Archives: Events

Fun with Poker – Basics of Texas Hold’em
The Introductory sessions will cover the rules and basic strategy, preparing Ranch guests for the open Hold’em tournament later in the week. Practice games will be included.

More Fun with Poker – Beyond Basics of Texas Hold’em
The Intermediate session will explore more advanced topics that with practice can help get you ready for a seat at any poker table.  Practice games will be included.

PRACTICE for Texas Hold’em Tournament

Most Fun Finale – Rancho La Puerta Texas Hold’em Poker Tournament
Class participants and other Ranch guests are invited to participate in the fun and friendly poker tournament. Prizes will be given for top placements. All skill levels are welcome!

Lorraine Clayton is the co-founder of All-In Academy Poker LLC, running in-person and online poker training/tournaments, and the founder and regular player in a long-standing monthly home poker game playing cash and tournament formats. She has helped organize multiple charity poker events and played in various casino poker tournaments. She won 3rd place in the 2013 Rancho La Puerta Poker Tournament. In addition, Lorraine is a board member and active participant in numerous charities, has a career in technical project management, volunteers at celebrity and PGA golf tournaments, is a recreational golfer, and poker enthusiast. She loves living in beautiful San Diego and has an adult son living in the Los Angeles area.

Boost Brain Health: Holistic Solutions for Memory, Focus & Clarity
Improve brain function and prevent early aging with diet. Your brain needs essential nutrients for your nervous system, memory and learning. Learn to improve cognition, energy and fight free radicals using whole foods and expert-approved supplements.  Keep your brain sharp with these wellness tips!

Don’t Sweat Stress & Anxiety: Nutrition & Mindfulness Remedies
Optimize your mental health with expert-approved foods herbs and supplements for a less-stressed YOU.  Certain diets have been shown to boost mood, calm the brain and improve focus. Learn which superfoods are key to living a stress-free life.

Detoxify Your Body: Lower inflammation and Reset Your Metabolism
Reducing your toxin load is key to a healthy mind and body.  Learn to curb cravings, mitigate symptoms and increase energy with easy strategies.

Sexual Health for Men and Women
What we eat affects our energy, mood and hormones. Many foods and supplements contain natural aphrodisiacs! Improving blood flow is crucial to sexual wellness. Learn how a nutritious diet can improve fertility, stamina, libido and even heart health!

Kim Ross, MS, RD, CDN takes a holistic, integrative approach to health.  Nutritional treatments are aimed at enhancing the body’s ability to heal and detoxify itself. Kim’s individualized programs incorporate a variety of techniques and tools that enhance optimal health including nutraceuticals, homeopathy and herbs. After receiving a BA from University of Michigan, Kim received an MS from New York University in clinical nutrition. She has a certificate in holistic nutrition and completed a fellowship in herbal medicine through the Association for the Advancement of Restorative Medicine. Past affiliations include Equinox, Rockefeller University and NYU Fertility Center. Currently, Kim lectures nationwide on cutting-edge health topics, consults to businesses and maintains a private practice in Manhattan

OVERVIEW- This series of presentations empowers you to understand your pelvic floor muscles and the associated core control, bowel, bladder and sexual functions. It includes up to date information and exercise practice.

Beyond Kegels: How Fit is Your Pelvic Floor? Let’s Explore!
Learn how the pelvic floor (Kegel) muscles control urine leakage, urges and frequency as well as bowel control and sexual appreciation. Topics covered include functions and anatomy of the muscles of the pelvic floor and its relationship to pelvic health and core control. You will leave being available to help identify any areas of potential issues.

Beyond Kegels: How do I Kegel? Let me count the ways!
Are you up to date on current pelvic floor (Kegel) exercise techniques? This presentation teaches proper pelvic floor activation and release. It will cover the importance of breathing and positioning to pelvic health and pelvic floor exercises. You will learn to self-assess your pelvic floor muscles and where to start or progress with an exercise program.

Beyond Kegels: Simple Self-Care for Bowel and Bladder Control and Exercise
Have you, a family member or friend been offered medication or surgery for bladder/bowel problems? Time to debunk bladder and bowel myths and learn simple self-care techniques to maintain and improve your bladder and bowel control. Additionally, in this presentation you will learn how to use your pelvic floor with your daily exercise and movement routines.

Beyond Kegels: Sexuality and the Pelvic Floor
This stimulating presentation reviews the pelvic floor as it relates to sexual functions and dysfunctions through the lifespan. Learn specific exercises, breathing and release techniques to optimize your pelvic sexual health. You will learn new ways to use the pelvic floor.

Beyond Kegels Handouts

Kathe Wallace, PT is an internationally recognized pioneer pelvic health clinician, educator and author in pelvic health and pelvic floor dysfunction. She is the author of Reviving Your Sex Life after Childbirth and multiple educational handouts to restore the pelvic floor. She has focused on pelvic health since 1988. She currently serves as a Clinical Instructor, Division of Physical Therapy, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Kathe has been honored to receive both the Washington State Physical Therapy Association Clinical Excellence Award and the American Physical Therapy Association Academy of Pelvic Health, Elizabeth Noble Award for providing extraordinary and exemplary service to the field of pelvic health physical therapy

OVERVIEW- This series of presentations empowers you to understand your pelvic floor muscles and the associated core control, bowel, bladder and sexual functions. It includes up to date information and exercise practice.

Beyond Kegels: How Fit is Your Pelvic Floor? Let’s Explore!
Learn how the pelvic floor (Kegel) muscles control urine leakage, urges and frequency as well as bowel control and sexual appreciation. Topics covered include functions and anatomy of the muscles of the pelvic floor and its relationship to pelvic health and core control. You will leave being available to help identify any areas of potential issues.

Beyond Kegels: How do I Kegel? Let me count the ways!
Are you up to date on current pelvic floor (Kegel) exercise techniques? This presentation teaches proper pelvic floor activation and release. It will cover the importance of breathing and positioning to pelvic health and pelvic floor exercises. You will learn to self-assess your pelvic floor muscles and where to start or progress with an exercise program.

Beyond Kegels: Simple Self-Care for Bowel and Bladder Control and Exercise
Have you, a family member or friend been offered medication or surgery for bladder/bowel problems? Time to debunk bladder and bowel myths and learn simple self-care techniques to maintain and improve your bladder and bowel control. Additionally, in this presentation you will learn how to use your pelvic floor with your daily exercise and movement routines.

Beyond Kegels: Sexuality and the Pelvic Floor
This stimulating presentation reviews the pelvic floor as it relates to sexual functions and dysfunctions through the lifespan. Learn specific exercises, breathing and release techniques to optimize your pelvic sexual health. You will learn new ways to use the pelvic floor.

Dawn Sandalcidi PT, RCMT, BCB-PMD specializes in pelvic muscle dysfunction and orthopedic manual therapy. She has trained medical professionals in manual therapy both nationally and internationally since 1992. Dawn is also Board-Certified Biofeedback in Pelvic Muscle Dysfunction (BCB-PMD).

Dawn has actively been treating patients since 1982 at Physical Therapy Specialists in Centennial, Colorado.

In 2018, Dawn was awarded the Elizabeth Noble Award by the American Physical Therapy Association Section on Women’s Health for providing extraordinary and exemplary service to the field of physical therapy for men, women and children.

OVERVIEW- This series of presentations empowers you to understand your pelvic floor muscles and the associated core control, bowel, bladder and sexual functions. It includes up to date information and exercise practice.

Beyond Kegels: How Fit is Your Pelvic Floor? Let’s Explore!
Learn how the pelvic floor (Kegel) muscles control urine leakage, urges and frequency as well as bowel control and sexual appreciation. Topics covered include functions and anatomy of the muscles of the pelvic floor and its relationship to pelvic health and core control. You will leave being available to help identify any areas of potential issues.

Beyond Kegels: How do I Kegel? Let me count the ways!
Are you up to date on current pelvic floor (Kegel) exercise techniques? This presentation teaches proper pelvic floor activation and release. It will cover the importance of breathing and positioning to pelvic health and pelvic floor exercises. You will learn to self-assess your pelvic floor muscles and where to start or progress with an exercise program.

Beyond Kegels: Simple Self-Care for Bowel and Bladder Control and Exercise
Have you, a family member or friend been offered medication or surgery for bladder/bowel problems? Time to debunk bladder and bowel myths and learn simple self-care techniques to maintain and improve your bladder and bowel control. Additionally, in this presentation you will learn how to use your pelvic floor with your daily exercise and movement routines.

Beyond Kegels: Sexuality and the Pelvic Floor
This stimulating presentation reviews the pelvic floor as it relates to sexual functions and dysfunctions through the lifespan. Learn specific exercises, breathing and release techniques to optimize your pelvic sexual health. You will learn new ways to use the pelvic floor.

Dawn Sandalcidi PT, RCMT, BCB-PMD specializes in pelvic muscle dysfunction and orthopedic manual therapy. She has trained medical professionals in manual therapy both nationally and internationally since 1992. Dawn is also Board-Certified Biofeedback in Pelvic Muscle Dysfunction (BCB-PMD).

Dawn has actively been treating patients since 1982 at Physical Therapy Specialists in Centennial, Colorado.

In 2018, Dawn was awarded the Elizabeth Noble Award by the American Physical Therapy Association Section on Women’s Health for providing extraordinary and exemplary service to the field of physical therapy for men, women and children.

OVERVIEW- This series of presentations empowers you to understand your pelvic floor muscles and the associated core control, bowel, bladder and sexual functions. It includes up to date information and exercise practice.

Beyond Kegels: How Fit is Your Pelvic Floor? Let’s Explore!
Learn how the pelvic floor (Kegel) muscles control urine leakage, urges and frequency as well as bowel control and sexual appreciation. Topics covered include functions and anatomy of the muscles of the pelvic floor and its relationship to pelvic health and core control. You will leave being available to help identify any areas of potential issues.

Beyond Kegels: How do I Kegel? Let me count the ways!
Are you up to date on current pelvic floor (Kegel) exercise techniques? This presentation teaches proper pelvic floor activation and release. It will cover the importance of breathing and positioning to pelvic health and pelvic floor exercises. You will learn to self-assess your pelvic floor muscles and where to start or progress with an exercise program.

Beyond Kegels: Simple Self-Care for Bowel and Bladder Control and Exercise
Have you, a family member or friend been offered medication or surgery for bladder/bowel problems? Time to debunk bladder and bowel myths and learn simple self-care techniques to maintain and improve your bladder and bowel control. Additionally, in this presentation you will learn how to use your pelvic floor with your daily exercise and movement routines.

Beyond Kegels: Sexuality and the Pelvic Floor
This stimulating presentation reviews the pelvic floor as it relates to sexual functions and dysfunctions through the lifespan. Learn specific exercises, breathing and release techniques to optimize your pelvic sexual health. You will learn new ways to use the pelvic floor.

Dawn Sandalcidi PT, RCMT, BCB-PMD specializes in pelvic muscle dysfunction and orthopedic manual therapy. She has trained medical professionals in manual therapy both nationally and internationally since 1992. Dawn is also Board-Certified Biofeedback in Pelvic Muscle Dysfunction (BCB-PMD).

Dawn has actively been treating patients since 1982 at Physical Therapy Specialists in Centennial, Colorado.

In 2018, Dawn was awarded the Elizabeth Noble Award by the American Physical Therapy Association Section on Women’s Health for providing extraordinary and exemplary service to the field of physical therapy for men, women and children.

Kathe Wallace, PT is an internationally recognized pioneer pelvic health clinician, educator and author in pelvic health and pelvic floor dysfunction. She is the author of Reviving Your Sex Life after Childbirth and multiple educational handouts to restore the pelvic floor. She has focused on pelvic health since 1988. She currently serves as a Clinical Instructor, Division of Physical Therapy, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Kathe has been honored to receive both the Washington State Physical Therapy Association Clinical Excellence Award and the American Physical Therapy Association Academy of Pelvic Health, Elizabeth Noble Award for providing extraordinary and exemplary service to the field of pelvic health physical therapy

Your Life in Six Words (evening program)
With so much noise in our everyday lives, it’s often difficult to focus on what lies at the heart of who we are and where we want to go in our life’s journey. Developed in 2006 by writer Larry Smith, the six-word memoir format has prompted tens of thousands to craft micro autobiographies, with the most extraordinary curated into three best-selling books and featured in The New Yorker and NPR. In this session, we will work through this remarkable process to craft your own short life story as a tool for self-discovery and to distill what’s important to you. The goal is to create a memoir that helps you confirm or reconsider your life’s path, or perhaps provide inspiration for what might be next. Note: writing talent not required.

Day-time sessions:
No One Loves a Perfect Heroine
Memoir writers must learn to take a step back and recreate themselves as a character. This is harder than it sounds. Human nature propels us to put forward a perfect façade, yet if a character never makes a mistake, then how can readers root for her? Building on your six-word memoir, we will drill further into what the process revealed about you as a potential hero or heroine in your own life story and help you embrace your strengths and weaknesses. If you miss the evening class, fear not. You’ll be given the tools to build your own six-word memoir post class.

The Power of Details
The ability to capture notable details elevates any type of writing or storytelling, whether if it’s just to recapture memories of past travels, lost loved ones, to strengthen writing or journaling or even tell a better story at a cocktail party. We will work through a series exercises using favorite childhood foods and storyboarding to demonstrate techniques to find telling details in your existing tales and to perhaps encourage you to be even more observant of how life’s small moments describe a larger tale.

If You Can Talk, You Can Probably Write
“If something is worth hearing or listening to, it’s very probably worth reading. So, this above all: Find your own voice,” says Christopher Hitchens. In this session, we will explore your potential writing voice, and building on your earlier six-word memoir, the story or stories that lie within you. The word “souvenir” is French for “to remember.” At the conclusion of this class, you’ll be given exercises to inspire putting your memories and stories on paper, hopefully creating a special souvenir of your time at the Ranch.

Kathleen Flinn is an internationally bestselling author, teacher and speaker best known for her series of acclaimed memoirs starting with The New York Times bestseller The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry (Viking/Penguin Random House). This week, Flinn will utilize exercises from her popular “Hungry for Words” food and travel writing workshops as well as her experiences as a memoir writer to help guide guests through the questions for which many of us find answers difficult to define. Her sessions will be relevant whether you’re interested in crafting a memoir, keeping a journal or simply seeking a structured way to think about what’s important in your life and where you want to go next on your journey.

A writer and journalist for more than 25 years, Flinn has been a residence writer at the Richard Hugo House in Seattle and taught at the Writer’s Center in Washington, D.C., the University of Washington and the University of Texas at Austin and more than a dozen writing and culinary focused conferences.

Our physical, mental and emotional health are interconnected as the very same things that are good for the body are also good for the mind. So too our spiritual health, our relational and financial health and societal health are all interconnected and intertwined. Through stories and science we will explore the interconnectedness of these values and how aligning the many facets of our experience allows us to harness their power to lead more productive and successful lives.

Distinguish Physical Hunger from Emotional Hunger
Hunger is not only a physical cue for food but also signals our emotional and spiritual needs. This connection between food and emotion is not only cultural  but is hardwired in our neurobiology. In this workshop, we will explore the science of hunger and understand why our emotions physiologically drive our desire for food. Participants will learn to distinguish emotional hunger from physical hunger and engage in an evidence-based practice to manage cravings mindfully without reactivity.

Broaden your Nutrition: 5 Scientific Pillars of Wellbeing
Nutrition refers not only to the food that we eat but also the company that we keep, how we move our bodies and engage in sleep, rest and play, the content we consume and the words that we use to speak to ourselves. In this workshop we will broaden our definition of nutrition to include food, sleep, movement, nature, rest, play and the mind’s diet. Participants will learn actionable guidance on how to incorporate these nutrients into their daily lives in order to enhance their physical health and mental and emotional wellbeing.

The Saboteurs that show up in your Diet and your Life
Our relationship with food is a mirror to our relationship to ourselves. In this workshop, we will identify the 10 most common saboteurs including perfectionism, self-limiting beliefs, lack of healthy boundaries that not only impact our relationship with food but also our work, our relationships with ourselves, co-workers, family and friends. Participants will engage in an experiential writing practice to uncover unique saboteurs that show up in our daily lives. 

Self-Compassion: The (Surprising) Key to Transforming your Life
Self-compassion is not only kind, but is essential to our growth. In this workshop we will discuss why positive self acceptance and self compassion are necessary to forming positive habits and creating durable, lasting change. We will learn the three elements of an effective self-compassion practice: awareness, mindfulness and embracing our common humanity and together set the groundwork to implementing this essential practice on your own.

Adrienne Youdim, MD,  is a physician, author, TEDx speaker specializing in medical weight loss and nutrition. Her mission is to empower people to adopt scientifically backed mind-body techniques to enhance greater mental, emotional and physical health and wellbeing. She holds multiple board certifications awarded by the American Board of Internal Medicine, the National Board of Physician Nutrition Specialists, the American Board of Obesity Medicine and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians.   Her book Hungry for More: Stories and Science to Inspire Weight Loss from the Inside Out explores the emotional and spiritual hungers that present as a hunger for food. Dr. Youdim currently sees patients in her private practice in Beverly Hills. She also hosts the Health Bite podcast, ranked amongst the top 5% most listened to globally. Dr Youdim is a national speaker sought after by the media and has been featured on The Doctors, Dr. Phil, Dr.Oz, ABC news, Inside Edition, National Public Radio among other news outlets. Dr. Youdim lives in Los Angeles with her high school sweetheart, three kids and labradoodle. In her spare time, she can be found running, reading and gathered around a home-cooked meal with family and friends. You can view her TEDx here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFpeEOeEZVg

Folklore and Stories: A Window to the Soul
Scholars suggest there are only a certain number of plots – all else is elaboration. How then do different cultures and groups tell the “same” story? What does the way such stories are told reveal about the values and dreams of different communities? Why do stories fascinate us so, cause us to remember and help us grow?

Taking Miracles Seriously: A Journey to Everyday Spirituality
Just about everyone has experienced some exceptional moment of heightened consciousness – a time with nature, the birth of a child or some great event. Discover the key to the fullest expression of life: finding the miraculous in the ordinary or routine moments.

Stories for Leaders
Advice on management strategies is everywhere you look. Why, then, is changing so difficult, if not impossible to achieve? This exciting presentation takes a look at classic folklore, storytelling and leadership for today!

Rabbi Michael R. Zedek is rabbi emeritus of two congregations (Temple B’nai Jehudah in greater Kansas City and Emanuel Congregation in Chicago).  Rabbi Zedek was the recipient of the Danforth Graduate Fellowship for outstanding teaching, a Fulbright-Hays Grant for advanced study in the United Kingdom, and is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Hamilton College, Clinton, New York. He speaks internationally on spirituality and folklore. Michael Zedek currently serves as Rabbi-in-Residence at St. Paul School of Theology.   

Explore Rancho La Puerta’s Night Sky – Lecture
The dark skies at the Ranch provide a fabulous opportunity for seeing wonders such as the Milky Way, Ptolemy cluster (a collection of 80 stars scintillating like diamonds), meteors, satellites, Saturn and its rings, the Lagoon nebula (a stellar nursery), and more! Participate in another magical part of the Ranch experience. You will never look at the night sky the same way again.

Star Gazing
Observe with the naked eye, binoculars and telescope. Please sign up in the Lounge.

Viva Vivaldi!
Hear “The Four Seasons” with a fresh perspective as Scott Marrone leads us through this most popular of musical works. You will never hear it the same way again! Discover the creativity and ingenuity found in Vivaldi’s delightful masterpiece.  While the immediate impression of this great work is a set of four violin concertos, closer examination reveals a wealth of symbolism and actual story lines within the musical themes and various movements. Join Scott Marrone as we listen to and explore the program contained in these beloved musical gems. Find a new way to hear and understand this classic work, making it more personal, concrete, and enjoyable!

John Scott Marrone has over 30 years of experience teaching in the New York area. In addition to Astronomy, Scott teaches Forensics, Environmental Studies, and Oceanography. He has been recognized by Ciba-Geigy Corporation for his work in promoting science literacy and received the Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award in 2007 from Manhattan College. In 1998, Scott was invited by the Aruban Government to substitute for astronomer Jay Pasachoff to lead the observation of the total solar eclipse.  Most recently, Scott led the public observing session on Mauna Kea.  Scott has also led observing on cruises in the Galapagos and Tahiti.

In addition, John Scott Marrone has been recognized as an outstanding conductor and director of many musical organizations. His experience covers the entire spectrum of orchestral and choral music from Renaissance to Contemporary, leading an impressive array of performing organizations both in the United States and Europe. In addition to his own Allegro Chamber Ensemble, Mr. Marrone has worked with the English Chamber Orchestra, Solisti di Roma, Orchestre de Paris, Oratorio Society of New York, Mendelssohn Choir of Connecticut, Greenwich Choral Society, and many other organizations including concerts and tours. His choir performed for Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Basilica and at the papal audience before 250,000 people in Rome. With the Allegro Chamber Ensemble, Mr. Marrone performed a series of concerts at the Salzburg Music Festival, St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London, and at the Sainte Chapelle in 1994 for the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of Paris. With his choirs he has conducted at St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Westminster Abbey in London, the Duomo in Florence and many other locations throughout Europe. Mr. Marrone holds a Professional Diploma in Piano from the Brooklyn Conservatory and a Master’s in Conducting from Columbia University.