Archives: Events

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.

Searching for Humanity: Stories That Uplift and Inspire; Lessons of the Japanese American Incarceration & the Enduring Friendship of Secretary Norman Mineta & Senator Alan Simpson with Shirley Ann Higuchi and Ray Locker
The presenters will show a film that shows how the two men met as Boy Scouts behind the barbed wire at the Heart Mountain concentration camp for Japanese Americans during World War II and resumed their friendship in Congress to help solve some of the thorniest problems facing our country. Their lives and careers have inspired the creation of the Mineta- Simpson Institute at Heart Mountain, which will preserve their legacy and seek to bring people together. Norm, who was born and raised in San Jose, was incarcerated as a child at Heart Mountain with his family. He later became mayor of San Jose, a Democratic U.S. House member for 20 years and a Cabinet secretary for two presidents — Commerce under Democrat Bill Clinton and Transportation under Republican George W. Bush, who later awarded him the Medal of Freedom. He ordered all aircraft grounded after the 9/11 terror attacks. Al grew up in Cody, where he practiced law, served in the Wyoming legislature and then as a Republican in the U.S. Senate for three terms. He was awarded the Medal of Freedom from Democratic President Joe Biden, a former Senate colleague, in 2022.

Parallel Barbed Wire: From Heart Mountain to Dachau Death March with Adele Setsuko Collier and Shirley Ann Higuchi, moderated by Ray Locker
This segment will show a film about how Clarence Matsumura, an incarceree at the Heart Mountain camp, joined the Army and later came to rescue Solly Ganor, a Jewish worker in a slave labor camp near the Dachau concentration camp, from a death march at the end of World War II. The two men met again in Jerusalem in 1992 and toured the world telling their story of hope and reconciliation before Clarence died of cancer in 1995. Ganor later recounted his experiences in the searing Holocaust memoir — Light One Candle — which has been republished in an updated edition by the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation. Adele will talk of how she traveled to meet Ganor in Tel Aviv in 2019 to deliver a signed scroll by the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation board to thank him for signing over the rights to his memoir. Locker and Higuchi recently republished Light One Candle with an epilogue that described Adele’s inspirational meeting with Solly.

Setsuko’s Secret: The Japanese American Incarceration & Multigenerational Impact Shirley Ann Higuchi, moderated by Ray Locker
Higuchi will recount her experience researching and writing Setsuko’s Secret, especially her awakening about her family’s wartime incarceration and subsequent lives.

Shirley Ann Higuchi is the chair of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation. A former president of the DC Bar, she is also the author of Setsuko’s Secret: Heart Mountain and the Legacy of the Japanese American Incarceration. She is the inspiration behind the creation of the Mineta-Simpson Institute at Heart Mountain and spearheaded the $8 million fundraising campaign to build the institute. She lectures often about the Japanese American incarceration and the need to use its lessons to encourage Americans to seek common ground and reject extremism.

Adele Setsuko Collier is an investment analyst for Citadel Securities in New York. The daughter of Shirley Ann Higuchi, she was active in securing the publishing rights to Light One Candle, the Holocaust memoir by Solly Ganor. She was named after her grandmother, Setsuko Saito Higuchi, who was one of the leaders of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation.

Ray Locker is the director of communications and strategy for the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation. A longtime journalist at USA TODAY, the Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times, he is the author of two books about the Nixon administration. He is currently at work with Shirley Ann Higuchi on a graphic novel about the lives of Norman Mineta and Alan Simpson.

Bringing Enemies to the Table
Whether its conflict between nations, or conflict within families or between partners, it is immensely challenging to find ways to move beyond conflict towards greater understanding and an appreciation of difference. However, it is not impossible, and hope can be found even in the midst of the deepest of divides.

Deb will discuss her work with Artsbridge, an organization that she founded in 2008, to work with communities in conflict. Her unique approach encourages participants to think critically and creatively, and to appreciate the value of difference. Videos and images will be shared of the work created by Israeli and Palestinian students as they learn how to communicate constructively and work together through the arts while attending the Artsbridge development program.

Utilizing Creativity with Families in Conflict
How can couples and families overcome deep divides that develop in their relationships over time? How can creative approaches impact that process? This will be a fun and interactive session with hands-on exercises.

Beyond Stalemate
How do we hold on to our beliefs while making room for other perspectives? As the political and social aspects of the world in which we live become more polarized, how do we learn to tolerate difference and listen to viewpoints that differ dramatically from our own? How do we work together and learn to value difference?

From Conflict to Curiosity
What are the various ways we can utilize to overcome conflict? How do we remain curious in the face of opposition? Can we learn to appreciate the challenge of conflict, and turn it to our advantage? These questions and others will be explored in this session.

Deborah Nathan, PhD, LMHC, ATR, is a psychotherapist specializing in art therapy, conflict mitigation and trauma. In 2008, Deb founded Artsbridge, Inc. – an organization that utilizes a unique methodology to bring together teens from communities in conflict. Artsbridge has primarily focused on Israelis and Palestinians, while lately expanding its work to the United States and other regions of the world.

In addition to Artsbridge, Deb has a private practice outside of Boston, Massachusetts,  where she works with families, couples and individuals. Additionally, Deb teaches in the Counseling and Expressive Therapies Graduate Program at Lesley University.

Deb holds a PhD in Behavioral, Management and Social Sciences from the University of Twente in the Netherlands, and a Master’s Degree in Expressive Therapies from Lesley University. She has presented and conducted workshops internationally on topics such as the use of arts in areas of conflict, how trauma impacts relationships, developing relational resilience, and how to engage constructively in the midst of conflict.

Applying Psycho-spiritual Practices in Everyday Life
Every action affects ourselves and everyone else instantaneously. What can we do to align ourselves with the Energy of the Universe to manifest our Highest Selves? Join in this exploration of daily practices that can bring more joy and fulfillment into life; practices that encourage gratitude, balance, and help set our intentions to move forward consciously.

Aging to Sage-ing: Claiming Your Wise Elder
Lucinda and Oran introduce you to powerful practices for identifying and claiming the wisdom of our maturing lives. A new vision of our eldering years can emerge; one that allows us to revel in our accomplishments and harvest the fruits of our labor. You can be empowered to use your talents to benefit the next generation, the global community, and the earth. Join us as we transform fears of aging and death into equanimity, acceptance and celebration.

Lucinda Kurtz, M.A., is a Brennan Healing Science Practitioner and Sage-ing Mentor who focuses her practice and teachings on helping people achieve full manifestation of their potential. As an Energy Healer she uses a holistic approach to health combining hands-on healing, bioenergetic techniques, and shamanic practices. Lucinda teaches classes in Kabbalah, using this mystical path of deep relationship between self and the Divine as a powerful avenue to greater self- awareness and personal transformation. Throughout her career as professor of Women’s Studies, advocate for Planned Parenthood, Vice-President of the National Women’s Political Caucus, and Founding President of the international Global Hopemakers, her energy and passion for transformation has been unwavering. Lucinda is married to Oran Hesterman. They live in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and are the delighted grandparents of five rambunctious grandchildren. They are both certified Sage-ing Mentors with the Yerusha Program, helping people discover their life’s wisdom and explore their soul’s journey.

Why food? The power of good food to change everything
A host of books and films in recent years have documented the dangers of our broken food system—from chemical runoff to soaring rates of diet related illness to inhumane treatment of workers and animals. But advice on what to do about it largely begins and ends with the admonition to “eat local” or “buy organic.”

Oran Hesterman, author of The New York Times celebrated Fair Food provides an enlightening and inspiring vision that goes beyond our plates to the power of food to create positive social, economic, and environmental impact. Along the way, this national leader in sustainable agriculture and food systems will introduce you to people and organizations that are moving this work forward with serious benefits for eaters and growers—from bringing nutritious food to communities that need it most to fighting for farm workers’ rights.

He will also share the story of the national nonprofit he launched, Fair Food Network, with a mission to grow community health and wealth through food. Working with a diverse network of partners, Hesterman is taking on some of the toughest challenges in our food system and pioneering solutions that increase access to healthy food while creating new opportunities for farmers and stimulating economic activity. This dynamic session will help you understand the realities of our broken food system and what we can do to fix it.

From Farmer to the Farm Bill: My Journey in the Good Food Movement
How do you go from picking alfalfa sprouts to being a key proponent of a $250 million Farm Bill program that is improving the lives of thousands of low-income families and farmers? Or from sleeping in a teepee to financing start-ups that are preparing for our next economy?

Join the conversation of the decade as national leader in sustainable agriculture and food systems, Oran B. Hesterman shares his journey growing the good as an organic farmer and businessman, scientist and agronomy professor, philanthropist, author, and now CEO of national nonprofit Fair Food Network. (You may even coax the story out of him about how Bernie Madoff sent his life into an unexpected, new direction!)

Hesterman has been connected to many of the innovations at the heart of today’s food economy. And he’s still at it. The constant thread through this journey is the belief that nothing is as important to our future as food. Through Oran’s personal story, you will leave with not only a better understanding of the power of food, but also how you can be part of this change in your personal life and with your political voice.

Oran B. Hesterman, Ph.D. With more than 35 years of experience as a scientist, farmer, philanthropist, businessman, educator, and passionate advocate, Oran B. Hesterman is a national leader in sustainable agriculture and food systems and a respected partner for policymakers, philanthropic leaders, and advocates nationwide.

He currently serves as president and CEO of Fair Food Network, a national nonprofit working to grow health and wealth in our communities through food. Fair Food Network’s signature program, Double Up Food Bucks, has become a national model for healthy food incentives, and is now a featured program in the U.S. Farm Bill, signed by the President in December 2018.

Before launching Fair Food Network, Hesterman led the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Food and Farming programs, during which time he seeded the local food movement with more than $200 million in grants and investments. Prior to his work in philanthropy and nonprofits, Hesterman researched and taught forage and cropping systems management and sustainable agriculture at Michigan State University.

A former fellow in the Kellogg National Fellowship Program and the National Center for Food and Agriculture Policy in Washington, D.C., Hesterman has published more than 400 reports and articles on subjects ranging from crop rotation to the impact of philanthropy on food systems practice and policy and trends in the good food movement. He is also a certified Sage-ing Mentor and leads workshops with his wife Lucinda Kurtz, that help people discover their inner elder while gaining new perspectives on what it means to grow older in today’s culture.