The Road Back To Me

How pushing my limits led to renewal and rediscovery.

Dear Friends,

Hello, hello!

I hope you all are well and had a fantastic week.

Jumping right in to this week’s micro issue of my Little Black Book of hot off the press, favorite finds plus tried and true, time tested treasures.

1. Continuing with taking a look at my husband’s home office, the Goblet Drink Table is a mix of sculpture and furniture. “Like sculptural jewelry for a room, the Goblet Drink Table is a showpiece with a bold presence. With a smooth cast-bronze base and a rounded smoked glass top, the table is shaped by fluid lines and curves that reflect its exceptional craftsmanship.” This is to sit between two guest chairs opposite his desk. The picture does not do it justice. It is stunning IRL.

2. As I shared in the past, I have been dipping my toes in Ayurveda with one part of my daily practice incorporating this copper tongue scraper from Surya Spa. The copper has antibacterial and antimicrobial properties that is good for our oral health. I love how much cleaner and fresher my mouth feels since I’ve started using it. So much so that both of my children now have their own, too. It’s the little things.

3. Holistic nutritionist and wellness expert, Kelly LeVeque is worth her weight in gold. Grounded, humble, and kind, Kelly is the girl next door. But don’t be fooled by her best friend vibes. She is extensively well researched, knowing what seems like every scientific study and peer reviewed journal paper in her field. When she speaks or puts anything out into the Universe, I sit up and pay attention. Just dropped, Kelly’s Be Well Essential Amino Acids contain the ratio of all 9 EAAs our body must get from our diet (because the human body can not produce them) to support our body’s protein-building potential. I was lucky enough to get to take a small group class with her for two years, from which I learned many of my daily health routines including my Fab 4 morning smoothie. She is principled and a stickler for quality, truth, and transparency. I trust her implicitly.

THE ROAD BACK TO ME
How pushing my limits led to renewal and rediscovery.

The benefits of expanding our horizons further than where we have gone before are relevant no matter our age. I reminded myself of this when I booked myself at The Ranch in Malibu.

With my children scheduled for two weeks at sleep-away camp this past July, sandwiched between our summer holiday trips out of the country, I found myself with a never before stretch of child-free time since my son was born 13.5 years ago.

My friends asked me…What was I going to do? Where was I going to go? Staycation? Spacation? Romantic getaway?

Without a question in my mind, instinctually, at the cellular level practically, I knew I needed this time to checkout and reconnect with myself. To get back in touch with my own internal being. To get back into my body. To answer to no one but myself. To reboot and recalibrate. To do exactly whatever it was that I wanted absent of any input from those I want to please or who depend on me. To be selfish.

And after having just flown all over Italy throughout the month of June, I did not want to get on a plane. So my destination had to be pretty local to Southern California.

I had read about The Ranch and strictly remembered that each day is centered around a four hour morning hike through the Malibu mountains. This one fact was really what captured me. I emailed my travel agent and asked her to book the extended 9 day program at The Ranch, at which time she called me to try to talk me out of it, explaining this is not for the faint of heart and suggesting a more pampered getaway. Nope! This is what I wanted to do. I wanted to eat vegan for the first time in my life. I wanted to hike for four hours everyday. And I wanted to get a massage every afternoon. Done. Sign me up.

It was my own version of sleep-away camp.

After my stay was booked, I received The Ranch’s 30 Day Pre-Arrival Package which included a health and wellness questionnaire, packing list, The Ranch Values, hiking shoe guidelines, and the 4-3-2-1 week-until-your-arrival-plan to guide me in successfully getting ready for my upcoming stay. Recommendations included things like “eliminating alcohol, diet drinks, and the consumption of processed foods, unnatural sweeteners and sugar, sugarless gum, tobacco, cigarettes and any item with ingredients you can’t pronounce,” and “go to bed 1 hour earlier than usual each night,” and “increase the number of vegetarian only meals,” and “increase your walking time outdoors to 2 - 2.5 hours 2 - 3 times this week. Make sure that half your time is spent at an incline.”

While at The Ranch, I found myself exploring certain areas within myself that felt uncomfortable: hiking four hours most days for eight days in a row, spending most of my waking hours with a cohort of 24 fellow Ranchers I just met, cold plunges, almost zero technology (Wi-Fi in our rooms only but I was almost never in my room except to shower and sleep), and being away from both of my children for the first time since they were born.

But in stepping outside of my comfort zone, I catapulted forward in my physical, emotional, and spiritual health. I learned that I was capable of daily fetes of endurance, with some days walking an equivalent of 26+ miles, pushing myself beyond the limits I would have pushed myself under my own volition.

I met an incredible group of people traveling in from all over, including France, Canada, and the States ranging from Florida to Silicon Valley, including a few Southern California locals like me, and one “nomad” — a handful of whom I look forward to keeping in touch with.

I decluttered my mind and calmed my nervous system by unplugging. I breathed through cold plunging and I learned that I love, love, love the way my body feels after having done it.

Space gently began to fill my consciousness allowing me to realize how much I had veered away from my own personal needs: time to myself and time to take better care of myself. I wanted to kickstart getting back into my body. Reboot my commitment to healthy sleep, daily movement, and cleaner eating. Drop the weight of all that I carry: worries, commitments, to-dos. I did all of this and more. And while I took care of myself, my body began to take better care of me. I slept well. My numbing phone habit before bed disappeared. My stress softened. I shed three inches. My confidence grew from showing up, being present, and all in, despite any discomfort along the way.

I found inspiration again from the nature bathing, the other Ranchers, and our incredible fearless leaders shining a light on another way of moving through our days.

“During your stay, focus on putting one foot in front of the other and go at your pace. This is your personal journey, be proud of what you have accomplished thus far and what you are setting out to achieve during your stay with us.” ~ The Ranch Malibu

I have studied organizations for years starting in business school at Duke and then throughout my career thereafter. I have never seen, nor experienced, a more inspiring, passionate, professional, and committed team than at The Ranch. Every single team member was extraordinarily uplifting, knowledgeable, and helpful, in an authentic way that came down to them really loving what they are doing and who they are doing it with — the owners, Alex and Sue Glasscock, their teammates, and their weekly cohort of Ranchers. Which is why more than 50% of Ranchers return and why The Ranch has won a series of awards and accolades, including Top Destination Spa Resort in the US in 2022 & 2023 in Travel + Leisure‘s World’s Best Awards and Top Destination Spa in the US in Conde Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice in 2017 through 2022.

I hope to make The Ranch an annual pilgrimage. No matter what, however, I am taking much of what I learned and experienced at The Ranch and bringing it home with me.

And for those of you who want even more of the insider tips from The Ranch, below you will find a plethora of additional resources us Ranchers were given to help continue our journey long after we leave The Ranch. Amazing recommendations for books, movies, podcasts, wellness blogs, recipe resources, smartphone apps, and mindfulness and meditation information. I hope you enjoy…

xoxo, until next time, I hope to see you on the trail.