People often ask me what I believe about Sedona’s vortexes.
Sometimes the question is a little more personal: Do I have to believe in vortex energy to meditate in Sedona? What if I’m skeptical about all of this?
My answer is easy:
No. You don’t have to believe anything in particular.
An open mind helps. But you don’t have to adopt someone else’s explanation of Sedona—or decide in advance what you think is happening here—to have a meaningful experience.
In fact, I think not knowing can be a pretty interesting place to begin.
I’m a scientist. I’m also intuitive.
My background is in mathematics and science. That training taught me to value evidence and to ask questions.
Some things are knowable. We can observe them, measure them, test them and see whether the results can be repeated. When we make scientific claims, those things matter.
I’m also an intuitive person.
I don’t mean that I’m psychic or have access to some secret source of information. I mean that I pay attention to intuition—that quieter way of knowing that doesn't always arrive through analysis or conscious reasoning.
And I’m quite comfortable allowing both of those things to exist.
I don’t need to call something scientifically proven when it isn’t. And I don’t need scientific proof before I’m willing to be curious about my own experience.
Sedona is particularly good at stirring up that conversation.
Spend enough time here and you’ll hear plenty of explanations about Sedona’s energy: what the vortexes are, what they do, where they are, what you’re supposed to feel and what various experiences supposedly mean.
Some people speak about these things with tremendous certainty.
I don’t.
There isn’t a scientifically established rulebook for Sedona’s vortex energy. And when we don't have one, I think it's important to be honest about what we know, what we believe and what we simply experience.
Personally, I’m comfortable with the mystery.
There is something about Sedona that I find extraordinary. I’ve lived here for more than twenty years, and I still feel it.
Is it the dramatic landscape? The silence? The geology? The way being surrounded by this much natural beauty affects our nervous systems and attention? Something spiritual? Something we haven't explained?
I don't know.
And I don't really need to.
Let your intuition come out to play.
One of the things I love about Sedona is the way it seems to invite us out of our usual patterns.
What happens if you don't plan every hour of your day?
What happens if you turn down a road or trail simply because you're curious about what's there?
What happens if, instead of immediately analyzing an experience, you notice how it feels?
None of this requires abandoning your logical mind. You don't have to believe every thought, sensation or intuitive nudge that passes through you.
You're simply making a little more room for another way of paying attention.
I often say that I walk the boundary between the logical and the intuitive, and I'm pretty comfortable there.
What that means when you meditate with me
My job isn't to tell you what you're supposed to experience.
My job is to hold space for your experience.
I'll choose a beautiful place in nature. I'll offer context and guidance when it's useful. I'll help you settle into meditation and pay attention.
And then I'll get out of the way enough for you to have your own experience.
Maybe you feel something you would describe as energy. Maybe you don't.
Maybe something emotional arises. Maybe you have an unexpected insight or image. Maybe you become intensely aware of the wind moving through the trees.
Or maybe you simply sit quietly among the red rocks and feel wonderfully peaceful for a while.
All of those are legitimate experiences of Sedona.
If you tell me you saw something during meditation, I'm not likely to announce what your vision means. I may ask instead:
How did it feel?
What does it mean to you?
Because ultimately, your experience belongs to you.
Curiosity is enough.
You don't have to choose between being a logical person and being open to mystery.
You don't have to check your critical thinking at the trailhead.
And you certainly don't have to believe someone else's story about Sedona before you're allowed to experience this place for yourself.
Come curious. Pay attention. Listen to your intuition. See what happens.