"You are placed into a canyon that our peoples of long ago knew as beautiful land, powerful land. This valley was known to our ancients as a place of great healing," Uqualla explains, dancing us around Boynton Canyon's Enchantment Resort on a "Walk with the Ancestors." He tells of the medicine men who still perform healing rituals at sacred springs up the canyon and of the blessings his people ask for this land each morning. A former tribal chief of the Havasupai, Uqualla is a coyote talker and a cultural ambassador. Coyote talkers are orators. They translate the spirit stories which possess the wisdom of the ancients.

The canyon's auburn-red cliffs tower overhead. Ponderosa pine and shaggy-bark juniper poise deep green against the topaz sky. Wind, rain and the ages have carved fantastic pinnacles, buttes and rock people from this ferruginous rock. The rock people, Kachina Woman and the twins, are the guardians of Boynton Canyon, Uqualla explains. He says, "It is also known, among the rock people surrounding, that this canyon will welcome peoples of every thought, way, color, belief and direction."

With this healing spirit and the rock peoples' blessings, Enchantment Resort welcomes the fit and not-so-fit to their new spa, Mii amo. Opening in November of 2000, it is designed for healing as well as fitness. I certainly took a turn for the better after a few days "blissed out" at Enchantment while getting the skinny on their new spa.

Mii amo has it's own sphere in Enchantment's canyon. Encircled on three sides by the canyon, its location alone is a strong curative. Even at 22,000-square-feet, the architect, Richard Gluckman (of Santa Fe's Georgia O'Keefe Museum fame) fused the spa's structures into this extraordinary spot. An abundance of water and light counterpoints the monumental traditional adobe forms which echo ancient Anasazi cliff dwellings.

The spa's adobe casitas, ready in January, have snug beehive fireplaces, tubs worthy of lovers and views to stay put for on private patios. Moreover, suite dwellers can center themselves in the vortex of their outdoor whirlpools and contemplate celestial matters. [To say nothing of the contemplation required for the Boynton Canyon vortex--an energy center acclaimed by New Agers.]

A refreshing shower, en plein air, and then a long bask in the warmth of the outdoor fireplace should transform even the severely stressed. If this doesn't cure what ails you--or even if it does--do succumb to the exceptional balms devised by Mii amo's creators.

Sylvia Sepielli, Mii amo's spa consultant, came to our meeting dressed for success in the west--long jean skirt, squash blossom necklace and hard hat. Sylvia explained that the spa--still under construction at the time--is designed to embrace literally and figuratively the connection between earth and sky. A crystal grotto, grounded in Native American kiva design, is at Mii amo's center. At noon on the summer's solstice, the sun will shine through an opening in the ceiling, directly centered on the grotto's bare earth floor. Sylvia says, "The contractors thought we were totally out of our minds when we requested they not put any concrete or foundation over this space."

Bare ground was not, however, the end of the unusual care that went into designing Mii amo. Two Feng Shui masters were consulted throughout. Thousands of pictures were taken in all directions so each window could frame a singular view. Windows were slanted in the treatment rooms for commanding views from massage tables. The indoor plunge pool abuts a large fireplace and the outdoor pool is a greenery-trellised beauty.

Uqualla is designing Native American-based treatments for the spa. He is joined by many talented people. All of whom are just plain nice.

Gentle and soft spoken, Toni Nurnberg is Mii amo's Director. Trust Toni to choose just the right treatments for your particulars. The menu ranges from Ayurvedic therapies and crystal treatments to Swedish massage and facials. Toni says nearby Sedona is a great place for creaming off good practitioners. Judging from my facial, performed by a woman whose fingers I mistook for velveteen bubbles, you can expect nothing but the best.

Enchantment's Executive Chef , the T, D & H (tall, dark and handsome) Paul McCabe is putting the finishing touches on the Mii amo Café's menu. It's healthy food you will positively crave. A believer in the power of fine wine, McCabe is selecting a vintage for each of the spa's menus. He will also hold forth from the spa's open-air demonstration kitchen, adding his delicacies to your culinary repertoire.

"This is not a boot camp" says the spirited, Stockholm-born Annika Chane, "you can eat wherever you want." Mii amo's General Manager declares spa guests are welcome in all of Enchantment, including its restaurants. The advantage of a destination spa within a resort, Chane explains, is the additional flexibility it provides the guests. For instance, you can "spa-it" and the rest of the family can play at Enchantment or you can have a slice (or two) of each.

I, for example, could happily spend an entire week in Mii amo's très luxurious silken-terry bathrobe. (Ever thoughtful, Mii amo saves their guests from the bad karma of larcenous thoughts by presenting this robe to each of them to take home.) However, suiting up for some of Enchantment's action is mighty tempting. Uqualla's Spirit Walk got me dressed, but you might rev up to hike with a Forest Ranger or hit balls with Enchantment's tennis pros. Further afield, attire moves to golf spikes, riding boots and sunscreen for jeep rides.

Any way you slice it, Mii amo has found a cure for overdoses of 21^st century life--and who knows, perhaps a great deal more.

Mii amo…a remarkable journey, indeed.