really start to fly! The rules can help you navigate through life with grace and ease. A deeper insight about any of the following 3 rules will change your reality immediately:

Rule #1: When you are making a change, you will more than likely experience some initial pain but it will fade—this is a certainty.

I have been reading Joel Osteen’s new release, “Become a Better You“. I’m a big fan of Joel who is the head pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston. Joel writes about the idea of getting through the initial pain of change as way of creating a new positive habit, and also, to know that the pain will fade in time. This really struck me. If we can just accept that there is going to be some initial pain and discomfort this could be very powerful.

Here is an example: Right now, I am going thru a big block with my personal hiking. It’s been over a month since I’ve hiked by myself in the Sedona Vortexes. I have learned that when I am hiking and writing, I am in much better place spiritually! But for a number of weeks now, I just can’t seem to get in the car and get myself on the trail. It feels almost painful because I have to really force myself. But when I heard Joel’s rule, it really freed me. I just simply accepted that there will be some pain and that it might feel like walking thru mud but it will fade. And it worked! As always, a few minutes into the hike, I felt great.

Rule #2: When you ask your Creator to enlarge your territory, the “border bullies” will show up!

In the Jabez Prayer, made famous by Reverend Bruce Wilkerson, one of the lines is a request “to enlarge my territory”. This refers to enlarging your spiritual territory. Now, when you invoke this line you can be pretty sure that the “border bullies” are going to show up! The bullies come in all shapes and sizes. Three years ago, I stumbled into a great office space and had two weeks to give the landlord a decision.

So I initiated an experiment: I wasn’t going to get into thinking about whether to move but just allow my wisdom to give me an insight. I was changing my process around making a very big decision. This is good example of enlarging your territory. Well, five days into it, I noticed the phone hadn’t rung in three days! And that’s very unusual for me because usually every day I am taking bookings. My first thought was, it’s an omen! “No bookings” are trying to tell me this new space is in the wrong direction! But within a few minutes, I remembered the rule! I had instinct this was the border bullies. And in the end I was perfectly right, the phone started to ring again the next day. And the new office space could not have been a better decision!

Rule #3: If you meet your Creator part of the way, They will meet you the rest of the way.

There is a small trick to this rule or a question; first, you have to ask yourself: Are you really meeting your Creator part of the way? Only you know this. And you can sometimes fool yourself into thinking you are but something deep down inside knows you’re not! If your Creator isn’t showing up, that might be the case. Part of the way usually means getting out of your comfort zone, not just edging out!

A few months back, I had a very successful healer come and do a Sedona retreat with me. Her desire was to stop doing massage and only to do cranial-sacral work. I asked her what her plan was. She said she was slowly easing into it because she was afraid of taking a big money loss because most of her income came from massage. Now, I can understand her plan but this is what I asked her: “Is that plan sharpening your spiritual sword?” She looked at me sheepishly and replied, “I guess not!” I was really happy she got this. And I am sure she is still cursing me!

If you do extend yourself past your comfort zone and really take a risk in faith, amazing things can happen. And moving to my office is certainly an example of that. I have had so many wonderful experiences there and financially its been very rewarding.

Give these simple rules a chance, be patient, experiment with them—it’s always a win-win, brothers and sisters!

A Ho,

Greg

PS. I’ll tell you a secret! Hiking wasn’t the only block for me these days. I have had hard time sitting down and writing. And getting this blog post done was painful as hell! But I kept remembering the rule and it worked! GO GREG!

Coming up on Spirituality Week – Day Three: Teaching Your Children

Photo credit: flickr.com soot+chalk

Spirituality Week begins with a focus on Forgiveness.  It’s a perfect way to start the week because aren’t we all starting the new year with resolutions, an intention for a fresh beginning?  Forgiveness is a good first step toward making a new start, a new year.

If you’re making a New Year’s resolution, which is typically a negative objective – “Lose weight. Stop smoking. Stop procrastinating. Erase debt.” – why not resolve to do something joyful or peaceful instead of beating yourself up?  Send a positive intention out into the Universe.  For example, “I will accept the positive and negative things that will happen to me in 2009 with a forgiving spirit and open attitude.”

Eckert Tolle, recently popularized on the Oprah Winfrey Show, calls this kind of positive intention “allowing to be.”  He says in his book, The Power of Now:

“Allowing to be” takes you beyond the mind with its resistance patterns that create the positive-negative polarities. It is an essential aspect of forgiveness. Forgiveness of the present is even more important than forgiveness of the past. If you forgive every moment — allow it to be as it is — then there will be no accumulation of resentment that needs to be forgiven at some later time.

Forgiveness, according to spiritual writer and lecturer Deepak Chopra, can even mitigate physical illness.  He says,

The absence of forgiveness is holding a grievance or resentment and also a subtle desire to seek vengeance. In short it is hostility. Many studies have shown that…hostility is not healthy, and it is the number one emotional risk factor for premature death from cardiovascular accident (stroke and hea[r]t attack).

Make a practice of Forgiveness this year and heal not only your spiritual self but also your physical well-being.  Here’s a strategy and resource for getting on the path to forgiveness:

Visit Sedona Sacred Journeys for a one day or multiple day retreat, and discover three important things: one, identify areas where you have un-forgiveness at the adult and inner child; two, clearing those areas: three, understanding how not to bring lack of forgiveness into your life.  Start now… Forgiveness Retreats are available in Sedona, Arizona for February 2009.  For additional information visit: Forgiveness Retreats

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Coming up on Spirituality Week – Day Two: 3 Rules for Better Spiritual Growth