CorePower Yoga | Michelle Buysse

Michelle discovered Yoga in the middle of the ocean on her way to India in 2003, aboard Semester at Sea. India attacked her senses and quenched her search for true beauty; the culture presents a harmony of opposites unlike any other. Yoga has become a way for her to connect with the heightened sense of awareness, compassion, and spirituality that she experienced while there. She has practiced yoga off and on since 2003, starting a regular practice at the University of Hawai’i—where the natural humidity convinced her body of yoga’s many benefits.

After a decade of running and a resulting lower back injury (Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction), Michelle turned to yoga as her primary form of exercise in 2007. Inspired by those who live yoga off the mat and Yogis who are able to find peace in even the most tumultuous times, Michelle completed CorePower Yoga’s Teacher Training (2009) in Fort Collins, CO. She is drawn to meditation and philosophy and incorporates small intellectual jewels into her hot, yin, and vinyasa classes. Sharing the practice comes natural and is a rewarding way for her to focus on her intuition, dedication to practice, and inner teach

 

Culinary Experiences at La Cocina Que Canta | Denise and Meadow Linn

Denise Linn, the best-selling author of 17 books, including Sacred Space and Soul Coaching®, is an international lecturer, a healer, and a popular radio talk-show host. She is the founder of the International Institute of Soul Coaching®, a professional certification course, as well as the founder of Interior Alignment®. Denise holds seminars on ­five continents and appears on television and radio programs throughout the world. Denise and her daughter, Meadow, have recently teamed up to write The Mystic Cookbook: The Secret Alchemy of Food in which Denise blends her knowledge of native cultures with her background in past lives and energy work to show how eating can, indeed, be a sacred act. Denise lives on the Central Coast of California with her husband, goats, chickens, dogs, and beloved cat.

Website: www.DeniseLinn.com

Meadow Linn received her bachelor’s degree from Williams College and her master’s degree in French Cultural Studies from Columbia University. She has a popular column in a Seattle newspaper and writes a blog filled with delicious recipes and stories about her journey to finding love (www.savortheday.com).

For the past 18 years, Meadow has been cooking for the guests at her mother’s retreats (Denise Linn, world-renowned healer, lecturer, and writer). While cooking professionally, Meadow began to see the powerful connection between the way we feel and not just what we eat, but also how we eat, which propelled her on a path to share this knowledge.
Additionally, Meadow taught elementary school and high school for eight years and spent two years living in Europe studying French theater and literature while attaining her master's degree. She is also the recipient of a prestigious National Endowment for the Humanities grant to study French theater in Avignon.

Meadow’s work is a blending of her academic background with her spiritual upbringing. She lives on the Central Coast of California where she loves tending her vegetable garden and cuddling with her dog, cats, and chickens. She is the co-author of both Quest and The Mystic Cookbook.

Website: www.MeadowLinn.com

Denise and Meadow offer three hands-on culinary experiences, 3.5 hours each, during which you will enjoy preparing your own meal along with fellow cooks.Hands-on classes are offered on Tuesday at 11 am and 4 pm and Thursday 4 pm, subject to change. 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.

Pilates Week | Karen Sanzo

Pilates instructor, teacher trainer, and physical therapist Karen Sanzo is internationally recognized for her innovative approaches to the Pilates method. Her comprehensive knowledge of anatomy and biomechanics and years of experience as a master teacher have shaped wellness programs across the nation.

• 9am Pilates Matwork Level I / Progressive -  Sunday through Friday
• 10am Pilates Matwork Level II / Progressive -  Sunday through Friday

At Pilates Unlimited, her studio in Dallas, Texas, and in her physical therapy practice, Karen sees clients of all ages and fitness levels, utilizing Pilates as an adjunct to therapy and as the next level of self care for her patients. Her passionate belief that Pilates is appropriate for every body is borne out by her clientele. It includes a Dallas Cowboy recovering from injuries, a corporate executive improving his golf swing, a young dancer perfecting her posture, and a new mother getting back into shape. D Beauty, a publication of D Magazine of Dallas, included Pilates Unlimited in their 2008 list of Best Places to Work Out.

Karen conducts Pilates workshops all over the U.S., teaching teachers how to demystify Pilates, making it accessible to everyone. Her highly effective method of working with beginners, communicating with precision, and demonstrating the fundamentals of movement are invaluable lessons for every Pilates instructor.   Karen is also a teacher trainer for Balanced Body Univeristy, one of the worlds top equipment manufacturers of Pilates equipment.

Karen also shares her unique approach to Pilates in manuals, CDs, and DVDs for professionals and the public. Her award-winning instructional DVD, Pilates for All Bodies: Getting Started is a two-DVD set that explains and demonstrates the basic exercises, then presents a thirty-minute mat class conducted by Karen. Awarded “Best Beginners DVD” by Pilates Style magazine in the January/February 2008 issue, it was touted in their review as “perfect for those just starting out, with a clear, in-depth tutorial on principles, moves and beginner modifications.”

 

What is Inside Shines Out: Poetry | Myra Klahr

Myra Klahr, professional writer and winner of the Dylan Thomas Poetry Prize, founded and was the Executive Director of Poets in Public Service, Inc. Her work has been published in literary magazines and her book, The Waiting Room was published by the University of New Brunswick, Canada. Myra inspires her students to reach inside themselves to find the raw material to make a poem. Over the 15 years that she has conducted these programs at the Ranch, guests have been surprised at their ability to write wonderful poems quite easily. Amaze yourself with your ability to let “what is inside shine out.”

Being Healthy Is a Revolutionary Act | Pilar Gerasimo

10 Renegade Tips for Thriving in a Less-Than-Healthy World

Looking at the headlines on most health and fitness magazines today, you’d think that dropping 15 lbs, getting six-pack abs and having a “bikini body” was pretty simple to pull off. Follow this diet, do this workout, and presto — your problems are solved, right? Except that it never seems to work that way.

Most of us would love to be healthier, but in real life, when we try to shift our daily habits and choices, we discover that many of those changes are mighty tough to pull off.

There’s a reason for that: We're living in a society that is wired up to make us sick, overweight, depressed and stressed out. Plus, a lot of the advice we are getting —from the media and from so-called authoritative sources — is confused, misleading, outdated or downright wrong.

The good news is, you can thrive in the face of all these obstacles. You just need to put some renegade wisdom and rebel mojo on your side.

In this lecture, you’ll learn from one of the country’s most forward-thinking health journalists — Experience Life magazine’s editor in chief, Pilar Gerasimo — about what you really need to know and do to be healthy — and how to enjoy your life more in the process.

Drawing on more than a decade of journalistic insight as founding editor of one of the country’s most forward-thinking healthy living magazines, Gerasimo will present 10 revolutionary tips for creating and sustaining healthy change — even in the face of daunting challenges.

Whether you’re struggling to break out of unhealthy patterns, or just looking for ongoing motivation in your quest for optimal wellbeing, you’ll come away from this talk inspired and prepared to take your own empowered next steps.

Bonus: All attendees will receive a “101 Revolutionary Ways to Be Healthy” poster and a copy of Gerasimo’s A Manifesto for Thriving in a Mixed Up World.

Pilar Gerasimo is editor in chief of Experience Life magazine and founder of RevolutionaryAct.com. Her award-winning work reaches more than 2.8 million people, and has earned kudos from many of the country’s leading health experts, including Dr. Mehmet Oz, Dr. Mark Hyman and Dr. Frank Lipman.

Photography | Elizabeth Opalenik

Photography Workshop: Finding the Beauty Within

I have resolved to find something beautiful in each day. Something that will make me stop and be amazed. With camera in hand, I continue to seek those dreamlike narratives and ponder this incredible life. During our week at the ranch we shall apply life's metaphors to our journey using photography, journaling, and meditative walks to seek the beauty within.

We'll share stories, learn photographic techniques, play with digital infrared, defocus our subject to focus on intent, watch the light dance and learn how to capture it. Using each other we’ll learn simple tricks for making better portraits and use the sensual quality of water to change the feeling of an image. As we make portraits of nature, a beautiful still life or a ray of light reflecting off the pool, we’ll seek to find what drew us to the image. Cameras don’t take pictures, people do, therefore any equipment is acceptable or just come and learn a little more about photography and yourself.

From her earliest days doing editorial assignments, Elizabeth Opalenik was recognized for the poetic grace and movement of her images. Today as a fine-art photographer and a much-sought-after educator she is sought for the sense of wonder and possibility she awakens in students. Elizabeth's one-of-a-kind images have been shown internationally and profiled in most major photographic publications. She considers images as stepping stones that trace where the mind has been, believing that they reflect the unique vision that each of us carries through life. Elizabeth says, “My teaching is based on the belief that all good photographs are self-portraits that lie somewhere between imagination and dreams. Photography is a way of seeing not only what is visible to the eye, but also sensed with the heart.”

Elizabeth privately conducts photography workshops internationally and in partnership with the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, the Maine Media Workshops, National Geographic Expeditions and others. She uses photography as a metaphor for life in her workshops for women with cancer and other issues as they search for their inner beauty and strength. She encourages photographers to adopt a “what if?” attitude to view their subjects from many directions.

To learn more about Elizabeth, please visit www.opalenik.com

Sewing with Marina | Marina Dulman

Marina Dulman is the founder, director, and teacher at Marina’s Sewing and Fashion Design School in Burlingame, California. She has a year-round sewing program for children ages 6 and up and adults, consisting of 20-25 school year sewing classes per week and 20 summer camp sessions. For the last 10 years, she has organized a children’s Fashion Design Show “Created by Me” featuring clothing design completed and modeled by young fashion designers while benefiting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, bringing awareness and promoting a healthy lifestyle. She has been teaching thousands of children about fashion design and how to use the fashion design tools including sewing machines to create and sew fashionable, personalized clothing, as well as how to use a hobby as a creative and relaxing tool for self-expression.  She has a BS in Business Marketing and a BA in Russian Language and Art from San Francisco State University.  She also studied Fashion Design at Cañada College, California Education.

The Five Elements | Andrea Gerasimo

The Five Elements: A Powerful Tool For Changing Our Environment and Affecting Our Well Being.

Feng Shui (pronounced “fung shway”) is thousands of years old and continually evolving. It is often called "the Chinese art of placement," but people from all walks of life and all cultures — whether they have heard of Feng Shui or not — have experienced its effects. For example, people often prefer one room to another but don't consciously understand why. They may find themselves feeling inexplicably calmed or aggravated, inspired or burdened. Feng Shui helps explain why, and provides tools for intentionally cultivating healthy space.

A primary tool used in Feng Shui, and in many wellness practices, including Acupuncture and Tai Chi, is Five Element Theory. It teaches that everything in the universe is made up of some combination of five elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. They comprise our environment and we each contain some balance of them. Simply understanding the Five Elements can enhance our self knowledge and ease our relationships with other people. Making changes in our space based on the Five Elements is a profound way to remove barriers to our progress and shed old patterns that no longer serve us. With simple changes guided by Five Element Theory we can solidify support for our intentions, and create space that truly reflects who we are becoming and where we are going now.

Daytime Talks

Clear Your Clutter, Transform Your Life
Home should be our nurturing sanctuary in a fast-paced world. Clutter creates chaos in our spaces and comes in many forms — physical, mental and emotional — and each day ushers more of it into our lives (like junk mail!). The process of removing clutter is different in each space and in each life, but it is always brings about change and evolution, often in delightfully surprising ways.

Discover what clutter is costing you and learn practical and powerful tools for removing it. We will discuss step-by-step de-cluttering techniques, from tackling a cluttered drawer to taking on a totally filled room. Having the right approach, and applying it each time, greatly reduces the overwhelmed feeling that hits people when taking on cluttered zones. These simple tools encourage steady progress so that you are able to create a space that shines and supports your life!

Life Transitions
Life transitions happen: Retirement and downsizing, divorce, the loss of a loved one, empty nesting, relocation and identity shifting!

With the onset of any big change, the place we call home must reflect that change in order to stay current and vital. But this can feel daunting. Spaces that are already cluttered can become burdened and downright dysfunctional. If the life change is unexpected, the ensuing stress can make it difficult to appreciate our loved ones and enjoy the abundance in our lives. Using decluttering tactics and a few basic Feng Shui principles, we can change the cycle of stress. We’ll be exploring creative solutions for dealing with the stuff that is left over after life transitions, and no longer relevant for who we are now. We will discuss ways to approach inherited items, the belongings of adult children, photos and memorabilia, and other issues that people bring for discussion. Combining self-reflection with actionable de-cluttering techniques will clear the way for freedom and more easeful transitions. Some advance planning and work on your home could make this the most joyous year yet!

Feng Shui: Create Harmony and Vitality in Your Home
Feng Shui is an ancient practice that cultivates harmony and vitality in our homes and in our lives. As a powerful agent of change, it encourages the flow of energy (ch'i) into your home, clearing stagnation and enhancing all areas of your life including career, health, wealth and partnership. Learn how to use Feng Shui to create space that reflects your highest self and supports your goals and endeavors. This session provides you with enough understanding of Feng Shui to apply many of its principles immediately to your space and life. We will give particular attention to the bedroom, the front door and entry way, as well as the center of the home which represents health. This session will explain how to create the Command Position for the bed, stove and desk. Achieving appropriate positioning of these important pieces of furniture can greatly influence quality of sleep, overall health, mental focus and success.

Recommended: if possible bring floor plan or sketch of your home or office. Ideally the sketch should be to scale, but even a drawing from memory will be helpful.

As a teacher and consultant in Feng Shui, decluttering and yoga, Andrea Gerasimo explores how energy moves, both in our bodies and our homes. She shares these transformational tools with clarity and enthusiasm, inspiring people to return to their lives and spaces with revitalized energy and a sense of empowerment. Andrea reveals how to create internal and external space that supports, nurtures and inspires.

With gratitude, Andrea acknowledges that her most influential training has come from the clients and students who have invited her to participate in their lives. “From my own life and in working with others I witness that our bodies, spirits and homes can become stagnant, neglected, and unwell. But with strong doses of intention and will, humility and humor, breath and movement, wellbeing can be restored and even flourish! Grace happens when energy finds its best path and pace of motion.”

Andrea keeps on the move too. She resides in Wisconsin, but her work takes her throughout West central Wisconsin, the Twin Cities area and abroad, including yoga retreats in Mexico, Costa Rica and the Midwest. Andrea studied with Feng Shui expert Carole Hyder and trained in yoga at the Kripalu Institute of Health in Lenox, Massachusetts. She has been working and playing with yoga, decluttering and Feng Shui full-time since 2000, and considers them life-long studies.

For more information go to www.thirdmountain.com.