Inspired by the Sweat Lodge Tradgedy in Arizona

There was a tragedy recently where three people died in a sweat lodge at Angel Valley Ranch in Sedona, Arizona.  Since I lived six years in Sedona and new Angel Valley Ranch well, it hit close to home.  I was always enthusiastic about sweat lodge and had attended many lodges myself.  I needed to have a better understanding of what happened so I looked into this a bit further.

The sweat lodge was part of a five day spiritual warrior retreat led by “Self Help Guru” James Ray whose popularity soared after appearing in the movie “The Secret.”  I watched the movie “The Secret” many times and was excited to see these principals and ideas I had been practicing for years being brought into the mainstream.  But I wasn’t really familiar with James Ray or his work up until now.  I had to look at a picture of him in order to remember which one he was.  He was a good looking charismatic man in his early fifties.  He was a self-made millionaire who charged between nine and ten thousand dollars to attend this five day retreat which ended in tragedy.

James Ray obviously had a huge following and many people made great life changes as a result of his work.  But something went terribly wrong in that sweat lodge on October 12th.  Not only did three people die in the lodge but many people were vomiting and passing out and an unknown number got very sick and had to be hospitalized.

The news suggested that James Ray who was all about pushing people beyond their comfort zone pushed a bit too far.  Although most of us can agree that it is good to get out of our comfort zone sometimes our comfort zone is what keeps us safe, literally!  At what point do we sacrifice our personal safety for the promise of personal growth?

As I looked into the story further I was easily able to identify what went wrong.  James Ray should never have been leading that sweat lodge.  Sweat Lodge is a Native American tradition that involves construction of a lodge out of  willow branches or other easily bendable wood and covered with blankets, skins and/or cloth tarps.  The water pourer has had many years of training in order to have the honor of tending the sweat lodge.  There are usually no more than 12 people in a lodge and it is the responsibility of the water pourer to be conscious of everyone in that lodge.  It is a great responsibility.  Read the rest of this entry »