Golden Door Special Focus Weeks are offered throughout the year as a complement to our award-winning week-long program and, this year, several new weeks have been added in addition to bringing back guest favorites.

2012 SPECIAL FOCUS WEEKS

These fascinating, life-enhancing weeks are still in development. Keep an eye on this page for additional offerings and program details as they become available

January 29 - February 5
Inner Door Week with Annharriet Buck
For more than two decades, Annharriet has offered her popular Inner Door Weeks, adding an introspective dimension to the Golden Door experience. A typical Inner Door day begins with a mind-centering group practice of Silent Meditation, followed by an optional silent hike. Dream sharing sessions each morning provide astounding wisdom and clarity from the tapestry of your dreams. In Wise Women Circles, Annharriet brings up-to-date information from Eastern and Western sciences that deepen mindfulness, expand inner wisdom, and help cultivate a joyful life journey. One-of-kind evening lectures stimulate the mind and open the heart. Past guest lecturers have included passionate authors, Jungian luminaries, neuroscientists, and Tibetan Lamas. Inner Door Week guests go home refreshed, reenergized, and refocused in mind, body, and spirit. (see also August 26 - September 2)

February 5 - 12
Dance Week with Celebrity Dancer, Karina Smirnoff
As a form of self-expression and communication, dancing is a powerful emotional and spiritual outlet. As exercise, it provides all the essential components of a complete aerobic workout, improving endurance, balance, strength, flexibility and core stability. Celebrating the joy of dance, Golden Door Spa presents celebrity dancer, Karina Smirnoff, reigning champion from Dancing with the Stars! Beyond being an incredible teacher and world champion, Karina is dedicated to helping people lead healthier lives, and will be sharing her exclusive DanceFIT program and dance moves, designed for all fitness levels (private sessions offered as well for an additional fee). During a special evening presentation, Karina will talk about her inspirational journey and be available for photos. In addition, a variety of other dance classes will be offered by our skillful staff. Learn from the best while you enjoy a transformational getaway and practice your favorite dance steps to build strength, burn calories and have fun!

February 26 - March 4
Pilates with Mari Winsor
Mari Winsor is one of the best-known names in Pilates. She is a dancer, teacher, author, and the foremost Pilates instructor in the world. Her signature workout style "dynamic sequencing" is a low-intensity body sculpting and calorie-burning workout. Mari is the owner of two Pilates studios in Santa Monica and Hollywood, California and is known for her many high profile clients.

April 15 - 22
Yoga Week with Madhu Nanda
Our newly re-furbished Inner Focus Retreat seems to float in the tree tops, lending a sense of timeless peace and weightlessness to your yoga practice. There, you may immerse yourself in yoga, the Golden Door way, with Madhu Nanda and Nancy Paik-expert guides on the inward journey of re-discovering body, mind and spirit.

Madhu came in contact with many mystical and spiritual people while growing up in a small town in India. She came to the path of Yoga with the purpose of purifying self and helping others find their path. Her gentle hands-on approach gives her students an experience of ease and lightness in the yoga asanas and helps cultivates a deep acceptance of self. Madhu has been most inspired by Helen Duquette of Canada who is a direct student of Vanda Scaravelli (Krisnamacharya Lineage).

Nancy Paik has been practicing yoga for over 20 years, certified with the Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco. With over a decade of teaching experience, Nancy views yoga as a practice that cultivates self-love and acceptance along with self-curiosity. Her inner-focused guidance emphasizes the importance of clear intention, physical alignment and the direction of breath to balance the mind, body and spirit so that one may feel a sense of renewal and wholeness.

May 13 - 20 (Mothers' Day Week)
"Extraordinary Relationships!" with Linda Bloom
It is widely recognized that an essential aspect in the overall quality of our life experience is the quality of our relationships, particularly with those people with whom we are closest. Linda and her husband Charlie have dedicated themselves to supporting others to deepen their capacity for joy and fulfillment in their relationships. While everyone would like good relationships, the process of actually creating them is often more challenging than we expect it to be. Few of us have had good models or adequate education in regard to this subject. Linda offers the support and guidance needed to develop relationship skills along with the practices necessary to sustain and integrate them into our lives on a long-term basis.

Linda Bloom is an educator and relationship therapist who is committed to helping individuals and couples experience a high level of wellbeing in their lives. Bloomwork has been offering services, workshops, trainings and other supportive resources worldwide to thousands of individuals for over twenty years. The Process involves straightforward and understandable skill-building that can be learned by anyone who has a sincere desire for happiness and a willingness to do the work.

June 3 - 10
Men's Health with Dr. Len Kravitz
A week full of incredible ways to improve your health, get fit and live a robust life, including optimal ways to manage stress, the most innovative resistance training programs, the newest interval training programs, health care for men and some secrets to longevity-all based on the latest research. Len enjoys addressing your questions on fitness and health. You will find his lectures to be comprehensive, informative, engaging, and most enjoyable.

June 17 - 24
The Spirited Walker ® with Carolyn Scott Kortge
When is a walk more than "just a walk?" Whenever you put some spirit in it, says Carolyn Scott Kortge, author of The Spirited Walker and Healing Walks for Hard Times. Her popular Spirited Walker week at the Golden Door introduces mental and physical walking concepts that strengthen body, mind, and spirit. Take a joyful journey into yourself on walks that release stress, restore energy, and turn your steps into an active meditation.

June 24 - July 1
Creative Explorations with Judith Greer Essex
Take a vacation for your soul-a time-out from your routine that will refresh and inspire a new outlook on your life. Take an aesthetic journey in the form of easy-to-do, creative processes that help you make a creative connection with yourself. Enhance your mental processes by following playful art directives designed to stimulate your senses with color, texture, shape, and brushstroke. Beginners welcome!!! With Judith's expert guidance, you'll find a safe space in which your creative life is enriched and your sense of well-being is renewed.

Judith Greer Essex, PhD, is founder and director of the Expressive Arts Institute in San Diego and a professor at the European Graduate School who has facilitated arts-based experiences since 1972.

July 29 - August 5
Labyrinth Week with Dr. Lauren Artress

August 12 - 19
Culinary Week with Golden Door Executive Chef Curtis Cooke
When Curtis Cooke learned that Golden Door Spa had an opening, he eagerly anticipated the alignment of his many years of culinary experience with his belief in a balanced lifestyle and fresh, seasonal "garden to plate" cuisine. He is known for creating visual masterpieces that are simple, smart, delicious and healthy. "I believe in honest food and flavors. A carrot should taste like a carrot, the way nature intended. I showcase natural flavors and find creative, healthful ways to complement them."

A native of Texarkana, Curtis originally pursued a degree in psychology from Texas State University. Tired of eating the same quick meals during college, he discovered his passion for cooking while trying out the recipes on the Discovery Channel's "Great Chefs, Great Cities," and soon started as a cook in Austin, Texas. A graduate from the renowned Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, New York, Curtis served as chef de cuisine at Lake Austin Spa, apprenticed with renowned Chef David Bull at the Driskill Hotel in Austin, and as chef de cuisine for the reopened Stoneleigh Hotel & Spa, Dallas, before serving in his first executive chef post with Central Market in Houston.

August 26 - September 2
Inner Door Week with Annharriet Buck
For more than two decades, Annharriet has offered her popular Inner Door Weeks that add an introspective dimension to the Golden Door experience. A typical Inner Door day begins with a mind-centering group practice of Silent Meditation, followed by an optional silent hike. Dream sharing sessions each morning provide astounding wisdom and clarity from the tapestry of your dreams. In Wise Women Circles, Annharriet brings up-to-date information from Eastern and Western sciences that deepen mindfulness, expand inner wisdom, and help cultivate a joyful life journey. One-of-kind evening lectures stimulate the mind and open the heart. Past guest lecturers have included passionate authors, Jungian luminaries, neuroscientists, and Tibetan Lamas. Inner Door Week guests go home refreshed, reenergized, and refocused in mind, body, and spirit.

September 16 - 23
Water Week

October 21 - 28 , 2012
From Foot-to-Fork and Head-to-Toe: Your Whole Health
with Drs. Wendy and Jason Bazilian
This week focuses on the health issues that challenge you and your family and the major contributions that diet, exercise, and integrative health care make: from symptom management to illness prevention to proactive health strategies for a long, more vital life. You can make changes now that will help you to live long and live WELL. And most importantly, this week is all about FUN-the Bazilian week is filled with lots of laughter. Dr. Wendy Bazilian is a doctor of public health, a registered dietitian, and the author of The SuperFoodsRx Diet. Dr. Jason Bazilian was the first doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (D.A.O.M.) in the United States. The 2011 week was a sell-out, so be sure to book soon.