In all the world,
no waters like these...

newsletter

October 2009

Guest Chef Weekend with Charlie and Marion Cascio October 16-18

The popular Guest Chef Weekend returns to Wilbur in October with Charlie and Marion Cascio during Sarana Miller's weekend yoga workshop. All regular guests of the hotel during this weekend as well as participants of the yoga workshop will be included in Guest Chef Meals. Availability is limited for this special weekend of great food and yoga. For more information, please contact our reservation line 530-473-2306, or visit our website's Dining page (click here).

Yoga with Sarana

October 16-18

Students will practice yoga on Wilbur's beautiful yoga deck, cradled in nature with the sound of birds and the Wilbur creek. We will begin each day with chanting and pranayama, followed by breakfast and then an active morning session. In the afternoon there will be time for bathing, hiking, massage and personal time. We will gather in the late afternoon for a restorative session followed by a delicious dinner. Come and join us for a retreat that will invigorate your body, renew your spirits, and quiet your mind. Weekend includes: • 5 organic meals • yoga sessions • 2 nights accommodations (including use of baths, sauna and grounds.) Cost: Private room $515.00 per person Bunk $475.00 per person Camping $415.00 per person For questions, or to sign up, contact Sarana Miller at 510-502-9642, or email her at sarana@mac.com. Payment can be sent directly to Sarana at: Sarana Miller, 3017 Wheeler, Berkeley, CA 94705. Visit her website at www.saranayoga.com. About the instructor: Sarana Miller is a faculty instructor at Yoga Journal and teaches at The Claremont Hotel and at her own home studio. Trained in the Iyengar and Forrest yoga traditions, her love of yoga was born at Esalen, where she continues to assist and teach with her friend and mentor Thomas Fortel.

Writing workshop
with Clive Matson

October 23-25

October Special

Wilbur's ever popular Half-off Wednesdays is back. Stay two consecutive nights, (in a room of equal value) midweek that includes a Wednesday, and receive half off the Wednesday night. Offer is good for private and bunk room stays (excludes camping) and is good through October 29, 2009; not combinable with other discounts.

New Wilbur Photo Book

Larry Wagner, noted Mendocino Coast photo artist has created a special collection of images, which captures the uniqueness and magic of Wilbur Hot Springs. This beautiful book has now arrived and will be available for sale in the Country Store, and soon on our website! Larry Wagner has produced and published two portrait books, Artists of the Mendocino Coast, Volumes 1 and 2.

His work can be seen at numerous galleries on the Mendocino coast and at www.wagnerphotoart.com. He may be contacted at lwagner@mcn.org.

Complementary Alternative Medicine

Bump-up your immune system by using the age-old remedies of massage, chiropractic and soaking in Wilbur Hot Spring's natural mineral-laden waters. Stave off a cold, flu, pain and seasonal affective disorder. Relieve achy muscles and joints and let a sense of euphoria wash over you.

In addition to our regular massage offerings, Wilbur Hot Springs is now adding a few new treatment remedies: Shalamah Yahchove DC: Six-hour massage (appointment only) - six hours of hands-on including chiropractic, lymphatic, cranial, Swedish and deep tissue.

Annalisa Cunningham: Facial Treatments

Isa Fuguza: Shiatsu - Shiatsu is pressure applied to specific body points.

Diane Waye: Active Isolated Stretch (AIS) - AIS helps stretch joints and muscles to their maximum potential.

Mardi Storm: Breathwork - Breathwork increases a sense of well-being and helps release stuck patterns.

Paul Auksztulewicz: Didgeridoo Sound Healing - the didgeridoo is an Aboriginal wind instrument used to heal and soothe the soul.

Thanks for scheduling services when you reserve your room.

Letters from Guests:

Dear Wilbur Hot Springs:

Once again, a weekend at Wilbur "hath restoreth my soul."

This time, offering solace from a too-crazy work world. The deep peace and quiet of the "monastery" of Northern California hot springs melted the tension and stress away, allowing me to settle into the quiet places of my own being. I needed to do nothing more to earn my place on the planet than soak in the soothing hot waters, slow down to the pace of the clouds drifting silently across the sky. I marveled at the iridescence of a resident hummingbird, enjoyed the gambols of two fawns on the hillside, and felt myself "come home."

Wilbur's holistic magic has helped me "come home" so many times over many years now. When my dad died, when my partner left, when my first book proposal was rejected, I came to Wilbur seeking respite from the confusion and pain. In this "sanctuary for the self" I found deep wellsprings of calm, patience, faith. The entire ethos of Wilbur is truly restorative. The warmth and devotion of Wilbur's staff to well-being are as much a re-Source as the waters; I'm so grateful to you all.

I come to Wilbur for play and fun, too. When I do a cannonball into the large swimming pool, I'm six years old again. When I luxuriate in the warm waters of the indoor tubs, savoring the feeling of the silky waters on my body, I'm a sensual 20-year old lover again. When I marvel at the full moon with a friend in the talking tub, I enter a spaciousness of spirit that is timeless.

I'm convinced that Wilbur's healing waters make my brain work better, too. I've come to Wilbur over many years to write. I sit in my "office" on the west deck, surrounded by pristine natural beauty, supported by a reverent respect from fellow guests, nourished by the ease of dipping into the nearby waters to clear and re-focus my mind. This reliably consistent expansion of consciousness, so supportive of a generative creativity, is perhaps Wilbur's most precious gift of all.

Now I carry within me, in all the moments I cannot be at Wilbur, the precious sense of what's possible, what's healing, what's whole. And I can slip into that consciousness as soon as I turn the key in the car's ignition to return to Wilbur once again.

With deep gratitude for all of Wilbur,

Linda Graham

Notes From the Caretaker:

Dear Friends of Wilbur:

Health care is how we care for ourselves regarding our health. The more we care for our health, the less likely it is that we will get sick and need health insurance to pay for the cost of treating the illness. On the other hand, accidents do happen and repairs are costly. Accident prevention is part of caring for health. We buy health insurance to defray the cost of treating illness, repairing ourselves after accidents and taking preventive measures such as various kinds of health exams.

To provide or not provide health care/sickness insurance to all citizens is more than a political debate. American health care/sickness insurance is a cultural statement regarding how we treat one another and what we, the people, want to stand for in the world. At the end of the day, I agree with Thomas Jefferson who said that nothing is more important than our health. Jefferson was a great believer in exercise.

First and foremost, Wilbur Hot Springs is a health care facility. It is also a treatment facility. While my saying this may appear self-serving, I trust my 50 years as a professional health care provider entitles me to make this statement. Essential to what makes Wilbur so effective is of course the unique healing waters. What Wilbur does not offer is also part of its effectiveness. Wilbur does not offer: grid electricity, noise, dirty air, television, cell phone service, WiFi, newspapers, disrespect, bad jokes and managers who can't play pool.

Rush on up and slow down,

Richard

Richard Louis Miller, M.A., Ph.D.
Wilbur Caretaker since 1972

Wilbur in the Media