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Health & Healing in Sedona Road Scholar Petra C. attended the Women’s Health and Wellness Healing Arts Retreat in Sedona — and experienced rejuvenation that she had not expected!
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had heard Sedona was a mystical place and went with my sister-in-law and my niece, open to receiving whatever it had to offer. On the very first day, my niece captured an amazing picture of energy escaping from Bell Rock and that set the tone for the trip. Cheryl was our leader and I cannot say enough about how wonderful she was. The sessions were all amazing, but the ones that stood out for me the most were learning Qi Gong, art therapy and most notably, the hike into the red rocks where I learned to meditate. After our first Qi Gong session, my sister-in-law and I just looked at each other and at the same time said “Wow, that was absolutely wonderful!” We vowed to find classes when we got back home. It’s difficult to explain the feeling of physical and spiritual wellness we experienced. It was actually where I learned that maintaining one’s health is related to being in balance with the universe, which is something we need to strive for every day.
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We all shared stories about our families and realized we had much in common. When we had the art therapy class, we had to pick a picture card at random, look at it and then explain how it related to us personally. Most were pictures of flowers, animals or mountain scenes, but mine was a picture of an older man and woman in an embrace. When it came my turn to tell what it meant to me, it dawned on me that all the things that I worried about in this
he women on the trip bonded
world, especially my children’s well-being,
immediately. Cheryl brought a local
were the same concerns of my husband,
hairdresser to our hotel one evening
and that I was not alone. It was a moment of
and we all had “fairy hair” woven into our
self-realization that my husband was there to
own hair. We then called ourselves “The Sedona Shimmers.” Mine lasted for months and wherever I
share my burdens, and that we needed to support each other rather than carry it all alone. The leader of
went people stopped me to say things like “I believe you are
the group said the card stood for commitment, and that I
sparkling,” to which I would reply “Why, yes I am!” It was
needed to recognize that my husband was as committed to
all such fun and an amazing memory to make together.
our family’s well-being as I was. It was a beautiful moment.
10 | ROAD SCHOLAR ALUMNI MAGAZINE WINTER 2023
