Fall 2019 Newsletter

Do the Dolomites in 2020!

After another successful Summer in the Italian Dolomites, we are thrilled to return to this beautiful destination in 2020! Staying at the unbelievably charming Hotel Rosa Alpina, you’ll enjoy Ranch-like results as you hike one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in the world, all while eating delicious, Italian-inspired, plant-based cuisine. Priced at $8,900, weeklong sessions will run for just seven weeks from August 30th – October 17th with room upgrades available at an increased rate.

Herbs are an incredible asset to any garden and the unsung heroes of the kitchen. If you are limited in time or space, they may be the only garden you have! Just because the season is changing doesn’t mean you can’t harvest your fresh herbs now and use them throughout the Fall and Winter. With a little help from our Master Gardener Wendi Dunn, you can dry these precious plants and enjoy them all season long!

Why do we dry herbs at The Ranch?

Herbs offer a variety of health benefits. Alongside our footbaths you’ll find an apothecary station so guests can select a blend that will aid them in recovery after our long hikes.

In the kitchen, they add a potent punch of flavor to dishes, often allowing you to cut back on salt without sacrificing flavor. With medicinal benefits that have been used for centuries, they can also be rich in antioxidants that are anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial.

What kinds of herbs would you recommend / which ones are the easiest to dry?

How do you dry and store them?

1. Trim herbs with sharp scissors.

2. Air dry. Tie together with twine and hang upside down for 10 days to 2 weeks until brittle.If you don’t have the right location outside to do this, you can place the cuttings into a newspaper, roll up and let dry for about a week. *Keep in mind any moisture can cause mold so if you are in a less arid climate be mindful of any humidity

3. Crush and store in an airtight jar for up to 6 months.

What can you do with them once they are dry?

In the bath:
Cut your herbs and place them in muslin bags for a calming treatment.

In the kitchen:
Use the same type of sachet in a cheesecloth and add it to your soups or roasts. You can also stuff an herb bag into a chicken or turkey cavity during the holiday season.

As important as it is to move your body every day, taking a few minutes to incorporate meditation into your life can have a profound impact on your mind, body and spirit. A regular practice can offer a variety of benefits including helping to increase your attention span, improve sleep, lower blood pressure and reduce stress.

Making time for yourself might seem hard at first, but The Ranch Malibu and 4.0 Yoga Instructor Alison Bristow helps to demystify the process. Read on as she shares her insight on getting started and you can also download the Insight Timer app and try her guided meditation at https://insig.ht/PpIVjW1Me0.

There are probably as many interpretations and ways of describing meditation as there are meditators. What I share here is based on my own understanding and practice up to this point, and is no way meant to be the end all be all on a topic as deep and vast as meditation.

In the last few years, the case for meditating has become unequivocally clear to me. Simply put, why would anyone want to live their entire life using only a tiny portion of their mind – and the most chaotic, fluctuating portion at that?!

Studies indicate that the average human has 50,000 – 70,000 thoughts per day. Furthermore, it is said that the majority of those thoughts are repetitive and negative in nature. Just the sheer volume is enough to cause anxiety and most likely why that part of the mind is often referred to as unruly or the monkey mind. Without any deeper awareness to hold it, a person absorbed in only that part of their psyche can begin to feel out of control, depressed or anxious.

The phrase, “tip of the iceberg,” is a useful metaphor in helping people understand the bigger picture of the mind and consciousness. This old adage is based in real-life glacier science that only 10% of an iceberg is visible above the surface while the other 90% is hidden beneath.

For a moment, visualize the mind like an iceberg and imagine that the part we refer to as thinking is only the very surface of that mind – 10% or even less. And then consider that beneath that tip of the iceberg stream of thinking lies the rest of the mind – vast, wide, usually largely unexplored and unused. Consider meditation as what helps bridge the gap between your awareness and the deeper dimensions of your own mind.

The barrier is the habitual attraction (some even refer to it as an addiction) that the vast majority of us have to that one little part of our mind called thoughts, thinking or mental movements. Meditation gets that part of the mind quiet and redirects attention away from it. The goal is to create enough of a space between you (as the one who is aware) and the thinking itself.

In my work with others, I now receive more and more requests from individuals seeking freedom from things like anxiety, excessive stress, phobias and depression. Sometimes, especially in the beginning, people need the added support of another person physically present and supporting them in reconnecting with their own capacity to go inside and connect with the parts of themselves that have been alienated.

What I like to call the non-bells-and-whistles practice involves three basic simple elements:

• Stillness: bring the physical body into stillness
• Quietness: choose not to speak or project sounds out into the environment through the voice
• Inwardly directed focus: this is at first most easily achieved by closing the eyelids. 

Once these three elements are at play, you can simply watch what arises within you without the normal distractions and engagement with the external world. Sometimes, again because of the overwhelming importance that has been placed on thinking and doing, this can feel unbearable at first.

To ease this barrier, it often helps to engage in a practice like breath awareness – redirecting attention away from thoughts and onto breath. Simply notice the breath as it flows in and then back out. Even keeping attention on that breath movement for three cycles in a row can noticeably shift the inner and outer state.

I love giving our Ranch and Ranch 4.0 guests an opportunity to experience some of what is described here. Many share that it helps to round out the overall wellness and balance they are seeking to reconnect with when they make an investment in themselves by committing to the rigors of The Ranch.

And keep in mind, reading about meditation cannot give you the experience of meditating and the benefits that go along with it. If you haven’t tried meditating, I hope after reading this you will seek out ways to give yourself the experience. Spaces dedicated to meditation are cropping up around the country. In addition, there are a variety of meditation apps such as Insight Timer, Calm, and Waking Up that can be downloaded right to your mobile device.

I also offer you the following link to try it for yourself.