Even in Sedona, land of spiritual retreats and vortex tours, few stories tell of a transformation brought about by the discovery of a nearly dead baby owl.

Yet this is just how Lauren McCue’s story of becoming a massage therapist begins. A decade ago, she found a wounded baby owl on her property. Though not yet dead, its body was already covered in ants. She took the animal inside, cleaned it and placed its towel-wrapped body close to her chest.

When it stirred against her, it stirred something in her — the urge to begin healing others.

“That’s the kind of thing that can happen in Sedona,” she said, adding that at that point in her life she had begun to grow weary of waiting tables. “I don’t think I would have become a massage therapist anywhere else.”

A transplant from Santa Cruz, Calif., McCue has resided in Sedona for nearly two decades. She misses the ocean and the greenery of her former home, she said, but not the over-crowding. Here, she enjoys the open spaces, her work and acting as lead chaplain at Unity of Sedona.

To read the full story, see the Friday, April 10, edition of the Sedona Red Rock News.