Author Archives: Debra Stangl
Skeptical London Journalist Falls into the Sedona Vortex
I’m continuing to celebrate our 14th Anniversary and it was so much fun to come across this article that was written about us way back in 2004. I stayed in touch with Tessa and it’s so interesting to me that over the years, the “Sedona vibe” continued to stay with her.
It’s so interesting to see what happens when skepticism and doubt confront the magic and beauty of Sedona’s red rock temples.
Good Vibrations by Tessa Boase
“On the road to Sedona I began to feel nervous. After weeks of tentative email correspondence, I was about to meet Debra Stangl, my Angel Guide, who was to take me on a Soul Adventure. This trip to Arizona was initially meant to be a low-key spa break in Phoenix, but at the spa I’d decided I was ready for something a little more life-changing.
Surfing the Net, I’d found out about Sedona, a scenic town, which had been slumbering quietly in obscurity, occasionally featured as the backdrop to Hollywood cowboy films, until 1981. That year, Page Bryant, an American author and psychic, channeled through spirits the information that this small farming settlement was in fact the heart chakra of the planet. So that’s where I was headed, driving through the other-worldly landscape of Arizona in anxious anticipation of a customized, made-to-measure mystical holiday.
Great wind-winnowed rock formations in stark, red sandstone rear up all around Sedona, each with its own distinctive shape and presence. Bryant pinpointed a series of vortexes in the area — the points at which psychic and electromagnetic energies can be channeled for personal and planetary harmony. As word of this got out, the town quickly boomed as a New Age Mecca, attracting four million alternative practitioners, artists and retirees each year.
“Whether you love it or hate it”, says the Rough Guide to the USA, “will probably depend on whether you share their wide-eyed awe for angels, crystals and all matters mystical. “I wasn’t sure if I shared this awe, but I was ready to try something different.
True, the landscape was incredible, I could hardly tear my eyes away from the red rocks as they surged into view, dwarfing all around them. But was it really necessary to rename yourself Starr-Light Taylor (as had the girl at the health-food store check-out) just because you lived in their mystical midst? The New Age theme seemed to be all-pervading. Wherever I looked, crystals or wind chimes hung from every veranda and Perspex fairies peeped out of desert plant borders. By the time I swung into the plush driveway of my Angel Guide, I was uptight and prickly.
‘Hey! Tessa! Welcome!’ cried Debra, spiritualist and escapee from Nebraska’s legal world (Debra was a barrister for 20 years). Like many people in Sedona, she’d come here on holiday and it changed her life.
First stop was a meditation on one of the vortexes, said to have masculine energies. To get to the mediation spot we had to climb, sometimes on hands and knees, up the warm, red sandstone. Close to the summit, Debra and I sat down cross-legged and closed our eyes. “Dear Mother-Father-God”, she began, “thank you so much for this amazing place”…. I was told to imagine a surge of energy entering my feet, moving up my body and out of my head. Yet I had the sensation of a metal skullcap resisting this beam with all its might. The harder I tried, the more capped-in I felt.
Opening Up To Sedona
At last, something like the beam of a torch seemed to shoot out of the top of my head and I felt a sudden lightness of heart. Debra asked me to say what I wanted from my soul adventure and after an embarrassed silence, I muttered, “I want to be more open”.
“Good thing!” she enthused. “When you said that I saw a shaft of white light go right through you. It was really sweet!”
‘Sweet’ wasn’t quite how I’d describe the experience, but it was certainly powerful.
The next day, I had an Inner Journey with Breath and Sound. The aim of the session is to travel deep into your inner being and to heal emotional traumas and hopefully experience an altered state of awareness. I had no idea what to expect but I soon found myself lying on a mat with an eye shield on (to avoid distraction), trance music playing, breathing deeply and waiting for something to happen. Every time my mind wandered, I was told to reign it in with the mantra “I am willing”.
I was willing, but it seemed I wasn’t able. Then, suddenly, I was vividly present in the garden of my childhood home, about seven years old, but shrinking: smaller, smaller still; a toddler, a breastfeeding baby, in the womb…. At the point at which I was born, I realized I was crying, tears blotting my eye mask.
But that wasn’t all. The sides of my neck began to feel stiff, as though I had no neck at all but gills. In a flash I realized I was a snake! I could see myself weaving my belly over the desert floor, flickering my tongue. The vision continued like a speeded-up film as the snake fell into a deep pit and the story cut to a male executive (me, again) in a helicopter, flying over a jungle. The helicopter crashed, the executive burnt to death, and out of his body calmly stepped a young girl. She ran through the forest and joined a circle of dancing women.
After what felt like five minutes, the music stopped and he drew the blinds. He leaned over me avidly. “So? What happened?”, he asked.
I didn’t really want to talk about it; the visions had been too personal, too intense, but I didn’t want to disappoint him, so I told all. Tom said the snake symbolized a connection with the Earth. The executive in the helicopter was the old, corporate me who, three years ago (as I’d told him previously), had broken my back in a riding accident (“You crashed and burned”). A softer, more feminine me emerged, healed by the community.
It was an intriguing interpretation, but more astonishing to me was the news that I’d been deep-breathing for 1-1/2 hours. “Welcome to the Sedona time warp!” laughed David knowingly when I told him about it later (my practitioner for my Intuitive Integration session).
The Inner Journey experience marked a definite watershed in my soul adventure. I felt an expansion of spirit and a relaxing of inhibitions. I also began to understand why the Native Americans held Sedona to be such an intensely sacred place.
Taking It Home
Once my mind had been opened, my soul adventure was over all too quickly for my liking. The final morning was spent walking and meditating with Debra. When I admitted my reluctance to leave, Debra responded by putting something heavy in my hands. It was a large rock crystal. “It was talking to me earlier”, she shrugged. “It said it didn’t belong to me. Now I understand it was meant for you”.
Whether it was the landscape, the crystal, or sitting on top of lots of masculine vortexes, I can’t say; but six months on, I’m still feeling those Sedona good vibrations.”
We were able to figure out a few months ago that over the past 14 years, we’ve helped over 8,000 people transform their lives and their relationships. We didn’t have the correct numbers before, because we’ve changed databases 3 times over the past 14 years, so we always had duplicate numbers. Now we were able to eliminate that and when we discovered it was over 8,000 people, I was stunned. Especially because we only work with individuals and couples, not with groups. But I was mainly humbled, gratified and in such awe that all of that has happened.
14 years ago I came up with our motto, “Transforming Lives One Soul At A Time“, and it’s so amazing to me that this is exactly what’s happened.
Thank you for being a part of this journey, it means so very much to all of us here.
And if you are one of those people who wants to have your life (or your relationship) transformed, please contact us and do something about it right now. Over the years so many people have said to me, “I should have done this years ago”. Don’t wait another minute. We’re here to experience the love and joy and happiness that is our birthright. If that’s not happening for you, come here and do something about it.
Come to Sedona and experience for yourself the transformations that thousands of others have experienced over the past 14 years.
Click here and one of our Angel Guides will call you. Or if you’d prefer, call us toll free at 1-877-204-3664 (US and Canada). For our friends outside the US and Canada call 01 928-204-5988 or click here and one of our Angel Guides will call you.
Wishing you a week of magical transformation,
Debra
Debra Stangl / Founder
Sedona Soul Adventures – Transforming Lives One Soul At A Time
(877) 204-3664
https://old.sedonasouladventures.com
Download your free copy of our “Sedona Guide to Spiritual Retreats” or “Sedona Guide to Couples Retreats”
Our free guide will answer lots of your questions and shows you how a private retreat in Sedona that is completely customized for you can transform your life or your relationship. Click here
Nothing upset me and I knew just what to do
I can hardly believe it – July 4th marked the 14 year anniversary of Sedona Soul Adventures!
When I first came to Sedona in January of 1999, I had no idea of everything that was in store for me and the thousands of people who would come to connect with us. And I never dreamed that the transformations that people would have would be so huge. I mean, I hoped that is what would happen, but it’s even surpassed what I imagined over 14 years ago.
In looking back, I’ve thought about some of the most amazing, poignant and incredible things that have happened over the past 14 years. I’ve asked some of our fabulous past clients for permission to share their stories. And so many people have been so generous. This one is from Susan Perkins and it’s so incredible… Here it is…
“To all who are willing and open to living the best life possible…
My name is Susan Perkins and this is my miracle. A few years ago, I suffered a terrible loss. My relationship of seven years broke apart. It was more than just a relationship because we were best friends, business partners, and of course we owned our home together. That being said, the breakup was devastating because I lost everything at once. I felt my life had been pulled out from underneath me. I went into a full blown depression. I didn’t know that depression could be so paralyzing and my only thoughts were that of suicide because I could not function. I literally felt paralyzed.
The phone rang and it was my dearest friend of 35 years.
She heard my voice and asked “what’s wrong?”.
“Nothing” I said in a weak, pathetic tone. She asked again
“What’s wrong?”.
“Nothing”, I sighed.
She asked a third time
“What’s Wrong?”. “EVERYTHING!!!” I cried.
Immediately without the slightest hesitation she said “Oh My God, we have to get to Sedona! I am going to have someone call you now and do a meditation over the phone. Within the next five minutes there was an angel from Arizona on the line meditating and sending me love in my time of crisis. After talking to Debra, I packed my bags and was on my way.
I have tears streaming down my face as I write this, because Sedona Soul Adventures changed my life forever. We flew into Phoenix and drove up to Sedona at dusk. It was late when we checked into a very charming bed and breakfast. After a good night’s sleep I woke up and looked out the window. I had never seen anything so beautiful as the red rocks of Sedona, Arizona. I remember thinking that it didn’t even look real.
We met Debra on top of a vortex that overlooked all of Sedona. It was breathtaking. We sat down and Debra started a meditation, a prayer to the Universe for me. Tears were rolling down my eyes as I listened to her words. She looked over at me and said my third eye was opening. This was all new to me… vortexes, meditating, third eye, etc… Well I just went with it and thank God I did.
Every session helped my heart and spirit to open up. During one of my clearing sessions, my life was totally transformed. I have told this story a thousand times and I get chill bumps every time I do! I was lying on the table with my eyes closed and an eye pillow over them when all of the sudden I started to see angels and explosions. The way I always describe it is like I was seeing the Big Bang happening. I didn’t know if this was a video on the ceiling or if it was in my head. I raised my hands to touch my eyes and the eye pillow was still over them. I was so excited. It was so beautiful. I kept repeating over and over in my head “I don’t ever want this to stop… I don’t ever want this to stop… I don’t ever want this to stop”.
When the session was over and the eye pillow was removed, everything was different. Everything was lighter and brighter; I had a grin from ear to ear. I was walking on air!! I knew then that this was it. This was how we were supposed to feel; how we were supposed to live. I had goose bumps and tears of joy. I felt the purest most unconditional love I had ever felt in my life. I had no fear; I felt total forgiveness; Nothing upset me and I knew just what to do. The Universe was speaking to me through everything. I mean everything, the wind, the trees, the birds; everything was so alive! I couldn’t wait to get up at 6:00 am to see what miracles life would bring me next.
I had gone from suicidal thoughts and near death to the top of the highest mountains, to the stars, to heaven. I was riding the wave high on life. It really was almost indescribable but let’s just say that my dear friend got me to Sedona Soul Adventures and it truly saved my life. I have never been the same since then.
Two weeks later a group of 24 Soul Adventurers from around the world left for Egypt. It was my great fortune to be able to join the group. I mean, is this a miracle or what? I went from near death to The Great Pyramids. It was out of my wildest dreams and I was having the time of my life! Floating down the Nile and exploring temples, standing next to the Sphinx, please someone pinch me! Ouch I am awake and I mean for the first time in my life I can say I am awake. This was the first time in my life that I was really conscious. Thank you, thank you, thank you Sedona Soul Adventures!!
I now work in the Healing Arts at an integrated wellness center. When you have an experience like that you want to share it with everyone! I could write a book about my experience but this is the condensed version. The story is not even slightly exaggerated as a matter of fact it is under exaggerated. I have been back to Sedona Soul Adventures four times and it is one of my dreams to live there someday!!!”
Susan Perkins
Wow, Susan, that makes tears stream down my face! Stories like this have made the past 14 years so incredibly rewarding.
Come to Sedona and experience for yourself the transformations that thousands of others have experienced over the past 14 years.
Click here and one of our Angel Guides will call you. Or if you’d prefer, call us toll free at 1-877-204-3664 (US and Canada). For our friends outside the US and Canada call 01 928-204-5988 or click here and one of our Angel Guides will call you.
As I always say, If you knew what could happen, you’d be calling us right now!
Wishing you a week filled with joy and transformation,
Debra
Debra Stangl / Founder
Sedona Soul Adventures – Transforming Lives One Soul At A Time
(877) 204-3664
https://old.sedonasouladventures.com
Download your free copy of our “Sedona Guide to Spiritual Retreats” or “Sedona Guide to Couples Retreats”
Our free guide will answer lots of your questions and shows you how a private retreat in Sedona that is completely customized for you can transform your life or your relationship. Click here
What to do when you feel stuck?
Do you sometimes feel stuck? Do you sometimes feel pulled down and held back and limited? I was reminded again this week of one of the most profound stories I have heard over the years.
It’s about a young boy who goes to the circus with his father and he sees a large adult elephant next to a little baby elephant. His father tells him it’s a mother elephant and her baby. Father and son are watching the elephants and the little boy notices that the baby elephant has a huge metal bar around its ankle that is chained to a stake in the ground and from the sound they make, the chains are very heavy. But the Mother elephant had a much smaller, thinner and lighter metal bar around its ankle and the chain attached to the stake in the ground was much smaller than the one that was holding the baby elephant. “Why is that?”, asked the young boy. “Shouldn’t the bigger elephant have a bigger chain?”
His father explained to him that sadly, elephant trainers know that when an elephant is young, if they can chain it so that it can’t escape, after a short period of time, it will give up. It won’t even try anymore. The elephant at some point in its young life begins to believe there is no point in even trying to escape its captivity. Even when the elephant grows to maturity and is huge and massive and could easily remove the chain, it doesn’t even try because it believes it can’t.
Doesn’t that just break your heart on a number of different levels? First of all, the sadness of chaining such a majestic creature and bending it to our will so that it can perform in circuses. But on a deeper level, breaking this creatures’ spirit to the point where it doesn’t even know that another type of existence is possible.
What a lesson for our own lives. What are the beliefs that keep you chained into thinking that your life can’t be different? For so many of us the chains are imaginary. We think we’re bound to the life we’re living, even if it’s making us miserable. We maybe watched our parents have unhappy lives and we tell ourselves that we can’t expect anything different. Or we’re surrounded by people who believe “this is life, this is as good as it gets” and we watch them as the life force slowly drains out of them.
If you’re feeling stuck, do whatever you have to do to pull up that chain! Break those chains that are binding you. Do you hate your job? Do you hate parts of your life? What are you going to do about it?
The one thing I know for sure is that the one thing we can count on in life is change. Everything is changing in every moment, we’re getting older, time is passing, the clock is ticking. We can shift and change things simply by making the decision to do that. I know. I see it happen over and over and over again with the people who come here to do a Sedona Soul Adventures retreat. In many cases they’ve reached the end of their rope and they finally say, “I’m not going to live my life like this anymore”.
That’s exactly what happened for me the first time I came to Sedona in 1999. I was at the end of my rope and every area of my life was messed up — I hated my work, I was 40 pounds overweight, I was in an unhappy marriage and I was $50,000 in debt. I felt like I was completely stuck. I thought I couldn’t leave my work because I was at least supporting myself with it. Two weeks after coming to Sedona, $50,000 dropped out of the sky, 6 months later I left my job, 3 years later I started Sedona Soul Adventures and after moving to Sedona, the 40 pounds melted off and I went from a size 14 to a size 6 and I now eat and drink whatever I want, whenever I want. Seventeen years ago I felt like that elephant (literally when I was 40 pounds overweight!) and I felt completely chained to my unhappy life. What a feeling it is just to know that I’m not that chained up elephant anymore.
We are on this planet to be happy and to live our life purpose. If we are miserable and unhappy, we aren’t living our life purpose.
Want some help in undoing those chains? In moving into the life of bliss and joy that is your birthright? Call and speak with one of our Angel Guides.They are so skilled and gifted at really talking with you and discovering what are the chains that are binding you and what needs to happen to let go of them forever and move into a life of connection and happiness. Call us or Click Here and we’ll call you.
The clock is ticking – if not now, When?
Wishing you a week of breaking free from your chains,
Debra
Debra Stangl / Founder
Sedona Soul Adventures – Transforming Lives One Soul At A Time
(877) 204-3664
https://old.sedonasouladventures.com
Dani says that after her “amazing” Soul Adventure she’s been able to let go
“My Sedona Soul Adventure was simply amazing. I learned so much about myself, Why I do things that don’t serve me, and why I must control everything! I learned that I am perfect in my imperfections and I learned that I could let go of all the guilt I had been carrying, and that I don’t need to feel responsible for everyone and everything. After my Soul Adventure I feel like I understand my purpose more than ever. All things happen for a reason and I’m so glad I was called to Sedona! Thank you Soul Adventures!”
Dani L., Iowa
Download your free copy of our “Sedona Guide to Spiritual Retreats” or “Sedona Guide to Couples Retreats”
Our free guide will answer lots of your questions and shows you how a private retreat in Sedona that is completely customized for you can transform your life or your relationship. Click here
The real deal – Jorge Luis Delgado
We just finished our 2 weeks in magical Peru this past Friday and it was absolutely incredible (I hope you were following me day by day on Facebook). One of the things I was struck by was how lucky we are to be able to be with Jorge Luis Delgado, our shaman and guide and how after all this time (10 trips) he really is the real deal. Let me explain:
Debra and Jorge at Machu Picchu
When I decided I wanted to add Peru as another place where we would do Sacred Travel, I did an exploratory trip to Peru in 2004. It was very good, but it wasn’t even close to the trip we do now. The person leading the tour was a very nice man, but he certainly did not have the spiritual authority that I was insisting I wanted to have for our people.
Worse, I began finding out upsetting things about some of the so called “shamans” in Peru. It reminded me of when I started Sedona Soul Adventures. Many healers come to Sedona because it is internationally known as a sacred place and people come here from all over the world. For three years I was coming here to do my own personal healing work (never dreaming that I would start Sedona Soul Adventures one day).
I discovered that just as there are good doctors and bad doctors and good lawyers and bad lawyers there are good healers, mediocre healers and healers who actually do more damage than good. That is one of the reasons that I started Sedona Soul Adventures, is so that everyone who came here would connect only with the most amazing and experienced healers who could truly help them.
Now I found myself in the same situation in my search for a shaman. I discovered (and it broke my heart) to find out that there are lots and lots of people in Peru who call themselves shamans who are a far cry from the kind of spiritual person who I wanted leading my trips. Worse, I discovered that many (not all) had serious drinking and philandering problems. I heard many, many horror stories of women who had gone on a trip who had been approached by a shaman with words like “oh it would be so wonderful for you and I to connect in this special way, but don’t tell anyone else in the group.” Usually, he would be drinking heavily. By the end of the trip, women would start talking and discover that most if not all had experienced the “special connection” with the shaman.
I finally found Jorge through a tour leader who had just retired who had done many trips with Jorge and knew what an amazing person, teacher and leader he is. What a gift! I am forever indebted.
Jorge is the real deal. He not only talks the talk, he walks the talk. He’s also someone who is in the world. He’s married (his wife is an attorney!), he has 3 grown children, he is living every aspect of life, not only the spiritual aspect.
Being in his presence for 2 weeks and absorbing his teachings about love, service and wisdom is truly life changing.
I’m already looking forward to going back next year. If you’d like to join us, make the decision to come on the trip. This year’s trip sold out and, regrettably, there were some people who wanted to come that I had to say no to. I don’t want to say no to you, I want to say yes! So make the decision to join us on the trip – June 17-30, 2017.
We’ll be going to the same magical places — Machu Picchu (for 3 days!), the Sacred Valley, Lake Titicaca (and we’ll do ceremony at the Aramu Muru doorway!), Ollantaytambo and more! Decide now to join us for this trip of a lifetime.
For all the information on our amazing day to day Itinerary, Click here.
For all the information on pricing, Click here.
If you have any questions, send me an email at:
Debra@SedonaSoulAdventures.com
Or better yet, give me a call at:
877/204-3664
I love talking about Peru!
Wishing you a week full of the magical and mystical,
Debra
Debra Stangl / Founder
Sedona Soul Adventures – Transforming Lives One Soul At A Time
(877) 204-3664
https://old.sedonasouladventures.com
Lisa Sasevich says the trip to Peru was “the trip of a lifetime” and she is “grateful and transformed”
“If you’re looking for deep and meaningful travel that connects you to other amazing people, takes you way behind the scenes and most important, creates the space for a deep dive into yourself, Debra and Sedona Soul Adventures has it down. Had I attempted to navigate my recent trip to Peru on my own, I’m confident I would have only experienced about 30% of the true magic Peru has to offer. Because the trip was so well organized and our guides were so knowledgeable, we experienced things every day that other travelers, lost on their own or stuffed in a tour bus, never got to see or feel. It was the trip of a lifetime and I am grateful and truly transformed.”
Lisa Sasevich, La Jolla, California
Download your free copy of my “Machu Picchu & Sacred Peru” Report
Get all the information about Peru and all the mystical places in our beautiful 23 page report. I talk about all the amazing places we go to — Machu Picchu, the Sacred Valley, Ollantaytambo, Pisac, Urco, Cusco, the floating islands of Uros, Amantani, Sillustani, the Doorway of Aramu Muru, Lake Titicaca and more.
For the free download, Click here.
Machu Picchu, love, service and wisdom
We’re right in the middle of our amazing Machu Picchu and Peru trip and it’s been incredible.
Of course, Machu Picchu was absolutely spectacular. To be there on the Solstice is so amazing. We got up before dawn to be there at first light.
We went to Sacsuayaman where they have the huge stones. We’re doing ceremonies everywhere and it’s so amazing.
This is one of the special doorways you find everywhere, this one is at Machu Picchu. The Incas believed doorways were portals, so these are very special. We’re setting intentions all over the place!
But the best part has been being with Jorge Luis Delgado, our shaman and guide. Everywhere we go Jorge is giving us the gift of his teachings. The primary one is the Incan idea that the primary goal of our lives should be how to live our lives in love, service and wisdom. These are the great pillars from which to live our lives. To stay in love all the time can make all the difference in our lives.
And when we are coming from love we are motivated to be of service to others.
And the ultimate pinnacle we can reach in our lives – to obtain true wisdom. Knowing that all is well at all times.
It’s a wonderful way to spend your life!
Wishing you a week filled with love, service and wisdom,
Debra
Debra Stangl / Founder
Sedona Soul Adventures – Transforming Lives One Soul At A Time
(877) 204-3664
https://old.sedonasouladventures.com
You only have to do this stuff 51% of the time
This has been a tough week. The shootings in Orlando have cast a long shadow.
One of my coaching clients was really affected by this and she’s also been very bothered lately by the presidential election – the tone and the general negativity.
She said “I’m feeling like the country is going to hell in a hand basket and I don’t want to feel that way. I know that feeling negatively isn’t going to bring me what I want” and what she wants in her life is happiness and purpose and abundance.
I reminded her we can’t all feel fabulous and wonderful and positive all the time. We’d be more like robots if we even tried to do that.
And then I reminded her again about the 51% rule.
Did you know that you just have to get to feeling good 51% of the time to make your life change completely? I’ve been teaching that and coaching that for over 12 years now and it’s one of my favorite concepts.
We all know (or at least I hope you know) that we are all creating our reality in every moment. What we think about, we get more of. What we are excited about, is on its way to us. What we’re worried about or afraid of is on its way to us. Maintaining the high vibration of excited expectation brings us into alignment with the higher vibrations of the things we all want – peace, happiness, love, abundance.
The more that we can maintain a positive attitude, the higher the vibration we’re in.
When we stay in the lower, slower vibrations of fear, worry, upset, frustration, we’re not in alignment with the higher vibrations of what we want and we can’t bring them to us. In fact, it keeps them away!
So the bottom line is – staying happy and positive and in the higher vibrations is going to bring you the peace, happiness, love and abundance that you want.
The problem is, in this day and age that’s hard to do.
Stuff is always happening. Not only big stuff like the shootings in Orlando, but just day to day life can be frustrating and difficult. And then if you have a situation that’s causing you stress (you hate your work, problems in your relationship, health issues, etc.) it’s almost impossible.
I talk about this a lot in my book that’s coming out in a few months, The Journey to Happy, so it’s been on my mind.
And for so long, I was assuming that I had to somehow stay feeling great, joyful, etc. 100% of the time in order to have the things I wanted. Knowing that I was never going to be able to do that just added to my frustration and hopelessness.
And then I figured it out. You just have to maintain at least 51% of feeling good to have your life transform. It’s the tipping point. If you can hold yourself in the place of feeling good at least 51% of the time, your life will start to transform dramatically. And the best part is, the percentages even out — meaning that there will be times you will be feeling at 65%, sometimes even at 85%, so even if you mainly stay in the 51-55%, you will start maintaining that vibration of wonderful, juicy, delicious joy!
Wow, what a weight was lifted from my shoulders!
The trick is to not dip back into the 49% very often. So have an arsenal of things ready to do when you start to feel yourself go into that dip. Things that kind of automatically make you feel good, or at least a little better. That’s all it takes, just feeling a little better. Don’t expect (or demand) that you must go into total bliss and joy, just do something, ANYTHING to make yourself feel a little better.
Here are some things that work for me:
– Writing down a list of things I’m grateful for and thinking about each thing.
– Petting my dog and feeling a huge surge of love for her.
– Listening to certain songs that just always make me feel better. The old Johnny Nash song, “I Can See Clearly Now” does it for me every time.
– If I’m at home, there are certain movies that just crack me up and I’ll put them on and fast forward to the scenes that make me laugh out loud.
– There are some videos on YouTube (usually involving cats or dogs doing something funny) that make me laugh.
– Sometimes meditating (particularly a guided meditation) can make me feel better, but if I find my mind going a mile a minute, I stop the meditation and move onto something else (like music). If it’s not making you feel a little better right away, try something else. That’s why I recommend having an arsenal of different tactics.
– Going outside in the sun and appreciating the beauty of the sun (or the stars) and how incredible and big life is, will sometimes move me to tears.
– Dancing and really moving (I recommend being alone for this!). What does the bumper sticker say? Dance as if no one is watching. That really moves the energy!
Sometimes we need some help to get us out of the space of not feeling good. It’s so amazing what a Sedona Soul Adventures retreat can do. Click Here and let us custom design a retreat that will get you to your 51% and give you the tools to keep you there!
Speak with one of our Angel Guides. They’ll connect with you (or both of you if it’s a couple) and they’ll custom design a retreat that will take you from where you are to where you want to be.
Click here and one of our Angel Guides will call you. Or if you’d prefer, call us toll free at 1-877-204-3664 (US and Canada). For our friends outside the US and Canada call 01 928-204-5988 or click here and one of our Angel Guides will call you. And remember, we work on Sundays!
Wishing you a week filled with high percentages of happy,
Debra
Debra Stangl / Founder
Sedona Soul Adventures – Transforming Lives One Soul At A Time
(877) 204-3664
https://old.sedonasouladventures.com
Michele says after her Soul Adventure she is “emotionally healed” and “happy and excited to view life from this new perspective”
“My Sedona Soul Adventure was so much more than I could have hoped for.
My Soul Adventure was custom made for me and proved incredibly helpful to my spiritual growth. I am now emotionally healed, my energies are balanced, my mind is clear. They also helped me to tear down the thick wall so I could open my heart. Most unexpectedly, I discovered I had newly raised consciousness. I wasn’t expecting that at all but am incredibly happy and excited to view life from this new perspective. I always had a strong spiritual take on life but this was unlike anything I’ve experienced and it’s with me to stay.
I truly can’t wait to return to Sedona and the other adventures they offer around the world. They all sound so seductive to my thirsty soul.”
Michele F., Vancouver, Canada
Download your free copy of our “Sedona Guide to Spiritual Retreats” or “Sedona Guide to Couples Retreats”
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The danger of putting off your life
One of our clients who came for a Soul Adventure last week told me she had been wanting to come for over 8 years. She said she kept putting it off, telling herself she couldn’t afford it, what if it didn’t work, she shouldn’t spend the time, etc., etc. But she said she just kept coming back to it, because there was a part of her that knew she was supposed to do this.
She finally came and had a completely transformational experience. At the end of her retreat, she called me and she was in tears saying “I wish I had done this 8 years ago when I first found you. I could have eliminated 8 more years of unhappiness”.
I told her what I know is true, which is that everyone comes when they’re supposed to, but it also made me remember how I was guilty of putting off my own happiness for so long. This has been on my mind a lot lately, as I’m finishing my book that’s coming out in a few months – The Journey to Happy.
I spent over half of my life telling myself things like:
– As soon as I lose 10 pounds, then I’ll be happy (then it became 20, then 30, etc.)
– As soon as I graduate from college, then I’ll be happy
– As soon as I graduate from law school, then I’ll be happy
– As soon as I get good at practicing law, then I’ll be happy
– As soon as I figure out how to get out of my law practice, then I’ll be happy
– When I get married, then I’ll be happy
– When I get rid of this guy, then I’ll be happy
– As soon as I’m making more money, then I’ll be happy
– As soon as I’m out of debt, then I’ll be happy
– When I figure out what my soul purpose is, then I’ll be happy
Do you get the drift? No matter what, I wasn’t happy.
I was always expecting my outside circumstances to somehow “make” me happy.
It went on and on and on like that and I’m embarrassed to admit it went on like that until I was in my late forties. I look back now, and even though I know in my head that it all happened the way it was supposed to, etc., etc., there is a part of me that looks at those years and feels a lot of sadness.
It did all work out. I finally got so unhappy that I did something about it. I came to Sedona and did a retreat.
I “got it”, that it wasn’t about outside circumstances, it was about
– how I was thinking about it
– how I was talking about it, and
– how I was feeling about it
It took me a long time but what makes me really sad is knowing there are so many people out there who keep on putting off their lives because they think there isn’t anything they can do about it.
Is that true for you? Do you keep telling yourself that “once______happens (fill in the blank), then I’ll be happy”? If you’re telling yourself that about anything in your life, please STOP! I can tell you from many years of experience, that isn’t how it works.
I love what my teacher Abraham says about this:
“Your life is right now! It’s not later! It’s not in that time of retirement. It’s not when the lover gets here. It’s not when you’ve moved into the new house. It’s not when you get the better job. Your life is right now. It will always be right now. You might as well decide to start enjoying your life right now, because it’s not ever going to get better than right now — until it gets better right now!”
I was reading and listening to Abraham for many years before I figured out how to do that. I believed what they were teaching, but I couldn’t figure out how to do it in my day to day life. It finally happened when I first came to Sedona.
And Sedona Soul Adventures was founded (3 years later) on the knowing that we can make that happen for everyone.
I had to get really unhappy before I finally did something about it. I got happy and now I help others get happy. Isn’t that great? It makes me very happy!
So would you like to get happy right now? if so, call us, we’re here. Come to Sedona and do a retreat. It’s the fastest way I know of for you to make the big shifts to get happy.
Click here and one of our Angel Guides will call you. Or if you’d prefer, call us toll free at 1-877-204-3664 (US and Canada). For our friends outside the US and Canada call 01 928-204-5988 or click here and one of our Angel Guides will call you. And remember, we work on Sundays!
Wishing you a week filled with lots of happy,
Debra
Debra Stangl / Founder
Sedona Soul Adventures – Transforming Lives One Soul At A Time
(877) 204-3664
https://old.sedonasouladventures.com
Starr says after her “deeply healing” Soul Adventure, she has “a happier heart”
“Sedona Soul Adventures was a tailor made soul journey, with the intimacy of one-on-one sessions with diversified, grounded and present Holistic Practitioners who focused on what I truly needed in that moment. As a result of these sessions, I have found that my inner child feels resurrected and the hole in my heart healed. The journey continues, but now I have some tangible tools to go forward with. It was deeply healing on many levels, and I have gratitude and a happier heart for it”
Starr C., Billings, Montana
Download your free copy of our “Sedona Guide to Spiritual Retreats” or “Sedona Guide to Couples Retreats”
Would you like more information on our private, customized Retreats? Our free guide shows you how a private retreat in Sedona that is completely customized for you can transform your life or your relationship. Click here
Champagne problems
I’ve talked about champagne problems before in this newsletter, but re-watching “Roots” this week has given me a new appreciation that absolutely ALL of my problems are champagne problems.
One of my friends coined this phrase for me many years ago when we were both commiserating about things going on in our lives. We weren’t exactly complaining, but almost. We’re both busy, we both have stuff going on. She said to me “well, at least these are definitely champagne problems” and we talked about how in the large scheme of things, we had nothing to complain about.
Watching the remake of “Roots” this week really brought me back to that awareness again. To imagine living in a time when you could be bought, sold, killed, raped and completely dehumanized is almost unimaginable. And that was just 150 years ago, not very long from an historical perspective. Worse, there is still slavery that takes place in the world today.
To be completely stripped of your freedom is something that I can’t even fathom.
So think about your own life. What kind of problems do you have? If your problems are truly serious, like you have an illness or you have a marriage that is ending, that is an important and very real problem.
But let’s face it, aren’t most of your problems champagne problems? Aren’t most of the things that you talk about and (heaven forbid) complain about actually not that big a deal in the large scheme of things? Everyone’s busy, everyone’s doing too much, everyone has stress in their life, but isn’t most of that stress self-imposed? And isn’t it true that most of what you worry about never comes to pass?
If you have a roof over your head and transportation and food to eat, you are doing better than 90% of the rest of the world. Do you appreciate that often enough?
And even more importantly, you have the freedom to live your life in any way you want. You probably tell yourself that’s not true, but I believe it is. Most of the people who read this newsletter live in the US or Canada. You have a freedom that has never been seen before on the planet.
Now here are some things I DON’T think are champagne problems:
1. Not living your best life.
2. Settling for a lifestyle or a relationship or a way of living that is no longer working for you.
3. Knowing you have a bigger Purpose, a Soul Mission, but you’re not fulfilling it.
4. Not knowing what your Life Purpose or Soul Mission is, and doing nothing to discover it.
5. Taking care of everyone else and not taking care of yourself.
6. Hating your life, your job, your partner or your body.
7. Staying Stuck.
Now THOSE are real problems. Those are the problems that keep people in unhappy, unhealthy relationships, keep them in jobs they hate, keep them in lives they hate. A pure recipe for misery and pain and despair (and in extreme cases disease and death).
So, if you have one of those real problems, what are you going to do about?
Are you going to DO something about it?
Or just continue to wallow in it and complain?
If so, then you really DO have a problem.
This month’s New Moon happened late last night and this next 48 hours is a particularly good time to set optimistic intentions and make plans that can come true. What a perfect time to decide to do a Sedona Soul Adventures retreat.
You have the freedom to make the decision to live your life the way you want.
Because our retreats are completely customized for exactly what YOU need (or both of you, if it’s a couple), we can handle every single one of those problems listed above.
It’s time to start living the life you want.
It’s time to have the relationship you want.
Click here and one of our Angel Guides will call you. Or if you’d prefer, call us toll free at 1-877-204-3664 (US and Canada). For our friends outside the US and Canada call 01 928-204-5988 or click here and one of our Angel Guides will call you. They’ll connect with you (or both of you if it’s a couple) in deep conversation to determine exactly where you are and where you want to be; then they’ll custom design the perfect retreat that will bring you the life or the relationship you’re craving.
Wishing you a week filled with champagne (the good stuff),
Debra
Debra Stangl / Founder
Sedona Soul Adventures – Transforming Lives One Soul At A Time
(877) 204-3664
https://old.sedonasouladventures.com
Vicki says after her Soul Adventure her “problems are gone” and it was “worth every penny!”
“I originally thought the price was expensive, but after I went through my Soul Adventure, I felt that it was worth every penny! Negative feelings I had bottled up for almost half a century had driven me to the wall. I am healed and I feel my problems are gone! I learned skills to continue to help me in every area of my life. Since I got back from Sedona, I have told many friends about my Soul Adventure, and two of my girl friends even drove from Houston to Sedona and they both had fantastic experiences. Thank you!”
Vicki C., Houston, Texas
Download your free copy of our “Sedona Guide to Spiritual Retreats” or “Sedona Guide to Couples Retreats”
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You won't hear the dreaded words "now we're breaking into small groups"
I had the biggest chuckle the other day. When I can, I try to go into the office and greet clients at the beginning of their Soul Adventure (I don’t work at the office, I work out of my home which is about 10 minutes from the office). I love connecting with everyone, especially because many of them are feeling this wonderful combination of being excited and nervous (which means the energy is already starting to move).
I went in to greet 2 people who were here last week for a Couples Retreat and as we talked, the husband said, “I’m feeling really good about this because I know I’m not going to hear those dreaded words, ‘now we’re going to break into small groups'”.
We were laughing about it (because it was a funny way to say it), but we kept on talking very seriously about how true it was. He told me he’d gone to workshops and other things to try to please his wife and try to work on their problems, but the whole thing of being forced to open up and talk about his deepest feelings in front of a bunch of strangers just didn’t work for him.
They had serious communication problems (as so many couples do) and the communication just got more difficult in front of a bunch of people. It didn’t help, it hurt.
There is also a strange dynamic that can sometimes happen in group settings where the group seems to “take the side” of one person, identifying one as the “good guy” and the other as the “bad guy”, and the other person can feel ganged up on. That doesn’t help the healing!
So instead of doing another group retreat, they came to Sedona and did a private retreat that had been custom designed for them.
Rather than going to a group retreat where it’s designed to (hopefully) handle all the problems that all the participants have, they did a retreat with sessions designed for exactly what they needed. Because let’s face it, it’s simply not possible for a group retreat to handle every single issue that every single participant has. They probably don’t even know what problems any of the participants have, because they haven’t talked to them to find out what their problems are. That’s not how group retreats work — They’re designed around the problems they’re assuming the couples have.
Instead, they each spent time talking to their Angel Guide. They each spoke with her separately so she could really understand the perspective they each had on their problems. She dug deep to really get at their needs and desires. The good news was, they weren’t at a crisis like many of our couples are — they weren’t dealing with infidelity or one person saying “I don’t want to be married anymore”. But they were dealing with something that can sometimes be worse — feeling disconnected and no longer in harmony with each other. That can almost be even more insidious as people drift apart from each other.
Their Angel Guide designed a wonderful retreat for them, which included individual sessions and sessions as a couple. One of the things we find is that each person has their own issues that they are bringing to the relationship and when we can deal with those first, we’re then bringing two healed people back together. Some people have anger issues, some people have co-dependency issues. Many people have worthiness issues that go back to things that happened in their childhood. It’s different for everyone, that’s why a one-size-fits-all retreat just doesn’t work.
They did sessions separately and they did sessions together, either one-on-one or two-on-one with different practitioners, but always there were no more than 3 people in the room. The sessions were designed and executed for exactly what they needed, as individuals and as a couple. The privacy and direct focus made them feel safe and they both really opened up.
In their individual sessions, he realized how he was making communication really difficult. He also learned some valuable tools (including tapping) to release his anxiety and to reprogram negative thoughts. She learned Ho’oponopono, an ancient forgiveness technique, which she will continue to use. Can you imagine what happens and how wonderful it is when two people come back together having released anxiety and going totally into forgiveness?
I’m happy to say that their Soul Adventure was (in their words) “fantastic”. He said he “loved every session” and the best part is they both learned some valuable lessons and skills about communicating with each other. They left feeling a harmony they haven’t felt with each other for a long time and knowing how to keep it going.
I was a divorce attorney in Omaha, Nebraska for over 20 years. I love it that for the past 14 years, I’ve been involved in helping couples stay together. It’s a much more satisfying situation!
If you’re longing to have the relationship of your dreams, call us and speak to one of our Angel Guides. They’ll connect with both of you and really get at the heart of things. Then they’ll design a retreat that’s perfect to bring you back into the love that brought you together in the first place.
As I always says, “If you know what could happen, you’d be calling right now!”
Click here and one of our Angel Guides will call you. Or if you’d prefer, call us toll free at 1-877-204-3664 (US and Canada). For our friends outside the US and Canada call 01 928-204-5988 or click here and one of our Angel Guides will call you. And remember, we work on Sundays!
If you knew what could happen, you’d be calling us right now.
Wishing you a week filled with love and connection,
Debra
Debra Stangl / Founder
Sedona Soul Adventures – Transforming Lives One Soul At A Time
(877) 204-3664
https://old.sedonasouladventures.com
Frank and Valerie say “Sedona Soul Adventures saved our marriage”
“After months of marriage counseling the “D” word was coming up more and more. After our Soul Adventure, our relationship is renewed, passionate, and loving. We are connected more than the day we married back 12 years ago. Our communication is better than ever, and our romance is better than ever. Our marriage is safe, and there is no turning back. Thank you to your entire team of loving and talented individuals for all you do.”
Frank & Valerie F., Los Angeles, California
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Click here to download your Guide.
Just breathe
It’s incredible what happens when you just take a moment to breathe. No matter what’s going on, the simple act of taking a breath helps you get centered, get conscious and come back into the present moment.
Taking a breath helps you on all the levels – physical, mental, emotional, spiritual.
Physical – Your body receives the immediate signal that everything is okay.
Mental – The breath helps your mind to STOP racing and just immediately focus.
Emotional – Taking a deep breath can make you immediately calm down if you’re feeling angry or upset, or it can start to lift your spirits if you’re feeling a little down.
Spiritual – I believe the breath is our closest, fastest connection to the Divine. By simply taking a breath, we can be immediately in connection with that energy.
All that from one breath? Yes! Try it and see.
I’ve been a big fan of breathing for over 20 years. That sounds kind of funny, but actually, breathing has transformed my life. Let me explain.
Back in 1990, I completed a Codependency program, part of a 12-step program of Adult Children of Alcoholics. It was a very important part of my healing process at the time, but it actually left me feeling kind of depressed, because they were telling me that I would be co-dependent for my entire life and I believed it. I was going to weekly meetings and each meeting was everyone sitting in a circle and talking about how horrible their life was and each week everyone pretty much said the same thing. It was depressing, but they told us we needed to come to the meetings every week, that it would help.
One day I was telling one of my friends that I was feeling somewhat depressed by all this, and she suggested I get a massage from a new therapist she had heard raves about. I had the massage and it was nice, but we got into a discussion of how I was feeling. She told me she was a breath work practitioner and she described the breath work to me. She said that doing the breath work had changed her life.
I did a session with her and it was absolutely amazing. In the session, you breathe deeply and continuously, there is no stopping between the inhale and exhale. It sounds simple enough, but the results were absolutely incredible.
I went into the “altered state” that she described and I have never felt so blissed out in my entire life. I came back and did more sessions with her and my life changed. I was experiencing happiness and deep soul connection in a way that I had never experienced in my life.
That was 26 years ago and I continue to do breath work to this day and it has become a central part of the retreats at Sedona Soul Adventures. The breath sessions that we do are based on the work of Stanislav Graf, who was a psychiatrist who worked with LSD when it was still legal. His clients had incredible, mystical experiences and when it was banned he felt there must be a way of re-creating those incredible experiences without drugs. He studied Eastern texts, including the Vedas, and discovered the power of the breath. He discovered that if it was done in the proper way, that it could take people into an altered state of consciousness that left them feeling blissful and whole.
The range of what people experience in the breath sessions is truly amazing — most people have deep emotional releases, some see visions, many connect with their High Self, connect with their Angels and Guides, connect with people who have crossed over, get answers to questions that have been plaguing them, and almost everyone experiences a euphoria and sense of connection that they’ve never experienced before.
Can you see why it’s such an important part of the work we do? When you combine the breath journey with the other emotional clearings and transformational sessions we do, complete transformations take place in a matter of days. It’s truly astounding.
So in your day to day life, I invite you to stop and take a deep breath every once in a while. It will help to calm you and make you feel better.
If you want to transform your life, come here to Sedona, do a retreat with us and learn how to do the breath. One of the best parts is that it is something that you can do on your own after you go home and continue to maintain and deepen the transformations that happen here.
If you’re ready to have some true transformation in your life or relationship, click here and one of our Angel Guides will call you. Or if you’d prefer, call us toll free at 1-877-204-3664 (US and Canada). For our friends outside the US and Canada call 01 928-204-5988 or click here and one of our Angel Guides will call you. Be sure to tell them you want a Breath Journey as part of your retreat. And remember, we work on Sundays!
Wishing you a week filled lots of deep breaths,
Debra
Debra Stangl / Founder
Sedona Soul Adventures – Transforming Lives One Soul At A Time
(877) 204-3664
https://old.sedonasouladventures.com
Jacqueline says her Breath Journey was “angelic” and “has helped to re-shape my inner me”
“My Inner Journey with Breath and Sound was an “angelic” experience as well as the opportunity to confront some serious fears that were impeding my life growth. It was such a magical experience and to think, I didn’t have to pack my practitioner into my suitcase and take her home with me in order to continue to use this process as a personal awareness modality. This process has helped me to re-shape my inner me, to open my feeling chakra, and continue to work within myself. THANK YOU for giving me this amazing tool I could bring home with me!!”
Jacqueline W., Grand Prairie, Alberta, Canada
Download your free copy of our “Sedona Guide to Spiritual Retreats” or “Sedona Guide to Couples Retreats”
Our free guide shows you how a private retreat in Sedona that is completely customized for you can transform your life or your relationship. Click here