Best. Trip. Ever.

Please disregard my prior entry. I no longer have any feelings of guilt regarding my recent Canyon Ranch experience. As a matter of fact, I am already ready to commit to a stay there next year. I now firmly believe that spending a week concentrating on nothing but yourself should be mandatory for . . . well everyone.

We arrived at the airport and was met by a driver who came equipped with a "little" snack of pita wraps, carrot sticks, apples, and homemade granola bars for the car ride home, but "not enough to spoil dinner". Things only got better from there. With an idyllic setting deep in the Berkshires, fantastic staff, a loaded gym with amazing trainers, a world renown chef and "hot" days in the mid-80's, they had me at hello.

This was way before I even had my first massage.

Did I mention that I had more than one massage, or did I brag about the undereye bag eliminating facial that I was willing to fly back to Massachusetts to repeat regularly when I learned that it was offered here at the Canyon Ranch Miami Beach? Perhaps I should tell you about the detoxifying ritual that involved scrubs, clay, and oil that felt like a little slice of heaven.

Don't get me wrong, the exercise classes were hard. Can we discuss 45 straight minutes of squats and lunges in a class aptly titled - Rock Bottom. Or perhaps the 45 minutes of crunches and planks titled - Melt your Midline. And I would recommend to no one 45 minutes on a TRX - it is a great piece of gym equipment, but only when used in moderation. However, the trainers were all so funny and motivating that you smiled as you worked through the pain. {In full disclosure, however, after 4-6 hours of daily exercising - my body is now hurting in places that I'm not even sure I learned in Medical school.}

I was even educated. I had my flexibility and posture analyzed, and learned that perhaps always skipping the calf stretches after running is bad. Turns out I have almost no ankle flexibility, and much of my hip stiffness is related to my super tight gastrocnemius and soleus muscles. Unfortunately this also puts me at danger of an Achilles tendon injury. I also learned that when standing I lock my knees which causes my pelvis to tilt forward anteriorly. This contributes to my hip tightness, over time can cause scoliosis, and worst of all pushes out my belly causing it to appear even larger. Needless to say, that is one problem I corrected VERY quickly.

Best of all, despite my travel woes (2 hours parked on a runway in ATL), I came back feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world - or at least my little corner of it. I would highly recommend it to everyone, and don't be surprised if you bump into me at the gym while you are there.