|
Dear Friends and Family,
I send you greetings of good will and best wishes for your health — in body and mind. Mother's Day is coming up and I've been thinking about my mother and the women who've most influenced my life. This prompted me to choose Compassion as May's theme.
In spiritual, religious and mythological iconology, compassion is most often represented by female deities and saints. I've experienced the compassionate blessings, inspiration, creativity and strength of many female mentors. There are too many to acknowledge here. I'll highlight one.
Deborah Szekely turns 100 on May 3. She is the co-founder of Rancho La Puerta located in Tecate, Mexico. Deborah helped cultivate the "Ranch" as a spiritual retreat for healthy living through natural foods, exercise and communion with nature. The Huffington Post named Deborah the "Godmother of Wellness” and she’s widely known for her activism, philanthropy and authorship. In 2010, Deborah created "Wellness Warrior,” a web-based initiative to promote sustainable living as part of a national wellness movement to increase awareness and advocacy for human and environmental health. She also founded San Diego's New Americans Museum to celebrate the contributions of America's immigrants. Deborah and her husband, the late Professor Edmund Szekely, began Rancho La Puerta in 1940. It is currently one of the world's top destination spas according Condé Nast and Travel + Leisure.
I have a special place in my heart for the Ranch and a profound admiration for Deborah. My tenure as a yoga instructor at Rancho La Puerta and it's sister spa, the Golden Door, from the mid-eighties to the early nineties was a great opportunity for personal growth, and some of the best years of my life. I met Jane Fonda through the Ranch and was hired to create Jane's first yoga fitness video. Subsequently, I came to the attention of Yoga Journal, which resulted in my writing Yoga Journal's Yoga Basics. Additionally, the Ranch supported my education and fitness-related travel. I ventured to Brazil as the American yoga representative for a South American yoga conference and spent three months in Japan working on the Queen Elizabeth II Cunard cruise ship as part of the Golden Door Spa-at-Sea program, which Deborah created. I’ll be forever grateful for my association with these spas as they broadened my horizons and shifted the trajectory of my life and career.
I hope you reflect on compassion, Mother Nature and the gifts from the females in your life.
"I have a very simple personal practice. I inhale peace. I exhale love."
– Deborah Szekely |
