The Spirit of Sedona Welcomes You

Everyone has their ‘Sedona story’, I was told. Sedona, the magical location is a magnet for souls who aim to transcend all illusion and attain Oneness with Divine. It has been recognized as a special, high-energy place by Native Americans since ages.

During the unforgettable 10 days that Mohanji and I spent in the high vibration of Sedona vortexes among the amazing Sedona people (as well as the beautiful souls we met at the Sedona Yoga Festival 10 – 12 March 2017 and during Mohanji’s Retreat in Sedona 14-17 March), so many intense inner experiences took place that I felt the inner pull to honor them through this experience sharing. I hope my words will convey the intensity and beauty of these experiences. I offer all these words to the consciousness that brought us to Sedona.

Wherever one looks in Sedona, there is beauty, serenity, and love. This is a real “spiritual folks’ paradise.” I have never seen these many shops with signs “Psychic”, “Healer”, “Aura scanning”, “Crystals”, “Restorative Massage”, “Yoga”, etc. at one place ever! However, this is not just fashion – the people of Sedona have depth and maturity and are 100% sincere in their pursuit of self-realization. This was a wonderful reminder that one should never entertain stereotyping of people. My mind certainly would not have expected this kind of a spiritual experience in America.

The people I met in Sedona told me that those who don’t have pure intentions are somehow filtered out and don’t stay in Sedona. Similarly, people with pure hearts whose aim is liberation are simply drawn to this place. It soon became very clear why Native Americans revered the red rocks of Sedona as holy. The very energy of Sedona is such that it simply feels like home. No need to prove anything to anyone, no need to justify anything, just being 100% natural – and feeling great, really great. This indeed is Yoga and there is no better place I’ve seen thus far (aside from the Himalayas) for the practice of Yoga.

Sedona Yoga Festival was thus destined to be superb. It’s a really amazing platform for Yoga and experiential spirituality. So many wonderful souls gathered there. An overwhelming array of high-quality sessions and workshops that included Yoga, meditation, breath-work, crystals, kirtans and bhajans, gong baths, various forms of alternative healing, etc. I hereby extend my deepest gratitude to Heather and Mark Titus and the entire SYF team who brought this big event to life and inevitably worked day and night to make it happen.

It was especially wonderful to experience the exchange of energy between Mohanji and such an amazing audience. He was a true mirror of their maturity and beauty. It was magical and deeply touching.

I conducted three Yoga sessions at the Sedona Yoga Festival, representing Himalayan School of Traditional Yoga. My first session was indoors with approx. 20 people. I came a bit early and thus had time to interact with those who came early as well. I was amazed to see that most of them practiced Yoga for more than 15 years, travelled to India, have been practicing Kriya for years, and/or are Yoga Instructors themselves. I totally did not expect that. However, none of them showed any airs about any of it – they were as humble and receptive as they could be and their maturity created truly amazing group energy. This trend continued throughout Sedona Yoga Festival. I thanked them on this experience and felt truly honored to be in a position to be the instrument of Yoga teaching to such wonderful people.

Right after my first Yoga session I attended a beautiful Yoga session led by Tao-Porchon Lynch, a true inspiration to all Yogis, Yoginis and/or Yoga Instructors out there – although 98 years old, she is superb in her Yoga practice, full of life, love and enthusiasm. She really touched my heart and I so enjoyed her radiant presence.

Second Yoga session was outdoors, on a beautiful terrace with a view of the stunning red rocks of Sedona. It was at 6am, just before sunrise. There is a big difference between day and night time temperatures in Sedona. It was thus quite cold before the Sun came out so we had to intensify our Yoga practice in order to keep warm. Exactly during sunrise the time for Sun Salutations (Surya Namaskar) came.

In all my Yoga practice this was the first time that I really felt it – immense heart-melting gratitude and expansion while flowing with the Sun Salutations and chanting the mantras saluting the Sun, giver of life, friend of all, the one who illumines our lives… It was heavenly.

The following day, my third session was at the same terrace but at 10am. It was just perfect – not too cold and not too hot. It was a day of full moon and boy did we feel the magic – the full moon, Sedona vortexes, Grace of ancient Yoga practice, plus amazing group energy!

During that Yoga session the accent was on heart chakra and all of us melted into the beauty of this experience. All breathed as one and went deep into each asana, and then deep within during Yoga Nidra.

I always give great value to Yoga Nidra experience in the end. I must say that this was one of the most amazing Yoga Nidra experiences I have ever had. My consciousness expanded and I could feel all those who were present within me. It felt as if we entered a bubble of bliss – no other sound existed, only the intense vibration and sublime beauty of the experience. There were some other workshops happening outdoor at the same time, but we could not hear any of it (this was confirmed to me later on by several other people present at the Yoga session who came forward to express gratitude). Divine energy of the vortexes engulfed us. It felt like Mother’s embrace, so loving, so gentle… I chanted several ancient mantras in Sanskrit language in the end and could feel them more intensely than ever before. After the session was over, I thanked the beautiful souls present and cried for no reason. All of us were deeply touched by this experience of oneness and love.

This was a beginning of an unforgettable day.

Mohanji’s Satsang in one of the big halls indoors was next on our schedule. Mark Whitwell, a distinguished teacher of ‘Heart of Yoga’, one of the best contemporary Yoga instructors from the tradition of Krishnamacharya (1988 – 1989). Mark conducted his session in the hall just before Mohanji and it was wonderful to meet him. It didn’t feel like this was the first time we meet. I kept feeling great joy within…

Day continued in bliss. After years of experience of Mohanji’s Satsangs and Shaktipat, in my experience this was the most intense of them all. Engulfed in the beautiful energy of the vortexes and full moon, in company of audience of great maturity which we’ve not seen in the West thus far, Mohanji delivered a stunning talk and none felt like ending it. And then the time for Shaktipat came. Mohanji said people should stand while receiving Shaktipat and that I should stand right behind them in case some of them start falling backwards. We already experienced this once before so Mohanji wanted to ensure all are safe. Ganesh joined me in this task since Mohanji was giving Shaktipat to two people at the same time.

The moment Shaktipat started I could feel an overwhelming heat in my body. I did not feel it this intensely since my Shaktipat initiation in 2008. Probably due to the Mai-Tri Healing practice, while holding my hand behind the Shaktipat recipients, it spontaneously happened that energy started flowing from my palm to Shaktipat recipients’ Anahata chakra. I just went with the experience thinking this could only help their Shaktipat experience. Little did I know how much this would hit me! While connecting with Mohanji in this way I guess I got sucked into the entire process of Shaktipat to the point that intensity of the energy gushing through my spine and palms was becoming overwhelming. I could feel each person and some of them were so empty of ego and so receptive that they simply jumped into the ocean of consciousness called Mohanji. This was such a grand experience/scene to behold! One lady had an entity in her. She made wave-like movements with her spine, the spirit/entity said something in a language that resembled Native American, and within a couple of seconds the entity was out, gone upward into the White Light. She was in tears and thanked Mohanji wholeheartedly. Many amazing experiences, one after another – and the gratitude people expressed was so deep, so pure and sincere… One lady cried and said she doesn’t feel like leaving because her soul has recognized the Source. There was another lady who has always been blessed with telepathic communion with ascended Masters and usually never goes to any living Master and never receives Shaktipat. She said that she was guided by her Master to come for Mohanji’s Satsang and Shaktipat and to attend all his programs. We were blessed to have her with us.

Natesh and I were last to receive Shaktipat from Mohanji. It was an unforgettable, overwhelming experience and we cried like babies… After Shaktipat was over the intense energy within me just wouldn’t subside. I could feel continuous tremor within. My hands were not shaking when I looked at them but it felt like the entire body was continuously shaking and vibrating from within. I didn’t know what to do with all this energy and could clearly imagine how one could go mad from it. I remembered a story that Mohanji often recounts when a man in Shirdi asked Baba to give him enlightenment. Baba warned him that he won’t be able to withstand the energy, but he insisted. He then gave it to him and the man started running around like a mad man, creating a big fuss. After many complaints from other people, Baba gave him another Shaktipat and took it back. The man became normal again. This time I got a clear picture how that man would have felt as I was not far from the edge at which one would just go mad. We went for lunch afterwards and food helped me ground somewhat, but the heightened energy experience went on for another day or so, with frequent Kundalini movement. With Mohanji around I knew I was safe, but the experience was nevertheless overwhelming. As a friend of mine always says, just be in the child-like wonder and say “What else is possible” – there are no limits.

‘Being with Mohanji’ Retreat started the next day. It was a beautiful, intimate Retreat with special people drawn to this event from various locations – unique, mature people who felt the call within and treasured every moment with Mohanji. Most of them are highly evolved souls which one doesn’t get to meet that often.

It was a great privilege to experience this Retreat with them, to conduct morning Himalayan School of Traditional Yoga session for them and to do Mai-Tri Healing to some of them, as much as the time permitted. What I witnessed intuitively while performing Mai-Tri healing to some of them touched me even more deeply. These are intimate matters of people which cannot be shared, but I have to say that I could experience their Divinity, profound journeys of their ancient souls and was so touched by their humility. One beautiful soul called Thea gifted me her book. I read it during my journey back to Serbia and was overwhelmed by the depth of wisdom and Divine experiences that she was blessed with thus far. I learned a lot from her book and profound experiences that she shared.

Visits to the vortexes made this Retreat even more special. Each vortex had a different note of Divine to it, but they were all so, so beautiful. I was especially moved by our first visit to an energy vortex not known by many people. This happened on the second day of our stay in Sedona, just before Sedona Yoga Festival. A beautiful soul called Mathews, who studied the vortexes of Sedona for over 20 years, guided us there. A wonderful healer Suzy joined us as well, along with our amazing hosts Monnie and Natesh who worked tirelessly, like an army of 10, to bring us to Sedona and make all this happen.

When we reached the location I sat down for meditation at a place that overlooks a mountain over which, as many people from Sedona have witnessed, space ships (UFOs) tend to fly the most. There was just something special about this place.

With my eyes closed I kept seeing a golden and pearl-like shimmer, as if it was there to give me the glimpse of higher realms. A bit later I noticed that most of the stones and rocks in this area had this special shimmer! I was simply overwhelmed by this and could remember the golden shimmer I saw on Mohanji’s face and skin back in 2007 when Mahavatar Babaji/Mahatapa entered his body.

The energy we felt there kept expanding our hearts and we kept bathing in it. Mohanji pointed at one spot at which energy of gratitude was especially high. Suzy and I stood there and couldn’t hold back the tears. It was out of this world… Mathews then suggested that we sit in a circle, hold hands, and tune in to higher consciousness. What happened then was beyond words, so special, so sacred. Mathews suddenly channeled a higher being with a deeper voice, who spoke a language none of us could understand. It could be Native American. We had no idea what he was saying but could feel the tone of gratitude and felt immensely blessed. Soon after, Suzy went into trance and suddenly said the following words in a different, soothing female voice: “The spirit of Sedona welcomes you.” I got goosebumps all over. It was such a grand moment. She told us later on that this is the actual spirit of Sedona, the spirit of these sacred ancient vortexes, and that it’s called Kachina woman. Suzy said that in all these years she never channeled the Spirit of Sedona. It was a grand, historical moment that this happened and it was clear that Mohanji was called to come here. One of the rocks, which we could see from the Boynton Canyon, resembles a gracious face of a woman with hair which looks like wind keeps blowing into it.

They call this rock “Kachina woman”, the spirit of Sedona. My friend Jantara shared this interesting blog with me about Hopi legend of Kachina woman.

We were told that Boynton Canyon is the location where Hopi elders came first and where they interacted with the “Star People”. Higher civilizations were obviously present here since ages and there’s hardly anyone in Sedona who has not had a direct experience of extraterrestrials. This is how Native Americans describe the experience (more about the Hopis, Kachina, etc. can be found here

“The Kachinas, or Gods, were beings of a great might and power to the Native Americans. They were known to come down to Earth and help the native Americans tend their fields brining wisdom about agriculture, law and government. They physically interacted with the people themselves. There are drawings of them on cave walls.”

“Native Americans followed the movements of the celestial markers – much as we do today. They called it Star Knowledge. Beyond the land where they lived, was the sky, and that beyond were dimensional portals or sky holes. Beyond that was an area that they called the Ocean of Pitch, where the beauty of the night sky and the galaxies spun out towards them. Beyond that were the boundaries of the universe. And that set along the rim at the boundaries of the universe were 4 different extraterrestrial groups.

The Hopi called the Pleiadians the Chuhukon, meaning those who cling together. They considered themselves direct descendants of the Pleiadians. The Navajos named the Pleiades the Sparkling Suns or the Delyahey, the home of the Black God. The Iroquois pray to them for happiness. The Cree came to have come to earth from the stars in spirit form first and then became flesh and blood.

Early Dakota stories speak of the Tiyami home of the ancestors as being the Pleiades. Astronomy tells us that the Pleiades rise with the sun in May and that when you die your spirit returns south to the seven sisters.

They believe that Mythic Mountain is actually the home of the Kachinas. This mountain top is a sacred one. Being the home of the Kachina spirits it is the place where all of the large mythic beings they honor in their rituals land. “We come as clouds to bless the Hopi people” is a quote passed from generation to generation.” (source)

During the Retreat we also visited the Wolf Sanctuary near Sedona. An amazing lady called Healing Wolf who runs this sanctuary shared profound stories with us (videos and photos from this visit were uploaded on Mohanji Official Facebook page. Here is one of those videos).

It was wonderful to expand my horizons and learn all this about the Native Americans and the highly evolved extraterrestrials – somehow it all felt familiar…

On my way to the airport, a lovely soul called Trish told me how many people experienced massive space ships (size of a football field or bigger) with beautiful lights. They were completely silent, i.e. there was no engine sound of any type. People have seen space ships of various sizes – triangular, circular, cylinder-shaped, etc. The pure energy of the vortexes attracts them. There are guides offering UFO sighting tours in Sedona on daily basis. It is no surprise to anyone in Sedona that UFOs can be seen even with naked eyes (but most definitely using military night-vision goggles) every night. We went for one such sighting with a lady whom we met in Starbucks. Her name is Melinda Leslie. It was fun! One gets used to this kind of stories in Sedona very fast and simply falls in love with all that happens here.

The last venue Trish and I visited was New Age Centre in Sedona. When we started our journey to the airport she mentioned that she went to an old Psychic there, who was the very first Psychic in Sedona. His name is Victor. He gave her an amazing reading and she felt so honored to meet him. Soon after we went there, looking through many interesting items one can purchase as gifts, Victor appeared. Trish was just overwhelmed. I felt immense love and my hands just went to him and kept caressing his heart. I could feel the flow of energy through my palms towards his heart chakra and was overwhelmed by love. He immediately said “Oh, a healer” and kept smiling. We had to leave and had no time to talk, but heart spoke all that it had to say. We were blissed out like children.

On our way to the airport, while happily sharing experiences and insights, we suddenly had an uneasy feeling. Both of us felt like not talking about it but we felt it. Only after check-in at the airport, Trish shared with me that she was sure we were going to have a car accident. She fought those thoughts and kept calling upon Mohanji. I felt it as well and that was the time I suddenly felt a very strong urge to go to toilet. Trish went off the highway in order to find a place with decent toilet. Soon we got back onto the highway and noticed an unusual congestion in traffic – it was due to a car accident that happened… While passing by the crashed vehicles for a moment I felt that time had stopped.. We were just overwhelmed with gratitude that we sailed through all this so smoothly and proceeded towards the Phoenix airport. Amazing experiences till the very last moment – that’s Sedona. 🙂

Trish shared with me that she had a deep feeling that a powerful seed was sown during our Retreat with Mohanji.

We are yet to see the results of the amazing energy that we generated during this program. All of us were tuned in and got transformed by this experience. She shared with me that scientists have proven that a caterpillar and butterfly have completely different DNA even though butterfly is nothing but a caterpillar that came out of its cocoon. This is so inspiring and I truly believe Yoga and all practices that support spiritual awakening truly do change our DNA.

I leave you with this thought. 🙂

All that remains is eternal gratitude and surrender…

With love,

Devi Mohan

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The views, opinions and positions expressed by the authors and those providing comments on these blogs are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or positions of Mohanji, Mohanji Foundation, it’s members, employees or any other individual or entity associated with Mohanji or Mohanji Foundation. We make no representations as to accuracy, completeness, timeliness, suitability or validity of any information presented by individual authors and/or commenters on our blogs and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries or damages arising from its display or use.