“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”—Buddha

Spirituality is both a universal and highly personal experience. While most of us have, at some point, felt a meaningful connection to something bigger than ourselves, the way that we experience this connection depends on many factors, including our personal experiences, communities and culture.

Closely related, spirituality is broader than religion. Both may offer questions and answers about the infinite, provide support during emotional crises, and invoke a sense of awe, wonder and reverence.

Keeping in touch with my spirituality, I realized that empathy and compassion are integral parts to inner contentment. Empathy is the ability and willingness to fully understand another person’s experience and connect it to your own. Compassion is the practice of responding to this realization with kindness.

My personal journey has led me to amazing “teachers” who have been pivotal in my inner enlightenment. Little did I realize that a spontaneous trip to New Mexico, the “Land of Enchantment” and a place I had never been to, would inspire my soul work.

Shaman and soul recovery

Sometimes our teachers come in traditional forms, but if we are open, the teachers come in the forms of magical and mystical places, symbols, synchronicities and coincidences, other people’s stories, spiritual traditions and, if you are one of the lucky ones, the lessons will also come from deep within yourself. So for six days in New Mexico, I was awed by all these “teachers” as I journeyed toward my place of enchantment.

Secretly arranged by my soul sister Vina Francisco, I had a session with Concha Allen Garcia, a local shaman/curandera/medicine woman at her home in Santa Fe. It was truly life-altering. She incorporated talking, releasing, offering, chanting and cleansing with cedar and sage. This physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual awareness integration teased out unresolved energy and pain, moving me from a place of endurance toward joy.

Described as the first physicians, diagnosticians, psychotherapists, religious functionaries and storytellers, shamans use their knowledge and power to help and to heal members of their community, as well as the community as a whole. In order to obtain information from the “spirit world,” they intentionally draw from their own life experience to help in finding one’s life path.

This perspective is not inherently contradictory to any religious practice that allows a person to be in direct relationship with whatever they perceive as a higher power.

Concha somehow redirected and moved my energy to restore the harmony within me. My sense of security and self-esteem have been shaken so her intense healing session was directed toward releasing negative energies that have blocked my clarity. She removed energies that were inappropriately present. This also included soul recovery to accomplish healing via the return of lost parts of the soul.

Road trip

Embracing this magical trip of my mind, body and soul, our girlfriend bonding trip included many of the most beautiful and interesting road trips through New Mexico, including the 56-mile drive north from Santa Fe to Taos.

This stretch, called the High Road to Taos, is an official scenic byway and provides a glimpse into the historic remains—buildings, stories, art and preserved culture—of Old Spain. Like its symbolic meaning of “taking the high road,” the road trip had breathtaking landscapes. We wound through the mountains, desert, trees and small towns, and past galleries, shops and pueblos.

Chimayo is one of the most popular stops on the Santa Fe to Taos trek, made famous by a tiny church that some believe is filled with healing earth. The art and crosses that line the walls, left by people who claim to have been healed, is a testament to the believers.

Many pilgrims travel to El Santuario de Chimayo to pray and take a pinch of the special dirt. We were even lucky to have their local priest bless all the religious items we bought.

This church in Taos has inspired many artists and photographers, including Georgia O’Keeffe and Ansel Adams; it’s one of the most popular churches to capture in art. The church, completed in 1816, boasts a unique exterior, with huge adobe buttresses and double bell towers.

Ghost Ranch

One of my favorite sites was the Ghost Ranch, a dramatic 21,000-acre New Mexico landscape, where the reclusive American artist Georgia O’Keeffe led a solitary life immersed in nature and art. O’Keeffe fell in love with the sculpted landscape of rivers, cliffs and buttes in an expanse of earthen formations which according to Pueblo peoples are alive and imbued with spirits of the past. I was able to “scream” out my anxiety to the rock mountains.

Vina, Isabel Lacson-Santos and I climbed the cave dwellings at the Bandelier National Monument National Park. The park recreated the original kiva ladders to allow seekers like us to experience the cave dwellings up close. I don’t have a fear of heights but climbing three very high wooden ladders was definitely a test of courage. It was yet another symbol of my journey toward reaching new heights and highs in life.

In the Native American spiritual tradition, the appearance of a white buffalo is a sign of hope and an indication of good times to come. Central to our journey across New Mexico was our very own white buffalo, Kevin Spritzer, our soulful and enlightened driver/tour guide in New Mexico. Kevin was also another “teacher” with his insights on Saturn Returns experiences. (whitebuffaloshuttle.us)In my journey of healing and path-finding, I have discovered the need for nurturing and developing my spirituality and regard it as important as eating a healthy diet, exercising and building strong relationships. Taking the time to reconnect with what you find meaningful in life and returning to life’s big questions can enhance your own sense of connection with something larger than yourself. INQ

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