Summer at The Boulders – Enjoy the Desert, Avoid Heat Exhaustion!

July 5th, 2010

During the hot summer months in Arizona and in particular, The Boulders, you can take a number of precautions to prevent heat exhaustion and other heat-related illnesses.   What is heat exhaustion?  Heat exhaustion is the body’s response to dehydration and an excessive loss of water and salt through sweat and typically occurs after long periods of heat exposure. Heat exhaustion occurs when the body becomes overwhelmed by heat and the sweat response stops working properly.

Here are few simple tips to take when the temperatures outside starts to rise:

  • Always wear light colored, loose fitting clothes – dark color, tight fitting clothes keeps the heat in and prevents your body from cooling down.
  • Avoid sunburn - if you need to be exposed to the sun always apply a sunscreen (at least an SPR30) and wear a cap or large floppy hat that will keep the sun off your face and neck.  Having a sunburn will prevent your body from cooling off.
  • Find an air conditioned building – if the heat starts to affect you, find an air conditioned building or store right away. This will help your body to cool down faster.
  • Drink plenty of water – drinking water will keep your body hydrated and help it sweat to maintain normal body temperature.
  • Check with your doctor if you are on medication that may make you more susceptible to heat exhaustion.  If you can’t reach your doctor check with your pharmacy or go on line and check all the side effects of your medications.
  • Never stay in a parked car or get into your car if it’s been sitting in the sun. Car temperatures can reach more than 140 degrees in a matter of minutes. Always cool your car with the AC or open the windows to cool it down.  NEVER leave children or pets in a hot car.
  • Limit exercise and strenuous work outside. If your job requires you to work outside remember to take plenty of breaks in the shade and drink plenty of water to keep your body hydrated. If you work outside everyday your body will eventually adapt to the heat.

The most common signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion include: nausea; dizziness; weakness; headache; pale, cool and moist skin; fast and weak pulse; disorientation; paleness; muscle cramps; tiredness; fainting

At the first signs of heat exhaustion, you should stop activity and cool the body by seeking shade, shelter or a cool room, and drinking cold fluids.  Seek medical attention immediately if symptoms are severe.   If you recognize the symptoms of heat exhaustion, take the following actions:

  • Stop activities and rest
  • Drink cool, non-alcoholic beverages
  • Take a cool shower, or bath
  • Move to an air-conditioned room
  • Remove extra clothing

There are plenty of ways to avoid heat exhaustion while at The Boulders.  A few ideas include:

  • Start your day EARLY.  During the hot summer months, the sun is up as early as 5:30am and that is the coolest time of the day.  Take your morning walk or run at this time.
  • Exercise indoors!  The Golden Door Spa has a great fitness facility that will meet your complete exercise routine.  Fitness classes are also offered throughout the day.
  • Schedule an early golf tee-time.  It’s ideal to finish your round of golf prior to the hottest time of the day.

During the hottest time of the day, enjoy indoor activities such as spa services and shopping.  If you are outdoors during this time, stay in the shade, use and re-use your SPF and find a pool to cool off in.  There are several pools at The Boulders to do just that!

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Yoga at the Golden Door Spa at The Boulders

June 21st, 2010

Yoga has rapidly gained popularity in the US and at the Golden Door Spa!  It’s an excellent way to counteract stress, anxiety and to relieve the hunched posture that can come from sitting for hours in front of a computer.  Practicing yoga regularly can improve your flexibility and balance.  It’s one of those activities that you can do alone or with a group and it doesn’t require a big investment to get started.  The risks of yoga are low, which is all the more reason for giving it a try.

One of the more popular forms of yoga is Hatha yoga.  Offered at the Golden Door Spa several times per week, it focuses on the physical poses and controlled breathing.

POSES – In a typical hatha yoga class, you may learn anywhere from 10 to 30 poses.  More experienced yoga students might know many more, including more advanced poses that require advanced stretching and twisting.  Poses range from the seemingly easy, such as the corpse pose, which involves lying on the floor, completely relaxed, to the most difficult poses that take years of practice to master.

Remember, you don’t have to do every pose your instructor demonstrates.  If a pose is uncomfortable or you can’t hold it as long as the instructor requests, don’t do it.  Good instructors will understand.  Spend time sitting quietly, breathing deeply until your instructor moves the class on to another pose that’s more comfortable for you.

BREATHING – Controlling your breathing is an important part of yoga.  In yoga, breath signifies your vital energy.  Yoga teaches that controlling your breath can help you control your body and gain control of your mind.

You’ll learn to control your breathing by paying attention to it.  Your instructor may ask you to take deep, regular breaths as you concentrate on your breathing.  Other techniques involve paying attention to your breath as it moves into your body and fills your lungs, or breathing through alternate nostrils.

Overall, yoga offers a good means of relaxation and stress relief.  Its quiet, precise movements focus your mind less on your busy day and more on the moment as you move your body through poses that require balance and concentration.

To see a monthly schedule of fitness classes offered (including a variety of yoga styles) at the Golden Door Spa, please click here.  Namaste …

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The Boulders Golf Academy – Handling A Refreshing Breeze

June 8th, 2010

One of the great things about playing summer golf in the desert foothills, is that you will find a refreshing breeze most afternoons. That brings the temperature down, which is usually 5-8 degree’s cooler than posted at the Phoenix Sky harbor airport.

So the breeze is our natural air conditioning. And remember the low humidity. I digress, this isn’t a weather report. This is a practical golf instruction blog!

Playing in a breeze: Forget the myth that a well struck ball won’t be affected by the wind. Rubbish!  As the ball looses velocity any wind will move the ball in the direction it is blowing.

Let’s visualize a left to right wind, a breeze blowing off of your left shoulder, often called a cross- wind. The wind is blowing across the fairway from left to right. You shouldn’t ignore the wind. Depending on your natural ball flight, here are some suggestions as to how to deal with it.

The Slicer: if your ball tends to slice, it will slice more on this wind. So allow for that slice. Aim down the left side, even the rough line, but align your shoulders along the same line as your feet. Make your best swing trying to square the clubface to your aim. That will start the ball where you aimed and the wind will assist you and blow the ball into the fairway. You may need some courage here as watching the ball start left over trouble can be nerve wracking. Trust your swing and the wind in this case.

The Hooker: someone who curves the ball right to left. Easy here. Aim straight down the middle of the fairway and play your natural draw. The right to left curve of the ball flight will be counteracted by the left to right wind, resulting in a straight shot!

Straight Hitter: doesn’t curve the ball one way or another. Use the wind to your advantage. Aim down the left side of the fairway, grip it and rip it! Let your drive work on the breeze helping add some distance and the ball finishing in the middle of the fairway.

Play the breeze, enjoy it, just don’t ignore it!

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Watsu at the Golden Door Spa at The Boulders

May 25th, 2010

Watsu floating water massage, is based on the principles of Zen Shiatsu.  The warm water of the Golden Door’s Watsu pool, is the ideal medium for the gentle stretches and point work of Watsu.  The support of the water takes weight off the vertebrae and allows the spine to be moved in healing ways impossible on land. 

What happens during a Watsu session?  A Watsu massage is based on the therapeutic principles of warm water and Shiatsu massage by incorporating gentle twists, stretches and pressure point work into the massage.  The person receiving Watsu is stretched and floated in the water while the therapist uses the weight of the guest’s body to perform Shiatsu pressure point work.  The continual support that warm water can provide is ideal for allowing the spine to become free.  The water makes vertebrae weightless and allows the muscles to completely relax.  The combination of water resistance, buoyancy and a weightless environment make a Watsu massage a truly multi-dimensional experience. 

The benefits of Watsu include:

  • Deep relaxation
  • Strengthening of muscles and increased flexibility
  • Increase blood circulation and decreased muscle spasms
  • Pain control

 Watsu will benefit those guests with:

  • Fibromyalgia and Arthritis
  • Neurological disorders and orthopedic dysfunctions
  • Chronic and general aches and pains
  • Sleep disorders and stress related challenges

 After you step into the warm Watsu pool (about 98 degrees, body temperature) your therapist will give you a few simple instructions.  With your eyes closed and your ears submerged (ear plugs provided), you will be floated in blissful silence.  Throughout the session, the therapist will connect with your breath, being sensitive to your individual rhythm and response.  You will experience stretches and deep point work.  All of these movements will blend into one, deep, healing dance of relaxation!

 The results of a Watsu session … Watsu brings relaxation to the body, mind and spirit.  Guests can experience heightened awareness even when reduced oxygen requirements in the weightless water environment help calm respiration and achieve great relaxation.  Watsu involves both letting go and a new awareness of what is means to be relaxed!  Just let go and enjoy the ride!

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Glee Club to Perform at el Pedregal at The Boulders

May 21st, 2010

The world-renowned University of Pennsylvania Glee Club, known for their unique blend of musical excellence and theatrical showmanship, is bringing its legendary song and dance to el Pedregal at The Boulders on Saturday, May 22, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.  The all-male musical group performs an expansive and diverse repertoire, ranging from old traditional songs to contemporary pop music, from American spirituals to German drinking songs, opera choruses and Broadway show tunes.

 The Penn Glee Club is a choral group of men that has been around for 148 years, the original Glee club beginning as early as 1862. This group has performed all over the world wowing audiences in Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica, among others!

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Chakra Balancing at the Golden Door Spa at The Boulders Resort

May 9th, 2010

Have you ever wondered what chakras are and how they relate to our health and well-being?  Here is a brief overview of chakras:

The chakra system is an energy system we can use for personal growth.  Ayurvedic tradition recognizes seven main chakras, which are junctions between consciousness (the mind) and matter (the body) and which link the various aspects of what makes us human: our physical, energetic, emotional, mental, social and spiritual selves.  When we focus on the chakras, we can connect to these aspects and move toward balance, health and well-being.

The chakra system is located in the core of our being, in a channel that encompasses the spin and includes the tailbone to the crown of the head, as well as the nerve bundles associated with each individual chakra.  When working with the chakras, think of health as being on a continuum.  Depending on your diet, exercise, stress levels, emotional states, and many other factors, you are either mvoing toward greater health or away from it.  it is similar with chakras.  Close or imbalanced qualities of the chakras are on one end of a health continuum and open or balanced qualities are on the other end.  Depending on your lifestyle, you are either moving toward greater awareness and balance within the chakras or away from it.

Each chakra relates to a different aspect of life and by focusing on that chakra you can become more aware of those issues in yourself and then work with them to achieve greater health and happiness.  The seven chakras and corresponding meditative works are:

  1. base of the spine – grounding
  2. lower abdomen – nourishment
  3. solar plexus – intention
  4. center of the chest – harmony
  5. throat or base of the neck – expression
  6. between the eyebrows – insight
  7. top or crown of the head – wisdom

Of course the Golden Door Spa at The Boulders offers chakra balancing.  Learn more about the Golden Door Spa at www.TheBoulders.com or call 480-595-3500 to schedule your Chakra Balancing session.

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Arizona Highways TV at The Boulders Resort

May 6th, 2010

Arizona Highways Television Host Robin Sewell, and her film crew, was at The Boulders Resort on May 5 to tape an upcoming show that will air in June. This show will feature our Chef Wiener cooking a recipe that includes items from our organic garden.  Also featured are our Managing Director and Director of Golf. 

The recipe that will be featuring during the show,  by Chef Wiener, is Herb Encrusted Loin of lamb, Maui Onion Puree, Spring Carrots and Parsnips, Pinot Noir Reduction. Chef Wiener began by picking items from the Organic Garden that included Maui onions, carrots, blueberries and fresh herbs.  The lamb is seared with a little olive oil and then baked for a few minutes until perfect mid-rare.  A sauce is made of blueberries, red wine, Maui onions and fresh rosemary. This sauce is reduced.   

The maui onions are blanched in boiling water and then pureed to make a second sauce.  The vegetables are also blanched and then cooked in olive oil with a pinch of fresh chopped herbs until tender. When the lamb is finished baking, it is plated accompanied by both sauces.  The tender vegetables are added. After the meat rests, the lamb is cut into three beautiful slices.

From start to finish the taping of the segment for Arizona Highways Television may have been about 5-8 minutes.   They only had to do one retake, right in the beginning. There were a few times that they stopped filming to adjust the cameras or get still shots. The lights were bright and a little warm.

Overall the day was a huge success, and the crew loved the food. Many of them stayed after and asked Chef Wiener food questions and tips on how to cook.

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Artwork Displayed at el Pedregal at The Boulders

April 27th, 2010

el Pedregal introduces a new window display called the “Monet Garden Series” by artist Bela Fidel.  The Monet Gardens Series is a minimalist abstraction of the real Monet Gardens in Giverny, France.  The paintings present light colors illustrating the original gardens’ essence, as true representatives of Impressionism.

Fidel says, “In my Series I wish to convey light and color reflected through the water from the illumination of the sky and the richness of the plants, as seen underwater, swaying in motion.  The paintings have been divided into seasons, each color reflecting the all-absorbing warmth of summer, the coolness of winter, and the delicate warmth and richness of spring and fall.  This series calls for immersion in each painting, and the reward is the renewed discovery of shapes, forms and light.  I aim to convey the message that less can certainly be more.”

Fidel creates visual excitement in her paintings by combining geometric imagery that is root in mystical/occult teachings with brush strokes that typify expressive abstract painting.  Known for her abstracts, oils, encaustic, endangered/exploited species, flight, mixed media, creation of the word triptych, and portrait of an artist series, Fidel’s work showcases life journeys by creating an emotional pull from the tension between abstract shapes and geometric figures.  Fidel is engaged in an ongoing process of experimentation and exploration, to discover innovative ways to capture the viewer in a visual experience that is both “unique and timeless, immediate and transcendent,” she says.

Other works currently displayed by Fidel include “…And Then There Were None – Cheetah…”, expressing awareness to the viewer of the slow dicimation of the natural animal world and its effect on our own lives and environment, and “The World as Ground Zero”, expressing the shock and despair of terrorism worldwide. 

“I wanted the art itself to physically be the violence of terrorism, as much as the medium would allow.  Although it has no peace in it, the reality expressed through the art suggests the hope that man’s expression of true civilization and creativity will overcome evil,” says Fidel.

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Wildlife at The Boulders Resort

April 23rd, 2010

Wildlife abounds in the desert surrounding The Boulders Resort.  You may encounter some native inhabitants of the Sonoran Desert while strolling on the grounds.  Although inhabiting our domesticated environment, the desert animals need to forage for themselves and benefit from their natural diet, so when you visit please do not feed the animals.  Here are a few of the native inhabitants of the Sonoran Desert that you will find at The Boulders Resort.

Desert Cottontail Rabbit is very common in the Arizona deserts and even in some residential areas. Their body color is grayish and their white tails are very noticeable as they run.

Rock Squirrel is often seen sitting on big rocks.  Its general their color is grey with mottling on the back, and its bushy tail separates it from other desert squirrels.  Unlike most desert wildlife, the rock squirrel is active during the daylight hours.

Cactus Wren is the state bird of Arizona and a common “resident” of the cactus thickets.  They nest and hide in the tickets taking advantage of the natural protection it provides against the wren’s enemies. The male is an avid singer.

Gambel Quail makes a peeping sound while running from bush to bush.  They mate for life and are usually seen in pairs with their young until late fall, when large convoys of the birds are formed.

Snakes commonly associated with the Sonoran Desert are wary of humans and remain harmless unless frightened or threatened.  They prefer remote sections of the desert where they can stretch out in a warm sunny location, rarely crawling near human habitat.  Many desert snakes are poisonous and should be avoided.

Chuckwalla Lizard has a black body tinged with red and yellow.  It can grow up to 15 inches long and can be seen around rocks and hidden in crevices.

 Gila Monster can grow up to two feet in length and when they bite for protection they will not let go.  They are characterized by orange and black stripes.  Gila Monsters are the only poisonous lizards in the United States.

 Javelina are small nocturnal wild pigs still common in the desert lowlands.  Timid unless cornered, they feed at dawn and at night along the moist arroyos.  They feed on prickly pear and other cactus fruits.  The Javelina differ from true pigs because of their long, pointed snouts, which end in an oval, flattened disc.

 Mule deer with its prominent ears, is the desert’s largest mammal.  They travel in small herds, most often in early evening and night.

 Coyote is a popular desert animal.  During the day, they are often hidden under the cover of the desert brush.  They are quite shy, usually running away when encountering people.  Their nighttime howls are the coyote’s own language, and each makes different noises across a wide vocal range.

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Talking about Irons… at The Boulders

April 20th, 2010

Golf Tip – From Donald Crawley, The Boulders Golf Academy – Hit your irons on the downswing, but be careful of the ball position.

 A lot of people who don’t hit their irons well tend to be hitting up on the ball causing fat/thin shots. That means the bottom of your swing is behind the ball. Moving the ball back in your stance is a quick fix, meaning you are placing the ball to coincide where the club bottoms out. But, by placing the ball back, often opposite the rear foot, you will be prone to hit more from the inside thereby creating more fat/thin shots!

Also, moving the ball back of center tends to de-loft the club, making it more difficult to get the ball in the air! Anyone confused yet? Try this instead to help you catch the ball on the downswing, pinching the ball off of the turf….lean the shaft (1 inch forward of your fly – risky language there), slightly ahead of the club, but don’t close the face. Keep your weight even, 50% of it on each foot. Return the club shaft to that address position at impact.

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