Prime of Life Yoga | Marydale

Marydale, YTRx-500C, POLY-E-RYT500, RMT, is founder and director of Param Yoga Healing Arts Center. Her background includes extensive research and study on yoga, spirituality, meditation, and the dynamics of energetic healing. A Hatha Yoga practitioner since 1970, Marydale holds Hatha Yoga Certification through The Vendantic Center under the auspices of the late Swamini Turiyasangitanandaji and Purusha Hickson. She received her Yoga Therapy Certification (YTRx-500C) from the exclusive Yoga Therapy Rx program at Loyola Marymount University, conceived and directed by her teacher, mentor, and friend Larry Payne, Ph.D. Marydale is a Prime of Life Yoga™ practitioner and teacher (POLY-E-RYT500) with Yoga Alliance, and her personal practice and yoga teaching skills are all rooted in the Krishnamacharya lineage. She is also a sponsoring member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists.

Marydale has touched countless lives through her love, enthusiasm and pureness of intention. She is a dedicated guide shining a bright light on the path to renewed health in body, mind, and spirit for those who are ready to explore the depths of spiritual wisdom and empowerment. She is a devotee of Paramahansa Yogananda, an initiate of Kriya Yoga, and a member of Self-Realization Fellowship. Through high-sense perception, Marydale shares her ability to perceive the energetic essence of living things by the “laying on of hands.” She has been working with Reiki since the late 1980s and holds certification as a Reiki Master Teacher. Her goal is to teach Reiki to as many people as possible in order to support personal well-being.

Marydale is the creator and facilitator of Life Wrx, Yoga Energetics, and Reiki Energetics. Working with hundreds of people over the years, the need arose to teach simple truths and Universal Principles in a way that could be easily incorporated into everyday life here in the west. Life Wrx evolved from Marydale’s experiences as a teacher of higher consciousness with benefits that are far-reaching and timely for everyone. Yoga Energetics developed through a synthesis of the classic eight limbs of yoga and the subtle flow of energy that is the Source and connection of all things, which she assimilates seamlessly into her yoga classes. In Marydale’s Reiki Energetics workshops, students receive in-depth information and hands-on experience that combine the ancient, sacred techniques with tools for practical daily application. All of these endeavors have come about through the desire to give everyone the opportunity to live a spiritually-grounded, strong, healthy, happy life.

Marydale’s goal at Param Yoga is for the studio to be a hive from which individuals pollinate the world at large with the energies of joy and well-being through love, service, meditation, and realization.

Culinary Experiences at La Cocina Que Canta | Visiting Teacher Lia Huber

Lia Huber had an auspicious start to her food career when she won a gold medal in a beanstalk growing contest at her kindergarten. But it wasn't for another two and a half decades, when she moved from New York to San Francisco in 1997, that she cultivated food into a full-time pursuit. Since then, Lia's articles and recipes have appeared in national magazines including Cooking Light, Prevention, Body + Soul, Health, Natural Health, Hemispheres and Fitness. She appears frequently on ABC-TV and has been featured on CNN.com, MSNBC.com and WebMD. Lia also speaks and teaches on nourishing body and soul through food.

In November of 2009, Lia launched the Nourish Network website with bite-sized bits of rich content (articles, videos and photographed recipes) on sound nutrition, "eco-clean" eating and being mindful around meals. The companion small-group coaching program, called My Nourish Mentor, began in March, 2010. On the surface, Lia's goal is to help people maintain a healthy body, a comfortable weight and an eco-clean conscience while getting more pleasure from food. On a deeper level, it's about helping people feel fulfilled, content and connected with every meal, every bite.

In addition to her other pursuits, Lia continues to help food and wine companies find their voices as a branding and messaging consultant. She is also Vice Chair of the Food Writers, Editors and Publishers section of the International Association of Culinary Professionals and on the Board of Slow Food Sonoma County. Lia received an MBA from University of Florida, a BA in Communication with a minor in French from Tulane University, and has studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and the Culinary Institute of America Greystone in Napa Valley. She recently finished writing her first novel, "I Land Home," a culinary odyssey that takes readers from an island in Greece to both coasts of America. Lia lived in New York, New Orleans, Paris, Greece, Costa Rica and San Francisco before putting down roots in Healdsburg with her husband, Christopher, and daughter, Noemi.

Lia offers three hands-on culinary experiences, 3.5 hours each, during which you will enjoy preparing your own meal along with fellow cooks. These activities take place at La Cocina Que Canta. You also will have the opportunity to harvest produce you use from our organic garden, Tres Estrellas. Transportation will be provided.

For more information and registration, please click here.

Ballet Week | Roni Mahler

Roni Mahler is a ballerina who performed principal roles with American Ballet Theatre and the National Ballet of Washington, D.C., after beginning her career in her teens with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Currently the Artistic Associate of Ballet San Jose, she is a permanent member of the dance faculty at the Juilliard School and teaches open adult classes at Ballet Academy East in her native New York City.

• 11am Body Contour Ballet
• 3pm Joy of Ballet

A former director of Dance at Kansas State University, she initiated the KSU Dance degree program. Kansas State has since built a Roni Mahler ballet studio and presents an annual award in her name. Roni has choreographed for Cynthia Gregory and Fernando Bujones, created "Ballet Movement For the Athlete," (a program she customized for the Cleveland Browns), and authored numerous ballet CD's, three ballet instruction DVD’s and a stretch DVD for flexibility and range of motion.

During her summer Ballet Week at Rancho La Puerta, Roni will teach two sessions per day:

Body Contour Ballet: The morning session emphasizes the most basic elements of ballet technique as an extraordinary "body contour tool." Attainable for even the least experienced, knowledgeable dancers will also be challenged. Tone and sculpt calves and thighs, buttocks and abs ... and even those troublesome triceps! Strengthen feet and ankles and discover helpful hiking hints.

The Joy of Ballet: The afternoon session explores the joy of movement and the styles of some well-known ballets...on a very manageable level. Address stress relief through easily-achieved "feel-good" ballet movement patterns of the arms. Roni likens this to a moving meditation for slowing down that ever-increasing tempo of life.

Because of Roni's individualized and personalized approach, the total beginner as well as the seasoned ballet dancer (and everyone in-between) will feel at home...and "safe!"

Roni will also present one evening program about teaching ballet to the Cleveland Browns and one afternoon presentation about her ballet career.

Prevention Strategies: Wisdom and Folly | Victoria Maizes, M.D.

Dr. Victoria Maizes presents two programs:

• Prevention Strategies: Wisdom and Folly
• Be Fruitful: An Integrative Approach to Fertility

Dr. Victoria Maizes is Executive Director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona and an Associate Professor of Medicine, Family and Community Medicine and Public Health. A graduate of Barnard College, she received her MD from the University of California, San Francisco, College of Medicine, completed her residency in Family Medicine at the University of Missouri, Columbia and her Fellowship in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona.

Dr. Maizes stewarded the growth of the Program in Integrative Medicine from a small program educating four residential fellows per year to a designated Center of Excellence training over 250 residents and fellows annually. She helped create the comprehensive curriculum in integrative medicine that is now used for fellows and pioneered multiple innovative educational programs including the Integrative Family Medicine Program, and Integrative Medicine in Residency, two national models for educating primary care physicians.

Dr. Maizes is also recognized as an international leader in the field of integrative medicine. As founding co-chair of the education committee of the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine, Dr. Maizes led a team of educators developing objectives for medical students in integrative medicine. She was twice voted by her peers to serve on the executive committee of the Consortium, a position she currently holds. 

Dr. Maizes lectures internationally to academic and community audiences and is a sought out speaker on topics including integrative medical education, women’s health, healthy aging, nutrition, and cancer. She is the editor of “Integrative Women’s Health”(Oxford University Press, NY 2010). Married with three children, she was named one of the world’s 25 intellectual optimists by ODE magazine in 2009.

 

Kung Fu for Fitness | John Scott Marrone

Some 1500 years ago in the Hunan province of China, Shao'lin monks wanted to live in isolation, pursuing the peaceful teachings of Buddha. In order to protect their freedom in a land filled with violence, they developed a powerful system of self-preservation. This system was based on the avoidance of conflict and the cultivation of mind, body, and spirit. Today Kung Fu continues to fill a need in western society to combat stress and strengthen personal health and character.

Come try this ancient martial art based exercise system that cultivates strength, flexibility and physical well being. All fitness levels can benefit from this total body workout. Learn techniques and forms used by the Shao 'Lin monks for physical conditioning and self defense. Experience this well rounded discipline which strengthens, improves balance and coordination, and harmonizes mind, body and spirit!

John Scott Marrone is certified Gao Shou by the American Center for Chinese Studies. He has studied with Sifu Gary Renza and is a 4th generation disciple of the late Great Grand Master Chang Tung Sheng). Scott has over fifteen years of martial arts experience with training in Northern and Southern Shao 'Lin Chuan, Ba Gua Zhang, Chi’Na, Chinese Kenpo, and various weapons. He has taught Kung Fu and self-defense for ten years in the New York area.

Scott enjoys sharing his expertise with all ages and is developing a self-defense class for school districts in New York. This workshop will be open to faculty and students and encompass basic Kung Fu drills and self defense techniques.

Songs Sinatra Sang | Lan O'Kun

Frank Sinatra sang the songs we all grew up with…the melodies we made love with…all the best that American songwriters turned out. Of all the singers of songs, Sinatra was the man other singers emulated. He was the most universally admired. They called him the Chairman of the Board. There were disc jockeys that never played anything but Sinatra. Lan O'Kun will tell you stories of the man and his music. Bring your hearts and your memories and your voices for an evening of the best of our music.

Seven-time Emmy-award winner Lan O’Kun's accomplishments as a writer and composer include more than 1300 episodes of TV shows such as The Shari Lewis Show, Love Boat, and Star Trek (The Next Generation) -- in addition to Barbra Streisand specials, the Kenny Roger’s Christmas Special, and more. He also wrote “Tales of the Riverbank,” an English production that became the longest running children’s series in the world, translated into 50 languages and played in 89 countries. He has composed hits for Barbra Streisand and Frank Sinatra, among others, and served as NBC's musical director for eight years.

Is There a Book in You? | Dianne Jacob

About 80 percent of people believe they have a book in them, waiting to come out. If this sounds familiar, what would happen if you chose to write your book? Explore writing and publishing with writing coach and author Dianne Jacob. Whether you’d like to write or whether you just love books, get the vital details about how the book publishing world works -- and how it is changing -- in this informative session.

Workshops:

• Can You be a Published Author? Absolutely! Learn what it takes to gain the interest of a publishing house or literary agent. Make a list of your most desirable qualities and qualifications. You’ll be surprised by how confident you’ll feel about pursuing your project.
• The Art of Story Telling. Through examples, we’ll examine a few well-written paragraphs and analyze what makes them so good. Dianne will point out the techniques writers use to hook readers, and you’ll try one in class.
• Getting the Words Down on Paper. Just as Woody Allen said “80 percent of success is just showing up,” 80 percent of writing is just sitting down to write. Choose your own topic or receive an assignment for a half hour of writing, and experience the satisfaction of creating your own work.

Dianne is a writing teacher and editor for book publishers. She is the author of "Will Write for Food: The Complete Guide to Writing Cookbooks, Blogs, Reviews, Memoir and More," (Da Capo Press) winner of the international Cordon D'Or Literary Reference Award; and co-author of “Grilled Pizzas & Piadinas” (Dorling-Kindersley). A regular judge for two national book awards and a national journalism award, Dianne also coaches all levels of writers in North America, Asia and Europe. She has been a published writer since 1975.