Ten years ago I would have said ‘no way’ to this. Now it feels amazing

“If you’d asked me 10 years ago if I’d be guiding tours in the desert, I’d have said no way,” says Conan Allen, as he leads us along a scrub-lined trail in Joshua Tree National Park.

Back then, the now 44-year-old worked in sales for a big accounting firm in New York. But he wasn’t happy. So after an extended period of travel and “delving into self”, he returned to where he grew up – California’s high desert – to guide people looking for a spiritual experience in a place that’s long been claimed to contain energy sources known as vortices.

Open your mind to new experiences in the Joshua Tree.

If you’d asked me 10 years ago if I’d sign up for a sound bath meditation in the desert, I’d also have said “no way”. But as mindfulness has grown increasingly mainstream over the past few years, I’ve become more open to its motives and merits. After all, we devote a lot of time and energy to looking after our bodies; shouldn’t we do the same for our minds?

We start the four-hour experience with a 1.6-kilometre hike through a less-visited corner of the park, a cactus-strewn sandy hollow flanked by rust-flecked rocky outcrops. At first glance, the area looks arid and devoid of life, but Allen knows otherwise.

Simply by slowing down and being more observant, we discover a vibrant natural ecosystem, from chia, yucca and jojoba plants to eagles, chuckwallas and rattlesnakes (fortunately we only see their tracks). He explains how the local Native Americans would use plants like creosote and jimsonweed to treat illnesses and facilitate vision quests, sacred spiritual ceremonies to find purpose and meaning. And he points out the minerals, such as magnetite, feldspar and quartz, that are thought to be a factor in the region’s energetic activity.

Joshua Tree National Park is a perfect backdrop for meditation.Credit: iStock

The hike is fascinating, but it’s also an effective reset, a way to slow guests down and open their minds before the next stage of the journey. This takes place nearby at Wind Walkers, a non-profit wellness centre created by Abe Daniels, a Cherokee and Tohono Oʼodham man, to preserve and maintain Native American culture.

Allen leads us to the property’s medicine wheel, a sacred outdoor space representing “the womb of Mother Earth” that has four entrances, each assigned to a Native American spirit animal (eagle, coyote, bear and buffalo).

At several points, I feel completely disconnected from my body (in a good way).

I’m here with a friend and Allen asks us both to choose a rock that speaks to us (I pick amethyst), which we’ll use during an intention-setting meditation. But first, he performs a smudging ceremony using burning sage to cleanse any stagnant energy.

At this point, I should mention that there’s still a part of me that cringes at terms like “intention setting” and “energy cleansing”. But I’ve learnt that it comes with the territory and Allen does it in such a genuine and open-hearted way that any cynicism soon dissolves.

Meditation mats in the rocky landscape.

For the next hour, he guides us through a seated meditation, followed by a ceremony where we sip on a sweet, syrupy cacao drink and honour each of the wheel’s seven dimensions (the four spirit animals plus earth, air and self). And then, having set our intentions, we lie down and close our eyes while he “bathes” us in sound from a variety of instruments, including a cosmically tuned gong, a Mayan trumpet and several Tibetan singing bowls.

On paper, it all sounds a bit, well, woo-woo. But in person, it’s amazing. At least for me. At several points, I feel completely disconnected from my body (in a good way).

My friend, on the other hand, thought she was being abducted by aliens.

The gong used to “bathe” meditators in sound.

Allen finishes the session by reading a poem that he wrote, and I find one line, a koan-like reference to the nature of consciousness, particularly intriguing: “Who is me when all I see is right here inside of me?”

The details

Fly

Delta Air Lines flies daily to Los Angeles. Joshua Tree is a two-hour drive east. See delta.com

Stay

Autocamp Joshua Tree offers desert accommodation in stylish Airstream trailers with comfy queen beds, modern bathrooms and well-equipped kitchenettes. Onsite facilities include a general store and an outdoor pool. Rates from $US258 ($390) a night. See autocamp.com

Tour

The four-hour desert hike, meditation and sound bath experience costs $US175 a person. See joshuatreeconnectivity.com

More

visitgreaterpalmsprings.com

The writer travelled as a guest of Delta Air Lines, Visit Greater Palm Springs and Brand USA (visittheusa.com.au).