Making Time: Back to the Ranch
A couple of years ago, I was given a gift of a one-week stay at Rancho La Puerta, a destination spa in Tecate, Mexico. This is a legendary spa dedicated to fitness, health and wellness, and delicious healthy food. Forget Calgan; Rancho la Puerta, take me away.
To most people, this sounds like a heavenly offer—a free week to spend doing nothing but yoga and pilates, taking glorious hikes up mountains with breathtaking views, enjoying delicious specially prepared meals and unwinding with a pure-bliss relaxation massage. To me, it sounded like pure hell: I was dedicated to my growing business and wanted to spend every waking moment towards developing TV shows, writing books, designing products to just keep growing, growing, growing.
To make a long story short, a year had gone by and I was basically reminded by the gift giver that I had still not taken advantage of the trip. Out of guilt, I packed up my things and went, hoping I would not freak out wondering if I was needed on a TV set, in a production meeting or at a photo shoot. Yes, I was stressed out about going somewhere created to relieve stress.
On Day 1, I thought I had entered my personal nightmare: people said hello to me everywhere I went, there was no television in my room, not a drop of alcohol in sight and my Blackberry only worked when I illegally tapped into the ranch’s wifi. What I wanted was to be left alone to watch TV, check my email and have a glass of wine. That’s what we call getting off on a bad start. I called a friend and said, “Help. I’m at Promises Rehab Mexico. Send. Wine.”
But as the week progressed, I noticed something about myself. Out of boredom, I took yoga, mat pilates, stretch and cardio circuit training classes. I never looked at my watch during these classes, which I normally would do back home wondering if I had enough time to get to a meeting. Yes, I am that person who leaves yoga class right before the meditation part of the class. Instead, I could basically enjoy the moment and focus on the activity at hand. I met interesting and friendly people at breakfast, lunch and dinner, and never felt hungry. I relished my 8PM massages, staggered back to my villa in a stupor and had the best sleep of my life.
I didn’t miss my sugar-free Red Bulls, my evening glass (er, glasses…) of wine and most importantly, my Blackberry. What I experienced was something I hadn’t felt before: bliss. And I lost weight (about 7 pounds) that I didn’t even know I needed to lose. I felt great.
The day I checked in for my third visit to Rancho La Puerta, I saw a sign with names of guests who had been there multiple times. I noticed that film critic Roger Ebert had been a guest more than 30 times. The first time I saw this, my reaction was “crazy people.” Now, being a three-peat guest, I think “it’s crazy I don’t come here more often.”
The lesson I walked away with goes beyond bettering my fitness regime, getting cooking tips or losing those extra pesky pounds. Instead, I realized the investment I make in a one-week retreat towards myself is re-investing in my business: if I’m not living my life at optimum health, I can’t perform well in all aspects of my business. My whole life, I’ve been using a mantra that it’s the quality of the work that matters, not the quantity. Rancho La Puerta has taught me that the same philosophy applies to myself as well.
