Prime of Life Yoga | Larry Payne

• 11am Prime of Life Yoga: All Levels / Progressive (90 min) – Sunday through Friday

Larry Payne, Ph.D is an internationally respected yoga teacher and back specialist who has been associated with Rancho La Puerta for over 20 years. He is the co-author of international bestsellers "Yoga for Dummies" and "Yoga Rx". He was selected as a yoga expert by Web MD, The World Economic Forum, Reader's Digest, and Yoga Journal, and named 'One of America's most respected Yoga teachers' by the Los Angeles Times.

He is also co-founder of the yoga curriculum at the UCLA School of Medicine, and director of the Yoga Therapy Rx certification program at Loyola Marymount University. Most recently, he is featured in six new DVDs on Yoga Therapy for Common Ailments (www.samata.com). Larry's daily class 'Prime of Life Yoga' is a safe, user friendly approach to Yoga dedicated to men and women in the second half of life who want to stay healthy, happy and active as long as possible. Special consideration is given to back, knee and hip problems. On the Web: www.samata.com

Culinary Experiences at La Cocina Que Canta | Visiting Teacher Jill Silverman Hough

Jill Silverman Hough is a food writer, recipe developer, and culinary instructor whose specialty is making food and cooking simple yet special. "Cooking doesn't have to be complicated to be indulgent," she says. "Sprinkle a roast chicken with lavender, substitute dried cherries for raisins in a batch of oatmeal cookies, serve grilled salmon on a bed of arugula—all these things take almost no effort, yet they'll make your otherwise ordinary dishes taste and feel like fancy food." Jill is the author of "100 Perfect Pairings: Small Plates to Serve with Wines You Love." Chock-full of delicious, easy recipes for everyday cooks, it's possibly the first-ever food and wine pairing book decidedly not written for food and wine geeks. Other books are "100 Perfect Pairings: Main Dishes to Enjoy with Wines You Love" and "The Clean Plates Cookbook: Sustainable, Delicious and Healthier Eating for Every Body." Additional projects include developing the recipes for "Skinny Bitch in the Kitchen," which premiered on the New York Times Best Seller List and contributing to Weight Watchers and JCPenny's cookbooks. Jill's work also regularly appears in magazines including Bon Appétit, Cooking Light, Fine Cooking, Country Home, Clean Eating, and Napa Sonoma. And as a culinary instructor, Jill is a popular presenter at Ramekins Sonoma Valley Culinary School, where she consistently wows students with her energy, enthusiasm, and immediately-useful information. With a fresh, friendly, and encouraging voice and recipes that quickly and easily deliver casual elegance, Jill makes creativity in the kitchen and delight at the table totally accessible to home chefs.

Jill offers three hands-on cooking classes (Tuesday at 11 am and 4 pm; Thursday at 4 pm) during which you will enjoy preparing your own meal along with fellow cooks. Classes take place at La Cocina Que Canta, our new culinary center. You also will have the opportunity to harvest produce you use from our organic garden, Tres Estrellas.

For more information and registration, please click here.

Walking the War Zones of Pakistan, One Woman's Journey into the Shadow of the Taliban | Ruth Anne Kocour

Walking the War Zones of Pakistan, One Woman's Journey into the Shadow of the Taliban: Ruth Anne Kocour takes us on her journeys to K2 and Pakistan’s tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, Kashmir, Tajikistan, and China, which are the subject of her new book, “Walking the War Zones of Pakistan.” During this PowerPoint slide presentation, you’ll see topography that has led to isolation--physical and cultural--of people who for centuries have been kept in the dark by natural barriers, lack of infrastructure, lack of communication, and illiteracy. This simple tale of travel and adversity lends a face to news we hear every day and a glimpse into what we all have in common—our humanity.

Ruth Anne Kocour--Author, Speaker, Photographer, Adventurer

She took us through disaster to the summit of Alaska's Mount McKinley in her book, “Facing the Extreme.” In her newest book, “Walking the War Zones of Pakistan,” Ruth Anne Kocour takes us to K2 and Pakistan’s tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, Kashmir, and China. Kocour's adventures have been featured on CNN’s International Hour and the Discovery Channel. Her photos and stories have appeared in People, Harper’s Bazaar, Health, Sunset, Los Angeles Times, and San Francisco Chronicle. Ruth Anne has summited the highest peaks on four continents. She has climbed and trekked throughout Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Her background in art, science, and photography enables Kocour to bring to life battlegrounds of nature and cultures for her readers and speaking audiences.

Facing the Extreme: The subject of her book by the same title, this PowerPoint slide presentation details triumph and tragedy on Alaska’s Mt. McKinley (Denali). Hit unexpectedly by the so called Storm of the Century, her team was pinned down on an ice shelf for ten days in 110 mph winds, minus 47 degree air temperatures, and wind chills that exceeded 150 degrees below zero. While avalanches crashed down and other climbers died, her team went on to be the first group summit McKinley after surviving a storm that took 11 lives in as many days.

Jazz Piano Concerts | Bill Harris

Bill Harris' many performance venues include the Smithsonian, Blues Alley, and the World Bank in Washington, D.C.; the Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles; Snug Harbor in New Orleans and numerous jazz festivals. His musical direction for the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History IMAX JAZZ Café helped launch the venue's successful inaugural year. Bill is listed in Washingtonian Magazine’s Best of Jazz in DC and is winner of the Hennessy Cognac Best of DC Jazz Competition.

Bill's CDs "Invitation" "Solo + One," "Encompass Quartet" (Albert "Tootie" Heath is featured) and "Holiday Improvisations" have all received critical acclaim. Originally from Long Island, Bill started piano studies in Acton, MA in 1963 and continued with numerous teachers including local masters John Eaton and Les Karr. He also attended jazz piano master classes in New York City taught by jazz legend Barry Harris. Bill’s other major influences include Bill Evans, Tommy Flanagan, Wynton Kelly, Reuben Brown, Fred Hersch, Cedar Walton, Hank Jones, Stanley Cowell, Red Garland, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, Art Tatum and Keith Jarrett, among others.

On the Web: www.bhjazz.com/

Sex Ed for Grownups | Reverend Debra W. Haffner

Come learn a new model of sexual intimacy, how to engage your senses, and five steps to improving your sex life.

IMPROVING INTIMACY IN LONG TERM RELATIONSHIPS
How do we recapture the intimacy and romance we felt early in our relationships? How in our busy lives can we create emotional and physical intimacy in our lives? Come learn simple proven techniques for making a good long term relationship even better.

SEX OVER FORTY: It’s not just nostalgia
This workshop will explore the challenges of sexual relationships during midlife and beyond. Come learn the latest information about how to be sexy and sexual throughout your life.

Debra Haffner, MPH, M.Div., has been a sexuality educator for more than 30 years and is the author of six books. She has degrees from Wesleyan University, Yale School of Medicine, Union Theological Seminary, and in 2011, was awarded an honorary doctorate of public service from Widener University in recognition of her lifetime contributions.  She is currently the executive director of the Religious Institute and a visiting professor at Union Theological Seminary and the Pacific School of Religion.  She is the former President and CEO of the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S.  She is a frequent guest on radio and television programs. Her work has been featured on Oprah, the Today Show, NPR and in the New York Times, Newsweek, Time, and U.S. News and World Report. Her latest book is “What Every 21st Century Parent Needs to Know” (Newmarket Press). She is also an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister and was recently honored with the UUA’s 2011 Ministry to Women award.

How to Write the Story of Your Life | Erica Jong

Join bestselling author Erica Jong for an inspiring examination of memoir writing—from a look at how fiction and memoir have merged, to techniques for turning your personal history into a captivating story.

Erica Jong is a poet, novelist and essayist best known for her eight best-selling novels: "Fear of Flying," which has sold 20 million copies in thirty-seven languages, "How to Save Your Own Life," "Fanny: Being the True History of the Adventures of Fanny Hackabout-Jones, Parachutes & Kisses," "Shylock's Daughter" (formerly Serenissima), "Any Woman's Blues," "Inventing Memory" and "Sappho’s Leap." Her mid-life memoir "Fear of Fifty" also became a major international bestseller. Ms. Jong is also the author of six award-winning collections of poetry. Her seventh collection, and first in eighteen years with all new poems, entitled "Love Comes First," was released from Tarcher-Penguin in January 2009. She is also the author of five non-fiction books and regularly blogs for The Huffington Post.

Known for her commitment to women's rights, authors' rights and free expression, Ms. Jong is a frequent lecturer in the U.S. and abroad. She established a program for young writers at her alma mater, Barnard College. The Erica Mann Jong Writing Center at Barnard teaches students the art of peer tutoring and editing. In 1998, Erica was honored with the United Nations Award for Excellence in Literature. In addition, she has received Poetry magazine's Bess Hokin Prize for her poetry and the Deauville Award for Literary Excellence in France. In Italy, she received the Sigmund Freud Award for Literature in 1975. In June 2009, Erica won the first Fernanda Pivano Prize for Literature in Italy. Ms. Jong’s newest book is “Sugar in My Bowl: Real Women Write About Real Sex” (June 2011).

Solution Oriented Dream Decoding: An Eclectic Approach | Layne Dalfen

What do our nighttime imaginings have to offer us? Discover for yourself at workshops throughout the week. Did you know our dreams are addressing and problem-solving current issues in our life? Did you know that solutions to specific current situations come to us in our dreams before they move towards our conscious mind? During the week, Layne will teach you easy approaches to uncovering why you had that dream last night and more importantly, how to recognize what a solution looks like when it comes in the form of a metaphor. Propel your problem-solving skills by learning how to decode solutions to your current issues that appear in your dreams.

An internationally recognized radio and television dream analyst, Layne has been on over 150 radio shows helping people uncover meaning in their dreams. An international lecturer, Layne is the founder of The Dream Interpretation Center, in Montreal, and the author of "Dreams Do Come True: Decoding Your Dreams To Discover Your Full Potential."

Layne Dalfen has a Certificate in Gestalt Counseling. She studied dreamwork at the Alfred Adler Institute, is a member of the C. G. Jung Society, and she sits on the Board of Directors of the International Association for the Study of Dreams (IASD). Come and join in and remember to write your dreams down and bring them to any of the workshops!

For more information, please visit http://www.haveagreatdream.com

Meditation and the Art of Happiness | Elliott S. Dacher, M.D.

Elliott S. Dacher, M.D. practiced internal medicine for 20 years before pursuing an extensive education in Eastern psychology and practices amongst the wise healers of Asia. Dr. Dacher has published four books, including his last book – “Aware, Awake, Alive” (2012.)  He is a past fellow at the Institute of Noetic Sciences and a past advisory board member of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. A frequent presenter and seminar leader, his previous books include: “Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing” (Basic Books, 2006), “Whole Healing” (Dutton/Plume, 1996), and “Intentional Healing” (Marlowe, 1996). Currently he teaches and counsels individuals seeking a larger health and life.