Something YOU can Control in Many Cases - Your Health!

From the Washington Post

As someone who may be effected by possible upcoming changes in our healthcare system, the Washington Post article in my Google newsfeed today caught my eye. It's really not just that the new administration may make changes that could effect millions of people that made me look at this article, but also that I'm trying to start a business that will help us all realize that we don't have to be so dependent on our current healthcare and insurance industries to relieve some of our chronic conditions. I suppose that might be what the new administration is trying to say by dumping the Affordable Care Act, but alas, they are not talking about prevention to avoid high healthcare and insurance costs or programs which teach people how to avoid those costs to begin with.

This Washington Post article is such an eye opener about just how much we are spending in the industry on health conditions that CAN be preventable and in many cases managed through diet and exercise. The thing is that having someone else do the work for us (procedures, surgeries, pharmaceuticals, etc) is WAY easier than doing the hard work ourselves and if someone else is paying for it - all the better, right? But the thing is we're ALL paying for it, whether through government programs OR through our escalating coverage costs through private work plans. I remember when I was in my mid-twenties and some of my chronic conditions started rearing their ugly heads. I had really good insurance through my employer. I thought nothing of going to the doctor every couple of months (thinking that I really wasn't paying for it). Getting tested for this and tested for that. Getting this prescription and that prescription...fast forward twenty-something years and I'm self employed with terrible health insurance. I had to re-think my approach to dealing with all of my chronic conditions (which seemed to be multiplying with age). 

In walks functional medicine. Digging deep with a practitioner to figure out the core issues that might have been causing all my misery over the years was the easy part (and the most expensive but still far less than what I've spent over the last twenty years). Doing the work to naturally rid myself of these conditions was the hard part. But considering I came out the other side of the treatment and commitment almost 100% chronic pain and condition free has inspired me to re-think our healthcare industry. For sure there are treatments and meds that save lives and relieve pain - if I hadn't gotten an appendectomy several years ago, I would not be typing here today! But in reading the Washington Post article it's right there in black and white that we really CAN be controlling these out of control healthcare costs if we are actually willing to bite the bullet and do the hard work. To lose the weight, to become more fit and to alleviate some of those chronic conditions naturally and ultimately at a much lower cost AND to not be so dependent on treatments and prescriptions can save all of us literally TRILLIONS of dollars.

The Healing Farm and The Healing Farm | Retreats concept is all about prevention. I want to inspire other people struggling with one, two or multiple chronic conditions, auto-immune diseases, obesity and all that comes with it, to try the preventative route. Start with an elimination diet to reduce inflammation in your body. This may help with not just your physical chronic conditions, but also your emotional state as well. Two books that I used and will always recommend are: "The Paleo Cure" by Chris Kresser (what my Healing Farm Retreat's meal plan and concept is based on) and Dr. Kelly Brogan's book "A Mind of your Own". If you are still suffering after your elimination diet, then it might be time to see a functional medicine practitioner to get some blood work done. This is the expensive part and is probably not covered in your insurance plan (something that needs to change!), but if it reveals a host of underlying issues (in my case a parasite living in my system and deficiencies in some key vitamins) think of how much money in co-pays and prescription costs you may save in the long term by figuring it out in one fell swoop and then tackling the cures naturally!

As I said, we've gotten so used to depending on our healthcare and insurance system to cure our multiple ills - but it's at a huge cost for our country. Envision healing centers throughout the country that are affordable and all about preventative measures and natural healing. It could do us all a world of good both in our bodies and in our pocketbooks!

The Healing Farm - Cultivating Practical Health!

Women's Health Topics This M.D. is Not Shy to Talk About!

Dryness? Low libido? "Urgency"? And we thought hot flashes, weight gain and emotional ups and downs were difficult enough to encounter during peri menopause and menopause!

Since I am lucky enough to do marketing photography for Rancho La Puerta (the #1 destination spa in the world according to Travel and Leisure readers for four out of the past six years), I was at "The Ranch" (as it's lovingly called by its many repeat guests) last week. Given that I'm producing a women's health retreat in January, I was thrilled to learn that there was a gynecologist on site who was to be speaking about women's health issues that are not so easy to discuss. Even with your gynecologist! 

Dr. Lauren Streicher, M.D. practices in my original hometown of Chicago and was NOT shy about discussing "uncomfortable" women's health issues. In fact she was downright funny which is why she makes these topics so approachable. It's no wonder she's been a guest on Oprah!, Dr. Oz and Good Morning America (among others).

I'll be ordering her book and will have it on hand at The Healing Farm's Women's Hormone Balance and Detox Health Retreat January 13th - the 16th at Mayacamas Ranch (a few spots left!) since she does talk a bit about natural solutions for many issues. Among my favorites......

Why not combine a solution for the three issues I mention above? Vaginal dryness (about 50% of women experience during and post-menopause), Low Libido (can be partially due to discomfort due to the following AND preceding issues) and urinary incontinence (about 30-40% of women in middle age experience stress incontinence). 

Did you know that the more you have sex, the more maintained lubrication is? Did you know that strengthening the pelvic floor (yes, kegel exercises) will intensify your orgasms and also help with urinary urgency (the stress kind). Keeping up with maintenance "down there" is the number one way you can naturally keep these issues at bay during your middle years! 

Dr. Streicher speaks in WAY more detail about all of these issues both during her talks and presumably in her book, but my favorite (and based on the discussion at dinner that night and breakfast in the morning - everyone else's too) is a device called "intensity" created by a company called "Pour Moi". Apparently most women who try to do kegel exercises are not doing them correctly and not only that, don't keep up with them long enough to properly strengthen the pelvic floor in order to alleviate these chronic midlife health issues. 

Believe it or not, you can see a certified pelvic physical therapist who can properly help you strengthen your pelvic floor (and in some cases, Dr. Streicher does refer patients to them), but the original Pour Moi device that was created helps you strengthen your pelvic floor for a lot less money AND in the comfort of your own home. The device vibrates when you are doing your kegels properly and after 4-6 weeks (4-6 days a week for ten minutes a day) your pelvic floor will be sufficiently strengthened and in most cases, the stress urgency will be gone. PLUS, you should be experiencing more intense orgasms which presumably will make you want to have more sex, which then helps keep everything healthy and lubricated. Voila!

But wait - it wasn't the original Pour Moi device that had everyone talking. Ahhh. Then Dr. Streicher showed us a picture of the "intensity" version. The company got smart and realized they could help women get into more of a routine by making it more fun. Why not add some external stimulation and add an orgasm to the exercise plan? Ha! Brilliant. Not only would you remember to do (and look forward to doing) your exercises, but you can also have fun while doing them AND help keep it all lubed up down there. Now this made everyone giggle and then seriously discuss!

According to Dr. Streicher, in most cases, there's no reason for 50% or more women to experience these common symptoms of aging and there's REALLY no reason we should feel uncomfortable discussing these issues. ESPECIALLY with our gynecologist! This is one of the reasons I wanted to create a women's retreat. I want us to come together and discuss these issues that so many of us experience in a comfortable setting amongst other women so that we can bring that discussion openly out to other women. Let's not be shy about these things!

I hope you can join us in January to hear Dr. Amy Nett talk about an ancestral functional medicine approach to natural solutions for women's health issues during middle age.

The Healing Farm - Cultivating Practical Wellness!

"Not too Hippie Dippy" but Offering Meditation and Yoga at the THF Retreats? Disconnect or Smart?

When I first started dreaming of The Healing Farm retreat property and wellness ranch concept I always said that I wanted to offer "tasteful and affordable" retreats. Not too high-end where they become unaffordable to most people, but I also wanted to build a property that is lovely and austere offering programs that aren't too "hippie dippy" and intimidating. I've been told that using the term "hippie dippy" might insult some people. It's kind of like referring to myself as being "efficient" because of the German in me. I can say it because I'm German! And I feel like I can poke fun of the hippie dippy culture because - well - I'm a little hippie dippy myself!

I've not been to Spirit Rock Meditation Center mostly because I've not had a meditation practice in the past (pretty good reason), but even as I've started dipping my toe into meditation, I figured I would be intimidated and not feel like I belong because I don't have a long history of meditation in my life or even at this point a deep and regular practice. But as I've moved in the past couple of years into starting this new business called The Healing Farm and The Healing Farm | Retreats, I've also been introduced to the challenges of midlife and peri-menopause. As I mentioned in my post about turing 50, this is not an easy time to be making big changes!

As I was approaching my last multi-day retreat; planning/facilitating, putting myself out there and doing something I've never done before, I was met with some great challenges. Two things happened during this time:

1) I had a photo assignment at Rancho La Puerta (I photograph there once a year or so for their marketing materials) and brought my cousin Annie as my guest. Annie has a regular meditation practice and while we were there I decided I should check out RLP's introduction to meditation. One of my fave instructors (JayDee!) was teaching that day and he taught me some very important lessons about meditation:

• That there will ALWAYS be thoughts moving in and out of your brain. It's constant, but what we're trying to do with meditation is learn to look at those thoughts in a detached way without judgement, without letting our emotions get in the way and simply observing them and then letting them go. This made me feel like I wasn't failing every time I've tried meditating in the past. It's normal to continue to have thoughts pass through your mind when you're meditating and that simply learning to let them go by returning to your breath (or chant or prayer or whatever you decide to use) is the key to living more in the present and not allowing your thoughts to consume you.
• He admitted straight away that he's a type A personality (and if you've ever met JayDee you could figure that out in an instant) and that if he can teach himself to meditate and to have a regular practice, just about anyone can! Although I'm not a type A personality (far from it) this also made me feel a bit less intimidated about the fact that I felt like I couldn't control the constant flow of thoughts in my head.
• He taught us tricks to bring your mind back into the present and to the breath. One of the practices that I still use regularly is counting to ten (repeating the number with both your in breath and your out breath). This practice helps me so much as my mind drifts to realize that maybe I'm at 11 and oh! that means my mind has drifted and I need to come back to my breath and my one through ten numbers).

2) At the end of our week together at Rancho La Puerta, Annie and I went to the "Oak Tree" space and meditated together for twenty minutes. It was such a lovely experience and such a nice way to end our week together. Annie then sent me a book that I have found incredibly helpful in teaching myself meditation: Thich Nhat Hanh's "The Miracle of Mindfulness" (an introduction to the practice of meditation). This book was key in starting my practice. Another book that has helped me get a little further into my practice is Pema Chodron's "When Things Fall Apart".

I still consider myself a "beginner" in my practice since I really only meditate 10 minutes a day (15 if I add in my deep breathing practice) and usually only about four days a week. This is fine for me right now and even with that tiny bit of practice, very early on I realized that when I woke up during the night in a panic (this was a combination of peri-menopause and planning that first big retreat) I could calm myself down and soothe myself back into sleep by practicing my one to ten counting meditation. It was amazing to me how quickly this worked for me and I still do it every time I wake up in the night. Panic is not part of my nights anymore because I now know how to tame my thoughts, put them aside and not let them consume me.

So to celebrate the end of my wedding photography season, also a private (me only!) celebration of turing 50 AND as a start to visiting retreat centers as I dive into learning more about existing retreat centers and various programs out there, I decided to be brave and signed up for a one day women's retreat at Spirit Rock. It was called "Women, Wisdom and Meditation" and our leader was Grace Fisher. One of the first things Grace said to us was that she was attending a retreat at Spirit Rock last year and she felt a sense of not "belonging". She then told us that this was despite the fact that she has been teaching at Spirit Rock for 17 years! For someone who was at her first retreat at Spirit Rock and who was feeling like a little bit of a "meditation impostor" this shocked me but as I continued to listen to her talk, I realized that many women feel this sense of not belonging and thus we started our retreat day understanding that we all belong. As human beings living on this earth and in this universe we are ALL connected and we should ALL feel like we belong. 

I've recognized that meditation and prayer have been practiced for more than a couple of millennia for good reason. It calms us. It reminds us that there is something greater than all the thousands of thoughts that go through our heads constantly and that we really ARE all connected on this earth and in this universe. Meditation isn't just for the hippie dippie and prayer isn't just for the practicing religious. They both can be a great source of calm and comfort in lives that aren't perfect, that include lots of stress, emotion and difficult times. Therefore, I decided in planning this upcoming multi-day retreat that including meditation, both guided and long "sits" would be an important addition to the program. In navigating this midlife transition not only do we need to learn how to manage our physical self but we also need to learn how to manage our emotional self too.

In my next post, I'll be introducing the yoga instructor (Amanda Crutcher!) who will be joining us for the upcoming Women's Health Retreat which will feature lectures by Dr. Amy Nett, M.D. (one of Chris Kresser's first clinicians). Dr. Nett will teach us natural and functional medicine practices for navigating mid-life and menopause. We will also be hearing from Coach Emily Boorstein on navigating the emotional side (I just bought Emily's mother's book at Spirit Rock: "It's Easier Than You Think" by Sylvia Boorstein) and I will talk a little bit more in the next post about how we will build meditation into this retreat. I hope you will join us in January!

Favorite Place in the World!

Rancho La Puerta

The wisteria was in bloom, the hills were green, the organic garden was brimming with asparagus, lettuce and all sorts of other goodness that we ate in our meals and the guests were, as always such fun to meet and all so interesting! I've posted a few of my personal photos here, but you'll have to go to Rancho La Puerta's site to see the pro pics!

I am truly blessed to go to Rancho La Puerta to do photography for their marketing materials. It's been an inspiration to me since the first time I went and will always be my favorite place in the world, unless I successfully build The Healing Farm property! 

I learned so much this time about the history of the ranch, attending a lecture series by Ludwig Max Fischer PHD and watching a new documentary about the life of Rancho La Puerta founder Edmond Szekely and the origins of this first wellness spa in the world (established in the forties!). Edmond Szekely was so ahead of his time studying other cultures as well as ancient cultures to uncover various natural healing, spiritual  and meditation practices. Founding the ranch in the forties with his wife Deborah the now hugely successful wellness spa started as a tiny camp in Tecate Mexico. Deborah often comes to the ranch to speak to the guests and I was fortunate that Max's appearance and lectures last week also coincided with a visit by Deborah who is still active in health and wellness advocacy. Deborah's "people's lobby" called Wellness Warrior should be an inspiration to all who yearn to get back to whole foods and simple, organic and local agriculture practices and want to lobby congress about big ag!

I would highly recommend watching "Tree of Life, The Living Legacy of Edmond Szekely" here if you want to be inspired by a true forward thinker about our health and longevity and natural healing processes:

Viva Rancho La Puerta! - until the next time.....

 

Overcoming Adrenal Fatigue - Program Developed by Chris Kresser's Nutritionists - I Guess I'm not REALLY Going Nuts. I'm just N.U.T.S!

I've written a bit about the stress I've been under running an established business, starting this new business (The Healing Farm!), going through a personal family crisis, taking business classes, holidays and on and on. It's really amazing how chronic stress takes its toll no matter how well you take care of yourself with your diet and exercise. I would say I've been going through extreme chronic stress for at least six months - something I will strive to teach people to avoid once The Healing Farm is established, but something that may be unavoidable while I transition my career and try to start this new business. 

When Chris Kresser announced this webinar and program called "Paleo Rehab" that his two nutritionists created I felt like it couldn't have come at a better time. I signed up for the webinar immediately and then woke up yesterday morning feeling like I couldn't get myself out of bed. After completing a ten-week business plan class the night before, I needed to jump right back into room assignments and getting out final link payments for the Mayacamas Ranch retreat participants (plus I'm leaving for a week-long photo shoot out of the country tomorrow!). I was barely (and late) out of bed just settling in with coffee in hand for my morning routine of reading the news, answering light e-mails and my workout when my husband started ranting about something regarding the presidential campaign. As the "f" word started coming out of his mouth, I stopped him and said my psyche couldn't handle a rant at that particular moment. When he looked at me as if I lost my mind, I think I kind of did lose my mind. I broke down into hysterical crying.  This has happened a couple of times over the past few months so he kindly sat down with me and we talked about the amount of constant stress I have been under for the past seven months. He had some really great suggestions like "you need to start thinking about how much you're piling into your schedule" and the fact that I haven't been myself for months (among other things). When I finally calmed down, I opened my calendar and up popped the reminder about the stress webinar! Serendipity.

I decided to take it easy on myself and recognizing that my body and mind were near complete exhaustion, I read the news leisurely and decided I couldn't handle even my NYT Seven Minute workout. By the time I was done reading the news and answering e-mails, it was time for the webninar. I actually enjoyed two hours of much-needed cooking and cleaning time (something I haven't been able to do regularly for months - Brennan has been eating frozen pizzas multiple times per week for dinner for crying out loud) while I listened to Chris, Kelsey (both of whom will be speaking at the Mayacamas Ranch retreat) and Laura talk as if they were using me as their worst case scenario patient. if you went through the N.U.T.S acronym with me -  and here it is from Chris' site:

4 key factors that determine how we respond to stress

So what determines the intensity of our response to a particular stressor? Research has identified four key factors: (1)

1. The novelty of the event
2. The unpredictable nature of the event
3. A perceived threat to our body or ego
4. A sense of loss of control

Some researchers and clinicians use the acronym N.U.T.S. (novelty, unpredictability, threat, sense of no control) to refer to them. I think that’s perfect!

...I was experiencing all of the above only over multiple events and months. I was also interested to learn that as someone who is in peri-menopause, the symptoms of chronic stress and adrenal fatigue can be intensified and I'm more vulnerable. So I'm not really losing my mind then. I think I'm in some severe adrenal fatigue experiencing these symptoms:

• Weight gain (I eat with stress and although I eat well, to make it worse, sometimes I can't keep my mitts off of tortilla chips! I get organic, but I'm guessing they are fried in industrial seed oil)
• Chronic back pain is starting to creep back in
• Extreme fatigue and although I'm still an overall happy person, depression seems to be creeping in
• Brain fog - which didn't help with my ten-week course
• Cold hands and feet (Brennan commented on "Jack Frost Nipping at My Nose" last night too)
• Skin breakouts
• Panic, agitation and anxiety
• A sense of hopelessness and doubt
• On and on the symptoms matched up with what Chris, Laura and Kelsey were discussing

After the webinar a strange thing happened. I decided that despite it not being a good time for us financially, I needed to tackle this chronic stress and fatigue immediately so it wouldn't cause long-term harm so I committed to going through the program (at my own pace). When I finally got into the office, I answered a phone call from one of the Mayacamas Ranch attendees who told me how inspired she was by what I was trying to do with The Healing Farm. As I've planned these retreats, but especially the Mayacamas Paleo Reset Retreat, I've heard from so many people around the country that this is something that is needed and wanted:

•  A program that focusses on a paleo reset type diet in which one learns to reduce systemic inflammation, therefore reducing or even eliminating symptoms of chronic pain and illness
• A program that is reasonably priced
• and mostly a program that a features realistic non-intense exercise program (and after listening to Chris yesterday I was wishing I had a Tai Chi instructor coming)
• In a beautiful place where one could go and unplug, rest, gently exercise and eat a meal plan that is non-toxic and inflammation-reducing 

This phone conversation completely validated what I've been trying to accomplish in the past year with The Healing Farm concept. I don't want to kill myself pursuing it, but if I can find the right people to build this dream with me, maybe I can make it a reality. A glimmer of hope set in again yesterday afternoon and I was again thinking of the impeccable timing of the webinar. I decided then that I still didn't have the energy to dig into final payment setup on The Healing Farm site, so went over our personal finances, sorted and filed piles of papers from my desk and then went back into my cozy home to spend the evening with my husband eating the nutritious food I cooked during the webinar, quiet time listening to music together and then a little "business time" on a Wednesday night (a little reference to "Flight of the Conchords"). 

I wish I could say I woke up feeling like a million bucks this morning, but I managed to get myself out of bed at a reasonable time, managed to do my workout and get to work at my regular hour and before tackling The Healing Farm Mayacamas Ranch booking stuff, I'm going to walk out onto the avenue in the warm sunshine to run some errands before leaving town tomorrow. I think it's going to take a while until I can get myself back to the "normal" Julie, but the smartest thing I think I can do for myself right now since the stress won't stop until end of April is sign up for the "Overcoming Fatigue" program and get some much needed guidance and support for my road to recovery. Here is the link in case you want to check it out:

Thank you to Laura and Kelsey (and Chris) for doing this important work!

Women's Health Retreat Highlights!

Wow! What a day we had for the Women's Health Retreat this past Saturday! Held at Headlands Center for the Arts in the Marin Headlands, we had gorgeous weather, terrific speakers, great exercise and a terrific group of women. Despite being the facilitator and running around a good portion of the day making sure everything was running smoothly, even I walked away from the day feeling inspired and relaxed!

I first want to thank our lovely participants for taking the time out of their busy lives to gather and to talk about a not-so-easy transition in life. You were all inspiring in your own ways, so open to discuss and so full of good spirit. Truly appreciated! 

Secondly, thank you to our speaker Marnie Reasor, CCH of Resplendent Healing! Coming all the way from Tennessee, we were all fortunate to listen to two informative lectures giving us her gathered knowledge from over fifteen years experience working on natural healing of female-specific health issues. You can see a partial list of the tips she distributed at the end of this post. She covered a lot more, so I would highly recommend contacting her for a consult!

We ALL raved about the food! Katie Powers, exclusive caterer for Headlands Center for the Arts is a passionate advocate of sourcing local and organic foods for most of her cooking. She went to her local farmer's market the day before our event to shop for the incredibly fresh ingredients she used for our two meals. I heard more than one person say they felt like they were eating freshly picked lettuce right out of the garden. She also took great care in presenting everything so beautifully for us AND took the time to talk to us about what we were eating and where it came from. Truly another highlight of the day!

Jessica Prentice of Three Stone Hearth was another highlight and dang does this woman know her stuff about whole foods and ancestral cooking! She talked to us about the nutritional benefits of bone broth (I make my own, but seriously - consider ordering some from TSH - theirs is incredibly gelatinous (read: NUTRIENT FULL) and eating whole foods all-the-while showing us how to make a chock-full of nutritional goodness spring nettle soup. I'm now kicking myself for not have the energy to go to the Farmer's Market the next morning to get nettles from Happy Boy Farms. I have lots of leftover containers of Three Stone Hearth bone broth in my fridge and would have loved making the soup this week! Asking a group of women to quietly sip our soup sample in silence so we could appreciate the flavor was not easy to do, but I think most of us were stunned into silence at the incredible flavor and obvious nutrient-dense soup. Then we instantly started talking again because we couldn't help raving about the soup! 

Topped off by a bit of light exercise, between the hike and Dr. Alicia Thomsen's restorative yoga session, I think I can speak for us all saying we walked away from the day feeling stretched, relaxed, informed and having truly enjoyed the peace and gorgeousness of Headlands Center for the Arts and the Marin Headlands. We all probably would have loved to spend a little more time on Rodeo Beach, but there was some more learning to do!

---

Here are some tips from Marnie and the nettle soup recipe to leave you with. What a great day!

For hot flashes

Know your triggers like:

• Spicy foods
• Hot drinks
• Alcohol and caffeine
• Heavy Exercise, saunas and hot tubs
• Toxins in food and personal care products 
• Minimize wheat, sugar and dairy
• Large meals

What you can do:

• Exercise moderately 
• Stay hydrated!
• Dress in layers
• Keep a fan in the bedroom

Sounder sleep tips

• Blackout curtains, earplugs, eye shades
• Sleep between 10:00PM and 5:00AM
• Natural Calm powder
• Remove any blue light from bedroom (computer, phone, no wifi router)
• Epsom salts bath or foot bath before bed
• Alternate nostril breathing

Resources

• Marnie's consult!
• The Wisdom of Menopause: Creating Physical and Emotional Health During the Change by Christine Northrup, M.D.
• The Natural Center for Homeopathy: Homeopathy Center.org
• Environmental Working Group Guides

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NETTLE SOUP RECIPE by Jessica Prentice as published in her book Full Moon Feast

SPRING TONIC NETTLE SOUP - Copied from Edible East Bay's Online Published Version February 16, 2015 in Soup

This recipe is adapted from Jessica Prentice’s Full Moon Feast (March 2006) and is printed with permission from Chelsea Green Publishing.

Some important notes about nettles: If you’re picking wild nettles for eating, don’t touch them with your bare hands, and harvest only the top 4 inches of the plant. In the kitchen use tongs or a large fork to pick them up. You may want to remove the thick stems from the nettle tops before cooking.

Serves 3–4

2 leeks, cut into rounds
3 tablespoons butter or olive oil
¼ pound stinging nettle tops
1 bouquet garni
1 quart chicken broth, filtered water, or other light chicken stock made without vegetables or herbs
(A strong stock will overwhelm the flavor of the nettles: The broth from Three Stone Hearth would be perfect for this recipe.)
2 egg yolks
½ cup crème fraîche
Salt and pepper to taste
Nutmeg to taste

Sauté the leeks in the butter or olive oil. Add the stock or water and bring to a boil. Add the nettles (being careful not to touch them with your bare hands!), bouquet garni, and stock or water. Cover, bring to a boil, and simmer until the nettles are very soft.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and crème fraîche.

Remove the bouquet garni from the soup, turn the heat to low, and purée using an immersion blender, adding a generous pinch of salt and a grind of pepper.

Take a ladleful of soup and stir it into the egg mixture. Return the egg-nettle mixture to the soup and stir gently over very low heat (do not let it boil again).

Grate some fresh nutmeg into the soup, taste, and add more salt as necessary to make it savory and delicious

Variation: Add a handful of sorrel leaves to the soup for a lemony flavor. ✦

Mayacamas Ranch Paleo Reset and Yoga Retreat - Schedule Announced!

I've been working for a few months trying to figure out what I would consider a perfect blend of relaxation, exercise and education for the Mayacamas Ranch Paleo Reset Reset Retreat coming up April 17th and think I'm getting pretty close so decided I would post the tentative schedule on the site.

Two comments I received in the evaluation forms from The Stemple Creek - Wellness and Yoga on the Ranch Retreat were:

"There was plenty of space and time to enjoy the place" 

and "Relaxed pace!"

These were two comments that really struck me because part of what I'm trying to achieve with these retreats - and eventually at The Healing Farm property is not only a sense that you are getting practical wellness solutions through educational talks and exercise programs, but that it's all at a nice pace and not too overwhelming. With our jam-packed lives and schedules and vacations that are too stuffed with activity because we only get one or two a year, I think a well-paced retreat with plenty of down-time should be appreciated and enjoyed. Seriously. If I can and if it's warm enough the week of the retreat, I want to tie two inner tubes to a tree in the pond for people just to float and look at the sky. Doesn't that sound heavenly? It's something Brennan and I try to do once a year and it's incredibly relaxing.

So, not only do I think the Mayacamas Ranch speaker and practitioner line-up is getting to be pretty stellar with the following all participating:

• Keynote: Chris Kresser
• Two nutritional lectures by Chris' nutritionist Kelsey Marksteiner (plus private consultations available)
• Cooking Demo and Lecture by Diane Sanfilippo of Balanced Bites/Practical Paleo
• Free healthy back workshop by Faye Alexandrakis of The Gokhale Method
• Beginner progressive yoga class every day with Patti Cocciolo of the Goodness blog 
• Intermediate and advanced yoga class every day with Erin Cookston - instructor at Yogaworks
• Private Yoga sessions also available by appointment

But also, there's plenty of relaxation time built-in too. So, grab a book (or four), a sunhat, your walking shoes and your bathing suit and get ready for a well-paced and relaxing retreat experience!  

Faye Alexandrakis of The Gokhale Method Joins The Mayacamas Ranch Reset Retreat to Offer a Free Healthy Back Workshop!

Before I became a patient of Chris Kresser's and about three years into my chronic back pain - after trying many, many things to heal my back short of surgery - a good friend who is an acupuncturist told me about Esther Gohale and the Gokhale Method for helping to relieve back pain.  She let me know that free workshops are offered throughout the country and that one was coming up in Berkeley. I wasn't able to attend so my friend was sweet enough to buy me Esther's book "8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back". 

I love that Esther has devoted her life to helping people with chronic back pain and admire the fact that although she offers paid extensive workshops and private consultations, she is so passionate about sharing her ideas that she also offers the free workshops and the book. She's reaching out to as many people as she can to get her message of healing out. This is what The Healing Farm and The Healing Farm | Retreats aims to do. To bring practical and affordable wellness solutions to the attention of many!

So I was thrilled when the Bay Area's local Gokhale Method Practitioner, Faye Alexandrakis agreed to give a free evening workshop at the Mayacamas Ranch Paleo Reset Retreat! I have her set to be our evening "entertainment" on Monday night (see the full week's schedule here). If you have chronic back issues, the combination of listening to Chris Kresser speak, launching your paleo reset AND attending the Gokhale Method Healthy Back Workshop will be a pretty great bang for your buck at this retreat. Between all of the above, I went from being in chronic back pain 80-100% of the time to 0-15% of the time. Seriously, it's a life-changer!

THF - Cultivating Practical Wellness! 

Women's Health Retreat - A Natural Approach to Menopause: PRICE REDUCED!→

I loved this article written by Sharon Mesmer and published in the opinion section of this week's Sunday New York Times and it inspired me to reduce the price for the Women's Health retreat I'm hosting at Headlands Center for the Arts on February 27th.

Perhaps people are waiting to see what other plans come up for the weekend of the 27th, but since I have space for almost forty women, I would like to encourage more women to sign up for this very worthwhile retreat and therefore am reducing the price of the retreat to $125.00! 

I (like Sharon) am not one of the lucky ones. I do (like Sharon) have a friend who told me last year that one month she simply didn't get her period and poof it was just gone forever. No hot flashes. No emotional roller coaster. No panic attacks. Who boy, do I wish I were her. But I'm not and from what I've heard from many of my friends, neither are they! 

This is why I was so inspired to put together this retreat. To listen to a speaker who has specialized in the natural treatment of menopause symptoms, participate in a Q&A, eat healthy locally sourced meals, attend a cooking demo AND end the day with a relaxing yoga class aimed at women our age, I think this will be such a valuable learning experience and encourage more women to sign up!

Join us at the unique and gorgeous, Headlands Center for the Arts on February 27th at 8:45AM and participate in the following:

• Hear two talks by Marnie Reasor or Resplendent Healing as she discusses tried and true natural approaches to menopause. With her 15 years of specialization, she will surely have a lot to tell us and will be more than happy to answer our questions along the way!
• Cooking Demo by Jessica Prentice of Three Stone Hearth and Author of "Full Moon Feast"
• Light breakfast and full lunch by Katie Powers - Marin resident and exclusive Caterer for Headlands Center for the Arts
• All-Level 1 1/2 hour yoga session with Dr. Alicia Thomsen, liscenced chiropractor and yoga instructor at Yogaworks

Three Reasons I can't WAIT for the Women's Health Retreat on February 27th

1. I was up in the middle of the night AGAIN.
2. I made stock last night and decided to make a healthy soup with it today
3. I can't wait to eat Katie Power's incredible food at The Headlands Center for the Arts in gorgeous west Marin
4. Oh yes. There's a fourth. A FULL yoga session!

1 - Seriously. One of the reasons I was so inspired to facilitate a women's health/menopause retreat is because I am going into my THIRD year of peri-menopause. Geez. Full-on menopause hasn't even set in and I'm three years into hot flashes, mood swings, weight gain, etc, etc. Not fun and I feel because of my healthy diet and regular exercise I have pretty mild symptoms! I was up AGAIN in the middle of the night last night. This time with night sweats. I thought I moved from night sweats to hot flashes three years ago, but here it was again. Made me look forward to asking an expert what I can do about it and made me look forward to this retreat even more!

When I discussed this retreat with Marnie Reasor (our speaker), I mentioned the fact that I only experience my peri-menopause symptoms in the springtime. Then sometime during the summer, I go somewhat back to normal. She had a few things to say about it and I realized it would be so very helpful to be able to sit down with someone to get some comprehensive one-to-one information. As I thought about the expense of one-on-one consultations (which if you can afford it I think would be hugely beneficial) I was even more inspired to put on this retreat. Imagine, for less than the cost of one private consult, we get to sit with an expert, listen to her years worth of research and advice on the topic, ask direct questions and also be inspired by what other women in the room share. I'm already lining up my questions but promise I'll let other people ask too! Then we get to add in healthy meals, a cooking demo and an all-level yoga session. It is my intention to offer affordable wellness retreats and I feel this one will really pack a punch for the $$!

2 - I make chicken stock all the time and use Chris Kresser's recipe for roasted chicken stock but have always been unsure if there's a difference between chicken stock and bone broth. I know I can go online and figure this out, but I have so many questions to ask about stock vs. bone broth. Do you really need to slow cook bone broth for days to get full benefits and well, how DO I cook bone broth for days without burning my house down? As I made my stock last night and then contemplated what to make with it (we enjoyed the roasted chicken last night with broccoli and green salad (and tater tots for hubby) and tonight will have homemade chicken enchiladas with organic corn tortillas and aged cheese and salad), I decided I was going to make a healthy soup this weekend. Could be beet soup or an old standby, cauliflower soup. It made me also think of the fact that we get to sit with Jessica Prentice of Three Stone Hearth and listen to her discuss the benefits of bone broth, ask her direct questions and then watch her make a healthy soup! I know I will be purchasing her book "Full Moon Feast" and lining up for her autograph!

3 - I've been on the preferred vendor list at Headlands Center for the Arts for years as a wedding photographer and am so looking forward to bringing a group in to experience this property! It's such a cool building and in such a gorgeous setting in west Marin county. I also have been lucky enough to try HCA's exclusive caterer Katie Power's food when I'm there too and every time, I'm blown away. Katie is a passionate Marin country resident and sources locally and organic for all her cooking. I'm so excited to be able to sit with the participants at this retreat and enjoy a menu specifically geared toward women our age in the very cool "Mess Hall".

4 - Last but not least, given I'm running a business AND starting this new business, my exercise routine has become the NYT seven minute workout, a series of stretches and as much outdoor activity as I can squeeze in. Not great for weight loss, but at least I feel fit and healthy! Alas, the downside is that I rarely have the luxury anymore to go to a full yoga class. That means I'm really excited to end our day with an hour and a half all-level session with Marin Yogaworks instructor and chiropractor, Alicia Thomsen. Boy do I need it!

All-in-all this is going to be one great day and if El Nino doesn't hit that day, we can enjoy a short hike in the now VERY green Marin Headlands right out the door of the facility! Can't wait and hope to see you there!