Lifestyle

  Regina in namaste
Regina Zwilling

Ana Forrest’s life is grist for the mill of the daytime soaps: She was born crippled, and growing up experienced physical abuse, drug addiction, epilepsy, and bulimia.

Forrest took her first yoga class at age 14, becoming an instructor at 18.  Over the years, a passion for healing herself and others led to complementary studies: Native American medicine/ceremony, homeopathy, martial arts, and psychotherapy.

In the end, Forrest came to embody a spirit who has overcome trauma and chosen the warrior’s path of compassion.

Forrest Yoga challenges students to access their whole being in support of physical, mental, and emotional growth. The idea is to clear emotional and mental blocks that dictate and limit our lives using deep breathing and vigorous sequences to generate heat and eliminate toxins. Long holds in the pose progression flush out the system, oxygenating and rejuvenating every cell of the body.

Shrink Rap

by Dr. Susannah Smith

Often, as a systems consultant or coach, I get asked to help resolve a conflict within an organization.  In systems theory, there is no such thing as “interpersonal conflict.”  Instead, any conflict is viewed as a falling out of role, with role specifically defined as “the attitude with which one takes up authority in relation to a task.”  Conflict, then, is viewed as a place to begin understanding the culture of an organization.  If one approaches a conflict as interpersonal (they don’t get along; they have a personality clash), then one misses the opportunity for a systems solution.  Moreover, if conflict is dealt with on a personal level, the organization will simply produce the same type of conflict somewhere else, among or between new participants, until the systems issues are identified and resolved.  Each conflict or difficulty within an organization is also “mirrored” throughout the organization.  If you are having trouble getting responses for timely procurement, then you can predict that every level of the organization is having some similar type of difficulty.

Telluride chef, Cindy Farney organized a progressive dinner on the San Miguel Valley Floor, on 10 January 2009. TIO's Eileen Burns was on hand to record the Full Moon event, which had participants cross country skiing to various food and drink stations. Check out Eileen's...

[click to hear Elisabeth Gick on Tibet]

Nt 438 Elisabeth Gick first came to Telluride in September of 1979, like so many of us, an "accidental tourist.”

“The beauty of the valley sucked me right in and has not let go yet.”

Gick’s children, now adults, went through school here, and she started a very satisfying landscaping business, Outer Spaces, while also becoming deeply involved in a number of non-profits, including Mountainfilm and the Out Loud lecture series.

“I consider myself incredibly lucky to be living here.”

A few years ago, Elisabeth caught the travel bug, visiting interested Nepal in 1999, Vietnam and Cambodia in 2002, India for three months in 2005, India again for three months in 2006-2007.

Leslie and the girls #F3FB4 In October 2008, Telluride local Elisabeth Gick and daughter Leslie were spending one last afternoon in the town of Ganzi in upper Kham, eastern Tibet, enjoying the sunshine after many snowy, cold days, when they spotted a sign over a door that read “Tibetan Hospital.” A young man spotted the two women and asked in fluent English if he could help.

Then magic unfolded.

The young man, whose name is Lobsang, explained that the abbot of Ganzi nunnery was in charge of the hospital as well as an orphanage for girls. He took Elisabeth and Lesley to meet the man, who was 75 and dressed from head to toe in leather, not red robes.


Shrink Rap

by Dr. Susannah Smith

Resolution: a “decision to do something or to behave in a certain manner” (wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn).

The tradition of making New Year’s resolutions goes back to 153 B.C., when Janus, a mythical king, was placed at the beginning of the Roman calendar.  Janus has two faces: one that looks back into the past, and one that looks forward to the future.  He became the symbol for making amends for past transgressions, asking for forgiveness from past enemies, exchanging gifts, and making resolutions to be healthier in the future.  January, named after Janus, became the first month of the new year in 46 BC when Caesar dedicated a calendar that more closely reflected the seasons.

[ click play button to hear]


John-Grape-450wx325h “Panache” is his middle name. A Brit by birth, John Sutcliffe’s wines are as mellifluous as his vowels, which are decidedly upper “U.” (Britspeak for Upper Class.)

John came to the USA in 1968 after serving seven years in the British Army. He graduated Reed College in 1973 before moving to New York City. Once in town, John took a big bite out of the Big Apple by successfully navigating the perilous restaurant world: first he managed the uber hip Maxwell’s Plum, then helped Warner Leroy re-open Tavern on the Green. A series of other high profile eateries followed, including two in Carolina, John’s next address in the States.

Watch this video if you want an adjustment in your concept of bravery: Lauren Bishop is skiing Blue terrain in Telluride, in spite of being vision impaired from birth. Nancy Gerner has multiple sclerosis and the "experts" told her to forget even trying to ski....

For a snowsnake's eye view of the annual Christmas Eve torchlight parade down Telluride's Coonskin Run, check out this video. If you missed it on 24 December, there will be another on New Year's Eve.For the record, I didn't have to carry a torch. ...