Archives: Events

You can survive weeks without food, days without water, but only minutes without air!!  Breath is absolutely vital for our survival and while every functional breath you take can enhance your health and vitality, dysfunctional breathing can lead to low energy levels, decreased focus and even illness.

Think you know how to breathe? Join Shanti for an educational and interactive exploratory breathing class and learn powerful practices to take control of your physical and emotional states! 

Each performance breath class will combine ancient breathing practices with new age science for a unique experience that teaches participants how to consciously manage their energy and stress levels. You will learn specific and actionable breathing tools and techniques that both energize and promote deep relaxation.

Shanti Tilling is a leading personal trainer and fitness instructor, shaping the lives of clients around the globe. She has spent the last 26 years training both both indoors and outside, flying internationally with corporate clients, and 7 years as the onsite fitness instructor for 2 major film studios. As a holistic wellness coach specializing in true functional movement and corrective exercise, Shanti’s passion is inspiring people of all fitness abilities to be strong for what they love to do, and helping them create their own healthy, active lives.

Shanti is an outdoor fitness junkie and has cycled, ran, hiked, climbed, paddled, and surfed all over the world. Her love for adventurous travel combined with a passion for fitness led her to create Sweat Play Live fitness retreats in 2010. Shanti lives in Punta de Mita, Mexico and feels fortunate to spend time connecting with clients and retreat guests from around the world.

What is all the excitement about? What mental health challenges may be addressed, what personal development might be achieved, with these promising investigational drugs? Keen interest in this arena catapulted Michael Pollan’s How to Change your Mind to national best-selling book and a popular NetFlix series. Learn about the modern era clinical trials, the populations likely to benefit, the efforts to open access. Gain insight into the researchers, healers, entrepreneurs and advocates shaping the new psychedelic assisted therapy landscape.

Breakout gatherings:
Legal Issues Related to Access to Psychedelics
Overview of US law and policy governing these substances, evolution, current status, the role of advocates and advocacy, what is on the horizon?

Yoga and Psychedelics
Explore the similarities in the catalyzing of altered states of consciousness through both yoga practices and psychedelics. Delve into the possibilities of psychedelics and yoga as modalities with power to elevate and expand consciousness so that life’s greatest challenges(including trauma, PTSD, addiction, end of life existential distress)  can be embraced and part of one’s psychospiritual journey.

Kathryn Tucker, JD, is an attorney and law professor, and a national leader in spearheading creative and effective efforts to promote improved care for seriously ill patients, including seeking to compel DEA to allow access to psilocybin assisted therapy, a new treatment shown to bring immediate relief from anxiety and depression to patients with advanced illness. Also, a dedicated practitioner and teacher of Yoga, Tucker developed and offers the workshop “Preparing for the Final Asana: Law and Medicine at the End of Life and What Yoga has to Offer” at retreat centers around the world, including the Ranch.

It All Starts with YOU—and How You Come Across to Others
How do you look and sound? We’ll examine the seven essential communication components that create your unique “you-ness,” and you’ll learn some easy (and instant) tweaks to project yourself with accuracy and self-assurance.

Personal Response Styles: Passive, Aggressive and Assertive
Are you passive, aggressive or assertive—or perhaps all three? We’ll take a look at the response styles of ourselves and others, discuss how your style affects your life (and your relationships), and how you can make simple changes that create big results!

Speaking & Listening: The “Give and Take” of Successful Communication
Speaking and listening—they go together! We’ll discuss how to accurately share your thoughts and feelings, avoid distractions, stay focused, pay attention, and honor others through your mindful presence.

When Relationship Difficulties Arise: Assertive Problem-Solving
Conflicts, quarrels, disputes, misunderstandings…try as we might, they sometimes happen. We’ll discuss how to untangle miscommunications, disarm anger, quell hurt feelings, and we’ll explore some tips for how to create peace and understanding in your personal and professional relationships.

Denise M. Dudley, PhD, is a psychologist, communication and relationship coach, professional trainer and keynote speaker, author, business consultant, and founder and former CEO of Skill Path Seminars, the world’s largest public training company, which has trained over 12 million people worldwide. Denise holds a Ph.D. in behavioral psychology, a hospital administrator’s license, a preceptor for administrators-in-training license, and is licensed to provide continuing education training to medical professionals in the US and Canada. She’s also a certified AIDS educator, a licensed field therapist for individuals with agoraphobia, a regularly featured speaker on the campuses of many universities across the US, and the author of Simon and Schuster’s best-selling audio series, “Making Relationships Last.” Denise speaks all over the world on a variety of topics, including management and supervision skills, leadership, assertiveness, communication, personal relationships, interviewing skills, and career readiness. Denise’s latest book, Work it! Get in, Get Noticed, Get Promoted,” currently in its third printing, is available on Amazon.com, and is used as a career-search textbook on numerous college campuses.

It All Starts with YOU—and How You Come Across to Others
How do you look and sound? We’ll examine the seven essential communication components that create your unique “you-ness,” and you’ll learn some easy (and instant) tweaks to project yourself with accuracy and self-assurance.

Personal Response Styles: Passive, Aggressive and Assertive
Are you passive, aggressive or assertive—or perhaps all three? We’ll take a look at the response styles of ourselves and others, discuss how your style affects your life (and your relationships), and how you can make simple changes that create big results!

Speaking & Listening: The “Give and Take” of Successful Communication
Speaking and listening—they go together! We’ll discuss how to accurately share your thoughts and feelings, avoid distractions, stay focused, pay attention, and honor others through your mindful presence.

When Relationship Difficulties Arise: Assertive Problem-Solving
Conflicts, quarrels, disputes, misunderstandings…try as we might, they sometimes happen. We’ll discuss how to untangle miscommunications, disarm anger, quell hurt feelings, and we’ll explore some tips for how to create peace and understanding in your personal and professional relationships.

Denise M. Dudley, PhD, is a psychologist, communication and relationship coach, professional trainer and keynote speaker, author, business consultant, and founder and former CEO of Skill Path Seminars, the world’s largest public training company, which has trained over 12 million people worldwide. Denise holds a Ph.D. in behavioral psychology, a hospital administrator’s license, a preceptor for administrators-in-training license, and is licensed to provide continuing education training to medical professionals in the US and Canada. She’s also a certified AIDS educator, a licensed field therapist for individuals with agoraphobia, a regularly featured speaker on the campuses of many universities across the US, and the author of Simon and Schuster’s best-selling audio series, “Making Relationships Last.” Denise speaks all over the world on a variety of topics, including management and supervision skills, leadership, assertiveness, communication, personal relationships, interviewing skills, and career readiness. Denise’s latest book, Work it! Get in, Get Noticed, Get Promoted,” currently in its third printing, is available on Amazon.com, and is used as a career-search textbook on numerous college campuses.

It All Starts with YOU—and How You Come Across to Others
How do you look and sound? We’ll examine the seven essential communication components that create your unique “you-ness,” and you’ll learn some easy (and instant) tweaks to project yourself with accuracy and self-assurance.

Personal Response Styles: Passive, Aggressive and Assertive
Are you passive, aggressive or assertive—or perhaps all three? We’ll take a look at the response styles of ourselves and others, discuss how your style affects your life (and your relationships), and how you can make simple changes that create big results!

Speaking & Listening: The “Give and Take” of Successful Communication
Speaking and listening—they go together! We’ll discuss how to accurately share your thoughts and feelings, avoid distractions, stay focused, pay attention, and honor others through your mindful presence.

When Relationship Difficulties Arise: Assertive Problem-Solving
Conflicts, quarrels, disputes, misunderstandings…try as we might, they sometimes happen. We’ll discuss how to untangle miscommunications, disarm anger, quell hurt feelings, and we’ll explore some tips for how to create peace and understanding in your personal and professional relationships.

Denise M. Dudley, PhD, is a psychologist, communication and relationship coach, professional trainer and keynote speaker, author, business consultant, and founder and former CEO of Skill Path Seminars, the world’s largest public training company, which has trained over 12 million people worldwide. Denise holds a Ph.D. in behavioral psychology, a hospital administrator’s license, a preceptor for administrators-in-training license, and is licensed to provide continuing education training to medical professionals in the US and Canada. She’s also a certified AIDS educator, a licensed field therapist for individuals with agoraphobia, a regularly featured speaker on the campuses of many universities across the US, and the author of Simon and Schuster’s best-selling audio series, “Making Relationships Last.” Denise speaks all over the world on a variety of topics, including management and supervision skills, leadership, assertiveness, communication, personal relationships, interviewing skills, and career readiness. Denise’s latest book, Work it! Get in, Get Noticed, Get Promoted,” currently in its third printing, is available on Amazon.com, and is used as a career-search textbook on numerous college campuses.

It All Starts with YOU—and How You Come Across to Others
How do you look and sound? We’ll examine the seven essential communication components that create your unique “you-ness,” and you’ll learn some easy (and instant) tweaks to project yourself with accuracy and self-assurance.

Personal Response Styles: Passive, Aggressive and Assertive
Are you passive, aggressive or assertive—or perhaps all three? We’ll take a look at the response styles of ourselves and others, discuss how your style affects your life (and your relationships), and how you can make simple changes that create big results!

Speaking & Listening: The “Give and Take” of Successful Communication
Speaking and listening—they go together! We’ll discuss how to accurately share your thoughts and feelings, avoid distractions, stay focused, pay attention, and honor others through your mindful presence.

When Relationship Difficulties Arise: Assertive Problem-Solving
Conflicts, quarrels, disputes, misunderstandings…try as we might, they sometimes happen. We’ll discuss how to untangle miscommunications, disarm anger, quell hurt feelings, and we’ll explore some tips for how to create peace and understanding in your personal and professional relationships.

Denise M. Dudley, PhD, is a psychologist, communication and relationship coach, professional trainer and keynote speaker, author, business consultant, and founder and former CEO of Skill Path Seminars, the world’s largest public training company, which has trained over 12 million people worldwide. Denise holds a Ph.D. in behavioral psychology, a hospital administrator’s license, a preceptor for administrators-in-training license, and is licensed to provide continuing education training to medical professionals in the US and Canada. She’s also a certified AIDS educator, a licensed field therapist for individuals with agoraphobia, a regularly featured speaker on the campuses of many universities across the US, and the author of Simon and Schuster’s best-selling audio series, “Making Relationships Last.” Denise speaks all over the world on a variety of topics, including management and supervision skills, leadership, assertiveness, communication, personal relationships, interviewing skills, and career readiness. Denise’s latest book, Work it! Get in, Get Noticed, Get Promoted,” currently in its third printing, is available on Amazon.com, and is used as a career-search textbook on numerous college campuses.

It All Starts with YOU—and How You Come Across to Others
How do you look and sound? We’ll examine the seven essential communication components that create your unique “you-ness,” and you’ll learn some easy (and instant) tweaks to project yourself with accuracy and self-assurance.

Personal Response Styles: Passive, Aggressive and Assertive
Are you passive, aggressive or assertive—or perhaps all three? We’ll take a look at the response styles of ourselves and others, discuss how your style affects your life (and your relationships), and how you can make simple changes that create big results!

Denise M. Dudley, PhD, is a psychologist, communication and relationship coach, professional trainer and keynote speaker, author, business consultant, and founder and former CEO of Skill Path Seminars, the world’s largest public training company, which has trained over 12 million people worldwide. Denise holds a Ph.D. in behavioral psychology, a hospital administrator’s license, a preceptor for administrators-in-training license, and is licensed to provide continuing education training to medical professionals in the U.S. and Canada. She’s also a certified AIDS educator, a licensed field therapist for individuals with agoraphobia, a regularly featured speaker on the campuses of many universities across the U.S., and the author of Simon and Schuster’s best-selling audio series, “Making Relationships Last.” Denise speaks all over the world on a variety of topics, including management and supervision skills, leadership, assertiveness, communication, personal relationships, interviewing skills, and career readiness. Denise’s latest book, Work it! Get in, Get Noticed, Get Promoted, currently in its third printing, is available on Amazon.com, and is used as a career-search textbook on numerous college campuses.

Hidden Communication: Why People Hear What We Don’t Say
A world of communication lurks below the surface of our awareness. When we are in conflict, this hidden dimension often catapults us into confusion and mind-bending emotion, thwarting creative resolution and conscious action. Drs. Glaser are former actors as well as award-winning researchers and university professors. They dramatize compelling conflict scenarios to demonstrate what happens when conflict invades our world and how to master seemingly deadlocked moments in challenging business, family, and personal situations.

Power Listening
When interpersonal pressure is on, listening is too often the first casualty. When dialogue turns to criticism, we often revert to unconscious auto-pilot reactions with defensive responses that may damage the relationship and make problems worse. This session provides a five-step model for transforming defensiveness and blame into insight and agreement. Speakers dramatize how trust increases when each person feels heard and understood.

Navigating Challenging Conversations
Why it is that people we care about too often feel defensive when we try to convey suggestions for improving their behavior and our relationship? How can we stop torpedoing our efforts and instead transform conflict into cooperation, discord into harmony, and make good relationships even better? This presentation provides a four-step model for raising issues that renders remarkable results: solving the problem, strengthening the relationship, and deepening trust – without creating a negative reaction.

Peter A. Glaser, Ph.D. and Susan R. Glaser, Ph.D. received their doctorates in Communication from the Pennsylvania State University. Their BreakThrough Communication series won the Gold Award for best hybrid learning of 2022 from the International E-Learning Association. Authors of the internationally acclaimed book, Be Quiet, Be Heard: The Paradox of Persuasion, they have been married business partners and co-presenters for their entire career. Drs. Glaser have published three books and more than 40 research articles. Their research on transforming organizational culture has received the International Association of Business Communication Research Foundation Award for bridging communication theory with practical application. They also received the Pennsylvania State University Outstanding Alumni Award. Feature stories have been written about their work in Business Week, Fast Company, Psychology Today, Newsday, Nation’s Business, National Business Review, Working Woman, Success Magazine, and the Washington Post. The Glasers have served as members of the University of Oregon faculty as well as global consultants working with leaders from Fortune 100 companies such as Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Facebook, Tektronix, Hyundai, and Sony Corporation. They have worked with leaders and companies throughout the UK, Canada, India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand. They also have worked with federal, state, and local government leaders – including their ongoing work with the US Congress.

• Understanding Skin Cancer and Sun Protection
• How to Build a Skincare Routine
• Top Ten Anti-Aging Skincare Tips
• What to Look for in a Sunscreen

Dr. Amy Brodsky has earned a reputation as one of the country’s foremost rising stars in the dermatological field. Dr. Brodsky is widely recognized as an artist when it comes to understanding facial anatomy and the nuances of treating aging faces. Her cosmetic acumen and early adoption of skincare innovations quickly gained the attention of top media outlets in Chicago, which resulted in ongoing guest appearances on television networks like ABC, NBC, WGN, Fox and The U. Dr. Brodsky has dedicated her career to the research and practice of innovative dermatologic treatments and the clinical implications of cosmetics. After graduating from the University of Illinois with a degree in bioengineering, Dr. Brodsky attended medical school at The University of Chicago. She distinguished herself early on by winning the Women’s Dermatologic Society Fellowship to study clinical trials on Cosmeceuticals before graduating at the top of her class with the highest honors. Dr. Brodsky earned her certification from the American Board of Dermatology in 2002 and opened her own practice in 2007. She is currently affiliated with Advocate Lutheran General Hospital and has been invited onto several pharmaceutical advisory boards. In 2012, Dr. Brodsky founded Pediatric Sun Protection Foundation, Inc. (PSPF), a philanthropic endeavor born out of her passion for skin cancer prevention and desire to educate others about effective sun protection for children. Most recently, Dr. Brodsky founded The Sun Hero Program, and has partnered with Cerave and LaRoche Posay with a mission to raise awareness of the importance of sun safety in childhood, increase adoption of sun safety habits, and to motivate change that will reduce the amount of skin cancer. You can learn more at https://beasunhero.com/ Dr. Brodsky, a mother of two, is based in Chicago.