The Ranch Blog

Marmalade Skies

2010-02-16T12:56:00.000-08:00

Picture yourself in a boat on a river...with tangerine trees and marmalade skies...

Looking out the window of this 737, I watch the maze of Mexico City fade into the distance. The sky is blue today, rare in this place of 26million humans. Seems these days wherever the humanity masses the Earth pays a terrible price.

Over the last 12 days I have led a beautiful group of people into and out of the Dreams of a world created over 2000 years ago to serve all of us in awakening to the truth of Divinity as a way of life on Earth. Sounds like some big mystical deal when all it’s about is being what you are really rather than trying to be what you believe you are. The latter takes years of programming and conditioning while the other requires believing nothing.

Imagine there’s no Heaven, it’s easy if you try….no Hell below us, above us only sky…imagine all the people living for today….ah ahhh….

To dare to awaken today from our inherited slumber with its matrix of shadows, false Gods, lies and manipulations is a daunting task and the task we are created for. The truth lives with in, you, me them, us. The truth is in each breath taken, in each thought passing through from there to hear. We breathe, we feel, we laugh, we cry…we dream and we follow the leader straight into the colorful palaces of Hell. “Come to me”, the painted characters beckon us with promises of security, wealth, pride and accomplishment. We go. Of course we go, it is the dance of the world and the dance must be played out if we are to rewrite it’s riffs and refrains, redirecting the players to a greater dynamic of Magical, mystical, three quarter time, waltzes and rumbas.
“Off with their heads”, the red Queen demands… “Take mine first my Lady, this head of mine has only gotten me deeper and deeper into nowhere”.

All things must pass…George knows. All things must pass away.
Twelve days in the heart of the world according to me. After all we each have our own heart of the world or if we do not then certainly we must rediscover it if we are to remember.

My Sweet Lord, ummm my Lord, ummm my Lord, I really want to see you, really want to be with you.
I hear you today with out even listening, I feel you always without even knowing. I don’t have to look because you’ve never not been here. I have remembered with no story to tell.
Stories are great but the truth doesn’t need one, in fact THE TRUTH can’t be found in one, still our stories paint the canvass, connecting the matrix of dreams from day to day, person to person, thought to thought.

The last three days in Mexico I worked with an idea shared by myself and a Producer from L.A. that I met trying to bring a Realiy show to the USA on what real Healing and Recovery can look like. That idea scared people, they couldn’t seem to get their head around it. Go figure, we are in love with the excuses to suffer. It would be against our cultural vows to question the boundaries of what we might be if we dropped ALL the Bull shit.

Our new idea is to create a TV show that follows yours truly around the planet connecting with the Ancient Sacred knowledge and mysteries of the peoples who have never stopped dreaming reality from the depths of their Divinity. To bring the story and beauty of this world’s mystery tradition into Americas living rooms might just fill a void we have suffered from for a long, long time. The culture of the USA has no conscious relationship with Creation or the world that was born of the Mother Earth. We’d rather control and manipulate to maintain our lifestyle and twisted sense of security.
I want to believe that with the great shifts we are living in there would be some awareness and, if only on the deepest level, recognition of the presence of the Creator in the stories and ceremonies reveled through this show. Why not? If we can get as disconnected and insane as we are now surely we can see the opportunity to do something else, if only virtually, sitting in the comfort of our own home.

I was told 12 years ago I could never make my ideas of a treatment center work…and we did. Now I don’t bother to ask for validation, I have too great a faith in where these compelling feelings that morph into ideas come from and I just do it. If God had wanted us to ask each other for permission to follow our own Divinity we would never have been given free will.

Tonight my Mee, Bella, Lola and myself will sleep in our beds in Nashville. We will all Dream with our Mexico and soon, before this year ends, we will travel once again to the next landing zone for the McCormick family Dreams. Maybe L.A., maybe Manhattan, maybe back to Mexico…that will be revealed, no worries.

By now we must be over south Texas, welcome to Gringo Landia. There’s a cloud outside my window that looks like Jim Morrison. “ Before you slip into unconsciousness, I’d love to have another kiss…….” See you in the Dreamtime….

Lee R. McCormick

A PRAYER ON THE WALK BACK HOME

2009-11-30T09:22:00.000-08:00

I am just here with you creator , I am just here in you...

First thing this morning, I went over to the gate one of Teotihuacan. Whenever I arrive back in Teo I like to go walk through my life there as soon as I can, alone, with myself and my relationship with all that exists there. Today felt interesting as though I am now seeing this place of my awakening from a greater perspective, a less personal more expansive view. As always being in Teotihuacan is more a feeling than a physical experience.

So I walked across the Avenue of the Dead and climbed the steps to the Plaza of Quetzelquatal. Connections come easy here. After some time I said thank you to all that might be listening and moved on up the Avenue of the Dead.

Some hour or so later I arrived at the Alter in front of the Pyramid of the Moon.Itis on this alter that so many have offered back to life all the energies that have been held onto over a life time not realizing that it is our clinging that traps us in our mind and feeds our suffering. Of course we have no idea until we wake up to what we are doing and then it is still a great leap to be willing to let go of all that we define ourselves and our world by.

Sitting on the alter I heard my mantra, one that I picked up in the Catholic Church and have always loved to say to myself and all that listens within me,"Lamb of God take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, Lamb of God take away the sins of the world, grant us Peace".I was slowly saying my mantra over and over when I was moved to take some Coca leaves from Peru from my bag and hold them with a great open and loving heart sending my prayers into the light that falls on the Peruvian world.Sitting with my eyes closed I heard someone walking up beside me and a gruff almost angry voice said, "Jesus Christ is the way son, Jesus Christ is the only way". Opening my eyes there was a 60 something year old American guy looking down at me like I was da Devil. I guess he couldn't hear my mantra or if he could he wasn't to hot on Catholic prayers..whatever. I just looked at him, there was nothing to say.Evidently he believed we lived in the same world and the truth is we don't.

I closed my eyes and rejoined the love that moves through me wondering if the man would have even cared to know what it was I was praying. I don't think so, who knows, who cares.

Once again I got up and continued my walk through the magical world of Teo eventually ending up in front of the pyramid of the Sun. Climbing the steps to the Alter in front of the Sun I put my attention on the doorway to the ancient cave that rests beneath the Pyramid. Last winter I had the opportunity to spend some time in the cave and that experience shifted my relationship with the Pyramid to something very etheric.

Taking out my bells I gently let the wind ring the bells and dreamed back through the 10 years of personal growth and evolution that I've lived with the Sun as my witness. Opening my eyes I sat and watched people climb and desend the steps to the top, listening to the conversations of the people coming and going.Looking up I saw the man that offered Jesus as the way coming down the steps and right behind him was a Fransiscan Monk and some Nuns, their robes flowing with the breeze. As I looked around there was a Mexican man dressed all in white that was saying prayers to the four directions and the spirits of his world, offering his hands up toward the Pyramid. Many paths, many masters. I just sat and watched.

A few minutes later I realized I was hungry and our Dreaming House has the best food this side of all our little heavens so again I got up and started walking home. On the way the words..."I am just here with you father, I am just here with you, I am just here in you Creator, I am just here in you....and that is the truth.

Vaya Con Dios.......

Lee R. McCormick

Spirit Recovery Journeys 2010

2009-11-17T09:21:00.000-08:00

2010...we are moving into a shift in our reality, our personal lives and our world.
Spirit Recovery is offering two life changing experiences in the first quarter of 2010:

Feb. 4-9 - Conscious Contact -
Teotihuacan, Mexico with Lee Mccormick and Dr. Joan Borysenko
and
March 1-11 - Breath of the Andes -
with Lee Mccormick, Linda Star Wolf, Brad Collins and Jorge Luis Delgado

Go to www.spiritrecovery.com for details

We make it a point to offer our journeys at the lowest cost possible....This is the time in our history where we shall truly awaken to life’s magic and mystery...

The Power of Recovery

2009-11-16T09:53:00.001-08:00

Kevin Griffin with Lee McCormick

Join Kevin and Lee for a weekend of guided meditations, interactive exercises, dialog, and ritual, to experience the power of mindfulness!

In NASHVILLE
at Edgehill Village
1200 villa place # 204
Nashville, TN 37212

Friday, December 4 - 6 pm to 9:30 pm
Saturday, December 5 - 9 am to 5 pm
$40.00 register online at www.recoveryranch.com click on professional and other programs

Our attachments are powerful forces that can rule and ruin our lives. The recovery literature says we need to grow along spiritual lines. On this day we will explore how to use the power of mindfulness and wisdom to access and come into harmony with the power of recovery.
Mindfulness helps us to wake up from the dream of past and future and arrive at the reality of now. This core Buddhist practice leads to insight into impermanence, suffering, and the illusory nature of self. An awakened awareness shows us the importance of living with integrity and compassion. Through guided meditations, interactive exercises, dialog, and ritual, we will work toward a personal experience of the power of mindfulness.

Offering professionals 8 CEU’s NASW . NBCC . NAADAC APPROVED

Sweat Lodge December 6th, 2009

2009-11-16T09:52:00.000-08:00

Open Sweat at The Ranch
December 6th, 2010
Medicine Wheel and Sweat Lodge Ceremony

12:30pm meet at Ranch parking lot - travel to Medicine Wheel experience
2:00pm Sweat Lodge
End Time: 5:00pm

Host: Lee McCormick

Please email: marie@recoveryranch.com if you plan to attend.

THE RANCH TREATMENT CENTER WELCOMES NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CHERYL BROWN

2009-11-13T14:04:00.000-08:00

It is with great pleasure, The Ranch announces that Cheryl Brown has joined their innovative team as Executive Director. Having nearly 30 years of experience in the addiction and behavioral health field, Brown continues her passion of providing hope and healing to those individuals and families who continue to suffer from the throes of alcoholism, drug addiction, mood disorders, eating disorders and sexual addiction.

"I am so honored to have this opportunity to join with The Ranch's amazing staff and support their comprehensive treatment philosophy and approach," said Brown. "I am excited and enthusiastic to be a part of this remarkable leadership team."

Brown's multifaceted and experienced background makes her an ideal talent to head The Ranch's cutting edge treatment to meet the increasing demand for affordable, sustainable and creative methods to serve individuals and families. Brown's background, practice, and knowledge have come from other noteworthy ground breakers in the treatment field such as: Life Healing Center ~ Santa Fe, where she held the position of Executive Director and lead the staff to pioneer the first women's gender specific program for sex love and relationship addiction; Sierra Tucson, where she held multiple management and supervisory positions in Intake and Marketing for over 17 years; and Cottonwood, where she began her experience in the treatment field and became skilled as a certified addiction counselor, holding positions of Business Manager, Therapist, and Assistant Clinical Director.

"The Ranch truly resonates with my personal beliefs around the effective tools and models needed to impact the severity of the illnesses and life challenges I often see presented in our clients. The healing process at The Ranch strives to address the multidimensional aspects of the whole person, and provides the client with opportunities for personal accountability and time in a safe, nurturing, and life-like environment. Most importantly, this allows our clients to anchor these new recovery behaviors so needed for lasting change."

The Ranch's unique gender specific programs offer a spiritually focused, community-based environment that allows the time and space needed to address issues such as chemical dependence, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorders, mood disorders, eating disorders, sex, love and relationship addiction, and personality disorders. Therapy for family members is also available through our Family Weekend Program.

The Ranch's services include various experiential modalities which are used to identify and treat the underlying causes of self-rejecting behavior and trauma, with comprehensive treatment for men and women ages 18 and over. We offer primary and long-term programming to a small resident population, ensuring personalized therapy that is focused, structured, and honors the diversity of people, their specific needs and learning styles. Special attention is given to maintaining team relationships with referring professionals as well as discharge and continuing care planning for the return home or the next needed care level. For more information on our comprehensive programming and services visit www.recoveryranch.com or please call 800.849.5969.

ALSO, NEW SERVICES AT THE RANCH:

The Ranch is successfully working with insurance companies to help clients get the treatment for wellness that they need.

The Ranch offers ambulatory detox services to our clients that meet the clinical criteria for uncomplicated detox.

SWEAT LODGE THIS SATURDAY!!!

2009-10-08T10:18:00.001-07:00

Sweat Lodge and Medicine Wheel at the Ranch this Saturday, October 10th @ 12:30pm

contact Lee for more information at leermccormick@yahoo.com or call the Ranch at 1-800-849-5969

THE RANCH on TWITTER

2009-09-04T11:42:00.000-07:00

The Ranch is now on TWITTER.
FOLLOW us at:
http://twitter.com/recoveryranch

JOIN US THIS SATURDAY!!!

2009-08-31T13:33:00.000-07:00

Sweat Lodge and Medicine Wheel at the Ranch
this Saturday, September 5th @ 12:30pm

contact Lee for more information at leermccormick@yahoo.com or 615.330.0309

LIGHTNING DREAMS

2009-07-27T09:50:00.000-07:00

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.

No Matter What Anybody Says

2009-07-25T09:47:00.000-07:00

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

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

2009-07-22T09:36:00.000-07:00

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

Sweat Lodge at the Ranch 07/11/09

2009-07-13T14:32:00.000-07:00

The Ranch

2009-07-13T14:25:00.000-07:00

The Ranch

2009-07-13T14:17:00.000-07:00

2009 Spirit Recovery Weekends

2009-07-06T15:07:00.000-07:00

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 ‚Äúoutside of the fishbowl‚Äù 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 ‚Äúplayshop‚Äù, 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 ‚Äúoutside of the fishbowl‚Äù 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‚Äôve 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.

2009-07-06T15:05:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-07-06T15:04:00.000-07:00

...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

2009-07-06T15:03:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-06T14:53:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-06T14:47:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-06T14:35:00.000-07:00

The Ranch Staff saddles up!

New Faces at The Ranch

2009-07-01T19:45:00.000-07:00

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 –

2009-07-01T19:33:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-01T19:10:00.000-07:00

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

Peace of Mind - Help to Change a Stressful, Unfulfilling Life

2008-11-20T12:07:00.000-08:00

Peace of Mind – Help to Change a Stressful, Unfulfilling Life
By Dawn Zurlinden
Nov 16, 2008 - 10:38:11 AM

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - Imagine that you can be completely happy, all the time. If you already are, you know it’s possible. If not, have you told yourself it’s not possible? If you could believe it’s possible, would you then be willing to take your life into your own hands and begin to transform it? The truth is you don’t even have to believe it’s possible. You only have to be willing to try some changes.

See the Problem

It may be hard to imagine complete happiness, but it’s not as hard to imagine what is getting in the way of it. Many things may be obvious, such as stress from responsibilities and worry about the future. Perhaps the ailing economy, job security, or the health and welfare of your children has you on the edge of your seat. Add to that, current issues, such as your overly burdened schedule, lack of self-care, or even worse, a growing or full-blown addiction. And perhaps you’re lugging along the weight of the past: resentments that play over and over in your head that interfere with current relationships; incomplete acceptance of the death of a loved one, broken dreams or relationships. And then there are the more obscure specters from the past – imprints from unresolved events of abuse and trauma.

What all these obstacles to happiness have in common is that they create anxiety. You can get so used to worry, resentment or a hectic lifestyle that you may not even recognize that you are no longer all that happy. One of the most common symptoms of anxiety is feeling emotionally disconnected. How can you tell you’re disconnected? Recall fully, for a moment, how you felt during the best part of your life. If it doesn’t match today, there’s a good chance you’re emotionally shut down – not feeling. This is only being half alive!

It’s clear to professionals that trauma or loss causes us to create some sort of emotional coping strategy. Often the strategy is to emotionally or mentally shut off. This makes it even harder to recognize that trauma happened. Did you know that witnessing abuse causes trauma? So do losses such as an absentee parent. Sometimes more obvious symptoms of anxiety emerge, such as nervousness, poor concentration, irritability, insomnia, physical illnesses, even ragefulness. It only stands to reason that heavy artillery would be applied to such an uncomfortable state, such as drugs, alcohol, food, or compulsive behaviors such as exercise, overly focusing on the future, shopping, reading, overly focusing on helping others, you name it! There’s also resignation and re-doubled emotional shut-down.

Anxiety or emotional disconnection is truly illness. It’s illness to your physical body, your relationships, your lifestyle, and your sense of spirituality. If you want true health and happiness there are some fantastic methods to achieve this. All that’s required is a willingness to try something – to take an action. Not blaming others, circumstances or fate for your current problems makes action possible.

See the Solutions

Well, it looks like you’re already taking an action – you’re reading about solutions. There are many “home remedies” below. If you haven’t tried one (with real effort) within three days of reading this, move on to “assisted remedies”!

Home Remedies:

Learn meditation and relaxation techniques. Take two minutes to sit and breathe each hour. This one thing can change your life.

Eat healthily, drink plenty of water, get 7-8 hours of sleep and 30 minutes of exercise daily.

Practice emotional housekeeping – Don’t sweep emotions under the rug. Feel them through, or plan a time to return to them for resolution. Then calmly create an action plan to address the internal or external source.

Set healthy boundaries, live in the present and have realistic expectations.

Stay connected to a supportive group of friends.

Find things that tickle you and have a good laugh!

Assisted Remedies:

First get a full assessment by a licensed social worker, psychologist, psychiatrist or pastoral counselor. Then consider the following options:

Comprehensive residential healing programs such as those provided by The Ranch in Tennessee. These integrate treatment for body, mind and Spirit. They address core issues, especially trauma and grief using state-of-the-art techniques such as EMDR and Brainspotting. They address current issues such as compulsivity, anxiety and depression. They teach a full range of coping skills and ways to change thinking, to provide for emotional and spiritual connectedness.

Short intensive therapy programs such as those provided by Onsite, in Tennessee.

Spiritual retreat programs.

Individual, family or group therapy.

Twelve-Step programs.

Massage, cranial-sacral therapy, or medical treatment for chronic physical symptoms.

Yoga, dance, Tai Chi and other martial arts.

Peace of mind is possible. Desire it and be willing to take an action!

Dawn Zurlinden, LCSW, is a Clinical Specialist at The Ranch outside Nashville, TN. Copyright 2008

www.HealthNewsDigest.com

Recovery Ranch welcomes you!

2008-09-16T16:32:00.000-07:00

This blog is for all clients and friends of the The Ranch (www.recoveryranch.com) , both past and present.

The Ranch Blog

Marmalade Skies

A PRAYER ON THE WALK BACK HOME

Spirit Recovery Journeys 2010

The Power of Recovery

Sweat Lodge December 6th, 2009

Open Sweat at The RanchDecember 6th, 2010Medicine Wheel and Sweat Lodge Ceremony12:30pm meet at Ranch parking lot - travel to Medicine Wheel experience2:00pm Sweat LodgeEnd Time: 5:00pmHost: Lee McCormickPlease email: marie@recoveryranch.com if you plan to attend.

THE RANCH TREATMENT CENTER WELCOMES NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CHERYL BROWN

SWEAT LODGE THIS SATURDAY!!!

contact Lee for more information at leermccormick@yahoo.com or call the Ranch at 1-800-849-5969

THE RANCH on TWITTER

JOIN US THIS SATURDAY!!!

LIGHTNING DREAMS

No Matter What Anybody Says

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

Sweat Lodge at the Ranch 07/11/09

The Ranch

The Ranch

2009 Spirit Recovery Weekends

We're People Who Care.

Second Wind Foundation...

Round Up

Professionals' Weekend

Dr. Carolyn Ross

Yana visits the Ranch

New Faces at The Ranch

EYE on Recovery –

Round Up

Peace of Mind - Help to Change a Stressful, Unfulfilling Life

Recovery Ranch welcomes you!

Open Sweat at The Ranch
December 6th, 2010
Medicine Wheel and Sweat Lodge Ceremony

12:30pm meet at Ranch parking lot - travel to Medicine Wheel experience
2:00pm Sweat Lodge
End Time: 5:00pm

Host: Lee McCormick

Please email: marie@recoveryranch.com if you plan to attend.