Explore & Learn

The science of neuroplasticity shows us that there are a variety of ways to improve our brain function with non-pharma interventions. Every day, how we move, think, and feel influences not only how our brains work but our overall health.

Join an exclusive, small group of guests this fall at scenic Canyon Ranch Lenox and marvel at the glorious autumn landscapes of New England during this immersive, 5-night wellness retreat that explores the latest science behind brain health and how to apply these insights to improve your mind.

This Canyon Ranch experience is curated and hosted by Robert M. Bilder, Ph.D., Tennenbaum Family Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology, Chief of Psychology at UCLA Health, and Director of the Center for the Biology of Creativity at UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior.

Dr. Bilder is a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist and directs training programs in Clinical Neuropsychology at UCLA. His research focuses on the brain and behavior, with aims to eliminate artificial boundaries between mental health and illness and between everyday and exceptional creativity.

Dr. Bilder and a team of integrative Canyon Ranch experts will deliver an experience that offers new ways to understand the negative effects of stress on your mind and body and ways to reduce it to change the long-term health trajectory of your brain for the better.

You’ll engage with our team of world-class Canyon Ranch specialists from a broad range of disciplines, including nutrition, fitness & performance, mental health, spirituality, and more.

Learn what you can do now to make a difference in your memory, how you think, and your ability to stay sharp for the long term.

In addition to this event, you can enjoy all of the daily activities that Lenox, MA offers. Explore our sample schedule.

Learn more about Canyon Ranch Immersion™. To book, call (844) 772-8435 or email immersions@canyonranch.com for more information.

Featured Speaker

Robert M. Bilder, Ph.D.
Robert Bilder is the Tennenbaum Family Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology, Chief of Psychology at UCLA Health, and Director of the Center for the Biology of Creativity at UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. He is a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist and directs training programs in Clinical Neuropsychology at UCLA.

His research focuses on the brain and behavior, with aims to eliminate artificial boundaries between mental health and illness and between everyday and exceptional creativity. His current grants examine reward mechanisms and have established a National Neuropsychology Network to gather “big data” about the brain. He recently completed the “Big C” project to examine brain function in exceptional creativity and now directs a National Endowment for the Arts Research Lab to measure the impact of the arts on well-being.

He has been involved over the last decade in the leadership of the Semel Healthy Campus Initiative and currently is co-lead of the Mind Well Pod, which aims to enhance psychological well-being among UCLA students, staff, and faculty through both curricular and extracurricular programming.

This work has led to a new UCLA minor in Brain and Behavioral Health, the annual UCLA Eudaimonia Award, and multiple other programs that support the Mindful Awareness Research Center, the Sleep Well initiative, and collaborations with Student Affairs to enable new development of applications that connect students to resources for mental health and well-being.

For the last decade, Dr. Bilder has been teaching about Personal Brain Management to share current knowledge about how our brains work and how we can leverage both common sense and advanced technologies to use our brains in ways that are aligned with our values.

Dr. Shaun Patel
Shaun Patel is the co-founder & CEO of REACT Neuro, a digital health company leveraging virtual reality and machine learning to reimagine the way we assess and treat brain health, from the comfort of patient’s homes. He is also the founding General Partner of DRADS Capital, a Boston, and British Columbia-based venture capital fund focused on disruptive technologies in healthcare, energy, and technology. Prior to this, he was a faculty member at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, where he pioneered some of the earliest studies reading and writing the neural code in awake-and-behaving human subjects undergoing deep brain stimulation surgery. Shaun has graduate degrees in medical sciences, neuroscience, and machine learning from Boston University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School.

Canyon Ranch Experts

Holly Benzenhaufer
PhD, MDiv, MSc, Spiritual Wellness Provider
Holly is dedicated to helping our guests explore the deep meaning of their lives. Through individual, couple, family, or group sessions, she creates a safe space for resort guests where they may attune and attend places of spiritual pain and healing to find pathways to a life of intention, joy, and connection.

Kenley Brozman
NBC HWC, ICF PCC, MSW, Health & Performance Coach
Kenly has a deep commitment to improving people’s health and well-being by sparking their curiosity about the possibilities of their potential. She is an open and caring coaching partner that engages alongside guests as they begin or continue their wellness journey.

Mary Cahilly
MA, LMHC, LPC, CCTP, Mental Health & Wellness Therapist
Mary is dedicated to helping her clients remember the truth and beauty of who they are. Weaving transpersonal psychotherapy, mindfulness approaches to wellness, and her understanding of neuroscience, she teaches her clients how to pause and access their own inherent wisdom to regain clarity and creativity as they move through life’s challenges and celebrate life’s preciousness.

Laura Christoph
PhD, Director of Health & Performance Coaching
As a Health & Performance Coach, Laura's role includes group and individual coaching to resort guests before, during, and after their stay at Canyon Ranch Lenox. She facilitates goal setting, active engagement with interdisciplinary teams, and fosters positive behavior change that results in optimizing health and performance.

Heather Giordano
MS, Senior Performance Scientist
Heather draws upon her training in cardiovascular physiology, exercise physiology, and human nutrition to offer a comprehensive approach to healthy living. She works one-on-one with our guests to develop strategic exercise plans that fit their lifestyles and help reduce the rate at which their bodies age.

Amber Letourneau
RD, BSN, Health & Performance Dietician
Amber provides nutrition education via one-on-one consultations, presentations, or workshops, and informal talks with guests. Before coming to Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Massachusetts, Amber worked a variety of jobs, including as a nutrition coordinator at a food bank, a cook at an assisted living facility, and as a WIC nutritionist.

Dan Marko
MA, Senior Spiritual Wellness Provider
Dan helps guests explore how developing or deepening a spiritual practice can enhance personal and professional relationships. He provides individual consultations, group lectures, and workshops.

Melissa Sundermann
DO, DipABLM, Lifestyle Medicine Physician
Dr. Sundermann provides Canyon Ranch Lenox guests with lifestyle medicine consultations. She also offers extensive diagnostic testing services such as bloodwork, bone density/body composition, pulmonary function testing, overnight sleep studies, continuous glucose monitoring, and cardiac EKG.

Sunday, October 1

9 am-4 pm: Arrival and check-in

4-5:30 pm: Program Orientation and Welcome Circle
This session will provide an overview of the program and allow us to get to know each other and get familiar with Canyon Ranch.

5:30-7 pm: Welcome Dinner
Enjoy an exclusive kick-off dinner designed by Chef Julien for program participants.

7:30 - 8 pm Yoga Nidra with Jan Seward

Monday, October 2

8 - 9 am: Breakfast on your own

9 - 10:30 am: Leveraging Neuroplasticity to Keep Your Brain Young with Robert Bilder
Neuroplasticity refers to the capacity of neurons to be born and for existing neurons to establish new connections and prune old connections. Exciting developments in neuroscience show that new neurons can be born even in mature people and that there is an even more extensive capacity to “remodel” our neural architecture than was previously thought possible. This talk focuses on the evidence-based practices that have proven most likely to yield benefits, including physical activity and exercise; cognitive training; contemplative practices; social activity; drugs; magnetic, electrical, and ultrasound stimulation; and implantable devices.

11 am - 12 pm: Brain Based Posture and Balance
Learn the importance of training the muscles on the back of your body – known as the posterior chain. Explore balance exercises with various pieces of equipment to improve your posture and balance. 

12 - 4 pm: Lunch on your own and free time to enjoy a service or activity of your choosing.*

4 - 5 pm: Optimize Brain Health with Nutrition with Maggie O'Mara
Brain health and longevity are affected by numerous factors, which can be influenced by dietary choices. Learn how to choose foods and eating patterns that optimize brain health for today and tomorrow.

5 - 7 pm. Dinner on your own and free time to enjoy a service or activity of your choosing.*

7 - 8 pm Unlocking the Mind with Shaun Patel: A Vision of Brain Health in the Future
Explore groundbreaking advancements and cutting-edge technologies revolutionizing brain wellness. Gain insights on enhancing cognitive performance, improving mental well-being, and embracing neuroplasticity for a fulfilled and vibrant future.

Tuesday, October 3

8 - 9 am: Breakfast on your own

9 - 10 am The Science of a Happy Brain with Mary Cahilly
Join Mental Health & Wellness Therapist Robbie Bogard to uncover what stands in the way of our happiness and how we can use neurochemical hacks to achieve happiness.

10 - 11 am Artful Reflection Brain Practice with Holly Benzenhaufer

11 am - 4 pm Lunch on your own and free time to enjoy a service or activity of your choosing.*

4 – 5 pm: The Balanced Brain Part 1: Contemplative Practices to Keep Your Brain and Body Young with Robert Bilder
Contemplative practices have emerged as critical components of a healthy lifestyle and achieving harmony among mental and physical functions. This lecture examines the brain systems engaged in focal attention (FA) and open monitoring (OM), the two key kinds of meditative practice. It considers how these systems are linked to overcoming anxiety, managing stress, and enhancing well-being. The discussion will consider the impact of these systems on reducing inflammatory responses and adverse impacts of stress on the brain and other organs

6-7:30 pm: Dinner and Learn: Feeding Your Brain with Maggie O’Mara
Discover how foods affect mood, mind, and body while being healthy, nutritious, and delicious.

Wednesday, October 4

8 am - 11 am: Breakfast and lunch on your own and free time to enjoy a service or activity of your choosing.*

11 am - 12pm: Exercise: It Does Your Brain Good with Jill Roach
Exercise is good for the body. It also has several positive effects on brain function. Exercise physiologist, Jill Roche, offers insights to the many benefits of exercise for your brain.

2 - 3 pm: The Balanced Brain, Part 2: Creative Cognition on the Edge of Chaos: How to Cultivate the Flow State with Robert Bilder
Creativity is increasingly seen as a uniquely human characteristic that, when expressed, can enhance psychological well-being. This lecture will explore the brain mechanisms underlying creative achievement and contemplative practices and examine their relations to the “flow” state seen as the key to effortless engagement and productivity. The session will focus on how we can achieve a balance between stability and flexibility of thinking and emotional states.

5 - 6 pm: Journaling for Brain Health with Robbie Bogard
Join a mental health expert to learn the cognitive benefits of journaling. Gain new journaling tools to try out at home.

6 - 7 pm: Dinner on your own and free time to enjoy a service or activity of your choosing.*

7 - 8 pm: Demystifying Dementia and Prescriptions for Brain Health and Happiness with Robert Bilder
Given longer life expectancies, the prevalence of dementia is expected to triple in the next 30 years. This session reviews the major causes of dementia and examines evidence about strategies to prevent, slow or cure the major illnesses that cause cognitive decline. The discussion further considers methods to promote sustained happiness over a lengthened lifespan. It focuses on the concept of eudaimonic well-being, which results from aligning our actions with our highest values.

Thursday, October 5

8-9 am: Breakfast on your own and free time to enjoy a service or activity of your choosing.*

9 - 10 am: Spirituality & the Brain with Dan Marko
Explore the benefits of a beginner’s mind and discover how play can nourish and revitalize you.

10 - 11 am: Nature as Medicine, a Walk in the Woods with Melissa Sundermann
Walking meditation is the art of arriving with each step. Contemporary research reveals walking meditation’s health and wellness benefits for the mind, body, and spirit.

11 am - 3:30 pm: Lunch on your own and free time to enjoy a service or activity of your choosing.*

3:30 - 4:30 pm: The Future of Brain Health: How to Use Technology Instead of Allowing Technology To Use You with Robert Bilder
Ubiquitous technology and the emergence of artificial intelligence applications are revolutionizing industries and the ways we think and connect to others. Ray Kurzweil envisions a future in which nanobots enable us to remodel our neurons, while Elon Musk already has a company making neural implants. On the other hand, Jaron Lanier writes provocatively about preserving our humanity by freeing ourselves from social media and control by “gadgets.” This session explores currently available and feasible future brain technologies, focusing on the “hype cycle” that characterizes many products and the emerging focus on “uniquely human” capacities.

4:30 - 5:30 pm: Panel discussion with Q & A
Join Dr. Bilder and Canyon Ranch experts to answer your questions from the week.

5:30 - 6 pm: Closing Circle

6 - 7:30 pm: Group farewell dinner

Friday, October 6

8 - 9 am: Breakfast on your own and free time to enjoy a service or activity of your choosing.*

9 - 10 am: Outdoor Tai Chi
Enjoy a simple Tai Chi lesson to improve balance and proprioception on our woodland trails.

10 - 11 am: Canyon Ranch To Go: Healthy Habits for Brain Health at Home with Kenly Brozman
Explore the impact of external forces on behavior change with a Health & Performance Coach, receive key performance practices to support your wellness goals, and learn how to apply them at home.

Day of Departure or Begin Extended Stay

*Services and activities outside of what is included in this program may require a fee.

Note: Additional activities may be added, and all items are subject to change.