Winter 2020 Newsletter

If your posture needs a little fine-tuning, try our newest offering, Postural and Movement Analysis, the next time you are at The Ranch!

Set your body up for long term, pain-free movement, functional strength, stability and mobility.  After completing an initial questionnaire, you’ll receive a personalized assessment with Ranch Program Guide Josh Ray, who’s certified in Corrective Exercise and Posture alignment. During the 30-minute consultation, the questionnaire is reviewed, before pictures are taken and hands-on work identifies postural distortions and muscle imbalances. Following the assessment, you’ll receive a corrective exercise protocol tailored to your specific needs, along with marked assessment photos.

While the Corrective Exercise Consultation is an elective service, offered at $125, Josh has created a short protocol in this newsletter for those in need of a little relief from a sedentary lifestyle.  Check it out in the “On The Mat” section below!

It’s not too late to join our Ranch 4.0 team in Italy as we take our program to the Dolomites for just 7 weeks later this year! Get your Ranch results in a new setting as you hike this UNESCO Natural World Heritage site, participate in afternoon fitness classes, restorative yoga and of course receive a daily massage, all while indulging in healthy, Italian-inspired plant-based cuisine courtesy of Chef Meredith.

With limited availability from August 30th – October 17th, we encourage you to contact
Melissa Newman and book now!  You can also learn more about The Ranch Dolomites.

The Ranch Malibu is thrilled to be nominated in Travel + Leisure’s annual World’s Best Awards and we’d be so grateful if you took a moment to cast a vote for us before March 2nd!

Visit wba.m-rr.com/home and find The Ranch under
United States > California >Destination Spas.

A guest-favorite and new mom, Chiropractor Dr. Amanda Coddington’s personal mission is to help inspire positive changes in her patients’ lifestyles.

Learn more about Amanda and also where you should be asking for a little extra attention during your next appointment!

– What are you grateful for?
My new little family. We welcomed our son in September 2019 and he has been so much fun since his arrival.

– What made you become a chiropractor and how long have you been practicing?
When my sister was pregnant with my now 16-year-old nephew she had extreme back pain. It was so intense I had to drive her to the chiropractor. She walked out of the appointment without pain & feeling great. This caught my attention immediately, that you could help someone so quickly and without the use of drugs. I started shadowing every chiropractor that would allow me in their office and changed from being a computer science major to being on my way to getting my doctorate in chiropractic and masters in acupuncture and oriental medicine. I have been practicing almost 10 years now and love it!

– What has been your most rewarding moment since joining The Ranch?
Working on people that, outside of The Ranch setting, wouldn’t trust going to a chiropractor, and being able to open their eyes to a new form of healing. They get to experience chiropractic treatment in its true form, and focus on movement and mobility. It’s extremely rewarding to hear people say that they are no longer afraid of chiropractic care and will seek out a chiropractor when they get home because they feel so great.

– Most requested spot that guests ask for extra attention?
Lower or upper back & neck tension. It’s a tie.

– Most neglected area that they should ask for extra attention?
Tight psoas or tight pecs.

– What’s the best way to maintain the benefits of a session?
Continue with the stretches I advise, as well as proper sleep position. Get into a stretch routine that you can stick to. If it’s a weekly yoga class or an at-home stretch routine, anything that becomes routine and helps loosen tension/stress.

– Best/Funniest thing a guest has said to you?
“I feel like a walnut, I’m all cracked up” or the outburst of laughter some guests have after their first adjustment. Never fails.

– Most asked question from guests?
“Can I go to class after an adjustment?” I always answer yes because chiropractic care is made to keep you moving freely. They always look at me and say “Just tell me no!”

– First thing you do when you wake up?
Cuddle my new little boy, he is up every day at 5am and wants his cuddles and of course food.

– Go-to workout?
Hiking, running or squats

– Your favorite hike/place to walk in Los Angeles?
Anywhere I can see the sunset or watch a waterfall. Lately it’s anywhere I can fit the jogger stroller on trail, he loves to come along with me!

– Personal mantra?
I have always told myself to never complain unless I have run out of options. You are blessed if you have options and can keep on going.

– Favorite quote?
“The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.” Thomas Edison

– Last book you read?
Principles Ray Dalio

From controlling pests and fertilizing the garden to eating scraps so we can achieve a closed system of zero waste, our chickens, goats, bees, cats and dogs have their own part to play in cultivating our garden. See how all of our animals assist in our garden each day!

“The Ladies”
Our chickens help prep and fertilize our unplanted beds, eating the remnants of plants and bugs to get them ready for next season. Like all of our animals, they happily eat leftover compost from the kitchen.

Basil & Blue
These famous Ranch goats are the highlight of the garden tour. Animals offer an incredible number of health benefits to humans, including reduced stress and anxiety, so we encourage our guests to interact with them on the tour and throughout the week for an additional dose of healing energy.

Paisley aka “Miss Kitty”
This grey tabby cat heads up our rodent patrol unit! She stays with the team all day watching the garden so our harvest is safe without the use of poisons. You may also see her greeting guests on Sunday or hanging around during garden tours.

Pip, Clara and Max
Alex and Sue’s dogs spend their afternoons frolicking in the garden, offering the team an instant energy boost and of course helping finish up any scraps that need attention.

The Ranch Bees

Buzzing around to pollinate our produce, our bees make about 500 pounds of honey each year! You can enjoy the fruits of the labor in our recipes, our Bee’s Milk Facial Scrub and our soon to be released Ranch Honey!

Our Owls
You’ll see owl boxes across The Ranch. In the Spring, these birds nest and have their babies, which are fed up to 36 rodents a night! It’s another way we are able to control the rodent population naturally.

Combat the effects of sitting with 5 moves from Josh Ray, Program Guide at The Ranch Malibu & Corrective Exercise Specialist.

A high amount of sitting is very much the norm for our culture. We wake up, sit and eat breakfast, sit in the car for our commute, sit at our desk as we work, sit driving back home, sit and eat dinner, then sit and watch TV. That’s a lot of sitting!

Our bodies are designed to walk and run more than sit, and we see major compensations and increase in related musculoskeletal pain when sitting is so commonplace. This is why corrective exercise, which focuses on countering and correcting distortions in the musculoskeletal system, is so important. You may have heard the phrase, “sitting is the new smoking,” this is due distortions caused from chronic sitting such as anterior pelvic tilt, pronation distortion syndrome, lordosis, lower-crossed syndrome, and other muscle imbalances. All of these can lead to tightness, inflammation, pain and inefficiencies in movement.

To counter high amounts of sitting and prevent postural distortions from forming, you’ll need to target a few different spots. First off, inhibiting and lengthening of the muscles in the chest, anterior shoulders, hip flexor complex, psoas and hamstrings. Then, activating and shortening the muscles of the mid and upper back and shoulders, glutes, erector spinae, and intrinsic core stabilizers.

The next time you’re at The Ranch, book a session with Josh to receive a personalized program to address your body’s own imbalances, but in the meantime the moves below will help offset the effects of a more sedentary lifestyle.

1. Kneeling hip flexor & psoas stretch

• Kneel, and bring your left foot forward, bending your knee in line with the ankle
• Place your right knee back a couple of inches behind your hip, keeping your toe untucked and your back glute flexed at all times.
• Inhale your right arm up and lengthen
• As you exhale, reach your right arm to the left
• Repeat 10 times on each side

2. Alternating back lunge and overhead reach

• Lunge back, reaching your hands up go into a slight back bend and look up
• Alternate, and repeat 10 times each side

3. Posture flex to forward bend

• Flex your feet, big toe into the ground with the arches lifted
• Tuck your tailbone and flex your glutes as you draw in your belly button and lengthen the spine
• Bring your shoulders back and down, squeezing your shoulder blades together to externally bring your thumbs out and reach your fingertips towards the floor.
• Tuck your chin, head moves straight back
• Hold this position and squeeze for 15 seconds
• Curl down into a forward bend vertebrae by vertebrae
• Hold and relax for 15 seconds
• Roll back up to posture flex
• Repeat 5 times

4. Hip hinges

• Stand feet hip-width apart, hands on hips
• With a flat back, inhale, bringing the hips back and hinging forward
• Exhale, flex glutes and hamstrings to bring you back up to standing
• Repeat 10 times

5. Shake it Out!

• Bounce, shake, and relax all muscles for 30 seconds
• Feel the blood flowing all over the body and brain, ready to think clearly and act swiftly!

If your job requires a lot of sitting try any or all of the following:

• Standing desk – use it, even if it’s just for a couple hours a day.
• Stability ball chair – helps keep the core engaged.
• Write a sticky note at your desk to remind you to sit up straight, keep your shoulders back, tuck your chin, and breathe deep.
• Stand up every hour and do the Posture Flex (exercise 3) and Shake it Out (exercise 5).