A desert ‘sound bath’ sounded cringe. But it actually turned out to be 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.

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.

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).