As promised, I wanted to write about and show images of the Golden Door. While they were kind enough to allow me to photograph the property, they strictly forbid photos of people or the inside of the facilities. Privacy is important and I respect that.
There is some preparation in terms of interests before arriving at the GD. Additionally, from my one experience, people range from the exceptionally fit to the other extreme. So a wide variety of interests are considered from complete privacy to an active fitness and health program. I arrived fit from a regimen of daily exercise for a long time.
The Golden Door does not have a sign, just a gate with a security box. Press a button and someone responds and asks for your name. The gates open and a little drama is created for newbies like me. You are told to go to the Golden Doors where you will be greeted. Sure enough someone was standing in front of these big golden doors, seemingly tucked away in the woods. You left your car, luggage, etc. which were all taken care of, and escorted to reception. You walk along this bridge that curves through the trees into Golden door entrance. The first thing you notice is the serenity and mystique of the Japanese styling. So here are some images of the entrance.
As you can see the imagery of the place is stunning and after you walk in it becomes a little magical, so I created a bit of that feeling in the next image.
After you round the curve of the bridge, you get the first glimpse of the facility. I didn't know what to expect and the physical appearance did have an impact.
The Doors are opened and you are greeted by young women wearing traditional Japanese kimono dress serving hot tea. You are "in" the Golden Door, my feeling at this point was "what am I in for".
Once inside you talk with an activity coordinator, you can read about the choices on their website, I choose a regimen of fitness which included meditation. My activity schedule started with a 5:45AM 5 mile morning mountain hike. There are several types of hikes available from meditation walks to rigorous mountain hikes. The 5 mile mountain hike is rigorous, for everyone regardless of fitness level. You check in on Sunday so Monday is the first hike and the easiest of the week. Each day the hike gets tougher, steeper and at least on one day, approaches a bit over 5 miles. The property is enormous so you are perched against a mountain where the mountain hikes simply take different trails. They get more challenging each day, to keep pushing your fitness level. Keep in mind, this was MY choice, I could have stayed in meditation or anything else. They seem equipped to handle almost any need with the staff which are all highly trained, accomplished and experienced in what ever you need. But cannot imagine how good it feels to have walked 5 hard miles before breakfast. Breakfast was typical of the entire week, lots of fiber, healthy, and each meal is tailored based on your initial interview. Each person gets there own meal.
My personal regimen for the day, started with Yoga after the hike, sometimes two classes in a row depending on what I wanted to do. You are given a listing of all activities for each day and you are free to make what ever adjustments you want. I then went to a personal trainer who worked with me in the gym(world class). Sometimes I went to Tai Chi or Qi Gong. I want to state again, the list of acitivites seemed limitless, tennis, fencing, boxing.......all based on your interests and goals. After my gym work, I went to the outdoor pool and worked with a swimming coach doing laps. Mid morning and mid afternoon you get a break for light nourishment which was broth and I had a smoothie. My total calorie intake did not exceed 1600/day. However, you could get more food if you wanted, all you had to do was ask.
Included in the day were personal treatments, a daily massage, daily facials, nails/feet care, wraps of all types, and all done each day. You could add more if you wanted, purely up to you. You could attend classes on anything from self hypnosis, meditation, nutrition, to any number of topics on inner focus.
At the end of the day, dinner was served with a program following. The programs were interesting, but sometimes I was too bushed and went to bed reading until I fell asleep, ready to rise again at 5AM.
What a difference a week can make. I find getting up early and exercising adds to the quality of my day so I now do that daily. My diet has changed, using the Golden Door cookbook, as a guide. I met some very interesting friends who I'm sure I will remain in contact with. I feel better about myself, lost 6 pounds, and I'm still losing weight even though I averaged nearly two hours of exercise daily before I attended. I attribute that to my diet and a smarter daily regimen. I learned a lot and even more important learned how much I don't know. I honestly had a sad feeling about leaving, wishing I could stay longer. So, I signed up for next year same time as did many who attended. In fact most were repeaters many times, one young man had attended 10 times. When you go to the website, you will see you can't go anytime. Most weeks are gender restricted, with a few exceptions.
The property is wonderful to walk around as you attend different activities. Often you cross bridges which I came to realize were symbolic for change. Crossing the bridges everyday reminded me of transformation, change, renewal. Here is an example of the bridges and property.
And finally at the end of each day, a large gong was rung for dinner. It was again symbolic of a wind down of the day. Here is the bell with a setting sun.
Now my absolute favorite, the Koi, these were the friendly variety, allowing me the privilege of touching them. In fact I'm going to do several gallery quality prints of these fish in my studio.
A very worthwhile trip, which had a couple of extra days in Big Sur and Santa Barbara on the front end and Laguna Beach and Malibu plus a sunset drive through Big Sur on the back end. Nice way to change seasons, change jobs, or lifestyle. Thanks to Deborah for coaxing me into going and thanks to my fitness coaches Ellen and Melissa for being patient with my old body.
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