Monday, July 27, 2009

LIGHTNING DREAMS


I was sleeping, dreaming away into the night. The thunder called me back into this world. Lightning, thunder, raindrops hitting the roof and the windows trying to find a way through to the earth below.

With each bolt of lightning I was seeing the temple of the Lightning Priestess in Machu Pichu. She was standing, a silhouette, reaching out to me through the layers of consciousness that separate our worlds. My body was vibrating to the lightning energy that sparkled in the air, electricity connecting the worlds through light and awareness, her calling and my feeling the call, wanting to go and afraid to let go.

As suddenly as she was there she was gone, my mind had stepped back in between the space of the worlds and I was a once again a body on Earth, separate and apart from the connection to the infinite worlds of the dreamers.

I visited Machu Pichu for the second time last March. My first night in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, I had dreamed of a great lightning storm moving across the horizon, moving towards me. I was not alone. There was a barn with several horses directly in front of me. As dream worlds go the separation of depth, land, structures animals was not as limited by definition or perception as this world of every day Human life. The lightning was first white, spider webbing across the sky, filling the distance with it’s eerie light. As I watched the lightning moved toward me.slowly, creeping across the landscape. Then it shifted to a soft yellow color, still spider webbing, filling the sky with light. Suddenly, I realized the lightning was coming to me, I could hear it’s voice; feel it’s watching me. The horses began to whinny and get nervous so I ran to turn them out before the storm came over us, this was not a safe place for them, I thought, for some reason though I new I was supposed to be there. The horses were my old friends, the ones I had been close to when my life had been so sad and lost. They had been my companions and in a lot of ways my guardians. They had done their calling and it was time for them to go. Opening the gates they took off, I always-loved turning out the horses and watching them run for the hills.

As they disappeared into the night the lightning cracked again filling the sky with its webs of light. This time the lightning was blue, a beautiful soft blue and it covered the sky above my head. I was suddenly afraid so I got down on the ground and curled up in a ball as the space around me was electrified by the energy of the living lightning. I could feel the rain falling over me in a blessing way and then I woke up. I was in my bed in the Sacred Urubamba Valley, the mirror of the Milky Way. This was Peru and the lightning had just welcomed me, an initiation according to my Peruano friend Jorge Luis Delgado.

On my first journey to Peru the previous February I had visited the temple of the lightning Priestess in Machu Pichu and felt embraced and welcomed in much the same way as I feel the Love of the Mother at the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City. This was a bit different though this was sensual and male to female with the female having the power of the lightning running through her veins. After that journey, whenever I thought of Peru I could feel myself still sitting before the great rock face of the Lightning Priestess temple.

Here she had come to me again, reaching out through the dimensions to my little trailer at The Ranch in Tennessee. On a warm July night she had come with her light and mystery to call on me. I am returning to Peru the end of September, just 6 weeks away, and once again I’ll go to her temple and sit giving my attention and love to that place and the magical Mountains surrounding Machu Pichu.

The Peruvian Shaman say she was the most powerful witch in all of Machu Pichu, that her body was found buried standing up looking out over the Sacred City and all it’s mystery.

In a few days I’ll return home to Teotihuacan and Mexico. I’ll be back where my great awakening came through the unconditional Love of the City of The Gods and the warm hearts of the Mexican people. Living between the worlds has become my way. I can honestly say the world I was raised to be a part of was never very interesting to me so it’s only fitting that I found a separate reality to walk through. I don’t know that one is better or worse than the other, but I find one to be much more interesting than the other and both come together to offer such opportunity and Sweetness. Maybe we are, as many of the Indigenous cultures say, a bridge between the worlds. That works for me. So the next time you see a great lightning storm stop and sit with all your attention turned toward the life that’s there in the storm. You might get a glimpse of the one that lives there.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

No Matter What Anybody Says


No Matter what anybody says the whole deal comes down to my relationship with my heart. If I give my power away to anything else before the integrity of my heart I will be moving away from my center.

Lately I am feeling everything around and in me with a new freshness. Like the frequency of clarity of the Heart has come into a higher vibration.

I was sitting out on our front porch this morning, on Estes Road in Nashville, feeling like my Love for Mexico was swallowing me up when a gust of wind blew through the Elm trees and a Mockingbird landed on the power line above my head. She had a fat bug in her beak and sat for a minute looking right at me. I heard her, "nothing to miss, we are all coming back together now...keep feeling it and follow your feeling...the worlds great separation is burning away in the new light of the Sun." She then resumed her bird life and flew away. Consciousness speaking as consciousness does through any form that's available til we don't need a form to get us to listen.

I have fallen in Love so many times in my life and more times than not I've fallen in Love with places, Oceans, Beaches, Mountains, Horses, People, Mysteries, feelings, a touch, a hug, a little girls laugh.

For many years falling in Love was a sideline to my "real" life. Something that spiced up the situation then I'd get back to re'al'i'ty...I never had a clue I could just follow the falling in love and live a life from that calling. That's the deal today. I can't seem to stick with anything that's not from my numerous love affairs. Mexico, Ceremony, my family, best friends, inspirations all leave my cellular structure dancing like a bug on a light bulb.

Something is happening here, what is is ain't exactly clear and that's the coolest part...we have to have faith in our calling and our ability to bring what we love to Earth with us. That is the rebirth of Heaven on Earth and that's the Deal...

BOOGIE ONWARD...
Lee

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Two Dog Night- An Evening With Eddie George and Jeff Obafemi Carr


We are not what we believe we are. We are not what we do in this world. Our lives appear to be happening in the physical sense and are certainly experienced in a physical sense and we are so much more than our physical manifestation of form, we are the one experiencing that form.

Eddie George is an amazing athlete, a damn good actor, and much more than that. Jeff Obafemi Carr is a cool, gifted, actor, artist and he is much more than that.We are not the roles we play in life and we bring those roles too life like magic. We live our roles with such passion and feeling that we fall under our own spell, believing that we have become the role. This is the basis of theater being believable,the passion and life force of the actor living the role , being the role, expressing the character with heart and soul.Believing the role is the foundation of that suspension of belief that brings the audience into the dream of the actor.

Being human is a grand form of theatrical staging. We are born into the world and are not of the world. We inherit a legacy specific to our place , time and circumstance of birth. That legacy is then carried forward through life, developed , evolved, lived,healed, perpetrated, transformed all depending on what we as individuals bring to our characters development. We inherit a role and then we choose how that role will evolve or not.

The true experience of life happens within us. The interactions from the outside are interfaced with the presence on the inside. We are all actors and most of us don't have a clue. We take this world and our physicality so seriously that we lose our connection to the truth that is our presence within, our spirit our life force our consciousness. The Love that we are is abandoned for the sake of what we have been told and have come to believe about ourselves based on what the world outside of us holds as truth and experience.

There is an old Native American tale about the two wolves that dwell within each of us and how the one we choose to feed is the one that prospers.We take on the characteristics of what we "believe " about ourselves. Once we attach to a belief we then see the world according to that belief and seek out support to make our belief the truth. Problem is that our need to be "right" distorts our perception to the point that we no longer see clearly, rather, we see through our own investment in the belief we have attached to.We are the ultimate expression of the character actors art.We create our role, step into it, and then forget that we are acting.

As talented as Jeff and Eddie are they both know when they walk off the stage it takes a few minutes to de-role from their art and ground themselves in their inner spirit.If they were to continue to play out their characters in the world people would say they were nuts, crazy, eccentric...they know the difference and so when they are in character they are 100% there, believable, dynamic. When they go home they are the light within living as Human.

Seeing Two Dog Night was reality check in dedication and art form. Great actors know they are not just the role they play and they have the ability to be that role 100% for the sake of their art, like a special forces solider giving 100% to the mission.The ego is set aside and the expression is spirit on stage. They are actors and they are much more. They are men and they are much more. We are Humans and we are much more.

These are very interesting times. The roles many of us have lived, believing that's what we are, are being rewritten while we are still learning our original lines. We can't count on what we were told as kids being there as rock solid base lines to live by. The nature of the game is changing. The reality we demand be safe and sound is becoming liquid and slippery. Fear says "better find something to hold on to" and life says "better get comfortable with letting go".Faith is recreating itself from being where we go out of fear and need for security to the living expression of not needing to "know" before we say yes to life's opportunities.

If you are ever in Nashville you might check out the Amun Ra Theater and it's offerings of life lived creatively.The roles you'll see acted out there are directed by the heart and the spirit, that's an example we can all learn from. Check them out at http://web.mac.com/jeffocarr/iWeb/amunratheatre/Welcome.html

Monday, July 6, 2009

2009 Spirit Recovery Weekends


JULY 10 & 11

Jeremy Pajer & Jean Marie Guthery
CREATING YOUR VISION
This workshop is designed to help you create the life you really want. Learn to dream big and without limits. Including a meditative labyrinth walk, Vision Boards, and learning to let go of whatever blocks participants can identify that stand between them and the life they want to create for themselves. Participants will conclude the workshop with a renewed sense of direction, vision and purpose.

JULY 17 & 18
Andrew Krichels
EMBODYING RECOVERY
Our bodies are encyclopedias full of knowledge; we simply need to learn to look and listen. Throughout this extraordinary weekend, will explore centering, balance, relationship and collaboration through movement. In a non-judgmental, open style, through movement and stillness, we will download what are bodies are trying to tell us about working through resistance to recovery and taking the next right step.

AUGUST 21 & 22
Lee McCormick
TOLTEC TRANSCENDENCE WEEKEND
Changing your life in the awakened state requires a dedicated strength of will. In order to change, you need to pull yourself out of your own dream, and develop an outside point of view. Developing this “outside of the fishbowl” awareness is the minimal chance to create a new way of experiencing your life. With awareness, transformation can begin. Using ancient Toltec wisdom combined with contemporary common sense, we will explore ideas such as how the mind works, the way we are domesticated, and tools for living in a new dream. We will also have an opportunity to experience our transcendental nature through ritual, vision questing and guided meditations. We invite you to join us for this extraordinary opportunity to discover the Toltec way to personal freedom, and the creation of the dream of heaven on earth.

AUGUST - TBA
The Ranch and Magnolia Creek will host Mary Bellofatto.

OCTOBER 2 & 3
Dede Beasley HORSE CAMP
In every adult horse lover there is still the kid who wants to know everything about horses. Horse Camp provides a mini-intensive for those who want to learn about subjects such as horse breeds, color and markings, different levels of care, the roles of veterinarian and farrier, purchasing a horse and other areas of basic equestrian knowledge. The workshop will also include basics of natural horsemanship. Clients will have an opportunity to do some actual round pen work.

OCTOBER 9 & 10
Dawn Zurlinden, LOVING IT ALL
The path to freedom from suffering involves the point of view we develop about events and circumstances, as well as what we create for ourselves in our lives. Our relationships with others, with a higher power, and mostly with ourselves immediately reflect to us where we are and are not loving, and where we are suffering. In this weekend “playshop”, we will draw from varied spiritual traditions, with an emphasis on Toltec philosophy. We will learn dynamic tools to get to the inner loving beings that we really are, discovering that we really can love it all.

NOVEMBER 20 & 21
Lee McCormick
TOLTEC TRANSCENDENCE WEEKEND
Changing your life in the awakened state requires a dedicated strength of will. In order to change, you need to pull yourself out of your own dream, and develop an outside point of view. Developing this “outside of the fishbowl” awareness is the minimal chance to create a new way of experiencing your life. With awareness, transformation can begin. Using ancient Toltec wisdom combined with contemporary common sense, we will explore ideas such as how the mind works, the way we are domesticated, and tools for living in a new dream. We will also have an opportunity to experience our transcendental nature through ritual, vision questing and guided meditations. We invite you to join us for this extraordinary opportunity to discover the Toltec way to personal freedom, and the creation of the dream of heaven on earth.

DECEMBER 11 & 12
Jeremy Pajer & Brooke Kalan
ONCE UPON A TIME
Do you often find yourself wanting to break free of the Life you’ve created but do not know where to begin? Over the course of their workshop, Brooke and Jeremy will guide you on a journey of transformation. The journey will begin with you. They will invite you to take a close look at your beliefs and agreements and to uncover the messages inherent in the world that you live in. They will invite you to unlock your true potential and to unveil your True Self. You can re-create your life according to what you really want. Using the transformative tools they present, you can re-claim your birthright: boundless joy, personal freedom and unconditional love.

Please continue to check our website regularly for upcoming special events and to preview media interviews and articles. www.recoveryranch.com.

We're People Who Care.

Do you ever feel like you're not where you want to be in your recovery? Maybe you slipped a bit and haven't quite been able to get back to where you want to be.

We can help.

Remember that you have an open invitation to come back to The Ranch and participate in all of the workshops we offer FREE OF CHARGE for one full year after you leave. One full year. After a year, your fee is discounted. Our alumni are important to us and we want you to succeed.

Call: 1-800-849-5969 for more details.

We're People Who Care.

Second Wind Foundation...

...exists to meet the needs of individuals and families seeking support in their process of recovery, growth and healing. Our focus is on the development and facilitation of programs/workshops as well as acquiring and providing scholarships for participants. We believe in the sacred gifts of life and have made a commitment to help bring light into this world. We have created the framework and staffing necessary to achieve our goals. We welcome your ideas, input, and support, financially and in mind and spirit. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Second Wind Foundation. Your contributions could make the difference in a person's life by allowing them to get the treatment they otherwise would not be able to afford. If you are interested in participating in this very worthwhile cause, please contact The Ranch, 1-800-849-5969.
Second Wind Foundation is a non-profit organization.

Round Up

Alumni Sweat Lodges
Ceremonies held the first Saturday of each month.
RSVP Required. Call or Email Lizzy:
1-800-849-5969 or
Lizzy @recoveryranch.com
Meet at The Shed at 12:30 pm

4 Agreements Support Group
Open to The Ranch Alumni
Second and Fourth Tuesday of each month, 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
First Unitarian Universalist Church
1808 Woodmont Blvd.
Nashville, TN 37215

Professionals' Weekend

Thank you to all who joined us at The Power of Ceremony in Healing and Recovery. We have enjoyed hearing from you all and are glad you have taken your experience with you in your travels. Thanks for the feed back and for spending your time with us at The Ranch. We look forward to hosting our next Professionals Program September 17, 18, and 19.


From the Participants:

Our experience together seems to have been just the pebble we all needed, the ripples are emanating throughout the streams of our souls! I'm so glad to be a part of it! The Ranch is a special place.

"Thank you and all of the Ranch staff. It was like I had a new pair of glasses on when I returned to work. Everything was so clear. Thanks for helping us have a wonderful weekend. I have been looking at the Ranch web site for about two years. It was so good to experience it up close and personal. Ya'll have a great place and a very good atmosphere to work."

Dr. Carolyn Ross

Eating Disorder Consultant at The Ranch

I started consulting with the eating disorders program at The Ranch in February of this year. I am very excited about my work here. I am an eating disorder specialist who uses integrative medicine to treat anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder and compulsive overeating. The Ranch has welcomed this approach as it includes both conventional therapies as well as the use of dietary supplements and other alternative therapies. The women's programs at The Ranch treat many co-occurring disorders and I enjoy the challenge of working with these complex patients and the very professional staff who manage them.

A physician, author, and nationally recognized speaker, Dr. Carolyn Ross is a graduate of the University of Michigan School and an alumnus of Dr. Andrew Weil's Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona. She holds a masters degree in public health with an emphasis on international health. She has more than 20 years experience as a practicing physician specializing in womens health and integrative medicine. She served as the Head of the Eating Disorder Program and Head of Integrative Therapies at Sierra Tucson, an internationally respected treatment center in Arizona. Dr. Ross understands the powerful role that a mind/ body/ spirit approach plays in healing, particularly in her area of expertise - eating disorders. Her first book, "Miracles in Healing" recounts her journey of self healing while offering a mesmerizing exploration of alternative and complementary healing modalities. Her second book, due out next year, guides professional in an integrative medicine approach to the treatment of eating disorders based on the highly successful program Dr. Ross has developed at Sierra Tucson.

Yana visits the Ranch

The Ranch Staff saddles up!




Wednesday, July 1, 2009

New Faces at The Ranch

Greta Hillin, Program Manager and Therapist for Spring House - Greta holds a Master of Arts in Counseling from St. Edward’s University in Austin, TX. Her introduction to the counseling profession was with Hope Alliance Crisis Center, serving domestic abuse and sexual assault survivors. She began as the Law Enforcement Outreach Coordinator, working closely with police officers and assisting them in working with rape victims and domestic abuse situations. She went on to become Director of Intervention Services where she oversaw the clinical team and intern program, facilitated support and therapeutic groups and worked with clients one on one. Upon leaving the crisis center, Greta worked at Austin Recovery as a primary therapist for men living at Salvation Army’s Adult Rehabilitation Center and running a small private practice. More recently, Greta was at The Meadows where she was a Survivor’s Week facilitator, working with family of origin issues and helping clients heal childhood wounding. Greta began her own recovery journey in 1989 and her passion is in working with clients who suffer from trauma, codependency and addiction issues.

Dr. Louise Merritt, Psychiatrist - Dr. Louise Merritt is a Menniger-trained psychiatrist with additional training in child and adolescent psychiatry. She has many years of experience in the addiction and dual diagnosis fields. Her areas of interest and expertise include trauma recovery, mood and personality disorders as well as integrative/holistic psychiatry.

Kate Michael-MacLeod, Program Manager and Therapist for Lake House - Kate could not be happier about getting to work at the Ranch. Her previous experience includes crisis counseling at WomenFIRST in Charlotte, N.C., social work and program planning at the Martha O’Bryan Center in Nashville, group facilitation for teen offenders with the Domestic Violence Intervention Center in Nashville, and many hours of volunteer work teaching dance, theatre, and creative writing to emotionally disturbed youth in South Florida, where she was born and raised. Kate comes to the Ranch after working primarily with teens in state’s custody at a Level 3 lockdown facility, and is thrilled by the change of scenery. She holds a Master’s degree in Human Development Counseling and is a Nationally Certified Counselor (N.C.C.).

Karen Moran, Program Manager and Therapist for Hilltop House - Karen has held a Tennessee license as an alcohol and drug counselor since 2002 and has 19 years experience in the counseling and addiction field, working with primarily adolescents and their families with chemical dependency and trauma. She has worked in residential, outpatient, psychiatric, and sober living communities and with diverse client groups. She is originally from South Florida, but has been in the Nashville area for over 12 years. She is thrilled to be a part of the ranch team.

Chris Morrison, Aftercare Coordinator - Chris began working for the Ranch as a resident assistant for River House in August of 2007. In November of 2008 he was promoted to Aftercare Coordinator where he plans continuing care for discharging clients and works on follow-ups with Ranch Alumni. He also helps run Experiential Therapy here at the Ranch through ropes courses and team building exercises. Chris has worked in treatment centers such as Cumberland Heights in Nashville, behavioral facilities for juveniles such as Omni Vision, and taught children art and woodworking for Camp Marymount and the Appalachian Center for Arts and Crafts. He has attended colleges for art and computer science. Chris began his own journey into recovery in 1997 and has done extensive work with Nashville’s sober high school, Community High School.

Shelly Patrick, Nurse - Shelly brings 17 years nursing experience with her to The Ranch. She has worked in many different areas during her nursing career, including detox, addiction and inpatient psychiatric care. Shelly feels blessed to be part of The Ranch family. She has a husband and two wonderful children at home.

EYE on Recovery –


EMDR and Brainspotting!
by Dawn Zurlinden
Clinical Specialist for The Ranch


We, here at The Ranch, are as motivated as ever to provide deep trauma resolution therapy. In addition to addictive problems, so many people carry unresolved traumatic memories, or even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The treatment team at The Ranch is always researching methods that work, and methods that work together. We combine hands-on experiential techniques like psychodrama and equine therapy, with traditional and newer methods such as EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing). We are now including an off-shoot of EMDR called Brainspotting.
Residents have been so pleased with the rapid results of EMDR and Brainspotting. EMDR was developed by Dr Francine Shapiro in 1989. This method is based on the premise that the mind is inclined to heal the past. It begins with targeting a traumatic memory. With a series of simple eye movements, coupled with gentle exploration, the memory is quite often reprocessed and resolved to the point where it is no longer a painful or frightening memory.
Brainspotting, recently developed by David Grand, PhD, also uses simple eye movements. It tends to work more with the emotional component of a memory, and for many, with dramatic results! The technique draws on the fact that often the fight-or-flight response to a traumatic event is not completed, but rather, “stored”. This results in symptoms like continuous anxiety or sudden anxiety when a triggering event happens. Brainspotting allows focused completion of the fight-or-flight response into the relaxation response. It can also address incomplete emotional reactions such as grief, anger, and shame. The result is the same as with EMDR – the memory is no longer disturbing. Even related memories tend to be resolved, indirectly.
Resolving issues from the past has so much to do with recovery and the future. Sometimes it’s a mystery as to why we repeat behaviors we don’t want to repeat. The answer may well be in the past. Our residents have taught us that it is so much easier to change present behaviors without the silent nudges from the past demanding immediate relief. Then the fun really begins! We love to see that here at The Ranch. The Ranch is ready to help open options for ways to embrace our true nature and create new ways of living!

Round Up

Dear Friends,

What a gift it has been to work with you over the last several years. I have a lot of gratitude for your ongoing support of the Ranch and those we serve. Transition and change is what we as and industry specialize in, and I have been fortunate to be affiliated with one of the most creative organizations in the country supporting people in their personal growth and recovery journey. The time for change and transition has come for me and I would say I struggle with it as much as those we work with. I have decided to transition from The Ranch on June 1st. Although I am very fortunate to have a great opportunity in front of me I have sadness in letting go of the incredible people I’ve been blessed to work with. I am also indebted to professionals and facilities in this community that have supported the Ranch and my growth.

The Ranch will continue to be a premier healing and recovery program specializing in trauma, mood, addictive, and eating disorders treatment. I am confident in the management and clinical teams and their ability to carry on the compassionate integrative wellness approach that has earned us our reputation for excellence in patient care. You can rest confidently in the Ranch’s dedication and commitment to you and to our clients.

I am also grateful and appreciative of the ongoing support from the owners of the Ranch. They have allowed the space and opportunity to support, develop, and be apart of a world class team. Co-owner Lee McCormick is stepping in as the executive director and is dedicated to the mission and evolution of The Ranch going forward.

Thank you again for the opportunity to serve you and help guide The Ranch during my time. I continue to be humbled and honored to be a part of the professional therapeutic and treatment community. I believe in what we do and welcome the challenges our generation faces with the healing movement. I look forward to continuing to learn, advocate, and carry the message of hope to those in need of our service. The Ranch and you are a big part of the foundation that for me continues to be life changing.

Sincerely,

Miles Adcox, MS