A Sporty Spa That’s Good for the Spirit

On a bus in San Diego heading to a spa just across the border in Mexico, I was very afraid. I was not afraid of being beheaded by Mexican drug lords like the media warned of. Neither was I afraid of being kidnapped, another thing American media led me to believe was quite possible as soon as I crossed the border. I was afraid my mother and I weren’t headed for a spa, but a cult compound. On the motor coach of 20-some people pulling out of the sunny San Diego airport, my mom and I were the only ones who had never been to Rancho La Puerta before.

“You’ve never been there? Really? I can’t believe it. Really, you’ve never been there? You’re going to love it,” the 20-something sisters in the seat in front of us insisted. “You’re never going to want to leave.”

The 74-year-old woman across the aisle added, “This is my 23rd time to the Ranch. Or maybe my 24th. I wish I could live there.”

With my calendar of all the yoga, fitness, sound therapy, art, and cooking classes available during the coming week in my lap and munching on the dried fruit and granola handed to me upon boarding the bus, I asked the 50-something woman sitting behind us, “What is it like?”

“The Ranch is like, well, I can’t describe it. It’s my spiritual home. It’s something different for everyone. You’ll just have to see what it is for you,” she answered.

Kidnapping suddenly seemed a less dangerous alternative.

That bus ride was the first week of April. Seven days later, I was on the same bus heading in the opposite direction, returning to San Diego. Two months later I was back on the bus and again heading south.

The woman in the seat in front of me asked when I was last at the Ranch – it’s always a capital “R.”

“April,” I replied.

Her: “Why that’s less than two months ago. You’re very lucky.”

Me: “I would have come back last month if I could have. There’s really no place in the world I’d rather be.”

If Rancho La Puerta in Tecate, Mexico is the headquarters of a cult, I’m fully a member.

My first week, I hiked between 6 and 12 miles every morning before breakfast, allowing my mind to wander. I tried a progressive beginner’s Pilates class, which I had never done before. I did Spin classes every other day. I circuit trained. I jogged through the Ranch’s outdoor parcour course. I meditated, in a guided “class” and walked the outdoor labyrinth. I took a cooking class. I played tennis with my mom. We sat with a different group of people almost every night at dinner. We made friends. I got massages and facials and had a cranial sacral session. I tortured myself on a foam roller. I took a nap in a sound therapy session.

I was in bed at 8:30 every night. I listened to the Ranch’s now 88-year old founder, Deborah Szekely speak passionately about loving life with bright eyes, a steady voice, and more enthusiasm than many 20-year olds have. I weaned myself off coffee, didn’t miss sugar, and loved that every single ingredient in every single meal was easily pronounceable. I lost 6 pounds and my skin started glowing. I, who hadn’t ever been to a destination spa before, was in heaven.

I regretted not having time to take an afternoon nap in one of the hammocks stretched between two Afghan pine trees or sit on the wooden bench under the trellis dripping wisteria and read a book.

In June, when sharing a ranchera with a girlfriend instead of my mom, I hiked six to 12 miles every morning before breakfast, solving problems that had been plaguing me back home and marinating on future plans. I did a progressive intermediate Pilates class, which I had been practicing twice a week at home since April. I did spin classes and circuit training but stayed away from the foam roller. I spent at least an hour a day in a hammock or napping next to one of the Ranch’s four pools. I went on a guided tour of the Ranch’s gardens. I took writing workshops. I made friends. I left regretting nothing but the fact that it was likely I not have a chance to return to the Ranch for some time.

That woman on my first bus trip to the Ranch was right in that it’s not really a place you can describe. Of course I’ve just described some of its physical attributes – although no words can do its gardens justice – but I can’t articulate the reasons I’m wishing I was headed back this Saturday. You’ve just got to try it for yourself. And don’t be afraid…Unless you take the foam roller class.

DINA MISHEV is a randonee skier, cyclist and hiker who, in February 2009, set the world record for the most vertical feet skied uphill by a woman in 24 hours. She is a category-3 road cyclist who consistently places top 5 in the longest single-day road race in the country… {more »}