The Rancho Valencia Resort in Rancho Santa Fe proved to be the perfect setting for the 2014 USC Leonard Davis School Vibrant Living Retreat. Amid 45 acres of lush gardens and olive groves, retreat attendees were inspired to renew their commitment to a healthy lifestyle. “This is terrific experience,” said Mary Lou Dauray, an attendee and patron of the Davis School, “the ambience was perfect; talks enlightening; food choices could not have been better; our experience will always be remembered.”
Over a dozen experts in the field of health and longevity shared the latest science and practice related to maintaining health and well-being throughout the life course.
Fitness experts Kathy Smith and Wayne Lehrer pictured above, were instructive as well as inspirational. Smith, a fitness icon and legend, led a group power walk through the botanical gardens and later joined Lehrer, the School’s go to yogi, in the resort’s new yoga pavilion where participants learned about leading a more balanced life through Hatha yoga. “Hatha yoga is a powerful tool for self-transformation,” said Lehrer, as he oversaw his students stretched out in a cobra pose.
Carin Kreutzer, Ed.D., MPH, RD, the Davis School’s resident dietitian, provided attendees with personalized nutritional advice. Dr. Kreutzer also oversaw the selection of the sumptuous and healthy meals served throughout the weekend.
A series of special lectures were provided by some of the most prestigious names in academia including Eileen Crimmins, PhD, AARP Chair and University Professor, Elizabeth Zelinski, PhD, the Rita and Edward Polusky Chair in Education and Aging, as well as Dean Pinchas Cohen, MD, the William and Sylvia Kugel Dean’s Chair in Gerontology who spoke about personalized aging and what the revolution in genomics means for the future of the science of aging.
Special guest lectures were given by Nir Barzilai, MD, from Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in New York, William Aronson, MD Chief of Urology at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, and John Rowe, MD Professor at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
If you are interested in attending the USC Leonard Davis School’s 2015 Vibrant Living Retreat, contact Whitney Fountas at fountas@usc.edu for more information.
James Birren honored as a Lifetime Associate by the Center for Optimal Adult Development (COAD) for his service to the field of Adult Development. Considered one of the founders of gerontology, he was the founding dean of the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology and founding director of the Andrus Gerontology Center. He continues his work in the field and remains engaged in teaching guided autobiography for older adults. Fellow COAD honorees include Laura Carstensen, Director of the Stanford Center on Longevity, and John R. Nesselroade of University of Virginia’s Department of Psychology.
