What Sedona Taught Me About Saying Yes

I contemplated signing up for this retreat for years.

Every year, there was a reason not to go.

A graduation.
A wedding.
A grandchild arriving.

Something important on the calendar made it easy to say, “Maybe next year.”

But this year, there were no excuses.

And honestly, I think a part of me knew I needed an interruption from the pace and predictability of everyday life.

Not an escape, but an opportunity to reconnect with myself in a different way.

I knew the yoga teacher, but no one else. I had never gone alone on something like this before. I was rooming with someone I had never met. And while I knew the retreat included yoga and hiking, I wasn’t entirely sure what I was stepping into beyond that.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that the uncertainty was part of the invitation.

Sedona Has a Way of Making You Pay Attention

There’s something difficult to explain about Sedona.

Maybe it’s the vastness of the red rocks. The silence. The way the light shifts across the mountains at sunrise and sunset. Or maybe it really is the energy people talk about when they describe Sedona as an energy vortex.

Whatever it is, Sedona makes it hard to stay disconnected from yourself.

And maybe that’s part of what well-being actually requires — not constant optimization or productivity, but moments that invite us to slow down enough to notice what’s happening within us.

Every morning we practiced yoga outside on the deck, surrounded by landscapes so beautiful they almost didn’t feel real. We hiked among towering red rocks that constantly reminded me how small and connected we are at the same time.

And slowly, over five days, nine women, each in a different season of life, created something together that felt rare.

There was openness.
Honesty.
Support.
Curiosity.
Laughter.
Emotion.
Space for people to simply be who they were.

Not because we all shared the same story.

But because we were all willing to show up fully.

The Power of Being Around Women Who Want to Grow

One of the biggest takeaways for me was the reminder that growth is contagious.

Being around women who are open to learning, healing, reflecting, and becoming more themselves creates a kind of energy that’s hard to describe until you experience it.

Sometimes in everyday life, we spend so much time managing responsibilities, expectations, and routines that we forget how nourishing it can be to gather with people who are intentional about living.

Not performing.
Not competing.
Not pretending.

Just growing.

And I think that’s something many of us are craving more than we realize.

Some Experiences Are Felt More Than Explained

One of the retreat experiences was breathwork with Gwen Payne from Inspired Sedona.

For me, it was deeply physical. I felt sensations throughout my body, and emotions surfaced in ways I wasn’t expecting. Other women described much more visual experiences during the session.

What struck me most wasn’t the attempt to explain what happened, scientifically or spiritually. It was realizing how much we carry beneath the surface without even noticing it.

Sometimes, slowing down enough to feel what’s happening in our bodies can teach us more than thinking ever will.

In a culture that encourages us to analyze and push through, experiences that reconnect us to sensation, emotion, and presence can feel surprisingly powerful.

That’s true in so many areas of life. We often move through our days on autopilot without noticing what we’re feeling, what we need, or what patterns we’ve fallen into. I’ve written before about how awareness is often the first step toward meaningful change, whether around food, habits, or simply how we live our lives.

Openness Created Peace

Another experience during theretreat was meeting with The Phoenix Medium, Lisa Wilcoxson, in a small-group setting.

I had always been curious about it, but had never done anything like that before.

Part of that curiosity came from something deeply personal: my father left my mom and me when I was two years old and passed away when I was twenty-one. I never really had the opportunity to get to know him.

So while I didn’t entirely know what to expect from the experience, there was a part of me that hoped for some kind of connection or understanding.

What happened during that session impacted me more than I anticipated.

Not necessarily because it answered every question or suddenly made everything make sense, but because it softened something in me.

It brought an unexpected sense of peace.

I realized how much time we spend trying to force certainty, control outcomes, or intellectually understand everything before allowing ourselves to feel it.

But sometimes healing comes from openness itself.

From allowing.
From listening.
From being willing to experience something without needing to fully define it.

I’m realizing more and more that well-being is not always about having answers. Sometimes it’s about creating enough openness to experience life differently.

The Real Lesson Wasn’t About Sedona

As awe-inspiring as Sedona was, the biggest lesson wasn’t actually about the place.

It was about what becomes possible when we step outside of our routines long enough to reconnect with ourselves.

At home, life gets loud.

Responsibilities.
Schedules.
Notifications.
Habits.
Autopilot.

We move quickly from one thing to the next without always noticing what we need, what we feel, or what’s trying to emerge in us.

You don’t necessarily need a retreat in Sedona to reconnect with yourself.

But I do think we all need experiences that interrupt the pace of everyday life long enough for us to hear ourselves again.

I’m beginning to believe that meaningful experiences, whether through travel, nature, movement, conversation, or time away from routine, can create a perspective shift that helps us live more intentionally afterward.

Not because the experience itself “fixes” us, but because it helps us pay attention again.

Maybe that looks like:

• spending more time outside

• trying something you normally wouldn’t

• allowing yourself to be around new people

• saying yes before you feel completely ready

• moving your body in ways that feel grounding and joyful

• creating moments for reflection instead of constant distraction

• loosening your grip on needing all the answers

Growth rarely happens while clinging tightly to what’s familiar.

And often, the life we want to create begins by paying attention to what energizes us, what calls to us, and what helps us feel more connected and aligned, instead of simply continuing to do what we’ve always done because it feels safe or familiar.

Sometimes the Right Thing Arrives Before You Feel Ready

If there’s one thing I’m taking with me from Sedona, it’s this:

Sometimes the experiences that change us most begin with uncertainty.

A retreat you almost don’t attend.
A room full of strangers.
A conversation you didn’t expect.
A moment of emotion that surprises you.
A quiet inner voice telling you to go.

I’m learning that when something continues to call to you year after year, there may be a reason.

And sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is simply say yes.

Maybe living well is not about controlling every outcome, but about remaining open to experiences that invite us to grow, connect, reflect, and see ourselves and the world a little differently.

So I’ll leave you with this:

What’s something you’ve been feeling called toward, but keep putting off because life always seems too busy, too uncertain, or not quite the right time?

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