The Bar Method | Laura Stein

• 11am Bar Method – Sunday, Monday, Wednesday & Friday
• 3pm Bar Method – Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday

The Bar Method workout creates a uniquely lean, firm, sculpted body by combining the muscle-shaping principles of isometrics, the body-elongating practice of dance conditioning, the science of physical therapy and the intense pace of interval training into a powerful exercise format that quickly and safely reshapes and elongates muscles.

An avid exerciser and former ballet dancer, California native Laura Stein combines her love of physical fitness with her marketing and finance experience as co-owner of two Silicon Valley Bar Method locations. When Laura discovered the Bar Method in late 2002, she was hooked immediately. After teaching for over a year in the flagship location for Burr, Laura embarked on opening her own studios with fellow instructor Noreen Dante. Laura holds a BA in Sociology from the University of California at San Diego and an MBA in International Business from Thunderbird. Laura has had the joy of staying at Rancho La Puerta and is looking forward to sharing the Bar Method with devotees from across the country at Thanksgiving!

For more details see www.barmethod.com. Twenty-five of the best videos made on Bar Method are now available on YouTube's Bar Method channel.

Culinary Experiences at La Cocina Que Canta | Visiting Teacher Kathleen Flinn

Kathleen Flinn is an award-winning writer and journalist and the author of the best-selling food memoir The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry about her experiences at the famed Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. She took her French culinary training to understand what holds people back from cooking more in their own kitchens in her widely acclaimed follow-up The Kitchen Counter Cooking School, which earned rave reviews across the board, from People magazine, The Wall Street Journal, ABC News, Kirkus Reviews, Publisher’s Weekly and dozens of other publications and bloggers. Her books combine her unique style of narrative story telling with recipes tested by more than 100 volunteer cooks across the globe. A writer for more than 20 years,Flinn’s work has appeared in more than three dozen publications worldwide including Smithsonian, Chicago Sun-Times, The Globe & Mail (Canada) and Waitrose Illustrated (UK). She curates the popular dinner series The Red Velvet Dinners in Seattle, and teaches food writing through a traveling course titled Hungry For Words. Flinn serves on the board of directors for the International Association of Culinary Professionals and is a member of numerous other organizations, including the American Society of Journalists and Authors, The James Beard Foundation, American Institute of Wine and Food and The Author’s Guild. She and her husband, Mike, divide their time between Seattle and Anna Maria Island, Florida.

Learn more at http://kathleenflinn.com

Kathleen offers three hands-on culinary experiences, 3.5 hours each, on Tuesday at 11 am and 4 pm and 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.

For more information and registration, please click here.

Pilates Week | Rebekah Rotstein

Rebekah Rotstein is the founder of Incorporating Movement in New York City through which she trains individuals and instructors and teaches workshops to exercise professionals throughout the United States and internationally. Her formal education began in the sports medicine department of Smith College after chronic injuries ended her ballet career. She served as a Senior Expert Instructor at the renowned Kane School of Core Integration in New York City where she also led Pilates coursework in injuries and special conditions as part of the teacher-training faculty. She continues her education of anatomy and biomechanics through ongoing coursework including yearly cadaver dissection.

• 9am Level 1 Pilates for Buff Bones™ floor work - Sunday through Friday
• 10am Pilates Matwork Level II / Progressive - Sunday through Friday

An expert in bone health, Rebekah designed the popular workout Pilates for Buff Bones™ and is the author of Hatherleigh’s Continuing Education lesson on osteoporosis protocol for fitness professionals. She is a contributing writer to the Web site of Dr. Andrew Weil (www.drweil.com) and is frequently interviewed in various media including Martha Stewart Living Radio and CNN. More information is available on her web site at www.incorporatingmovement.com

During her week at the Ranch, Rebekah will teach level 1 and 2 mat classes. She will also offer Pilates for Buff Bones™, which utilizes bone-strengthening techniques in the Pilates mat setting and gives extra attention to the hips, arms and backside. Throughout all her classes, you will discover how proper movement mechanics can enhance your core and maximize strength and agility, all the while creating a more fluid, supple and streamlined body.

Tackling Peace | Tanya Oziel

Screening of the Multi-Award Winning Documentary (55 mins) following by Q&A and open group discussion. This is the 2008 inspirational true story of 26 Israeli and Palestinian men who unite over the game of Australian Football (AFL). “Tackling Peace” goes behind the scenes, as young men from different sides of a bloody political war set aside a lifetime of prejudice and hostility to compete as one united Peace Team, in the AFL’s International Cup. Few of the aspirant players had ever heard of the game and none ever imagined befriending teammates from across the political divide. The brainchild of Sydney-based businesswoman, Tanya Oziel, the Peace Team is borne out of her dream and conviction that anything is possible no matter how difficult or inconceivable. When told she “would never do it” - she said “watch me!” The team includes 18-year-old Israeli Yonatan Belik who had never met a Palestinian before he started training and with prejudices challenged and endurance tested, he will forge friendships with his Palestinian teammates before returning to Israel for compulsory military service. His close friend on the team is then 16-year-old Leith Jaber who comes from a highly politicized and proud Palestinian family. Then there’s Naser Gous, a former Palestinian resistance fighter who spent three years in an Israeli jail after an attack on Israeli soldiers.

While he believes peace is possible, Naser knows any collaboration with Israel can be seen as a betrayal and Palestinian players may be risking their lives. Getting to the International Cup is a logistical nightmare. It can take hours for Palestinian players to cross checkpoints into Israel for training, players have never seen the game played, they speak different languages – Hebrew, Arabic and English. They have complicated Kosher and Halal food requirements. The challenges are insurmountable on so many fronts. Tackling Peace follows this group of Israelis and Palestinians over the 18 months in their quest to make it to Australia and play together against the world – all created by a passion and dream of one unstoppable woman who refused to take no for an answer. A truly inspiring story of the human spirit and one that shows just what is possible when you believe. Tackling Peace is a movie not to be missed.

Two workshops:

- TACKLING PEACE FOLLOW UP – The 2011 Peace Team – The Journey Continues

- TACKLING PEACE FOLLOW UP – Lessons of the Peace Team – How We Can All Affect Great Change

Tanya Oziel is a 44 year-old mother of three children of Iraqi-Jewish descent from Sydney, Australia. She is Director of Partnerships & Innovation at the Trans Tasman Business Circle, one of the APAC regions leading business organizations, while also operating her own Business Development Consultancy –TO Consulting & Management. Tanya came into this world knowing that dreams come true. “No has never been an option,” she says. “… I believe YES is always possible, and I have always believed in finding ways to make what we want happen.” At 14, Tanya naturally realized the power of her own mind – when, against all odds, she was picked out of an audience of 20,000 people, to sing with Barry Manilow. Tanya’s belief and conviction led her to find a way to make it happen. Twenty seven years later, in August 2008, Tanya achieved her big dream of creating and contributing to peace in the Middle East. This became a reality when she brought 13 Palestinian and 13 Israelis together as teammates to play a game she knew and loved, Australian Rules Football (AFL). Against all odds, she bridged the political, historic, geographic and cultural divide among this inspirational group of men, making the impossible, possible and created a miracle in only nine short months. Despite immense criticism and doubt among all of whom Tanya approached, she brought together Australia’s influential business leaders to back her idea, who provided $400,000 in corporate sponsorship. This converted the Peace Team from her dream to a reality, and so the story of the first ever AFL Peace Team was borne and told in the multi-award winning Documentary – Tackling Peace.

Tanya is now a regular speaker to corporate, community groups, organizations and schools and is the subject of many media articles throughout the world. In December 2009, she was a featured speaker at the Global Parliaments of the World Interfaith Conference, was named 2009 Football Woman of the Year, and awarded a special honor by the AFL for her Outstanding Contribution to the Game through the Peace Team project, having made Australian sporting history. She speaks at Rancho La Puerta and was recently featured as the Keynote Speaker for the 2011 Australian National Student Leadership Conference. The UN has presented her story on many occasions as an example of what is possible. The ripple effect of her vision and what the Peace Team has achieved has driven many others to pursue their own “impossible” projects.

Practices in Mindfulness | Francis J. Santora, MA

Participants will learn:

I. About the connection between thoughts, emotional reactions, and behaviors

A. How these three components form life patterns in individuals, and how the patterns impact their lives

B. How our belief system gets created in the first place, and the role our patterns play in sustaining it; for good or for bad

C. Neurobiology basics – the science behind Mindfulness - the brain/body chemistry of thought

II. Techniques for staying "present/mindful"

A. Becoming aware of our internal dialogue

B. The paradox of pushing away “what’s uncomfortable” in our lives

C. The breath as a way to release emotional reactions (body chemistry caused by thoughts)

D. How not to be a victim to your emotions

E. How to calm the negative “voice in the head"

F. The practice of acceptance

III. Practical applications for living mindfully

A. The relationship with self; and others (family, friends etc)

B. Happiness and an increased ability to relax with lasting “peace of mind”

C. Greater energy and enthusiasm for life

D. Improved self-esteem

E. Realizing one’s own abilities (that before their belief system would not allow them to realize)

F. Living with compassion

G. An ability to cope more effectively with stressful situations

H. Career development/leadership at work

I. Business dealings/negotiations

IV. Experience interactive examples with other seminar participants
- Francis will work directly with seminar participants
- Participants will work with each other utilizing seminar concepts