Katherine Lash – Forbes Council Member & CEO of SpiritQuest Sedona Retreats

Katherine lash is founder and ceo of SpiritQuest Sedona Retreats

Katherine Lash, B.S.Ed., PhB, Magna Cum Laude

As the founder of SpiritQuest Sedona Retreats, Katherine Lash provides deeply personalized coaching and transformative experiences amidst the stunning red rocks of Sedona, Arizona. Drawing on over 45 years as a local native, Katherine delivers a boutique level of personalized service and attention, with services highly tailored to meet the unique needs and preferences of each individual.

Specializing in small group and individual relationship dynamics, she teaches interpersonal life skills and guides people and organizations through critical transitions in life. Her studies in various yoga traditions, comparative religions, and metaphysical systems form the foundation of her work.

She is blessed to collaborate with an amazing community of master coaches, teachers, and guides. Using her intuitive skills and an unwavering dedication to quality, Katherine has hand-picked these elite facilitators to ensure every guest receives world-class support. Together, they create custom-crafted journeys designed specifically for personal growth and evolution.

Katherine Lash – Forbes Council Member & CEO of SpiritQuest Sedona Retreats

Katherine lash is founder and ceo of SpiritQuest Sedona Retreats

Katherine Lash, B.S.Ed., PhB, Magna Cum Laude

As the founder of SpiritQuest Sedona Retreats, Katherine Lash provides deeply personalized coaching and transformative experiences amidst the stunning red rocks of Sedona, Arizona. Drawing on over 45 years as a local native, Katherine delivers a boutique level of personalized service and attention, with services highly tailored to meet the unique needs and preferences of each individual.

Specializing in small group and individual relationship dynamics, she teaches interpersonal life skills and guides people and organizations through critical transitions in life. Her studies in various yoga traditions, comparative religions, and metaphysical systems form the foundation of her work.

She is blessed to collaborate with an amazing community of master coaches, teachers, and guides. Using her intuitive skills and an unwavering dedication to quality, Katherine has hand-picked these elite facilitators to ensure every guest receives world-class support. Together, they create custom-crafted journeys designed specifically for personal growth and evolution.

As an invited member of the Forbes Business Council, Katherine regularly shares her industry insights; you can find her latest contributions in their official publications. Katherine graduated magna cum laude from Northern Arizona University with degrees in Education and Philosophy. After 15 years as a secondary educator, she transitioned into holistic instruction, integrating her training in Gottman Couples Coaching and Compassionate Communication to help thousands of clients re-frame their past and move toward a brighter future. Her expertise in Family Constellation work and her background in the arts allow her to use creative expression and intuitive guidance to restore balance and peace for families and individuals alike.

During her time living in Bali, Indonesia, she traveled extensively through Tibet, Nepal, India, China, Japan, Thailand, and Sri Lanka, gaining profound insights into the intersection of cultural diversity and spiritual practice.

Her journey continued in Hawaii, where she spent two years immersing herself in the study of Ayurvedic medicine and various Eastern healing modalities while earning her professional license in aesthetics. Upon returning to her native Arizona, Katherine participated in over 100 sweat lodge ceremonies, a transformative experience that deepened her ability to release personal pain and empowered her to guide others in doing the same.

Katherine Lash in Sedona, AZ bathed in sunlight

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Hear From Katherine

Read Katherine’s Book

book by katherine lash

Challenging Times Result in
Self-Expansion

This is a tale of my journey from despair and low self-esteem to empowerment of the soul. My story leads the reader to various countries in Asia to Hawaii and back again to my beloved Sedona, AZ. Along the way I discover numerous insights and tools for spiritual growth and fulfillment.

By working through the dark night of the soul, I gained the jewels that allowed me to grow my business SpiritQuest Sedona Retreats and help others along the way. These tools include helping clients find purpose, develop self-esteem, let go of the past, embrace self-love, forgive others, sharpen communication, develop trust and much more.

Katherine’s Book

book by katherine lash

This is a tale of my journey from despair and low self-esteem to empowerment of the soul. My story leads the reader to various countries in Asia to Hawaii and back again to my beloved Sedona, AZ. Along the way I discover numerous insights and tools for spiritual growth and fulfillment.  By working through the dark night of the soul, I gained the jewels that allowed me to grow my business SpiritQuest Sedona Retreats and help others along the way.

Troy Joseph DeSmet – HVPM I & II, B.A., NLP Certified

Troy DeSmet

Dare to live a virtuous life full of contemplation and acts of faith.  Troy has devoted his life to right action, supporting others, and encouraging them to be their best.  Along with life experiences that include being a dad to 3 grown adults, selling his organic foods company after a 30-year career, healing from a near-death experience (Aortic Dissection), and accomplishing 10 dreams in 10 years, Troy incorporates the wisdom from scars with tools and techniques gained over 30 years of personal growth and development to assist others in living their best lives.

Troy is a Transformative Coach providing life skills and understanding. He is an intuitive and wounded healer.  Healing and development experiences have brought him through life experiences of Existential Nihilism/Depression and the Dark Night of the Soul, breaking free from Narcissistic/Manipulative Abuse, the embodiment of Psycho-Spiritual Integration, and emergency open-heart surgery and associated emotional/mental trauma.

Troy’s philosophy: when clients learn how amazing and powerful they are, when they learn to love themselves once again when they know that THEY are the ones who can heal themselves, then they will join those of us on the planet who are here to raise the vibration of consciousness. Troy lives with the love of his life, Katherine, at the Sedona Sanctuary in Oak Creek Canyon and provides Personal Spiritual and Healing Retreats with SpiritQuest Sedona Retreats.

SpiritQuest Office Staff

Manager Jessica R. Lash – CLC

Certified Life Coach Jessica Lash has devoted her life to validating, seeing, and hearing other humans on their healing paths. After going through her dark night, she had a deep and profound Spiritual Awakening. Nothing was ever the same after that point. She devoted her whole life to Spirituality and healing. Her past experiences gave her a wealth of empathy, understanding, and a deepening of her heart. She learned to never judge anyone, and she has deep faith in each and every person she connects with. Jessica obtained her license for Life Coaching at Southwest Healing Arts in Phoenix, where she also studied Ayurvedic Medicine, Yoga, and Holistic Health. After working with SpiritQuest for over 10 years, doing bodywork and healing, she decided to pour her heart into the office, as the Office Manager. She has since studied Business Management, Human Resources, and Communications. She merges her life experience, spirituality, and heart-centered living with her love for Business Administration. She has a unique gift that allows her to deeply connect with the people she consults on the phone and create a custom retreat for them. Most of all, and more importantly, she lives with integrity, and deep humility and sees each of her clients as being their very own most impactful practitioner.

SpiritQuest Retreat Coordinators

Kirti Wright Zhu-CHT

Assistant Manager, Kirti is a valuable staff member of SpiritQuest Sedona Retreats. She began her journey in October of 2020, upon moving to Sedona, AZ. She has worked in hospitality as a Front Desk Agent and Reservations Coordinator for over a decade, from her hometown in Alaska to the Bay Area of California. Kirti transitioned from that world back in 2015, to live at the Mount Madonna Center in Watsonville, CA, where she practiced Karma Yoga and offered her skills to her community for 5 years. Kirti thrives when helping her clients re-connect with their true, authentic soul expression. She is our Assistant Manager, as well as Retreat Coordinator and Practitioner, enjoying the abundant opportunities to be a dynamic member of the SpiritQuest Team! Kirti has tremendous skill in listening and patiently holding space for SpiritQuest clients. Kirti’s gifted ability to “read” people and hear people allows her to design retreat programs that are highly effective for clients.

Lauren - retreat coordinatorLauren Riffle

Retreat Coordinator, Lauren, is a Native of the Central Coast of California. Lauren first traveled to the Red Rocks of Sedona nearly a decade ago. With a comprehensive personal & professional background in yoga, energy work, massage therapy & trauma-informed care she is passionate about the myriad paths to well-being. She embraces the idea of staying. Staying with a feeling, staying in confrontation, and staying when things get uncomfortable. Her yin yoga practice embodies this concept, and the evidence of its benefits is easily spotted in Lauren’s resiliency, great attitude, and heart-centered commitment to what she lives and believes in. She is continually inspired by the Human Spirit and our profound ability to create healthy, empowered, impactful lives through the ever-changing, and often challenging seasons life presents. Lauren recognizes her position at SpiritQuest as a sacred call to touch and impact people’s lives & holds great reverence for the beauty & history of Sedona.

Retreat Designer Tanelle

Tanelle Kinney

Retreat Coordinator, Tanelle, is a heart-centered healer dedicated to supporting others in reclaiming their sovereignty and inner wholeness. With over 17 years of experience, she weaves sound healing, energetic bodywork, intuitive movement, coaching, and astrology into a holistic, compassionate approach. Her work opens pathways for releasing blockages, restoring harmony, and reconnecting to the body’s innate wisdom. Through channeled messages and intuitive guidance, she offers clarity and encouragement for soul growth. Rooted in extensive training and global study, her mission is to hold a safe, loving space where clients remember their inherent power, embody their truth, and align with their highest potential.

SpiritQuest Webmaster & Support Staff

Webmaster and Marketing Support, Rayonna LashRayonna Lash – B.A. History, LMT

Senior web developer at SpiritQuest Sedona Retreats, Rayonna specializes in front-end development. She has a background in graphic design and is responsible for the look and feel of the website as well as more technical aspects such as web speed and optimization. She has a B.A. in History and Graphic Design, her passions include studio art, writing, and the great outdoors. Rayonna assists with aesthetics and marketing. Her keen eye and sense of design lend themselves to creating brochures, ad layouts, and photography.

The Sedona Retreat Experience

Combining Eastern, Western, and Sacred Earth modalities, the SpiritQuest Sedona Retreat Experience will take clients to a place of wholeness through a very specifically designed program. Our retreats are built of a synergistic series of sessions based on a paradigm developed by owner, Katherine Lash. The retreat will not consist of random sessions thrown together, rather we will carefully consider which session should occur first and so on allowing one session to build upon another. We will then gather a team of specialists and form the core group, these are practitioners who will work with clients throughout the retreat. The journey will begin the morning after clients arrive at the tranquil Retreat Center and launch with a sacred ceremony out on the land.

Katherine Lash on Chimney Rock in Sedona

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We consider ALL of Sedona part of the retreat experience and because our retreats go DEEP. If a client needs to cry or have a big release, he/she will have the space and freedom to do so…privately. This is NOT a spa experience or a vacation hang-out. A SpiritQuest Sedona Retreat is a life-changing experience of authentic self-growth and healing. It is a spiritual awakening. Our guests are never the same!

SpiritQuest Sedona Retreats’ Valuable Team Members

Daniel
Daniel Practitioner
Daniel is a “wayshower” and alchemist with shamanic medicine for those who are seeking clarity and empowerment within their lives. Daniel’s “medicine” is his intuitive guidance, life coaching, trans-personal psychology, and energy medicine to assist clients to break through mental limits and emotional barriers. Musical instruments such as Australian didgeridoo, Native American flute and Tibetan bowl, are used to facilitate physical and emotional release. Daniel’s presence, compassion and ability to hold a loving and sacred space, assists in promoting profound healing, and life transformation. Daniel has traveled extensively, lived within a 4000-acre self-realization community, taught martial arts as a black belt master, and is the author of One White Stone.
Rhonda
Rhonda Practitioner
Rhonda is a lover of plants and flowers, nature, health and wellness. She is an intuitive teacher, guide, and facilitator for spiritual healing who encourages those who are on a journey of personal transformation. Her passion is helping others gain awareness and healing that includes the energetics of plants and flowers and their association with the human energy system known as the chakras. She also integrates healing sessions with sound that may include crystal bowls, flutes, drum, etc. Rhonda has worked in Social Services and Education for over 25 years, and she also worked in the corporate world as a product formulator and co-brand manager for over 12 years. Along with being a mother, wife, and grandmother, she has a wide array of experiences and skills working with family systems, cultural diversities and with people of all ages and walks of life.
Barbara
Barbara Practitioner
With over 25 years experience in the Healing Arts/Personal Growth arena, Barbara brings a myriad of tools and modalities to her work. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Human Development (Psychology/Sociology/Anthropology), and spent almost 5 years working in the Mental Health system as a counselor to mentally ill homeless adults. With countless hours of workshops, retreats, and personal growth work, Barbara lives her work in her own life, and has been on a path of spiritual growth and awakening consciousness for over 30 years. She has studied NLP (neuro-linguistic programming), tantra & sacred sexuality, meditation, yoga, and is also a raw food chef and educator. She has participated and completed the Landmark Education curriculum as well as numerous programs and seminars they offer.
Miguel
Miguel Practitioner
Sedona spiritual practitioner Miguel brings 18 years and thousands of spiritual tours and sessions to his experience and repertoire, having gained a deep understanding into human nature and how to relate to his clients with wisdom, humor, and empathy. Incorporating the full breadth of mastery principles combined with powerful ceremonies for heart opening, emotional healing, clearing old patterns, and Breathwork, Miguel helps the client set powerful new intentions with highly intentional processes and Qigong to fully harmonize intentions with the powerful energy of Sedona. Miguel uses sound healing tools and sacred songs, drums and native flutes throughout his diverse sessions designed to help his clients align with and embody their Higher Self in a truly palpable way.
Brighde
Brighde Practitioner
Brighde has been on a Spiritual Path and immersed in the Healing Arts since 1990, studying and practicing various holistic healing approaches like Bodywork, Energy Healing and more. She is offering Spiritual Guidance and Therapy, assisting clients gain clarity on their path as well as accessing deep inner healing through self-awareness, self-empowerment and helping bring to light the most Authentic Self and Soul Purpose. As a natural Empath, Clairsentient, Clairaudient and Claircognizant, Brighde brings a compassionate, intuitive knowing to her work that helps unravel the stories and beliefs accumulated in subtle bodies in order to catalyze transformation and expansion.

Tom
Tom Practitioner
Tom works as a Hypnotherapist, certified with the National Guild of Hypnotists. A graduate of 3 different schools of Hypnotherapy, he has been helping people through hypnotherapy for over 40 years. Numerous therapeutic modalities are used such as neuro-linguistic programming, regression to cause, subconscious reprogramming, parts therapy, gestalt, forgiveness, inner child, reframing, energetic trauma reversal, body-mind integration and heavenly realm hypnosis among many other types. By helping clients connect with their central core essence of love, wisdom, and light the truest answers and shifts in transformation to deep seated issues are obtained. Helping clients access this space allows answers and healing to such areas as soul purpose, dropping depression and anxiety, clarity in making life decisions and trauma resolution.
Curt
Curt Practitioner
Curt studied Religious Studies at Arizona State University; co-facilitated Transpersonal Support at Arizona State University counseling center; was a consultant for the State of Arizona Department Of Economic Division of Developmental Disabilities for 18 years; and founded and directed Youth Quest, a non-profit organization for youth rites of passage. Curt demonstrates authority and leadership in meditation, religious mysteries and in teachings of world traditions. He specializes in mindfulness techniques, sacred earth tours, rites of passage, couples mentoring, emotional clearing, and dream guidance.
Cassie
Cassie Practitioner
Cassie is a Holistic Health Practitioner, Licensed Massage Therapist, Reiki Master, Donna Eden Energy Medicine Clinical Practitioner, Cassie blends tui na, shiatsu, myofascial release, acupressure, cranial sacral, energy medicine, matrix energetics and gentle rocking, cradling the body and mind into relaxation. Forgiveness and ancestral clearing is an integral part of her practice. With a 30 year foundation in Vipassana mindfulness meditation, Cassie’s presence supports you to heal, grow and expand. Her intention is to hold Sacred Space for personal healing. Cassie brings a lifetime of inner work and ceremonial practices in various traditions, including: Buddhism, Shamanism, Paganism, Native American, chi gong, butoh and middle eastern dance to her work.
Olya
Olya Practitioner
Olya specializes in Dreamtime experiences and will guide you to your innermost truths. Her special techniques of diving deep will help you discover blockages to clear. Her unique approach allows for soul searching resulting in clearing, cleansing, and greater understanding. Olya is intuitive and strives to awaken you to your own intuitive nature. Olya is a gentle spirit who is gifted in premonitions, soul activations, and life journey insights. She leads clients to empowerment, purpose, and self-esteem. Olya dives into the inner child in order to provide safety, healing, and release. Moreover, Olya provides DNA activations, psychic and intuitive discovery. Soul essence readings, and crystal grid perspectives. Her primary purpose is to bring clients to a deeper sense of self-love and balance in life.
Aurora
Aurora Practitioner
Aurora is a Soul Alignment Activation Guide and Sacred Intimacy Coach for singles and couples. She supports clients in reconnecting to their soul essence through breath, energy, sound, tantra, embodiment, and relationship coaching. Her focuses on cultivating intimacy with self, others, and the Divine—rooted in love, presence, and truth. Aurora’s guidance helps others trust their inner knowing, honor their unique frequency, and live from a place of embodied self-love. With practical tools and heart-led presence, she inspires soulful, fulfilling lives and relationships aligned with one’s highest truth and love.
Kirti
Kirti Practitioner
Kirti has been on a spiritual journey for over 20 years. She received her YTT 200 certification in Hatha Yoga in 2014 at Divine Light Yoga in Santa Cruz, CA. and Astrology for most of her life. She has traveled all over the world, England, India, France, California, and now, Sedona. She lived at the Mount Madonna Center (MMC) in the Santa Cruz mountains of California for 5 years, living and working there as a Karma Yogi amongst the Hanuman Fellowship Satsang (Community). She trained to become a Pujarini (Hindu Priestess) to Ganesa at the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple at MMC. Kirti’s passion in this lifetime is guiding people back to their true, authentic Self, and supporting them on their spiritual, healing journey by providing tools for their own self-discovery and self-development.
Marcus
Marcus Practitioner
Marcus is an awakening guide for inner peace and self-belief. Marcus specializes in emotional release breathwork and breath education, using the breath to mobilize stagnant energy blocks. He also teaches an understanding of the breath that can enhance the autonomic system and mental health. Fundamentally, we create our reality based on our thoughts and emotions. Using the wisdom of the breath as our primary source of life to shift our inner environment we can begin to experience shifts within our external experience. Marcus also uses EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) tapping to guide clients through emotional blocks or patterns to gain a deeper sense of clarity and self-belief.
Scott
Scott Practitioner
Scott has been a student of Internal Medicine since 2008. These internal therapies are rooted in the ancient healing modalities of the Taoist Tradition Of China, Shamanic Traditions and the Ayurvedic Health Science of India. Scott is a certified Abdominal Massage Specialist, Ayurvedic Diet and Lifestyle Counselor, Ayurvedic Acupressure Therapist, Shirodhara Tech, Natural Therapeutics Specialist, Reflexologist, Yoga/Chi Gung Teacher and a Licensed Massage Therapist. Scott has received training from Kripalu School of Ayurveda and Yoga, New Mexico School of Yoga and Ayurveda, Diamond Way Ayurveda, Energy Arts, The New Mexico School of Natural Therapeutics , Shabeta’s Healing Garden, The Ayurvedic Institute and The Universal Tao Center.