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Hands-On Cooking Classes to Keep Your Brain Happy

Come learn easy and delicious ways we’ve adapted recipes to help you minimize inflammation and keep your brain happy.

Join Jean Courtney and Chef Isabel Cruz for three Hands-on Cooking Classes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at La Cocina que Canta.  Register at any Health Center or at extensions 626, 631 & 640 / Fee / Meet at the Administration Building.

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 12.

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 12.

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 12.

 

 

Jean Courtney is a researcher, writer, entrepreneur, and perpetual learner on a mission to make every day wellness easy and efficient.  A decade ago, after retiring as a legal investigator, Jean shifted her focus to learning everything possible to try to avoid dementia that found her mom.  She teamed up with Isabel after a discussion about the toll dementia had taken on each of their families, and has been collaborating on easy, efficient and delicious ways to cook using neuroprotective ingredients and with an emphasis on minimizing inflammation and maximizing brain function. Jean recently completed a Soil to Table certification program living at Tres Estrellas organic farm and learning and practicing regenerative farming and food preservation techniques.  She is a firm believer that your DNA is not always your destiny – your dinner plate can be your destiny.

 

 

Isabel Cruz is the chef/current and former proprietor of a number of west coast restaurants. A pioneer of Latin fusion cuisine and Latin food with a healthy twist, Isabel has been creating healthy fusion recipes throughout her career for clients like Unilever and Rubios. Isabel also has cooked for clients such as Nikki de Saint Phalle and Deepak Chopra and his family for over 20 years. Her debut cookbook, Isabel’s Cantina: Bold Latin Flavors from the New California Kitchen, was one of the New York Times‘ Top Cookbooks of the Year and was included in Food & Wine’s Best Of, Volume 8. Her second cookbook, The Latin Table, was published in 2018.

Hands-On Cooking Classes to Keep Your Brain Happy

Come learn easy and delicious ways we’ve adapted recipes to help you minimize inflammation and keep your brain happy.

Join Jean Courtney and Chef Isabel Cruz for three Hands-on Cooking Classes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at La Cocina que Canta.  Register at any Health Center or at extensions 626, 631 & 640 / Fee / Meet at the Administration Building.

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 12.

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 12.

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 12.

 

 

Jean Courtney is a researcher, writer, entrepreneur, and perpetual learner on a mission to make every day wellness easy and efficient.  A decade ago, after retiring as a legal investigator, Jean shifted her focus to learning everything possible to try to avoid dementia that found her mom.  She teamed up with Isabel after a discussion about the toll dementia had taken on each of their families, and has been collaborating on easy, efficient and delicious ways to cook using neuroprotective ingredients and with an emphasis on minimizing inflammation and maximizing brain function. Jean recently completed a Soil to Table certification program living at Tres Estrellas organic farm and learning and practicing regenerative farming and food preservation techniques.  She is a firm believer that your DNA is not always your destiny – your dinner plate can be your destiny.

 

 

Isabel Cruz is the chef/current and former proprietor of a number of west coast restaurants. A pioneer of Latin fusion cuisine and Latin food with a healthy twist, Isabel has been creating healthy fusion recipes throughout her career for clients like Unilever and Rubios. Isabel also has cooked for clients such as Nikki de Saint Phalle and Deepak Chopra and his family for over 20 years. Her debut cookbook, Isabel’s Cantina: Bold Latin Flavors from the New California Kitchen, was one of the New York Times‘ Top Cookbooks of the Year and was included in Food & Wine’s Best Of, Volume 8. Her second cookbook, The Latin Table, was published in 2018.

Integrative Medicine and Optimal Health

Letting Go of Anxiety
Can you build your centering muscles? In her talk, Dr Victoria Maizes will help you build the skills to address the “oh so common” experience of anxiety. She will explore mind-body practices, imagery, music, supplements and much more. Expect to learn at least one new way to address your emotional health!

 

Nourishing Your Health by Living Green
Modern life exposes us to chemicals that subtly or profoundly impact our health.  We absorb toxins in the food we eat, the beverages we drink, the containers they come in, the personal care products that we put on our skin, and the sprays we use in and around our homes. Mounting evidence links environmental toxins to developmental disorders, obesity, heart disease, cancer, and neurodegenerative changes. Dr. Victoria Maizes addresses the evidence for harm, the steps we can take to reduce exposures, and the multitude of resources that can help nourish our own health and that of future generations.

 

Vibrantly Healthy Women
Questions about women’s health and well-being frequently arise in an integrative health practice. Hormones, bone density, and weight management are common concerns. Dr. Victoria Maizes, an internationally recognized women’s health expert will address the science that supports women in their efforts to live vibrantly healthy lives.

 

 

Victoria Maizes, MD is Executive Director of the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine and a Professor of Medicine, Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of Arizona. Internationally recognized as a leader in integrative medicine, Dr. Maizes is committed to helping individuals live healthier lives and pioneering change efforts that solve health care system problems.

A highly sought-after speaker, Dr. Maizes lectures worldwide on integrative medical education, women’s health, pain management, environmental issues, healthy aging, nutrition, and cancer. She co-edited the Oxford University textbook Integrative Women’s Health and is the author of Be Fruitful: The Essential Guide to Maximizing Fertility and Giving Birth to a Healthy Child.  Together with Dr. Andrew Weil, she co-hosts the popular podcast Body of Wonder.

 

Concerts

Dances and Fantasies for Two Violins & Piano
From Gypsy Airs to Hip Hop Fantasies this toe-tapping program will make you want to get up and dance. Monique Mead presents a program with Gregory & Lori Walker that includes Monti’s Czardas, Sarasate’s Habanera, Violin Blues, and Gregory Walker’s own Rock, Pop & Hip Hop Fantasies.

 

Tangos and Spanish Flair
Violinist Monique Mead and guitarist Mircea Gogoncea treat you to a delightful program of Spanish music, sizzling Argentinian tangos and a romantic Italian serenade. This is a concert you’ll not want to miss!

 

Romantic Guitar Duo
Husband and wife guitar duo Ashley Lucero and Mircea Gogoncea perform a diverse program of Spanish, Latin, Balkan, and contemporary American music. As a special treat, the concert will also feature some of Lucero’s own music, including an homage to the great French master, Claude Debussy.

 

Interactive Concert with Mircea
Enjoy a glass of wine and an entertaining program with guitarist Mircea Gogoncea who invites you participate with options for clapping, stomping, or humming. Cheers to the musician in each of us!

 

 MUSICAL TALKS
Gregory: The One-Drop Rule: A Brief History of Multi-Racial Musicians
Monique: Yogic Principles for Peak Performance

 

 

 

 

Ashley (Ash) Lucero is a guitarist, composer, and educator from the United States known for her musicality and humor on stage. She explores multiple styles through both intensive performance study and inspired improvisation. She is currently attending the University of Southern California in pursuit of her Doctorate in Musical Arts and studies classical guitar privately with Bill Kanengiser of the Grammy Award winning group, the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. Her other musical styles include flamenco guitar and avant-garde improvisation.

 

 

Mircea Gogoncea is a 30-year-old Romanian-German classical guitarist based in Los Angeles. He has performed in over 350 concerts on 5 continents. With a total of 169 competition prizes, he is also considered one of the most awarded guitarists in the world. He is Head of Guitar at tonebase, the leading online resource for video tutorials with the world’s most inspiring musicians. Last week, he graduated with a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Southern California, his sixth university degree and second doctoral-level diploma. His debut as a composer took place in early 2022, when he performed an entire concert of music he wrote for guitar, live electronics, and audience participation.

 

 

Since his Philadelphia Orchestra debut, praised by the American Record Guide as a performance of “precision and rapturous immediacy,” violinist and composer Gregory Walker has developed unique collaborations with the Poland’s Sinfonia Varsovia, Filharmonia Sudecka and the Encuentro Musical de los Americas in Havana, Cuba, as well as the Detroit Symphony and the Colorado Symphony.  An American Academy of Arts and Letters fellowship-winning composer, University of Colorado Denver professor, and sometime guitar hero profiled in Guitar for the Practicing Musician magazine, he was the subject of Song of the Untouchable, an internationally-distributed documentary filmed in Kerala, India.

 

 

Multi-instrumentalist Lori Wolf Walker received her Master of Music degree in piano performance at the University of Colorado Boulder.  She was a prizewinner in several competitions in the Southwestern United States, and has performed around the world for the past 27 years as part of the Walker Duo.  Her broad range of musical experience includes several years performing as an electric bassist and synthesist with rock bands in Los Angeles, and she has been a violinist in the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra since 1993.  A CD entitled Electric Vivaldi, on which she is featured as synthesist, was released on the Newport Classic label in March 2006

 

 

A passionate ambassador of classical music, violinist Monique Mead enjoys a rich career as a performer, educator, and innovator. Working internationally with ensembles such as the Pittsburgh Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Cologne Philharmonic, Munich Radio Orchestra, Düsseldorf Symphony, Berlin Radio Orchestra, and the RIAS Chamber Choir, her innovative programs have raised new audiences for classical music and deepened the experience for seasoned concertgoers. In addition to her performing career, Monique currently serves as currently serves as Director of Music Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University and Artistic Director of the Rancho La Puerta Chamber Music Festival. As an advocate for the healing power of music, Monique has spearheaded initiatives surrounding music for mental health, such as “Beethoven in the Face of Adversity,” in which she performed the Beethoven Violin Concerto 50 times in 250 days for people suffering from various adversities. In response to the current mental health crisis, Monique now partners with Pittsburgh’s Awareness & Wellness Center, where she offers trauma-informed sound healing classes.

 

 

 

 

Cooking Classes: Brain Health Kitchen

Stay Sharp with Age! 10 Key Factors to Take Care of Your Brain
Everyone wants to stay sharp with age! As baby boomers mature into older age groups, however, we are seeing more cases of dementia than ever before. “Here’s the good news,” says Dr. Annie Fenn: “We’re finding that up to 60% of all dementias could be prevented by paying attention to what we eat and how we live.” The scientific research is exploding with information about how to fend off age-related cognitive decline—in particular Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia. That’s why Dr. Annie Fenn, a physician, chef, and culinary instructor, created the Brain Health Kitchen, the only cooking school of its kind to focus specifically on fending off Alzheimer’s. As both a Presenter and Visiting Chef, Dr. Fenn brings the Brain Health Kitchen to the Ranch. She’ll share the latest science in a talk about what to eat to nourish and protect your brain. You will learn real-life take-aways you can start using today. At La Cocina Que Canta, she’ll offer three hands-on cooking classes focused on easy and delicious meals using nutrient dense, anti-inflammatory ingredients. You will learn key cooking techniques specific to Alzheimer’s prevention, such as how to cook with olive oil without destroying its healthy fats. And, you will learn how to avoid the foods that contribute to cognitive decline.

 

Join Visiting Chef Annie Fenn for three Hands-on Cooking Classes on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 4 pm at La Cocina que Canta.  Register at any Health Center at extensions 631 & 640 / Fee / Meet at the Administration Building.

 

 

Dr. Annie Fenn is a physician, chef, and leading voice in the Alzheimer’s prevention movement. As a Board Certified Obstetrician/Gynecologist and Menopausal Health Expert, she has helped her patients age gracefully for decades. Dr. Fenn switched gears in 2010 to practice medicine from a different angle—as a chef and culinary instructor. She attended culinary school in Italy, Mexico, and at the Culinary Institute of America. In 2015, she launched Brain Health Kitchen, the only cooking school of its kind to focus exclusively on preventing Alzheimer’s and dementia. Dr. Fenn teaches the Brain Health Kitchen method of cooking throughout the U.S. and abroad. To date, more than one thousand participants have enrolled in the hands-on cooking school. She is currently under contract with Artisan Books for a science-based brain health cookbook due out in 2022.

 

Annie 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 12.

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 12.

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 12.

Yam Beat Concert

Yam Beat is a duet from the bicultural city of Tijuana bordering San Diego. Yamel Kuri, soprano, and Erich Otero, pianist, have a culturally varied repertoire. Paulina López joins them with her violin. For this occasion, they have prepared a set of special songs.

 

Love At Last

Join Lara for a two-part presentation on Sunday and Thursday evenings, as she shares music and stories from this powerful new collection, and invites RLP guests to participate in her national initiative I Believe, launched in 2022 as an NPR Morning Edition project to create a “Credo” for our own time and a vision of our future by voicing the beliefs that can, after all and despite everything, unite us in a vision of shared humanity and a greater good.

 

Billboard chart-topping pianist, cultural catalyst and media personality Lara Downes, called “a musical ray of hope” by NBC News, brings to the Ranch a preview of her upcoming solo album Love At Last, a lyrical collection of music exploring themes of renewal, rebirth, and redemption, by composers who span continents, cultures, and centuries, united in a vision of shared humanity, the possibility of peace and compassion, and the everlasting power of love. The album is inspired by this poem from the 19th century Ukrainian poet Shaul Tchernichovsky:

Laugh at all my dreams, my dearest
Laugh and I repeat anew
That I still believe in man
As I still believe in you.
Let the time be dark with hatred
I believe in years beyond
Love at last shall bind the peoples
In an everlasting bond

MUSIC LINK: Lara Downes: Laugh At All My Dreams
https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1366435915%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-KQbcXX42zAo&color=%23562635&auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=false
https://soundcloud.com/laradownes/03-laugh-at-all-my-dreams/s-KQbcXX42zAo

NPR Tiny Desk Concert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwSBAS2Pp-U 

New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/24/arts/music/lara-downes-scott-joplin-piano.html

Learn more at LaraDownes.com.

Circling the Ranch: Unfurling the Power of Labyrinth Walking

Step into the power of labyrinth walking and widen the circles of your precious life.
Our walks will unfurl on the Ranch’s labyrinth, which sits in the Bosque de Paz. The labyrinth is encircled by a grove of live oaks whose branches arch overhead, much like the spires of the Chartres Cathedral that rise above the ancient stone labyrinth upon which the Ranch’s labyrinth is patterned.

As we walk the labyrinth together, we will look for the ancient symbols incorporated into the Ranch’s labyrinth to help set our intentions and reveal insights. We will listen to the words of poets, the music of flutes, and the sounds of nature to fire our imaginations and seed our dreams. We will feel the movement of our bodies as we navigate the labyrinth’s twists and turns to find paces and places where our dreams can take root. And we will forge paths for incorporating labyrinth walks into an ongoing meditative practice – at the Ranch and beyond.

 

Evening Program: Unfurl the power of labyrinth walking.
This conversation will introduce you to the powerful practice of labyrinth walking as a meditative tool. It also provides a historical backdrop to the creation of labyrinths throughout the ages, with a special focus on the symbols found in the Ranch’s labyrinth. Take learnings from this conversation into your engagement with the Ranch’s labyrinth – either on your own or with others throughout the week’s group labyrinth walks.

 

Day One’s Labyrinth Walk: Setting intentions and opening to insights.
Invitation: You are invited to bring a question or concern that you are pondering.

 

Day Two’s Labyrinth Walk: Firing imaginations and listening to Emily’s forest of dreams.
Invitation: You are invited to bring your sketchbook or journal to capture your labyrinth walk experience.

 

Day Three’s Labyrinth Walk: Rooting dreams and planting prayers.
Invitation: You are invited to bring your prayer arrow (from Tim Hinchliff’s prayer arrow-making workshop) or another physical object that represents a dream or prayer. Also consider inviting your childhood self to dance the labyrinth.

 

 

 

 

Deborah Burand has walked labyrinths from Europe to North America, including the labyrinth designed by her father in their hometown of Anderson, Indiana. She began facilitating labyrinth walks after accompanying her father to France where together they walked the Chartres Cathedral’s labyrinth and began studying under Lauren Artress, founder and creative director of Veriditas (a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring personal and planetary change and renewal through the labyrinth experience). Deborah’s essay, Circling the Ranch, which was published online by the Ranch to commemorate its 80th anniversary, describes how she brought her 86-year-old father to walk the Ranch’s labyrinth (https://rancholapuerta.com/circling-the-ranch-by-deborah-burand/?msclkid=f89604ecbffb11ec9875a883f5855b10).

Deborah is a Professor of Clinical Law at New York University where she teaches experiential courses in the fields of impact investing and social entrepreneurship. She also is the faculty co-director of the Grunin Center for Law and Social Entrepreneurship, the first of its kind at a law school. The Financial Times recently recognized her multi-disciplinary teaching materials for their creativity and innovation in sustainable finance education.

Deborah’s innovative and creative spirit is not confined to the classroom. She has co-founded a virtual library (the Library of the Great Lakes), a professional association (Women Advancing Microfinance (WAM) International), and a legal community of practice (the Impact Investing Legal Working Group (IILWG)). She also sits on the boards of several impact investing organizations. Her creative writing and artwork have been published in literary journals and magazines.

She divides her time between New York City and Saugatuck, Michigan.

Happy Birthday, dear Deborah!

It’s impossible to blow out 100 candles on a cake!
(Without your help, that is!)

Welcome to Deborah Szekely’s birthday week at Rancho La Puerta.
As our guest during this special week, you are invited to TWO unforgettable birthday events. 

Monday, May 2, Deborah’s lecture 4 p.m. “How it feels to reach 100” followed by a Q & A

Tuesday, May 3, lunch, 12 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. at the Ranch Dining Room and Patios

We’ll gather for a lunchtime fiesta with cake and a toast to honor our new Centenarian!

The Second Half: Forty Women Reveal Life After Fifty

 

 

Ellen Warner began her career as a photojournalist in 1969 and since then has photographed all over the world. Her photographs have been published in numerous newspapers and magazines and exhibited extensively. Over the years she has developed a specialty in author portraits and has worked for most publishing houses in New York and London. She has also written travel articles which have been published in The New York Times, Travel and Leisure, and the Traveler Magazine.

For the past fifteen years Ellen has photographed and interviewed women worldwide for her recently published book The Second Half: Forty Women Reveal Life After Fifty. Ellen explores how women of many different cultures and socio-economic backgrounds view the second half of their lives, and what they learned in the first half that has helped them in the second.

Ellen will introduce us to the women – from a magic woman in Bali to Olivia de Havilland in Paris – as she describes the evolution of the book with a slide show.

Empower Your Health: Your Road Map for Everyday Wellbeing

Your most valuable resource is your energy. Learn the tools to amplify your life force and feel strong in your body

Your Life Force Matters- Elevate your Health and Vitality
It’s time to debunk the myths about what it takes to empower your health. In this presentation, Oliveyah will share the common mistakes people make when trying to make life changes and the truth about what is needed to feel strong and powerful in your body.

 

Workshop Day 1: Your Empowered State: You Matter, Make Time
Learn the tools to make a way out of no way even when your life is full. It’s time to amplify your health and life.

  • Separate from the things that are not working to make space for what you want to bring in.
  • Make time for yourself: You just need 10 minutes a day.
  • Build your muscle of pride and increase your confidence.

 

Workshop Day 2: Your Powerful State: Be in the Business of Your Health
Only 2% of people who make a new year’s resolution to lose weight reach their goals. Learn the skills to empower your health. You have the ingredients; here is the recipe for what you are longing for.

  • Get out of stress and overwhelm as you release your fears and slow down.
  • Increase your energy and access your unique skill set: Everything is available to you as a possibility.
  • Nourish the parts of your life that want to be nourished as you access your body wisdom, mind, emotions and spiritual self.

 

Workshop 3: Your Effortless State: Rinse, Recover, Repeat
Make your life easier and learn the coping strategies to find your way back when you feel you have lost your way.

  • Commit to empowered action as you prioritize what matter to you most.
  • Include celebration and play and make the effortless tasks more enjoyable.
  • Practice self-compassion and tapping into your creativity and intuition.

 

 

 

Oliveyah Fisch is a leading expert in the health and fitness industry with over 20 years of experience as a coach. She has helped hundreds of people improve their health and amplify their lives. Her signature LIV Empowered Programs have been praised for being refreshing, fun, educational, engaging and inspiring. She provides practical tools and techniques that give value to her audience and methods for sustainable change.

Oliveyah offers 1:1 coaching and group coaching. She is an author, public speaker and trainer. Her corporate partners include Forager Project, YouTube, Salesforce, Allbirds and Google.

Jazz Standards

Pamela Polland is an award-winning singer/songwriter, with three albums on Columbia and Epic as well as two more independently released albums to her credit.  Over the course of literally 50 years in the music business, this seasoned professional has performed and recorded with such luminaries as Bonnie Raitt, Kenny Loggins, Jackson Browne, Van Morrison, Ry Cooder, Taj Mahal, John Denver, Manhattan Transfer and a host of others. In 1970, Pamela joined the famed Mad Dogs & Englishmen Tour with Joe Cocker and Leon Russell, appearing on the resulting album as well as in the movie. Her songs have been recorded by the likes of Linda Ronstadt, Helen Reddy, The Byrds, Anita Carter, Vicki Carr, Nancy Ames and Bobby Bare. Pamela has also won numerous awards, including two coveted gold records. She also appeared in the Academy Award and Grammy Award winning film 20 Feet from Stardom.  After achieving status as a well-established vocal coach and jazz singer, Pamela then devoted herself to Hawaiian culture for nearly twenty years studying language, dance, and music with the pre-eminent teachers in each field. Pamela’s love of Hawaiian music and language and her rich history in contemporary music inevitably coalesced, inspiring her CD Hawaiianized.  On the web: pamelapolland.com

 

 

 

Ross Gualco was born and raised in Oakland, California where he studied piano with renowned bay area jazz pianist Don Burke. He studied music at Cal State Hayward before touring as musical director of the show band “Sounds of Joy.”  He has played with jazz and rock luminaries such as Tom Scott, Steve Miller, Joe Satriani, Michael Bublé, Clark Terry, John Handy and Tommy Smothers. He has been musical director for many well-known Bay Area artists and shows including Val Diamond and Teatro ZinZanni, and more recently the San Francisco Circus Cabaret.

 

 

Leading your Life with Intention

Presented by Executive Coach and Leadership Professor Meredith Persily Lamel, this series of workshops will support you both personally and professionally to reach your goals and live with greater intentionality.

 

Workshop 1: Design Your Leadership Path
Based on her book Six Paths to Leadership (Palgrave Macmillan 2021), Meredith will help you explore what’s next on your leadership path. For individuals who hold leadership positions or are looking to advance in their careers, this workshop outlines the six possible paths into leadership positions to help you identify which one(s) might be best for you!

 

Workshop 2: Goal Setting – How to bring Greater Intention to your Personal and Professional Life
In this workshop, Meredith will walk you through a goal-setting process to help you to identify the goals that will be both meaningful and achievable on your path to greater fulfillment. Whether you are early in your career, thinking about life post-retirement, or adjusting to a new family dynamic, you can live your life with greater intention by regularly engaging in a robust goal-setting process.

 

Workshop 3: What’s Getting in Your Way?
Based on Kegan and Lahey’s Immunity to Change Model, this workshop will help you to identify the competing commitments that might be standing in your way as you pursue your goals.  We will explore underlying values, possible mindset barriers, as well as experiments you can try.

 

Workshop 4: Strategic Delegation – How to Effectively Ask for Help!
Many of us feel overextended, exhausted, and overwhelmed. Yet we aren’t using a critical tool in our toolkit: delegation! Whether it’s delegating to co-workers, team members, family, or friends, we need to change our mindset about “asking for help”. In this workshop, you will take a short quiz to uncover your own resistance to delegating. We will then focus on new mindsets, tools, and behaviors around delegation.

 

 

Meredith Persily Lamel, MBA, PCC is an executive coach, leadership professor, and co-author of Six Paths to Leadership (Palgrave Macmillan 2021). She has delivered leadership programs in 17 countries across five continents and in 38 states and the District of Columbia. Meredith also serves on the faculty American University’s Key Leadership Programs and has facilitated over 100 retreats for US Senate and Congressional offices.  She graduated with an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BA with honors from Brown University. She earned a Certificate in Leadership Coaching from Georgetown University and is credentialed as a Professional Certified Coach (P.C.C.) by the International Coach Federation.

 

 

 

 

Piano Concert

Beethoven’s Magnificent Late Sonata Opus 106 (the “Hammerklavier”)
One of Beethoven’s most innovative, challenging, and deeply moving works, performed by Aleck Karis.

 

 

Aleck Karis has performed recitals, chamber music, and concertos across the Americas, Europe, Japan, and China.  As the pianist of the new music ensemble Speculum Musicae he has participated in over a hundred premieres and performed at major American and European festivals.  His appearances with orchestra have ranged from concertos by Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin to those of Stravinsky, Messiaen and Carter.  His seven solo discs on Bridge Records are: Chopin/Carter/Schumann, Mozart, Stravinsky, Cage, Feldman/Webern/Wolpe, Poulenc, and most recently, Debussy.  His two discs on Roméo Records are Music of Philip Glass and Late Chopin.  A Distinguished Professor of music at the UCSD, he has studied at the Manhattan School and Juilliard, and his teachers include William Daghlian, Artur Balsam and Beveridge Webster.

Nutrition

Eating for Energy: Ways to Change What you Eat from SAD to Glad
Come learn about how food provides energy to sustain you throughout your day and throughout your life. Jill provides an overview of her top food choices for health and longevity. She will also talk about how to make dietary changes, if you want to.

 

Superfoods and Supplements: What Do You Really Need?
Which are truly “superfoods” and why? We seem to have become a nation of people who take many supplements. Which ones might be good for you? How to tell? And why take them? In this session Jill Nussinow will discuss what you need to know to give your food a boost.

 

Tap into Your Nutrition Intuition
In this session you will learn about “intuitive eating” and how to use what you already know to nudge your eating habits in the best direction for you. Learn the process to keep yourself accountable. You will also learn about resources that feed into this way of thinking about eating. Jill will also discuss some common foods that can lead us in a more unhealthy direction and how to deal with those.

 

Your Gut, Your Health: Probiotics and Beyond
Come learn about the role that a “healthy and happy” gut plays in your overall health from head to toe, and everywhere in between. Jill will discuss prebiotics, probiotics and steps you can take to maintain good gut health, immunity and more.

 

 

 

Jill Nussinow is a culinary educator, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and the author of four cookbooks. Her award-winning cookbooks feature plant-based recipes and include The Veggie Queen: Vegetables Get the Royal TreatmentThe New Fast FoodNutrition CHAMPS and her most recent book: Vegan Under Pressure. Jill is a pressure cooking (think Instant Pot), vegetable, fermentation and mushroom expert.  She has been helping people achieve better health through teaching them about improved nutrition through food. Jill has been teaching people about plants and how to cook with them for the past 30 years. She is an adjunct culinary instructor at Santa Rosa Junior College, teaches for the McDougall program and is a frequent cooking teacher and guest nutrition lecturer at Rancho La Puerta. www.theveggiequeen.com

Nutrition

Eating for Energy: Ways to Change What you Eat from SAD to Glad
Come learn about how food provides energy to sustain you throughout your day and throughout your life. Jill provides an overview of her top food choices for health and longevity. She will also talk about how to make dietary changes, if you want to.

 

Superfoods and Supplements: What Do You Really Need?
Which are truly “superfoods” and why? We seem to have become a nation of people who take many supplements. Which ones might be good for you? How to tell? And why take them? In this session Jill Nussinow will discuss what you need to know to give your food a boost.

 

Tap into Your Nutrition Intuition
In this session you will learn about “intuitive eating” and how to use what you already know to nudge your eating habits in the best direction for you. Learn the process to keep yourself accountable. You will also learn about resources that feed into this way of thinking about eating. Jill will also discuss some common foods that can lead us in a more unhealthy direction and how to deal with those.

 

Your Gut, Your Health: Probiotics and Beyond
Come learn about the role that a “healthy and happy” gut plays in your overall health from head to toe, and everywhere in between. Jill will discuss prebiotics, probiotics and steps you can take to maintain good gut health, immunity and more.

 

 

 

Jill Nussinow is a culinary educator, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and the author of four cookbooks. Her award-winning cookbooks feature plant-based recipes and include The Veggie Queen: Vegetables Get the Royal TreatmentThe New Fast FoodNutrition CHAMPS and her most recent book: Vegan Under Pressure. Jill is a pressure cooking (think Instant Pot), vegetable, fermentation and mushroom expert.  She has been helping people achieve better health through teaching them about improved nutrition through food. Jill has been teaching people about plants and how to cook with them for the past 30 years. She is an adjunct culinary instructor at Santa Rosa Junior College, teaches for the McDougall program and is a frequent cooking teacher and guest nutrition lecturer at Rancho La Puerta. www.theveggiequeen.com

Embracing Nature’s Intelligence

Embracing nature’s intelligence – on Earth Week
In celebration of Earth Day, Mark and Clare Dubois give you an opportunity to experience a different relationship with nature as ancestor, teacher and catalyst. This workshop will combine lessons from the river with an experiential journey into connection with the planetary mind as an aspect of your greater self. This is a moment for expanded gratitude and love. Come to be nourished, inspired and discover more of your inner nature.

 

 

 

For Mark Dubois, a love affair with a river transformed his life.  He worked with the Pachamama Alliance & their partners, was Co-International Coordinator of Earth Day 1990 and 2000, he collaborated with thousands of groups in 184 countries in which 200 million citizens actively engaged –awarded ”the largest peace event in human history.”   He co-founded the International Rivers Network (’84), Friends of the River (’74) and the Environmental Traveling Companions (’72). One of his best-known actions, putting his life on the line to try to save his beloved river, was recently featured in a film, Voice of a River.

 

 

Clare Dubois is the founder and CEO of TreeSisters.org, a global women’s movement spanning multiple countries, which has collectively funded the planting of over 15 million trees. TreeSisters is a social change movement and a tropical reforestation organization working towards normalizing cultural reciprocity with nature. The aim of both Clare and TreeSisters is to make it as normal to give back to nature as it currently is to take nature for granted, while supporting humanity in its transition from a consumer species to a restorer species. Before founding TreeSisters, Clare worked internationally for over two decades, coaching business leaders and facilitating group behavior change processes in multiple sectors, bringing her direct, catalytic energy, her inspirational speaking, and her holistic approach to collective transformation.

The New Science of Wellbeing

The goal of these presentations is to explain what modern psychology, biology, and neuroscience tell us about how to increase our well-being in this complicated world. Each class will present fascinating insights on one ancient practice each session.

 

Compassion Meditation
Eastern philosophy was first used as a medical treatment in the US in the 1970s for treatment-resistant chronic pain. It is now seen in a range of therapies for mental and physical health. The active components of Eastern philosophy that appear in increasingly common therapies like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy will be presented in detail.

 

Eastern Philosophy
Compassion Meditation is an ancient practice that we now increasingly understand how to use effectively. This session with explain the history and variations of compassion meditation traditions across cultures, define the experience of compassion vs. empathy, and explore the science about how these meditation techniques impact physical health and mental health.

 

 

 

Julie Kangas, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist, certified yoga teacher, and certified compassion meditation teacher. She is an assistant clinical professor at University of California, San Diego and a psychologist at the San Diego Veteran’s Hospital. She treats Veterans with PTSD and conducts research applying yoga and meditation as treatments for mental and physical illness. She serves as the Co-Director of the Advanced Fellowship for Women’s Health and teaches doctoral and post-doctoral candidates in clinical psychology. She was recently honored by the George W. Bush Presidential Center for her leadership in serving post-9/11 Veterans. Visit her website: drjuliekangas.com

Hands-on Cooking Classes with Jill Silverman Hough

Food and Wine Pairing Dinner Tuesday 4:00 pm Sign Up
Experience all there is to love about food, wine, and enjoying them together in fun, friendly dinner featuring 100 Perfect Parings cookbook author Jill Silverman Hough, La Cocina Que Canta cuisine, and Valle de Guadelupe wines.

After a brief tour of the Tres Estrellas garden, we’ll start with an interactive tasting of different wines and different flavors, to give you a direct experience of how the “wrong” combinations can literally leave a bad taste in your mouth, as well as what does work and why.

The tasting will be followed by a multi-course meal that perfectly pairs Jill’s recipes with luscious local wines.

You’ll leave with an understanding of the basic rules of food and wine pairing, the tools to create your own combinations at home—and a happy tummy full of delicious food and drink.

Class costs $150+tax.

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 12.

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 12.

 

 

Jill Silverman Hough’s cookbooks include 100 Perfect Pairings: Small Plates to Enjoy with Wines You Love, 100 Perfect Pairings: Main Dishes to Enjoy with Wines You Love, and a mini e-book Finger Lickin’ Chicken. Other book projects include co-authoring The Clean Plates Cookbook and developing the recipes for New York Times’ best-seller Skinny Bitch in the Kitch. Her writing, recipes, and photography have appeared in magazines including Bon Appétit, Cooking Light, Napa Sonoma, Clean Eating, where she’s on the advisory board, and Fine Cooking, where she is a contributing writer. She creates recipes for brands and commodity boards including the National Pork Board, the California Milk Advisory Board, California Sweetpotatoes, Lindsay Olives, Annie’s Homegrown, Circulon, Anolon, and Grgich Hills Estate Winery. She also teaches cooking to home chefs around the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Want happy cooking and delicious food? Subscribe to Jill’s recipes and kitchen tips at www.jillhough.com and follow on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram.

Music for Solo Cello

Contemporary Pieces by Women Composers for Solo Cello
Portrait by Jane Antonia Cornish
The Whale Song by Michelle Ross
Vetur by Melia Watras
48 Images of the Moon by Þuríður Jónsdóttir

 

J.S. Bach Suites
Suite #1
Suite #3
Suite #5

 

Sonic Meditation with Cello
Combining guided meditation, musical improvisation, and deep healing, Saeunn leads a circle exploring intentions and emotions through the sound of her cello. Bring your intention or just let the vibrations wash over you, all are welcome!

 

 

 

 

Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir is an Icelandic-American cellist who has appeared as a soloist with the BBC Symphony, LA Philharmonic, Toronto, Seattle, and Iceland Symphonies. Her recitals and chamber music performances have taken her to some of the world’s most prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall, Suntory Hall, Elbphilharmonie and the Barbican Center in London.  A graduate of Juilliard, Sæunn is the creator of Cello Sound Alchemy and teaches at the University of Washington in Seattle, as well as at masterclasses and workshops around the globe. Her performances have garnered numerous prizes in international competitions, including the Naumburg Competition in New York and the Antonio Janigro Competition in Zagreb. The NYTimes described her work as “charismatic” and “riveting”, and the LATimespraised her performances for their “emotional intensity”.  She recently released an album of Icelandic music for solo cello, “Vernacular”, and her recording of the cello concerto “Quake” by Páll Ragnar Pálsson with the Iceland Symphony was nominated for a 2020 Grammy award. Her recording of the Six Bach Suites is scheduled for release in early 2022 on the Sono Luminus label. www.saeunn.com

 

 

Clinical Fitness Assessment

Cardiorespiratory Fitness (CRF) level is the strongest predictor of all-cause and disease-specific mortality.  CRF is related to functional capacity, human performance, and metabolic efficiency. In other words, your CRF level sheds light on how well you can perform in a variety of physical activities and how well you are able to burn the calories you consume.

 

The RLP Clinical Fitness Assessment includes two 30 minutes sessions with Registered Clinical Exercise Physiologist, Jody Miller, during your week at the Ranch. During session one, Body Composition and Aerobic Capacity are assessed.

Body Composition is assessed using the skinfold caliper method with measures taken at several sites on the body (thigh, triceps, subscapular, supra-iliac and abdomen).

Aerobic Capacity (METS) is assessed using a sub-maximal cycling protocol. Guests ride a Schwinn AirDyne to a predetermined target heart rate. Heart rate and blood pressure are monitored.

 

During session two, a summary of your results will be reviewed, and personalized recommendations will be provided.

 

Appointments are available:
Mondays & Wednesdays 8:30 – 1:00pm
Tuesdays & Thursdays 11:30am – 4:00pm

 

Please call the Appointments Desk to schedule your Clinical Fitness Assessment.

Two Session Assessment (in person at the Ranch) – $235.00
Two Session Assessment plus five 30 minute virtual follow up/coaching sessions (to be scheduled within six months of your Ranch visit) – $835.00

 

 

Jody Miller, Registered Clinical Exercise Physiologist will provide both the Assessment and Coaching Follow up. Jody works with women and men of all ages to help them achieve weight loss and fitness goals, ultimately reducing the risk of chronic disease. Jody’s specialty is behavior change and sustainable life-long, non-diet approaches addressing an array of health concerns including but not limited to Hypertension, Heart Disease, Diabetes, Chronic Pain, Pregnancy, Infertility, Menopause, Multiple Sclerosis, Arthritis and Osteoporosis.

Jody is a member of and received the Registered Clinical Exercise Physiologist credential from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). She is a member of the Clinical Exercise Physiology Association (CEPA), IDEA Health and Fitness Association, and has received the Exercise is Medicine EIMä designation.

 

Meditation (Living Life As It Is)

A life well lived is full of surprises. Challenges never cease and we can meet them with a hardiness of spirit based on love and wise action. Using breath exercises, stories and mindfulness practices derived from wisdom traditions we will explore the strength and wisdom within us. Each day Phyllis and Elana will offer a meditation and contemplation to cultivate attitudes such as gratitude, acceptance, compassion and kindness that lighten the heart and mind so we can face what arises with joy and resilience

 

 

 

One of the original teachers of the renowned Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program, Elana Rosenbaum has been a leader in the mindfulness field for over forty years integrating it into the practice of psychotherapy and healthcare. She has authored three books and is sought after internationally as a mindfulness coach and consultant, speaker, and workshop leader. An expert in adapting the MBSR program to a variety of diverse environments and populations, Elana creates inspirational lectures and programs that she enjoys sharing all over the world. Her authority and wisdom, forged through her surviving cancer and a stem cell transplant, and her many years teaching and helping others be well, brings an authenticity and depth to her work. She is associated with the Mindfulness Center at Brown University, the University of Massachusetts Healthcare Center for Mindfulness and Harvard’s Center for Mindfulness and Compassion. She is currently bringing mindfulness to wise aging. Her motto is, “Yes, to life and all that’s in it.”

Phyllis Pilgrim worked at Rancho la Puerta for 40 years from 1981- 2021.  She taught Iyengar Yoga, stretch, labyrinth, Chi Gong and Crystal Bowls.  She loved hiking and helped evolve  the hiking program with Ranch and fitness staff, and created the original Pilgrim Trail.  She introduced Meditation in 1987 as well as adding more Body- Mind disciplines to the Fitness Schedule.  These were the Start of the Specialty week programs  of various fitness and Body-Mind Disciplines with guest Instructors to teach their SpecIalty for one week. 

Phyllis was Fitness Director from 1983 – 2001 and Specialty Week Coordinator until 2011 

This week Phyllis returns for one week  sharing the Meditation Specialty Week with Elana Rosenbaum, a long time colleague and friend in the Ranch’s Inner journey and Specialty Week Meditation progams.

Phyllis has studied Meditation with the Dalai Lama, Swami Veda Bharati, Mindfulness with Jon Kabat Zinn, and The many Wisdom traditions with Huston Smith.   She has  visited and trekked in countries worldwide to experience their lifestyles and wisdom traditions.

Inner Fitness

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 limiting patterns, navigate life with greater ease, learn to feel and communicate effectively, improve your personal and professional relationships, cultivate inner peace, and manifest an authentic, fulfilling, and joyous life. 

Session #1: Creating a Compelling Future|
Creating a positive future begins with knowing what makes you uniquely YOU. In this first of five sessions you will begin to identify your passions, the ways you have bravely triumphed over the challenges in your life, and your unique gifts. These elements of your best self are the essential building blocks for creating a future that is compelling and deeply rewarding.
Inner Fitness Program Session #1 Great Story and Map

Session #2: Cultivating Healthy Inner Dialogue – Being Your Best Friend
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 anger or hurt, or our critical parent wagging its finger at us in judgement and shame.

Session #2 focuses on being able to distinguish between the life-diminishing verses the life-affirming voices within our minds and cultivating our life-affirming voices that allow us to navigate our lives with grace and ease.
Inner Fitness Program Session #2 Healthy Inner Dialog

Session #3: Emotional Fluency – 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.

Session 3 focuses on understanding the world of emotions and the important role they play in almost every aspect of our lives.  Come learn how to feel, navigate and honor your emotions with your greatest wisdom and highest intention.
Inner Fitness Program Session #3 Emotional Fluency

Session #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 blame, guilt and resentment; feeling powerless to make positive changes.

Session 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!
Inner Fitness Program Session 4 The Joy of Responsibility

Session #5 – Creating 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!
Inner Fitness Program Session #5 Manifest Your Best Life -The Valued Self

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

 

 

Deborah Colman, is an award winning Master Certified Coach (MCC) who for the last 22-years has engaged leaders and coaches, otherwise known as human beings, in extraordinary conversations designed to support them in intentionally creating joyful, purposeful, and compelling lives. The journey often begins by becoming more aware of the defeating internal dialogue driving our lives, and insteaddevelop and listen to an inner dialogue that is powered by self-love, kindness, and compassion. Deborah is a senior faculty member of the world-renowned Co-Active Training Institute™who for the last 20-years has taught their credentialed Co-Active coaching curriculum to emerging coaches, consultants and professionals. She is looking forward to sharing with Ranch guests, everyday practical strategies and practices for developing and consciously choosing an inner dialogue that will best serve you in your life.

Inner Fitness

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 limiting patterns, navigate life with greater ease, learn to feel and communicate effectively, improve your personal and professional relationships, cultivate inner peace, and manifest an authentic, fulfilling, and joyous life. 

Session #1: Creating a Compelling Future|
Creating a positive future begins with knowing what makes you uniquely YOU. In this first of five sessions you will begin to identify your passions, the ways you have bravely triumphed over the challenges in your life, and your unique gifts. These elements of your best self are the essential building blocks for creating a future that is compelling and deeply rewarding.

Session #2: Cultivating Healthy Inner Dialogue – Being Your Best Friend
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 anger or hurt, or our critical parent wagging its finger at us in judgement and shame.

Session #2 focuses on being able to distinguish between the life-diminishing verses the life-affirming voices within our minds and cultivating our life-affirming voices that allow us to navigate our lives with grace and ease.

Session #3: Emotional Fluency – 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.

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

Session #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 blame, guilt and resentment; feeling powerless to make positive changes.

Session 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!

Session #5 – Creating 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.

 

 

Deborah Colman, is an award winning Master Certified Coach (MCC) who for the last 22-years has engaged leaders and coaches, otherwise known as human beings, in extraordinary conversations designed to support them in intentionally creating joyful, purposeful, and compelling lives. The journey often begins by becoming more aware of the defeating internal dialogue driving our lives, and insteaddevelop and listen to an inner dialogue that is powered by self-love, kindness, and compassion. Deborah is a senior faculty member of the world-renowned Co-Active Training Institute™who for the last 20-years has taught their credentialed Co-Active coaching curriculum to emerging coaches, consultants and professionals. She is looking forward to sharing with Ranch guests, everyday practical strategies and practices for developing and consciously choosing an inner dialogue that will best serve you in your life.