You Can Do It!
Have you ever had the feeling that you’ve been unknowingly guided to an experience for your greater good? An experience that you had never intended, but through a serendipitous chain of events it appeared in your path, so you took it? Well, that’s the feeling I’ve been having this week after an absolutely wonderful day of climbing Bell Rock in Sedona, Arizona.
Let’s back up a little, and take a look at the week before I flew out to Arizona. Memphis had experienced record breaking cold weather (it reached a low of -17 degrees Celsius, or 1 degree Fahrenheit), an ice storm and two snow storms, the likes of which had never really been experienced in the city. As a Southern state not accustomed to this type of weather, we had a naturally-enforced lockdown for over a week where you really couldn’t leave your house unless you had a 4WD. Most places were closed except essential businesses, the city was on ‘boil water’ alert, school was cancelled and supermarket shelves were bare.
Daughter Zara coming in from the snow
I was booked to go to a personal development workshop in Sedona, Arizona during the middle of the craziness, and I wondered whether I would make it out. I was planning to leave on a Wednesday, enjoy 1.5 days of site seeing in Sedona before starting the workshop, then flying straight home afterwards. As Mother Nature would have it, my flights were canceled and rescheduled 3 times, but somehow I made it out on the Thursday - albeit 2 hours delayed due to the runway being cleared and the plane de-iced. The following day, the Memphis Airport was closed due to low water-pressure. I just made it!
De-icing the plane - I’d never seen this done before, so I was very intrigued!
I was sure I was going to miss my connecting flight from Dallas to Phoenix, but alas, that was also delayed, and I made that flight just in time. After 13 hrs of travel - 2 delayed flights, car hire challenges, and travel over a long, dusty, cacti-lined desert road, I made it to the workshop with 30 minutes to spare! I’d pushed my whole itinerary out by a day, and was now due to fly home 1.5 days after the workshop.
The workshop was held at the beautiful Sedona Mago Center for Well-being - a destination for spiritual healing and transformation. Mago is an ancient Korean word that means Mother Earth, and at Sedona Mago, they have one central mission: to love humanity and the Earth.
As per the inscription below, “The spirit of Mago extends from past generations to the present day through the Chunbukyung, an ancient sacred text from Asia. The essence of the Chunbukyung lies in the philosophy that Heaven, Earth and Human are one.”
I won’t say too much about the workshop - they prefer you to keep the details of it to yourself, but I will say it was one of the most intense, energetic, profound and extraordinary experiences of my life. On numerous occasions we were taken completely out of our comfort zones, and we were encouraged to really take a journey deep within - steps I have also been forced to take since moving to the US over two years ago. For some in the group, it was a complete revelation; for myself and some others, it was the icing on the cake of our spiritual journey we’d embarked on years earlier. It was confirmation that we had been on the right track back to finding our true selves, and we learnt some wonderful new skills to help us grow further on our path.
The lake at Sedona Mago, where many a wander and ponder took place
I met a lot of beautiful souls at Sedona Mago - loving staff who want to best for you, and participants that share in your journey. On our final morning, my new friend Maria had heard from one of the staff about a rock climber, Peter, who takes groups up the famous Bell Rock in Sedona, at no charge. Bell Rock is a butte composed of sedimentary rock, sits at an elevation of 5000 feet (1500m) and has a strong vortex energy. There were a few of us heading into Sedona for the night (remember, I pushed my itinerary out by a day) so Maria organised for herself, Chandler (workshop participant) and I to meet Peter the next morning for the climb. After a fun night out in Sedona (for Maria’s birthday) and a couple of well earned glasses of wine, we were pumped and excited for what lay ahead.
The next morning, when we met at the base of Bell Rock - Peter explained to us where we were going. I took one look up and thought to myself “no way, as if I can get up that - I’ll just go as far as I can and see where that leads me.” (Disclaimer here, I was a bit of a scaredy cat growing up - afraid of diving into water, taking risks, doing hard things etc). It’s hard to get rid of the constant chatter in your mind when it’s hard-wired, despite how much work you put into silencing these voices.
At the base of Bell Rock, where Peter is explaining to Maria where we were headed
It’s worth mentioning a little about Peter here - a very intriguing man who was once a UFO lawyer. Peter told us many stories on our trek up the rock, which are backed up by a blog post I found by Shalee Wanders, a previous couch surfer of Peter’s:
"From 1977 to 2000 I represented UFO groups in lawsuits against the various agencies of the Federal Government under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). I was known as the UFO Lawyer". Peter Gersten
He also has some interesting beliefs:
"I believe I exist within a holographic reality program, an intelligently designed futuristic entertainment simulation, for which I directly programmed certain experiences, relationships, lessons and issues before I was born.” Peter Gersten
And he was certain that he had to take a number of people up Bell Rock:
"I live in Sedona, Arizona, a magical and mystical location where I guide beautiful people to the top of a magnificent red rock that symbolizes an inter-dimensional portal, a rift in time and space leading to the metaphoric galactic center. I believe I need to bring 1111 people to the top by the winter solstice of 2018 to access this portal which will pass over that location on that day at 22:22 UT." - Peter Gersten
Peter was convinced that he was going to be uplifted into a UFO and onto another dimension, but alas, he is still here. To date, he has taken 3867 climbers to the top of Bell Rock - each becoming a member of the Top of Bell Rock Club (TBRC).
It certainly made for some interesting conversation on the way up!
Peter explained that it was more of a mental challenge getting up the rock than a physical one - I wasn’t convinced!
Somehow, we were to climb up there…
There isn’t a trail to the top, you just go the way Peter leads you. It’s also a free climb - no helmets, ropes, or railings of any type. But he directs you with each step of the way - like a game of Twister - right hand in this crevice, left foot in this gap, don’t look down. Thankfully Peter also had two other climbers with him, Angelia and Tim, to help us out at the trickier spots.
But we made it! What a relief. I believe when I got to the top I said I was going to take up rock climbing for life, such was the feeling of exhilaration.
Chandler expressing his gratitude to Peter for getting us to the top
But my excitement was cut short when Peter then explained that we had to climb three more pillars in order to be able to join the Top of Bell Rock Club. I groaned loudly when he pointed out the first pillar - it looked freakishly scary!! We watched as Angelia and Tim confidently strode up it, then Chandler and Maria followed. I knew they were scared, but I was petrified at this point, and really, really didn’t want to go up. But something internally was yelling at me to just do it - so I very sheepishly made my way over and willed myself to do it - if Maria and Chandler had done it, then I could too!
And I made it! It was a pretty amazing feeling. It also reminded me of an image I had drawn of myself at the workshop, just a couple of days earlier. We had to draw or write about our future selves, and this is what I drew:
Not the best drawing I’ve ever made! But huh, it certainly speaks volumes about visioning.
After I’d overcome that hurdle, the rest of the pillars seemed easy in comparison, and we just enjoyed ourselves at the top of this magnificent rock.
We were also enthralled watching Angelia and Tim climb the rock like they had lived on it their whole lives. Following are some photos and videos:
Maria even did some Tarot reading at the top, and Peter made us answer three riddles before we were allowed to head down!
An absolutely invigorating day!
If it wasn’t for the crazy weather in Memphis, I would have arrived in Sedona at my scheduled day of Wednesday - one day before the workshop, and I would have left straight afterwards. I would NOT have had the opportunity to meet Peter and there is no way I would ever have tackled Bell Rock climb before the workshop. It’s funny how life works out for your greater good sometimes!
There are SO many lessons I’ve been able to take out of this whole trip, the key ones being:
letting go of control
trusting in the Universe and going with the flow
flexibility
getting out of your comfort zone
believing in yourself
trusting others
getting help when you need it, and
living in the moment
My beautiful new friends Chandler and Maria have written some very wise words since the workshop and climb, and I couldn’t conclude this post any better.
Chandler -
“I’ve learned many lessons along the way on this two month desert tour. I believe we have to experience life in our own way to truly understand ourselves and others. I found myself from within and that is something others could not do for me. I faced outside fears and fears within. I looked at why I was holding myself back from living. It was fear and doubt that I allowed myself to believe and rip away my soul. I allowed outside forces to dictate my path. This was my fault, but I blamed everyone and everything rather than looking at myself. The only way to make it up to myself and others is to change now. I am willing to face the world, fears and challenges that lie ahead. I’m not saying I won’t fail, but I am ‘willing’ to fail for the first time in my life.”
Maria -
“Climbing to the top of a canyon is a beautiful metaphor for life. If you see it from below is seems impossible and dangerous, you think you can’t make it. But you start climbing, one step at a time, focused on the present (left foot here, right here, raise your right hand, then your left…). Every piece you climb is in itself an achievement that motivates you to the next, and as you only care about staying alive in the present, with all that focus you stop thinking about the top (the future), or turning back down (the past). Same goes for dreams of life. You see them in the distance, hard to reach, but if you start taking small steps in the present, you overcome the fear of the past and the anguish of the future, and based on trust in your mind, body and spirit, you reach to the top of your existence.”
So when you’re next wracked with fear or doubt over a decision, believe in yourself - you can do it!
Thank you to Maria, Chandler, Peter, Angelia, Tim, and all of the staff and participants at the Sedona Mago workshop.
If you’d like to hike up Bell Rock with Peter, you can contact him on his Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/PAG2012 - it’s well worth it!