I had ventured into Arizona's red rock country this night to take part in a healing ceremony that left me feeling equal parts dazed and with a deep sense of completeness. The quieting of the drums, rattles, and Native American chants also signified my journey here was coming to a close. As I sat up and stared at the stars, I wondered if I would be able to bring this feeling of lightness back home with me to my little slice of urban sprawl.

Having an interest in indigenous cultures, I had noticed an increasing number of treatments inspired by Native American practices were appearing on spa menus, sprinkled amidst the overseas exotica of Ayurvedic therapies and Balinese synchronized massage. Adobe clay wraps and other treatments with connections to the first Americans were steadily finding their way into the spa lexicon, especially in the Southwest, where native botanicals are plentiful and the power of the Spirits resonates in the landscape.

In the spirit of healing: a Hopi drum is propped mid-ceremony amid native agave (left); the color of a sage smudgestick contrasts with Sedona's red earth (right).

When a healer based in Sedona, Arizona, invited me to visit and
experience her work using Native American-inspired techniques
first-hand, I figured Spirit -- or blind luck -- was calling. I headed for the
Southwest to see what role America's indigenous beliefs and practices are playing today in soothing modern
bodies -- and souls.

Arizona was a natural choice to explore the modern legacy of America's
"First Nation," given the deep roots so many tribes have in the region.

Here, over 20 tribes, including the country's largest, the Navajo, and the tradition-bound Hopi, live on vast mesas, rolling swaths of Sonoran desert and in the shelter of the Grand Canyon.

In my travels through their ancestral lands, I discovered that a wealth of ancient knowledge lives on today in its original form, though much is protected from outsiders by tribal elders and traditions. However, the basic tools and teachings of the cultures are finding their way into the hands of spas and healers who incorporate them into new, tradition-based therapies.

From Scottsdale's plush and polished treatment rooms to the rugged canyons and rich, red earth of Sedona, I found this influence permeating many of the spa treatments I experienced (though some really did stretch the connection) and in healing ceremonies where the substance -- and sometimes the spirit -- of Native America can still be found.

EARTH MOTHER -- THE FOUNDATION
In the Native American belief system, Earth is The Mother -- the sustainer of life who nourishes all creatures, from the "two-leggeds" (humans) to the "four-leggeds" (animals) and everything else that crawls, swims, or flies. Earth's energy is represented in her many manifestations, such as rocks, clay, and mud.

"Native Americans honor the healing power of Earth because of her ancientness," explained Jonne Marie Moseman, cultural curator at the Mii Amo Destination Spa in Sedona. "As we know, geologists devote their whole lives to understanding Earth's physical complexity. Her energy is no less complex."

Throughout my trek here, the sacredness and power of the Earth and her energies was a theme I encountered time and time again. In fact, I discovered that one very popular spa treatment is based on these subtle forces. LaStone therapy was developed in Arizona by therapist Mary Nelson. The massage, using warmed stones gathered from desert riverbeds, mirrors ancient indigenous practices, accessing trigger points and
directing energy through the healing power of basalt and marble.

Few people laying on the treatment table in a Five-Star resort would make the connection between the LaStone therapy they were indulging in and pre-Columbian cultures along Arizona's Salt River. But for centuries, cultures like the Pima and other indigenous people have used various stones, and especially basalt, to heal and soothe.

"The rocks reconnect us with Earth, our mother, and native cultures understand this best," Nelson explained. "The focus is to use part of the earth to move good energy in and bad energy out."

Nelson, an Arizona native, believes her vision for LaStone was brought to her by a Native spirit. She was sitting in a traditional sauna, watching steam rise from the rocks. "I was dreading doing a massage treatment on a client that day because I had an injury," she explained. "Suddenly, it was revealed to me how I could use the stones to save my hands while doing deep tissue work on a client." Only later did she discover that tribes once gathered smooth river rocks for therapeutic
treatments, convincing Nelson that her breakthrough was Spirit-sent.

Through research and experimentation, Nelson has refined the LaStone technique and treatment to include Native American ceremonial practices like smudging, the burning of traditional botanicals like sage and
sweetgrass.

"Ceremony heightens experience," she offered. "Ritual and respect change the vibration of what the body is capable of feeling."

At Mii Amo, Moseman also weighed in on the power of stones and Earth, explaining that the special healing attributes of the spa's location are intertwined with its positioning in Sedona's Boynton Canyon.

"The Native perspective is that the rocks here are our most ancient ancestors, and they are respected for their healing powers because of this," she said. "That also affects the energy here. It's very cleansing because of all the silica and quartz."

A stone more frequently associated with the culture is turquoise, which is rarely found outside the Southwest. For area tribes like the Navajo and Hopi, it represents different elements of nature, such as sky or water. The Navajo consider it one of their four sacred colors (the others being white, yellow, and black) and hold that throwing turquoise into a river with the proper ceremony will bring rain.

The one consistent belief about turquoise among all indigenous people of the Southwest, however, is its power, whether one wants to summon good fortune, protection, or just have his bow shoot straight.

Not surprisingly, Indians also valued it for its sheer beauty. Turquoise has been used for at least 2,000 years as a ritual adornment, as beads and buttons worn primarily during ceremonies associated with the cycles of agriculture. In the 19th century, Spanish and Mexican influences introduced silversmithing to tribal culture, resulting in the squash
blossom necklaces and concha belts many people associate with turquoise jewelry today.

THE POWER OF PLANTS
Native traditions teach that the plant kingdom is an essential helper to us "two-leggeds." Plants and botanicals are considered to have their own special energies and intelligence that, if used properly, can cure the stressed and sickly.

"The sacredness of plants and herbs as food and medicine is honored in all native cultures," explained Sedona-based healer Sandra Cosentino. "Simply, we honor their gift."

Ancient wisdom held that the Great Spirit endowed many plants with special powers (jojoba and desert broom to name a few), but that four plants in particular held a sacred place.

The big four, as it were, are tobacco, sage, sweetgrass, and cedar. Each was given special attributes: Sage is used to purify and remove negativity; cedar calls in good energy; sweetgrass represents Grandmother energy -- comforting and soothing -- with the woven tops of the plant representing her braided hair. Tobacco was valued for the calming effect it instilled during important council meetings and ceremonies, but was also believed to be a poison if abused. Sound familiar?

Usually, the spiritual qualities of these plants were released through "smudging," or the ceremonial burning of specially wrapped bundles of the dried botanicals. Smudging has deep roots in Native America and "provides purification, like incense in a temple or church," explained Moseman.

Although Native American religion allows for many interpretations, smudging is usually begun while facing East, the direction of the rising sun and new beginnings. Held over a shell or small pot, the smoke from the smudge stick is then wafted over the individual or space being cleansed with the hand or an eagle feather fan.

Starting at the feet (or, in the case of the Hopi, at the bottom of the feet), the smudge is worked upward, until with a flick of the hand -- or fan -- negative energy is swept away from the top of the head.

If one wants to forage for their own botanicals in native tradition, it is considered respectful before harvesting to ask the plant's permission to use it, and to select only every third plant. The power of these plants can also be accessed using essential oils distilled from wild-crafted varieties.

SWEATLODGES AND KIVAS
The purging of negative energies is prevalent throughout Native American spiritual practices. It is also the fundamental purpose of the sweat lodge, a rite referred to in the Lakota language simply as inipi, or purification.

Across all traditions, the sweat lodge is a sacred space where physical and spiritual maladies are left behind through the deep sweat and darkness experienced inside, emerging from the womblike environment "reborn" with new vitality.

In Sedona, there was no shortage of opportunities to do a "sweat" during my visit, but I had been warned off a few offered by suspect shaman-wannabes. Cosentino, the healer I had come to visit, had good information on upcoming opportunities, but because they are scheduled infrequently, I had to miss out on this particular visit.

Sweat lodges are one example of Native Americans going into the "Mother" for
healing -- kivas are another powerful manifestation of this belief. A legacy of the Pueblo people of the Southwest, kivas are their place of ritual. Always circular (a powerful, symbolic shape for Indians representing continuum, Earth Mother, and other mystical ideas), they are dug into the Earth for deeper connection.

The beginnings of these structures are lost in the mists of time, but we do know that in Hopi lands, they are symbolic of going back into Mother Earth to pray.

Modern, non-tribal souls have much to enjoy and learn from the solitude and quiet a kiva affords. Sedona's Mii Amo spa created a contemporary version built with reverence for native traditions. Considered by the staff to be the very heart of the spa, the Crystal Grotto takes its cue from traditional kiva design -- circular in shape and with a natural floor of red Sedona earth -- but adds new elements.

Inside, the round chamber is lit only by sunlight streaming through an oculus in the ceiling. A circular bench runs the circumference of the room, allowing visitors to sit and meditate, or just relax. To help guests focus within, the center of the room is anchored by a column of petrified wood set with crystals pointing in the four directions. The only sound here is the water from a small fountain, trickling back to earth.

Sitting in this womblike room toward the end of my stay, I had the good fortune to catch an impromptu Native American chant and meditation led by Moseman. At first I was distracted watching surprised guests lose their inhibitions and succumb to her singing and flute playing. Eventually, I found myself drifting to my own private place, accompanied by the music, which seemed innately tuned to my own heartbeat.

SPIRIT-THE CENTER
Native American cultures have always kept Spirit as their heart, the hub of the wheel of life. Perhaps the most graphic symbol of this belief is represented in the medicine wheel, used by tribes across the continent since before recorded time.

Made of rocks placed in a circle with "spokes" of stone that usually
number four, representing the four directions, the symbol is a way for
native people to focus Earth energy. Through this powerful symbol, they
touch deep mysteries within themselves and in nature's grand design.

I can't say for sure whether it was the "opening" I knew I was
experiencing through the various treatments I received on my Southwest
sojourn, or just keen curiosity, but when Cosentino invited me to
experience a medicine wheel on my last day in Sedona, I rolled with the
hunches, and went for it. I knew this was not going to be just another
Southwestern-flavored spa treatment. While a therapist might speak the
language of essential oils, hydration, and trigger points, Cosentino's
idiom is medicine wheels, eagle feathers, and drums.

Bumping along in her van on a dusty red road, a small group of us made our way into the wilderness between Bear and Doe Mountains on Sedona's northwest edge.

Cosentino and her partner, a full-blooded Hopi woman named Palaquimana, or Red Tail Hawk Girl, gave us specific instructions on how to collect stones and build the wheel. We were then asked to each walk the wheel and, using our intuition, stop at the place we felt Spirit had guided us to.

It was here, at the end of the ceremony, that I found myself wrapped protectively in blankets, powwow drums moving over me from different angles, directing waves of sound that summoned intense vibrations from my body. This was a wrap of a different nature. No Vichy showers, padded treatment tables, or lavish exfoliants, just the raw pureness of Mother Nature enveloping me as darkness hastened.

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