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Water Program

H2O CORE SOLUTIONS – H2OC
A deep water programme using floatation belts to exercise both vertical and horizontally challenging the core encouraging muscle balance and assist with postural improvements

WATER WORKS – WW
Water heals – water is for everybody. A shallow programm to promote improved posture, good alignment and core stability to assist with balance as we age.

TRANQUIL WATERS -TW
Deep relaxation and release of muscle tension using the properties of warm water. Experience soothing organic movement with and weightlessness with a noodle supporting your body. A complete mind/body program

MOVE TRAIN PLAY – MTP
Let’s make water exercise fun by using functional movements as both training and play. Enjoyable effective exercise using movement that flows seamlessly from gentle mobility to improve posture through functional patterns to assist with activities of daily living with play and interaction as the finale

WATER JOGGING -WJ
Enjoy the deep experience using Hydro-fit cuffs. This no impact workout will challenge your musculature and your cardiovascular system. Multi directional travel will ensure a total body workout. No swimming skills required

 

 

Steph Toogood is an ATRI certified instructor enjoying helping seniors with chronic conditions and mobility issues improve their quality of life. Steph was Fab After 50 Health Achiever, Fitness Professionals Fitness Leader of the Year Award and a Top 10 Fitness Instructor by the UK Independent on Sunday and the recipient of the AEA Global Award for Educational Excellence and is the senior board advisor to Hydro-Actif, one of the leading providers of water exercise certifications in the UK.

Choose Love! The Inner Fitness Program, with Emily Boorstein

The Inner Fitness program is designed for accelerated transformation and awakening from the “Inside-Out”.  It is a comprehensive and practical program for people seeking to heal old wounds, navigate life with greater ease, learn to feel and communicate effectively, improve personal and professional relationships, cultivate inner peace, and manifest their uniquely authentic, fulfilling and joyous life.  And, Inner Fitness is fun!

Change Your Mind, Change Your Life!
Yes, it’s possible to change our mind! And by change, I mean transform. We have the most incredible power to choose the way we see, interpret and respond to our life’s circumstances. Imagine putting on a whole new lens that quiets our well worn harmful patterns of thoughts and behaviors and allows us to see and respond with clarity and wisdom.

Lesson 1 focuses on self-awareness and cultivating the skill to shift from living in the default paradigm of fear and scarcity to living from wisdom, truth and love.

Healthy Inner Dialogue
Do you ever wonder who’s doing all that chatting in our minds, and even more importantly, which voice we put in the drivers seat of our lives?  We are multi-dimensional beings with multiple voices expressing their opinions and directing our actions.  Sometimes it’s our wounded child or adolescent trying to express their hurt and anger, or our critical parent wagging its finger in judgement and shame.

Lesson 2 focuses on recognizing the various voices within and cultivating the voice of the Nurturing Parent who helps us navigate and respond to our inner world of thoughts and feelings and shows us how to live from our wise adult self so we can best respond to the challenges and circumstances of our life.

Emotions! How To Feel Fully and Communicate Wisely
Having access to our full range of emotions, and cultivating the skill to feel them instead of stuffing or bypassing them, is vital to living our most authentic, powerful and satisfying life.  When we know how to feel our emotions, and have the skills to express and communicate them responsibly, we feel more grounded, whole and connected to ourselves and others!

Lesson 3 focuses on understanding the world of emotions and the important role they play in almost every aspect of our life.  Come learn how to feel, navigate and honor your emotions with your greatest wisdom and highest intention.  You will feel better!

How We Grow and Learn
Have you ever noticed that we often play the same ‘victim’ story in our mind over and over again, and that we keep reacting to our life from that story, often in repetitive negative behaviors?  We get stuck in false emotions like blame, guilt and resentment; feeling powerless to make positive changes?

Lesson 4 focuses on recognizing our own patterns of thoughts and behaviors that hold us back from realizing our greatest sense of self and achieving our dreams.  Radical responsibility means seeing ourselves clearly, our strengths and our weaknesses, and taking full ownership of the impact we have on ourselves and others, both positive and negative. It’s our ticket to more freedom and joy!

Create and Manifest Your Best Life
We are always creating and manifesting our life, whether consciously or unconsciously!  Our life is a reflection of our inner world of thoughts, feelings, beliefs, attitudes, choices and decisions!  These are our raw materials that make up our life story and circumstances.

Lesson 5 focuses on re-aligning our raw materials to reflect our most authentic, powerful, and loving version of ourself to consciously create and manifest our deepest desires and sweetest life. Nothing changes until you do!

Remember, you are miraculous! 

And may all your dreams come true.

 

 

 

Emily Boorstein‘s passion and joy is to engage people in the process of self-discovery and inspired living!  Her life purpose is to live her most authentic wholehearted life and to be a guide for those who also want to live a more mindful, joyful, less stressed, more peaceful, purposeful, satisfying, well navigated and fulfilling life.

Emily is the founder of The Inner Fitness™ Program and is a monthly presenter and Life Coach at Rancho La Puerta Health and Fitness Resort in Tecate, Mexico.  A Certified Life Coach since 2001, Emily maintains a private practice with clients and students from around the world.

“Inside each and every one of us lies the potential to create and manifest our uniquely personal Great Life Story.”  Emily Boorstein

Emily Boorstein Wikman, Founder, Inner Fitness™
Certified Professional Co-Active Coach, CPCC
Lucid Living Master Coach, LLMC
www.coachemily.com

Iyengar Yoga

Aman KeaysAman Keays has been studying and practicing yoga for 30 years and teaching for 25. He was very fortunate to begin his studies of yoga in the Iyengar tradition with his brother Pujari and with Mary Dunn, one of B.K.S. Iyengar’s senior teachers.

 He has traveled to India four times to study with the Iyengars and has been a certified Iyengar teacher since Mr. Iyengar established teacher certification requirements. He presently holds a Junior Intermediate level certificate and runs the Full Circle Yoga Institute in San Diego, CA.

Deconstructing Yoga: An Evolutionary Approach

Evolutionary yoga is “yoga for life”, a practice to help us all age youthfully and safely with a goal of “wearing out slower”. We believe strength in aligned movement is the best anti-aging, and is the basis for flexibility and mobility. We have found after over thirty-five years of teaching and practice, and studying elite athletic movement, that doing classical yoga poses in a repetitive way can get in the way of change or at least lead to status quo. Evolutionary yoga can benefit your current yoga practice or jump start you into one. It deconstructs familiar asana integrating a variety of mechanics and moves so your focus can be more attuned to your weaker areas and habit patterns—what works and what could use a little improvement. In our retreats, classes and workshops we use a variety of tools including balls, foam rollers, bands, poles, massagers, anything that can help increase muscular engagement, stimulate circulation, release and mobilize connective tissue. This week we want to help you continue to search for what keeps you healthy, strong, athletic and lovingly present. Students of all levels of ability and yoga experience are welcome and honored for your unique differences, limitations, ages and talents. We won’t be offering “flow yoga”, but we think these practices will help you take home more skillful and dynamic means of practicing flow or any favorite style of yoga.  

 

 

Jenni and Paul have practiced, studied and taught yoga, movement and meditation more than three decades together. They are long time favorites at the Ranch, former full-time staff and popular guest presenters. Paul helped created the Ranch’s first Back Care program, and Jenni, along with Phyllis Pilgrim, helped first develop the Ranch Yoga program in the eighties, and for many years taught our Inner Journey program. Their down to earth and open-hearted style is playfully serious with a background of Astanga, certifications in Iyengar and Anusara yoga and long-time practitioners of Buddhist meditation.

Paul had four professional careers before turning fully to yoga, and holds degrees in economics and fitness training. In addition to mixed yoga programs he has taught classes specifically for men for over twenty years. Jenni also offers personal sessions in Hakomi and RCS (Recreating the Self) somatic psychology methodology and is an artist whose passions are sculpture and mixed media. They own NamaStay© Yoga in Santa Cruz and lead NamaStay Adventures & Retreats worldwide to Southern Baja in Mexico and Tuscany, Italy. Their blogs are available on https://url.avanan.click/v2/___www.NamaStay.net___.YXAzOnJhbmNob2xhcHVlcnRhOmE6bzowYjNlYzU5NWE1MzgzOWY1YWQ0MGRkODg2OTJhYTI3Zjo2OjhmOTg6MTcwNTQzZDg3MGEyNjA1NDJlYTdkMTRhYjU2YTBkMjRiODlhNzQyNWI2NzFjODY1Y2MzMTMzZTgwMDY1NjcxMDp0OlQ.

Hands-On Cooking Classes with Reyna Venegas

Reyna offers three hands-on culinary experiences, 3.5 hours each, during which you will enjoy preparing your own meal along with fellow cooks. Classes take place at La Cocina Que Canta, our culinary center on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 4pm.

Tuesday Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM Sign Up
Each class $125+tax. Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

Wednesday Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM Sign Up
Each class $125+tax. Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

Thursday Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM Sign Up
Each class $125+tax. Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

 

Executive Chef Reyna Venegas prepares fresh and delicious food that energizes, inspires, and nourishes guests. She fuses the culinary and cultural heritages of her own Northern Baja roots with the nutritious “spa cuisine” pioneered 80 years ago by Rancho La Puerta co-founder Deborah Szekely. At La Cocina Que Canta, “The Kitchen That Sings,” Chef Reyna teaches healthy eating as a celebration of life in farm-to-table cooking classes.

As a lifelong learner, Chef Reyna attends the University of California, San Diego’s Integrative Nutrition program, which focuses on how food promotes wellness. She is also a graduate of the Culinary Art School in Tijuana, and holds a Pastry Degree from the Lycée Technique et Hôtelier de Monte-Carlo and Fondation Turquois.

She and her husband Chef Marcelo Hisaki own Restaurante Amores, a hidden culinary jewel in the heart of Baja and currently collaborates as manager of Team Mexico on their way to the Bocuse d’Or Finale 2023.

 

 

 

 

Concert by Elena Durán and Nicholas McGegan

Elena Durán grew up in Oakland, California, and has enjoyed an international career, appearing as a soloist with orchestras all over the world, playing on a number of occasions for the Queen of England as well as the President of Mexico. She has recorded with Paul McCartney and toured with jazz great Stephane Grappelli.

 

 

Nicholas McGegan, British-born conductor and performer, is now in his sixth decade on the podium. For 34 years he was Music Director of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in the Bay Area, as well as Principal Guest Conductor of the Pasadena Symphony, Artistic Director of the Göttingen International Handel Festival (1991-2011), Music Director of the Irish Chamber Orchestra, and in the 1990’s, Principal Guest conductor of Scottish Opera and the Drottningholm Court Theatre in Sweden. He has recorded over a hundred CDs specializing in music of the Baroque and Classical periods. He has directed orchestras all over the world and at such opera houses as Covent Garden. In addition to performing, he lectures regularly at the Juilliard School of Music and Yale. He has been a visiting scholar at Harvard.  In 2010 he was made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) for ‘services to music abroad’.

Concert by Jaeger & Reid

Jaeger & Reid present an intimate performance of songs they have written and collected with the intent of connecting their audience with one another and with the world we live in together. The songs are delivered in rich musical settings and stunning vocal harmony with stories of their personal meaning. Be prepared to be moved and to sing along! Some of the best discoveries are made by accident and that’s what happened in the fusion of the musical talents of Judi Jaeger and Bob Reid. They unwittingly found that perfect harmony while standing next to each other at a music camp jam in the summer of 2015. Their musical spark quickly caught fire and was noticed by those around them – and the successful collaboration between Jaeger and Reid was born. Judi grew up near Montreal, Canada, where her world was filled with music; her mother and brother sang and played guitar and she listened to Leonard Cohen, Peter, Paul & Mary, Pete Seeger and many others. She began her career as a performing songwriter as an expression of her loss after the death of her mother and has written songs for her local domestic violence prevention organization. Bob is a fourth generation Californian, and like Judi, Bob also grew up surrounded by music. Bob’s Mom performed in coffeehouses in the 1960’s, while his father was a gospel concert promoter. Bob has a keen eye for musicality, empowerment, appreciation of nature and social causes in his writing. They have been performing around the Bay Area and in New York and North Carolina, in a variety of venues including house concerts. Their base is set to expand as they recently recorded their first Jaeger & Reid album.www.jaegerreidmusic.com

Hands-On Cooking Classes with Robin Asbell

Robin offers hands-on culinary experiences, 3.5 hours each, during which you will enjoy preparing your own meal along with fellow cooks. Classes take place at La Cocina Que Canta, our culinary center on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 4pm.

Hands On Cooking Classes and Chefs Dinner Sign Up

 

Tuesday Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM
Each class $125+tax. Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

Wednesday Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM
Each class $125+tax. Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

Thursday Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM
Each class $125+tax. Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

 

 

Robin Asbell is the author of 11 cookbooks, and developed the recipes for #Eat Meat Less, for the Jane Goodall Institute in 2021. Her most recent cookbook is Vegan Meal Prep;  A 5-Week Plan with 125 Ready-to-Go Recipes ( Robert Rose).  Asbell brought the veg to the Minnesota Star Tribune with her Meatless Meals column for several years. She has written for Experience Life Magazine, Fine Cooking, Better Homes and Gardens, Real Food Magazine, Clean Eating Magazine, VegNews, Vegetarian Times, Mother Earth News, and other print media, and online for strongertogether.coop, myfitnesspal.com and others. The Minneapolis Star Tribune named her one of their Taste 50, a list of the most influential women in food in 2015. Go to Robin Asbell Plant Based Chef YouTube channel, for cooking videos. Her blog The Real Food Journal (robinasbell.com/robinwrites) focuses on great plant based food, and her website robinasbell.com lists her classes, as well as an extensive recipe archive.

Hands-On Cooking Classes with Robin Asbell

Robin offers hands-on culinary experiences, 3.5 hours each, during which you will enjoy preparing your own meal along with fellow cooks. Classes take place at La Cocina Que Canta, our culinary center on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 4pm.

Tuesday Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM Sign Up
Each class $125+tax. Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

Wednesday Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM Sign Up
Each class $125+tax. Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

Thursday Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM Sign Up
Each class $125+tax. Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

 

 

Robin Asbell is the author of 11 cookbooks, and developed the recipes for #Eat Meat Less, for the Jane Goodall Institute in 2021. Her most recent cookbook is Vegan Meal Prep;  A 5-Week Plan with 125 Ready-to-Go Recipes ( Robert Rose).  Asbell brought the veg to the Minnesota Star Tribune with her Meatless Meals column for several years. She has written for Experience Life Magazine, Fine Cooking, Better Homes and Gardens, Real Food Magazine, Clean Eating Magazine, VegNews, Vegetarian Times, Mother Earth News, and other print media, and online for strongertogether.coop, myfitnesspal.com and others. The Minneapolis Star Tribune named her one of their Taste 50, a list of the most influential women in food in 2015. Go to Robin Asbell Plant Based Chef YouTube channel, for cooking videos. Her blog The Real Food Journal (robinasbell.com/robinwrites) focuses on great plant based food, and her website robinasbell.com lists her classes, as well as an extensive recipe archive.

Songs of Love

Elena Durán grew up in Oakland, California, and has enjoyed an international career, appearing as soloist with orchestras all over the world, playing on a number of occasions for the Queen of England as well as the President of Mexico. She has recorded with Paul McCartney and toured with jazz great Stephane Grappelli.

 

 

Born in Mexico in 1990, Edgar Ibarra studied with the distinguished teacher Arnoldo Paredes Cuesta. In addition to classical music, he has a special interest in Jazz and in 2009 won the Fine Arts Award – Jazz Piano from the Interlochen Center for the Arts, in Michigan.  In 2007 he started the group Jazz Subtilior with whom he has performed on different stages in Mexico.  With his Edgar Ibarra Jazz Trio he has performed in several halls in Mexico as well.  With renowned flutist Elena Durán, Edgar has performed many recitals, both Classical and Jazz.  During 2016 and 2017 he was a beneficiary of the Bellas Artes Opera Studio, Fonca-INBA, where he was selected to participate in the Festival of the Egean, in Syros, Greece, conducting Mozart’s Don Giovanni and performing in several recitals. In the musical theatre scene in Mexico, he performed in the play Master Class and served as musical director of Mentiras, Man of La Mancha, Hello, Dolly! and Grease, for which he also wrote the arrangements.  He was also musical director of Songs for a New World, produced by Playhouse Entertainment, and vocal director of Daddy Long Legs, produced by Oak Live.

Handwriting Analysis

The Secret in Your Script – You will be amazed at what your handwriting reveals! Learn how your handwriting is developed by your physical, intellectual, and emotional states

From Brushstrokes to Pen Strokes – Handwriting analysis of influential and famous artists.

The Hand Behind the Word –  What handwriting analysis reveals about poets and novelists.

 

 

Lena Rivkin, MFA, is Vice President of the Southern California American Handwriting Analysis Foundation.  An internationally recognized graphologist with a particular interest in the interpretation of human dynamics, she advises Fortune 500 companies in employment screening and consults as a document analyst in legal cases. She analyzes handwriting for private investigators, universities, and individuals seeking to learn more about themselves.  Lena also is a nationally exhibited visual artist and college art professor.  She has served on the art faculty at Mount St. Mary’s College, University of Phoenix, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.  A frequent interview subject, Lena has been published in many print and online publications on the subjects of graphology and art.  On the web: www.abouthandwriting.com and www.lenarivkin.net

 

The Joys of Story

Discover It, Write It, Publish It, Discuss It
Writers of all levels will learn actionable tips for brainstorming, writing and publishing everything from fiction to memoir to non-fiction. 

Get Inspired! One Writer’s Journey from Lawyer to Journalist to Novelist
Hear from author Erin Gordon about how each of her four novels evolved, where she gets story ideas and how those ideas turn into books.

Everyone’s Got a Story – Learn How to Write Yours
Whether you’re a detailed outliner or a “pantser” (flying by the seat of your pants), discover tips for not just starting your fiction or non-fiction story but finishing it.

Practical Tips for Independent Publishing
Self-publishing is easier than ever. Learn to create a professional book, including tips for cover design, formatting, distribution, marketing and even audiobooks.

Short Story Discussion Group
Writers and non-writers alike will enjoy this discussion of Pet Milk, a beloved short story by Stuart Dybek. Included, tips for starting a vibrant short story discussion group back at home.

 

A big firm lawyer-turned-journalist-turned-novelist, Erin Gordon has published four books in the women’s fiction genre (Cheer, Heads or Tails, Beshert and PEEPS) and as well as romance novels under a pen name. A graduate of UC Berkeley with a master’s in journalism from Stanford University, Erin’s work has appeared in Parenting magazine, Writer’s Digest, California Lawyer magazine and on San Francisco’s NPR station, among many others. She’s taught writing, made book store appearances, and spoken to book clubs around the country. Erin loves knitting, practicing yoga and her side hustle working with high school seniors drafting college essays.

Instagram @ErinGordonSF
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ErinGordonAuthor
TikTok @JennaStarly (pen name for contemporary romance novels)

The Functionality of Your Eye Brain Connection

The Functionality of Your Eye Brain Connection Integrating Periphery and Affecting Balance and Movement
Vision is learned, and 75% of all sensory input is vision. Based on these two facts, learning how to use your eyes and brain together in a different conscious way will allow you to elevate and expand your learning potential and maintain your aging visual process. Come and experience hands on  how you can  expand the way you see, think and  move, all inspired by enhancing your new found  vision, and learn to  integrate your eye brain and conscious connection.

How to Expand Visual Memory for the Aging Brain:  A Hands on Experiential Class
As we become aware that vision is learned, our visual memory is what will support us during our aging years but only if we know what it is and how we can access it. We are surviving on rote learning which is not serving us.  Come and learn how you can truly expand your visual memory capabilities that will serve you outside the Ranch and show you that as you tap more into the awareness of vision, your memory can expand and can support you more than you realized. Don’t wait to train your eyes and brain to have an enhanced visual memory.

Computer Vision & the Effects of Blue Light and Sleep
Come and learn how to enhance the comfort of your eyes in the ever increasing world of computer exposure, the artificial light from screens, and the effects on our sleep. Enjoy an experiential lecture on learning how to increase comfort for your tired burning eyes, and how you can optimize good sleep during these times.

 

Dana Dean, OD, is a behavioral optometrist who specializes in holistic optometry and vision intelligence. Dr. Dean has had a private optometric practice in San Diego for the past 15 years. Originally from South Africa, she completed her studies in San Diego as well as attending the New England College of Optometry in Boston. She treats her patients holistically performing vision therapy on both children and adults. Her patients also include brain injuries, stroke victims and adults who want to achieve maximum success in life and reach their true potential.  Not only does she see patients performing eye-brain-body connection and building visual efficiency, she also lectures on the topics of vision and brain integration, vision and the aging eyes, vision and spirituality, vision with balance and coordination, as well as vision intelligence. Dr. Dana Dean is also a passionate advocate for educating teachers on the importance of vision and learning in a school setting.

 

Why Vision is So Important

The Functionality of Your Eye Brain Connection Integrating Periphery and Affecting Balance and Movement
Vision is learned, and 75% of all sensory input is vision. Based on these two facts, learning how to use your eyes and brain together in a different conscious way will allow you to elevate and expand your learning potential and maintain your aging visual process. Come and experience hands on  how you can  expand the way you see, think and  move, all inspired by enhancing your new found  vision, and learn to  integrate your eye brain and conscious connection.

How to Expand Visual Memory for the Aging Brain:  A Hands on Experiential Class
As we become aware that vision is learned, our visual memory is what will support us during our aging years but only if we know what it is and how we can access it. We are surviving on rote learning which is not serving us.  Come and learn how you can truly expand your visual memory capabilities that will serve you outside the Ranch and show you that as you tap more into the awareness of vision, your memory can expand and can support you more than you realized. Don’t wait to train your eyes and brain to have an enhanced visual memory.

Computer Vision & the Effects of Blue Light and Sleep
Come and learn how to enhance the comfort of your eyes in the ever increasing world of computer exposure, the artificial light from screens, and the effects on our sleep. Enjoy an experiential lecture on learning how to increase comfort for your tired burning eyes, and how you can optimize good sleep during these times.

 

 

Dana Dean, OD, is a behavioral optometrist who specializes in holistic optometry and vision intelligence. Dr. Dean has had a private optometric practice in San Diego for the past 15 years. Originally from South Africa, she completed her studies in San Diego as well as attending the New England College of Optometry in Boston. She treats her patients holistically performing vision therapy on both children and adults. Her patients also include brain injuries, stroke victims and adults who want to achieve maximum success in life and reach their true potential.  Not only does she see patients performing eye-brain-body connection and building visual efficiency, she also lectures on the topics of vision and brain integration, vision and the aging eyes, vision and spirituality, vision with balance and coordination, as well as vision intelligence. Dr. Dana Dean is also a passionate advocate for educating teachers on the importance of vision and learning in a school setting.

 

Why Vision is So Important

The Functionality of Your Eye Brain Connection Integrating Periphery and Affecting Balance and Movement
Vision is learned, and 75% of all sensory input is vision. Based on these two facts, learning how to use your eyes and brain together in a different conscious way will allow you to elevate and expand your learning potential and maintain your aging visual process. Come and experience hands on  how you can  expand the way you see, think and  move, all inspired by enhancing your new found  vision, and learn to  integrate your eye brain and conscious connection.

How to Expand Visual Memory for the Aging Brain:  A Hands on Experiential Class
As we become aware that vision is learned, our visual memory is what will support us during our aging years but only if we know what it is and how we can access it. We are surviving on rote learning which is not serving us.  Come and learn how you can truly expand your visual memory capabilities that will serve you outside the Ranch and show you that as you tap more into the awareness of vision, your memory can expand and can support you more than you realized. Don’t wait to train your eyes and brain to have an enhanced visual memory.

Computer Vision & the Effects of Blue Light and Sleep
Come and learn how to enhance the comfort of your eyes in the ever increasing world of computer exposure, the artificial light from screens, and the effects on our sleep. Enjoy an experiential lecture on learning how to increase comfort for your tired burning eyes, and how you can optimize good sleep during these times.

 

 

Dana Dean, OD, is a behavioral optometrist who specializes in holistic optometry and vision intelligence. Dr. Dean has had a private optometric practice in San Diego for the past 15 years. Originally from South Africa, she completed her studies in San Diego as well as attending the New England College of Optometry in Boston. She treats her patients holistically performing vision therapy on both children and adults. Her patients also include brain injuries, stroke victims and adults who want to achieve maximum success in life and reach their true potential.  Not only does she see patients performing eye-brain-body connection and building visual efficiency, she also lectures on the topics of vision and brain integration, vision and the aging eyes, vision and spirituality, vision with balance and coordination, as well as vision intelligence. Dr. Dana Dean is also a passionate advocate for educating teachers on the importance of vision and learning in a school setting.

 

Somatic Remembrance, The Art of Transforming Pain into Potential

Somatic Remembrance, The Art of Transforming Pain into Potential
Our emotions carry strong magnetic and radiant power. It’s inevitable we experience worry and anxiety during these tumultuously uncertain times, and it’s easy to let our thoughts become consumed by this. Yet throughout our days we have the potential to build inner awareness, feel and heal our emotional landscape, practice interconnection and invoke our innate ability to become powerful agents of change, both at a personal and planetary level. Join Coco Swanson for an experiential dialogue, a synthesis of her lifetime of study and practice of esoteric arts, earth based spirituality and emotional empowerment.

Suffering into Radiance
Guided breath work, hands-on self-healing and dance to help you embrace and transform layers of fear and loss into joyful radiance.

Forest Bathing
Slow sensory presence to help your body remember its innate ability to connect with the magic and balance of our planet.

The Regenerative Nature of Forgiveness
Explore the miraculous practice of forgiveness through ritual and meditation to transmute energy held in your grudges and suffering.

Magic in the Mundane
Learn how to transform making your bed, brushing your teeth and preparing a meal into rituals of self-love and spiritual activism.

 

 

Coco Swanson is known for her grounded, creative, playful and powerful approach to embodied healing and transformation of the subconscious mind. As an international new paradigm leader and executive advisor, she guides people and their organizations through deep perceptual shifts initiating systematic change. Coco’s unique lens is founded in over two decades and thousands of hours of study in cross cultural healing and esoteric wisdom. She’s a prolific service based entrepreneur, dancer and lifestyle artist, currently designing a non-profit organization to offer supportive curriculum to families. elizabethcocoann.com

Chamber Music Concert

Karen Follingstad has been Professor of Piano at San Diego State University and has also taught at Kent State University, the University of Akron, and was artist faculty at the Kent-Blossom Music Festival from 1992-94, where she coached chamber music and performed with principal members of the Cleveland Orchestra.  As a solo recitalist, Dr. Follingstad has performed extensively throughout Europe and North America and has recorded for the Hessische Rundfunk and the Norwegian Radio. She has also performed recitals with cellists Yo Yo Ma and Carter Brey, violinists Andrés Cárdenes, William Preucil, Cho-Laing Lin, Eugene Fodor, and others. Ms. Follingstad has also participated in numerous prestigious music festivals.

  

Martha Aarons’ professional career began with her appointment as principal flute of the North Carolina Symphony. Subsequently she played with the Cleveland Orchestra for 25 years.  After becoming a freelancer she performed often with the Philadelphia Orchestra. During this time she appeared as guest principal flute with the Metropolitan Opera, Minnesota Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, and Mostly Mozart Festival. Ms. Aarons served as Artist Faculty with the Aspen Music Festival for 19 years. Her teaching credits include the Cleveland Institute of Music, Duke University, University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill, Oberlin College, Skidmore College, Shanghai Conservatory and Eastman School of Music. She has been soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, North Carolina Symphony, Ohio Chamber Orchestra, and with the Aspen Festival Chamber and Festival orchestras. Her first solo CD, The History of the Tango, is recorded on the Azica label and additionally features pianist Frances Renzi and Grammy-winning guitarist Jason Vieaux.  Her newest release is the CD Last Silence with violinist Lev Polyakin and pianist Frances Renzi.  Martha is also an avid runner and has qualified for her third consecutive Boston Marathon in April 2023.  Congratulations!

 

Lev Polyakin was appointed co-concertmaster of the Moscow Chamber Orchestra at age 21. In that position he was regularly featured as soloist. In the U.S. he served as assistant concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra, as well as concertmaster of the American Academy of Conducting in Aspen Music Festival. Lev has won several prizes in international violin competitions, including the Beethoven Prize in Carl Flesch in London, and Gold Medal and Special Prize in Brescia, Italy. In addition to solo performances with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, he has appeared as soloist with the London Mozart Players, Royal Philharmonic, and Cleveland Orchestra. Recording credits include Melodia, BBC, National Public Radio, and Decca. He is prominently featured on an album entitled Cafe Music comprising chamber music by Paul Schoenfield, which was nominated for a Grammy.  Lev has a special interest in jazz and has recorded three CDs, entitled Russian Blue, The Other Side of the Road, and Christmas Kaleidoscope.  He is also featured in the recent release by Azica Records entitled Last Silence, with flutist Martha Aarons and pianist Frances Renzi.

 

Explore Rancho La Puerta’s Night Sky

Explore Rancho La Puerta’s Night Sky  – Lecture
The dark skies at the Ranch provide a fabulous opportunity for seeing the wonders of Winter Sky such as the Andromeda Galaxy, the constellations of Orion (including its famous nebula), Gemini, and Taurus, and dazzling star clusters.  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. Offered several nights during the week. Please sign up at the Ranch in the Lounge.

 

John Scott Marrone has over 30 years-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 work in promoting science literacy and received the Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award in 2007 from Manhattan College. In February 1998, Scott was invited by the Aruban Government to substitute for astronomer Jay Pasachoff to lead the observing of the total solar eclipse. Most recently, Scott led the public observing session on Mauna Kea and in 2017 traveled to Wyoming with a group to view the total solar eclipse.

Lifestyle Changes

Hello and Welcome,
My name is Ben Brown, MD, and I am a Lifestyle Change Specialist. For the past three decades, I have researched and tested the best of ancient wisdom, common sense, and modern science to create a model of change, one that is simple, fun, and effective. My goal is to help you bridge the GAP between your current life and the life you were born to live. Here is to you flourishing!

Talk #1: Healing the Heart and More. The Power of Lifestyle to Reverse Disease.
Is Lifestyle Change the Hot New Drug? In this talk, we will focus on the science of simple life changes that lead to powerful changes, including the reversal of heart disease and many illnesses.  We will also explore steps you can take today to be radically well.

Talk #2: Vitality 101: Food, Plants, and the Power of Synergy.
Synergy is when 1+1 adds up to more than 2. In this talk, you will learn simple steps anyone can apply to get results.  These results can build your energy and identity so much that you will have to ask yourself, ‘What will I do with all this vitality?’

Talk #3: No time? No Problem…getting beyond the barriers to Making Lifestyle Changes Stick.
Each moment we face a choice, like Micro-Transactions with our identity, this version or me or that one. When we embrace this reality and become both the scientist and the laboratory, Living becomes a fun experiment. We can then better harness the power of our inner Reptile while Keeping It Simple, Making It Fun, and Baking It In, Forever!

 

Ben Brown, MD, is a professor at Stanford University and the University of California, San Francisco. He is the National Medical Director for Ornish Lifestyle Medicine and is the Founder of multiple non-profits, including Planet Care, the Burmese Refugee Care Project, and Integrative Medicine for the Underserved (IM4Us). He is an award-winning Teacher, Author, Photographer, and Humanitarian.

Stories of Grace and Gratitude

With the holiday season approaching, it is an ideal time to connect deeply to your own sense of gratitude, and Rancho la Puerta is just the place to do so. Gather around the fireplace to hear storyteller and author Joel ben Izzy recount a blend of favorite folktales and stories from his journeys, all of which will leave you laughing even as you discover treasures in the stories from your own life.

 

It was back in 1983, after studying English, Creative Writing, and Storytelling at Stanford, that Joel ben Izzy set off to travel the globe, gathering and telling stories.  Since that time he has taught and told stories in some 36 countries around the world. Joel has also produced six award-winning recordings of his stories and is the author of The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness (Alogonquin, 2003), which recounts his own remarkable journey of healing, and has now been translated into 18 languages. Joel will be telling stories in Oaktree as part of an evening program and, over the course of the week, will lead a class to help ranch guests discover the stories in their own lives. In addition to Joel’s performing, teaching, recording, and writing, he is one of America’s most sought-after story coaches, with clients ranging from technology companies to foundations to Pixar Animation. For more information on Joel see: Storypage.com

Stories of Wisdom, Laughter, and Healing

Come gather around the fireplace to hear storyteller and author Joel ben Izzy, who has spent his career traveling the globe, gathering and telling tales. He’ll be sharing some of his favorites with us, including stories of learning, light and laughter, taking us all on a journey, as we begin to find our own healing stories.

 

It was back in 1983, after studying English, Creative Writing, and Storytelling at Stanford, that Joel ben Izzy set off to travel the globe, gathering and telling stories.  Since that time he has taught and told stories in some 36 countries around the world. Joel has also produced six award-winning recordings of his stories and is the author of The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness (Alogonquin, 2003), which recounts his own remarkable journey of healing, and has now been translated into 18 languages. Joel will be telling stories in Oaktree as part of an evening program and, over the course of the week, will lead a class to help ranch guests discover the stories in their own lives. In addition to Joel’s performing, teaching, recording, and writing, he is one of America’s most sought-after story coaches, with clients ranging from technology companies to foundations to Pixar Animation. For more information on Joel see: Storypage.com

I Can’t Draw and You Can Too!

I Can’t Draw and You Can Too!
I have a secret to tell you. Right now, you already have all the skills you need to make sketching a satisfying life-long practice. Join me to see for yourself the habits you can develop that will make this practice an ongoing part of your life.

You’ll find that a drawing practice does more than fill scrap paper and sketchbooks with random images. It will give you a method to see things in a new way, and a habit of being more present with your surroundings. Like a puzzle, a game, or sports, sketching keeps you grounded in the here and now. It is a practice that will enhance mindfulness and attention…and it might even improve your drawing skills.

Let’s learn some simple sketch exercises that are all you need to begin a lifetime of drawing enjoyment and satisfaction.


Session One- Sunday 9am Art Studio
The first step in developing a sketching practice is to learn to look more carefully. We’ll take a look at various places and objects in our environment, and learn to evaluate the lines that makeup what we’re seeing and how to render them on the page.

Session Two- Monday 9am Art Studio
Sketch Circle! For most of us, there is nothing more intimidating than drawing another person. Let’s throw caution to the wind, pick up our pencils and take our newfound skills of observation for a spin. We’ll take turns quick-sketching one another and see how satisfying it is to quick-draw people. Come on, how much can it hurt for four minutes?

Session Three- Tuesday 9am Art Studio
Color and proportion. Let’s dip our brushes into the fun of watercolor mixing, without getting bogged down on drawing for a day. For this session, we’ll look at our world, break it down into logical components, and render the objects and areas into an abstract color block form. While creating a captivating sketch, you’ll experience the basics of color mixing!

Session Four – Wednesday 9am Art Studio

 

Tom Birmingham is an artist and photographer living and working in Big Sur, California. After years of being intimidated by the perceived rigor of developing drawing skills, he embarked on a sketch practice that immediately brought satisfaction and enhanced his experiences in his travels and his daily life. Tom is a founder of the Peninsula Sketchers in Monterey, California. He teaches line and watercolor sketch around the country and on his annual Italian sketch tours. For thirty years, Tom has taught creative expression in photography, theater, and visual arts to artists and novices, adults and children around the world.

Choose Love! The Inner Fitness Program

The Inner Fitness program is designed for accelerated transformation and awakening from the “Inside-Out”. It is a comprehensive and practical program for people seeking to heal old wounds, navigate life with greater ease, learn to feel and communicate effectively, improve personal and professional relationships, cultivate inner peace, and manifest their uniquely authentic, fulfilling, and joyous life.  And, Inner Fitness is fun!

Lesson 1: Change Your Mind
Yes, it’s possible to change our mind! And by change, I mean transform. We have most incredible power to choose the way we see, interpret, and respond to our life’s circumstances. Imagine putting on a whole new lens that quiets our well worn harmful patterns of thoughts and behaviors and allows us to see and respond with clarity and wisdom.

Lesson 2: Healthy Inner Dialogue
Do you ever wonder who’s doing all that chatting in our minds, and even more importantly, which voice we put in the driver’s seat of our lives?  We are multi-dimensional beings with multiple voices expressing their opinions and directing our actions.  Sometimes it’s our wounded child or adolescent trying to express their hurt and anger, or our critical parent wagging its finger in judgment and shame.

Lesson 3: Permission to Feel
Having access to our full range of emotions, and cultivating the skill to feel them instead of stuffing or bypassing them, is vital to living our most authentic, powerful and satisfying life.  When we know how to feel our emotions, and have the skills to express and communicate them responsibly, we feel more grounded, whole, and connected to ourselves and others!

Lesson 4: The Joy of Responsibility
Have you ever noticed that we often play the same ‘victim’ story in our mind over and over again and that we keep reacting to our life from that story, often in repetitive negative behaviors?  We get stuck in false emotions like blame, guilt, and resentment; feeling powerless to make positive changes.

Lesson 5:  Create and Manifest Your Best Life
We are always creating and manifesting our life, whether consciously or unconsciously!  Our life is a reflection of our inner world of thoughts, feelings, beliefs, attitudes, choices, and decisions!  These are our raw materials that make up our life stories and circumstances.

Remember, you are miraculous! And may all your dreams come true.

 

Emily Boorstein‘s passion and joy is to engage people in the process of self-discovery and inspired living!  Her life purpose is to live her most authentic wholehearted life and to be a guide for those who also want to live a more mindful, joyful, less stressed, more peaceful, purposeful, satisfying, well navigated and fulfilling life. Emily is the founder of The Inner Fitness™ Program and is a monthly presenter and Life Coach at Rancho La Puerta Health and Fitness Resort in Tecate, Mexico.  A Certified Life Coach since 2001, Emily maintains a private practice with clients and students from around the world. “Inside each and every one of us lies the potential to create and manifest our uniquely personal Great Life Story.”  Emily Boorstein

Awaken the Artist Within

Awaken the Artist Within
Join us for a vibrant and inspirational slideshow/talk with Erin Lee Gafill. A museum-exhibited painter and textile artist, memoirist, and international teacher, Erin’s slideshow weaves together personal stories and stunning color-rich art with practical tips on carving out time and intention for your own creative practice. Born into the mayhem and magic of Big Sur in the ’60s, Erin shares her stories of growing up at Nepenthe Restaurant, the legendary watering hole for poets, writers, and dreamers, her deep California art roots, and a chance encounter that changed her life forever and set her on her path as an artist. Her stories will touch your heart, her tips will inspire YOU to create, and her gorgeous paintings will send you home dreaming in full color!

 

An award-winning painter and author, Erin Gafill has inspired people around the world with her inspirational art, heartfelt stories, and uniquely engaging teaching methods. Her work bridges art, craft, and community, weaving observation, intuition, and imagination into her painting, writing, teaching, and public speaking. A fifth-generation California artist, she was born in Big Sur, California in 1963, the daughter of a beatnik and a hippie and the great-great-granddaughter of Carmel’s first artist-in-residence. Growing up at her grandparents’ legendary restaurant, Nepenthe, a mecca for poets, bohemians and dreamers, she drew inspiration from its ever-changing cast of characters as well as the stunning and mystical beauty of the coast. Erin is the founder of the nonprofit Big Sur Arts Initiative, and a founding member of the Monterey Bay Plein Air Painters Association. In 2001 Erin was honored to serve as the first American Artist-in-Residence at the Hamada International Children’s Museum, Hamada, Japan. In 2009, she and her husband Tom Birmingham were named Champions of the Arts by the Arts Council of Monterey County and were honored by the United States Congress for their service to the community through the arts. Her work can be seen at eringafill.com and was featured in Spring/Summer 2020 at the Monterey Museum of Art. Her inspirational memoir Drinking From a Cold Spring, a Little Book of Hope is available at Amazon.com