Arizona, You Shattered My Ego.

My ego has been completely shattered. That’s the biggest thing I can say that this trip provided for me. It was a whirl-wind of 5 days exploring various parts of the state and I can’t even begin to tell you how much I learned. Without making this blog post too long (cause there’s a whole YouTube video I created about my trip), I’ll summarize my adventures the best that I can.

All photo have been taken by me! It felt great to tap back into my photography skills that I’ve been neglecting lately. More images can be found on my photography Instagram.

I attended the #ZenLifeRetreat in Phoenix, Arizona (these are held frequently! follow ZenLifeDan for more information) and it was so fulfilling to have conversations about topics that I’ve been craving to talk to people about for so long. This was my first spiritual retreat and it was eye opening (literally). My pineal gland, aka my first eye/third eye has been opened in a way that I never could imagine. If you aren’t familiar with this part of your mind/spirit/body, I highly suggest you begin educating yourself about yourself.

I discovered the breath. Now I know how this sounds, but listen up. Shallow breath = shallow thoughts. When’s the last time you took a breath from you belly? Expanded your diaphragm? Do it right now. Hold it at the top. Now release it all out. THAT is the breathing I discovered.

If you aren’t familiar with my life or family at all, my brother Taylor is a breath-leader, spiritual guide, and holistic healer. By just visiting his Instagram, I’m sure your brain will think about things you haven’t before. Anyway, he held the breath sessions while we were at the retreat and if I’m being totally honest, the first couple sessions I participated in, I didn’t like it. Solely because I was leaving a comfort zone of shallow breaths and stagnant thoughts. But by the third or fourth session, I finally “saw/became the light”.

I really understand how DMT is released from your very own lungs and how powerful that is for my spirit. There’s a huge misconception about DMT being this psychedelic external drug when it’s literally in your body as you’re reading this, you just haven’t tapped into it yet to consciously release it. It’s actually released every night when you dream. Without sounding too ‘hippie dippie’, this energy is a portal to another dimension.

Anyway, back to some of the more surface level topics, I saw so much of Arizona in the short weekend that I was there. After leaving the retreat, we headed to Sedona. Sedona is filled with energy vortexes for healing and transformation, it’s so fascinating. The trees are all twisted up and the air feels different. You can literally feel the energy change once you are there. My brother, Audra and I practiced a breath session here and we all agreed that later that evening we were so full. Like literally full of light, breath, energy. I didn’t mention but we all were fasting and solely consuming liquids (Taylor & Audra actually haven’t eaten in 80+ days, watch this video for more information on that though).

Next destination we went to was the Petrified Forest. Crystal. Trees. Ya’ll. See, before plants and trees had been replanted and genetically altered so much like they are now, crystal trees used to exist. There was literally pure quartz trees. Imagine living in that world? Where the sun was just beaming through a forest of trees sparkling? It seems like such a fantasy when you compare it to the fake world we live in today. Anyway, the crystals there were 220+ million years old. My crystals at home now probably feel like infants sharing the same space as these wise ones.

Next up: Antelope freaking Canyon. I honestly don’t even think words will do this place any justice. The pictures speak for themselves, but being there is even more inspiring. So many colors and textures and patterns and directions. If there’s anywhere I can recommend to get one of the coolest photos for your IG, it’s probably this one. As disgusting as that sentence sounds.

Last but not least, the Grand Canyon. I’ll be real with ya’ll: don’t go here in February. Although it’s great that it wasn’t crowed, it was SO cold. Snow on the ground cold. The wind alone had all of our hands numb so we didn’t stay too long. Arizona was actually really good for surprising me with going from the clear vast desert to seeing a snowy filled ground. I actually grew to appreciate this duality though. I don’t think anyone realizes how spacious the Grand Canyon is until you actually see it with your own eyes. It felt like it went on for miles the same way that the ocean does.

In November 2016, when I lost my cousin who was basically another brother to me, that’s when I would say my spiritual awakening began. I started going inside of myself more and innerstanding myself; detaching from this identity that I’ve created. That was my first real experience with death and it felt like I was born. I can now say that this trip was the next step on this journey because I don’t even feel like the same person I was before I left. I’ve shed so much “weight” that I was carrying. The fast also physically made me feel great by the way and has now made the transition to a raw vegan diet even easier than before. When you realize that EVERYTHING is energy and vibration and EVERYONE is a reflection of you, it really shifts your perspective. You don’t have any desire to bring your energy down with heavy foods or substances or entertainment (meaning people too). Giving up everything to receive everything really makes sense to me more than ever before.