The higher I climbed, the more wobbly my legs felt. According to the map, I was near – if not on top of – an energy vortex. I looked up. The summit of the mountain was maybe a few hundred feet away. So close… But with every step, the dizzier I felt… What a strange yet wonderful force tingling through my body!

Carefully placing my foot into a small wedge in the ground to steady myself, I slowly turned and gazed down at how far I’d climbed. My breath caught in my throat. The view was overwhelming. Under a clear, turquoise-coloured sky, a ridge of red-topped mountains and mesas stretched miles into the distance. Below me, as if it was located in a bowl, Sedona looked like a miniature movie set. Light-headed, I lowered myself to the ground and sat a moment. A woman I’d met at an artist’s co-op had cautioned me, saying I might feel woozy when encountering a vortex.

I recently visited Sedona, Arizona, to experience the amazing energies my friends have talked about. I was awestruck driving the mountainous terrain with remarkable rock formations that were carved from the Earth at the time of the glaciers. My favourite is Snoopy Rock.

The mountains and the soil around Sedona are red because of the earth’s high iron content. I was surprised that anything could grow here, yet there’s plenty of cactus and shrubs around. "Iron is a good conductor of electricity," one woman told us. "If you’re sensitive to energy vibrations, you might feel them around the vortexes."

So I drove up Airport Road to experience my first vortex – a double vortex, according to the map. And, whoa, that energy center packed quite a punch. I started climbing a hill that kept getting bigger. Almost at the top, I had to stop as vertigo kicked in and my ankles, knees and wrists started feeling wobbly. I gazed up to the summit – so close! – but decided to head back down. Whew!

The next morning I headed to Chapel Road to visit Chapel of the Holy Cross, a huge rectangular edifice built into the side of a mountain. The chapel sits on another vortex, and as I sat inside the poured concrete structure, I was filled with a sense of blessed peace. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply. My inner ear hummed with the sounds of an angelic choir. You know the expression, "feeling one with the Earth?" This time, I was really experiencing it.

My reverie was broken by a gentle clip-clop. I opened my eyes to see a father leading his three-year-old son down the center aisle, the youngster’s sandals going smack! smack! smack! on the stone floor. I had to laugh.

On the path back to my car, I saw how people had tossed change onto little rocky ledges on the mountain. To show my Canadian pride, I lobbed in a loonie. American visitors to the site will probably wonder that strange big yellow coin is, but those of us from north of the border will know: Canada was here!

The only bad things about the trip: I somehow lost the screws out of my sunglasses, and I suffered through two days with a headache. Can I blame them on Sedona’s energies? Better call Agent Mulder – this might be one for the X-Files!

Those few days I spent in Sedona weren’t enough to truly experience all the area had to offer. For sure, there were touristy spots, but for every McDonald’s there’s a homey Desert Flour Bakery coffee shop; for every souvenir or trendy clothing store, there’s places like Cathedral Rock and Oak Creek Canyon. I’d love to go back to Sedona, and maybe lead a group of like-minded spiritual seekers as we meditate on the red rocks and experience the tranquil energies of peace.