Health Archives - bbxmusic Ecuador

QI Esencial – Oriental and Bioenergetic Therapies in Loja Ecuador

English version

Part 1 : Introduction – Acupuncture – Cupping

There are things in life that neither have a beginning nor an end. Trying to find some straight line is a waste of time and energy. This is what I felt when facing that blank page on which I was going to relate to our readers what we encountered at QI Esencial. I did not know where to start.

The word HOLISTIC came to my mind because soon after entering into this beautifully decorated space in the center of Loja, it becomes obvious that in this center, people look at health as a complete mind-body-spirituality thing. They don’t just provide “treatments”. It is about healing in the deep sense of the word.

QI Esencial - Orinental Therapies — The colors, the light, the Chinese paintings on the wall …

WHEN I opened the QI Esencial front door on this busy street of Loja (10 de Agosto), there was that beautiful smell, the colors, the light, the background music, the Chinese paintings on the wall, the bamboo on the ceiling.

Clearly one feels entering another dimension, a dimension of peace and tranquility.

THEN there is the incredibly charismatic personality of the health center owner: Leonardo (Leonardo Miguel Luzuriaga Leon is his full name).

How do we begin describing him?

Gentle, soft-spoken, intelligent, calm and energetic at the same time, definitely passionate, experienced and wise, multi-faceted, extremely skinny are just a few words that come to my mind. Leonardo studied oriental medicine in Brazil with a Korean maestro.

Leonardo studied oriental medicine in Brazil

WHILE UNDERTAKING an acupuncture or cupping session, listening to Leonardo is a rich part of the experience. He will share with you his extensive knowledge of all things oriental, will enlighten and possibly amuse you with some Chinese parable, will tell you if you like about one of his favorite subject “the multi-orgasmic man”, about how people’s mental state deeply affect their physical health and how to let things in your life flow to achieve a better state of happiness.

What he won’t do is tell you what to do or give you a pill to cure the ailment that brings you there or even try to sell you some expensive supplement. His favorite phrase is to say: “simply take from what I say what you feel is right for you“, no less and no more. As a patient you can then feel that he genuinely does not care whether you believe it all or not, whether you are going to do what he recommends or some part of it or not much at all. This way you can relax, be yourself, take what you want, leave the rest and feel absolutely no guilt. Quite different from a typical visit to the doctor I must admit.

This total lack of pressure, this openness is something that makes you want to stay and come back. Not that you will necessarily need to go back either and that is OK by him. He confided that his main “problem” (if this could be called a problem) is that the treatments are so effective that often people don’t come back. He said that his Korean master used to treat 80 patients per day and then to “relax” he used to go to his other job which involved carrying 50kg sacs of coffee on his shoulders. He was a martial art penta champion which Leonardo said in Korea is something extremely serious and demanding. “It is quite complex. The training starts from a very early age. It is like being a basketball champion in the US or a soccer champion in Brazil”

Acupuncture

Obviously when referring to oriental medicine, the name acupuncture comes to mind first. This is one of Leonardo’s specialties. He has learned it not from some academic place but through years of living with his Korean master in Brazil.

A Korean acupuncturist inserting a needle into a leg

I watched the session he gave to my wife Martha. He looked very concentrated, always observing the patient with deep attention.

Never hesitated with a needle. Some time they can hurt. This happens when the flow of energy is interrupted or disturbed in some part of the body. The purpose of acupuncture is to help restore the normal flow of energy along the meridians (well that is my no doubt oversimplified explanation of it).

There was one needle in particular that really bothered her in her left foot. No worries, after a little while, Leonardo took it off when the pain was too strong. One has to take time and allow the body to react. Things cannot always be achieved in one session.

In the following session she was more relaxed and instead of pain the needles were giving her tickles.

Qigong (Chi kung)

Qigong (also spelled Ch’i Kung) is a powerful system of healing and energy medicine from China. It is the art and science of using breathing techniques, gentle movement, and meditation to cleanse, strengthen, and circulate the life energy (qi).

During the acupuncture session when the patient is peaceful an relaxed Leonardo moved around quietly and performs qigong movements to help circulate the energy in the body.

I hadn’t heard the term Chi Kung before but I had attended some Tai Chi clases in New Zealand and it was very relaxing. Here is what they say on this infomative web site www.qigonghealing.com/qigong/whatis.html

“Taiji Quan is a style of Qigong. It is graceful, relaxed, slow, and fluid, like a slow- motion dance. Unlike some Qigong methods that exercise specific systems or parts of the body– nervous system, endocrine system, heart, kidneys– Taiji Quan is a whole body, whole mind exercise. It treats health systemically, restoring the body to its original “program”, uncorrupted by stress, pollution, and disease. The Qigong Research & Practice Center offers training in all aspects and levels of Taiji Quan.”

The true cause of disease – Somatizing

The key to really curing any disease is to understand the true cause of it. This is where the so-called “conventional” medicine fails miserably. This medicine only treats symptoms and more often than not is not even interested in the true causes of any disease. There is no time for that.

I asked Leonardo what he believed was in most cases the true cause of his patients’ health problems. He said that in most cases people somatize their mental problems. These can be from the plain vanilla every day variety of stress and anxiety for example all the way to some deep disorder that may stem from a past traumatic event or even from childhood. Somatizing means that when the mind has no way to “express” what it feels, it passes the dis-ease to the body. Then one gets an infection, some back pain, gastritis, migraines, you name it.

Addressing this situation with some pill of course does not really solve anything. Even addressing the problem with natural therapies is not the answer. A nice baño de cajon or a massage or a liver detox are certainly good things but when the root cause of a person’s disease is located in the unconscious or subconscious, these forms of natural medicine are also just treating the symptoms rather than the cause albeit in a less dangerous and toxic way.

Cupping therapy

is another type of therapy that Leonardo provides at QI Esencial.

Cupping therapy is an ancient form of alternative medicine in which a therapist puts special cups on your skin for a few minutes to create suction. People get it for many purposes, including to help with pain, inflammation, blood flow, relaxation and well-being, and as a type of deep-tissue massage.

Relatively unknown to most people living in the West until recently, cupping therapy is an alternative therapeutic method that has been popular in China since around 1000 B.C. Some records show that variations of cupping practices might actually be much older — possibly dating as far back as 3000 B.C.

An excellent summary of what cupping is about can be found in this article HERE

At the end of the day

We found that we left the center on that first day of acupuncture and cupping having made a new friend in Leonardo and looking forward to our next session which we will relate in one or more future article(s).

One thing that struck me is how relaxed my better half looked at the end of her session. I invited her and Leonardo to a photo session and they obliged.

Leonardo and her happy patient Martha after the session

Conclusion

QI Esencial in Loja Ecuador is a very special place indeed where you will feel good, relaxed and well attended. They provide holistic treatments which means that they work on the entire body including the mind and not just on the specific illness that brings you there.

QI Esencial - Oriental and Bioenergetic Therapies in Loja Ecuador — QI Esencial – Oriental and Bioenergetic Therapies in Loja Ecuador

Contacts

Address: 10 de Agosto entre Juan José Peña y 24 de Mayo en el Edificio Plaza Murano

Tel: 07 – 2574907

Web site: www.qiesencial.com

QI Esencial – Oriental and Bioenergetic Therapies in Loja Ecuador

Tags: acupuncture, oriental medicine, cupping therapy, chi kung, qigong, bio magnetism, essential oils, aromatherapy, massages, spa, cosmetology.

Comments

Do you wish to comment or share some experience? Please leave your message in the section below. You can also contact us through our web page here.

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If you wish to be informed about what goes on at bbxmusic.com and receive quality information about Vilcabamba, the city of Loja and the entire Loja province in Ecuador, please do subscribe here.

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Sweet Potato – Living Healthy in Vilcabamba and Loja Ecuador

Español AQUI NO es una traducción humana!

Todoloja researches the topics of health and longevity in this part of the world (Loja Ecuador).

Good health starts with good nutrition.

SWEET POTATOES – DID YOU KNOW?

Sweet potatoes are native to Central and South America and are one of the oldest vegetables known to man. They have been consumed since prehistoric times as evidenced by sweet potato relics dating back 10,000 years that have been discovered in Peruvian caves.

Sweet Potato - Living Healthy in Vilcabamba and Loja — Camote – sweet potato

Sweet potatoes belong to an entirely different food family than either yams or the common potato that is (unfortunately) such a large part of the common diet.

One difficulty in describing the health benefits of sweet potatoes is knowing where to begin. There are a surprising number of nutrient categories responsible for the health benefits of this underappreciated tuber. Among these categories are antioxidants, anti-inflammatory nutrients, and blood sugar-regulating nutrients. Each category brings with it valuable health benefits.

Here in Vilcabamba they grow like weed. On our land, we don’t pay too much attention to them and let them go wild and out of control most of the time but we should give them more care. They deserve it. Despite of that, today we extracted this monster from our ground in Sacapo, San Pedro de Vilcabamba.

I want to add that there is nothing healthier and more fun apparently for a young child than spending time outside in the “huerto”. This is one of the things that people living in cities have lost. The children are weaker and get sick more often.

One of the factors of longevity is certainly :

More time outside and better food.

Comments

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Subscribe to our newsletter

If you wish to be informed about what goes on at bbxmusic.com and receive quality information about Vilcabamba, the city of Loja and the entire Loja province in Ecuador, please do subscribe here.

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Salud y Vida SPA – Natural therapies in Vilcabamba

English version Español AQUI

Relaxation therapies – Body Massage – Steam Baths – Reflexology – Clay exfoliation – Hair removal – Facial care …

Health is a pervasive topic in the so-called “Valley of Longevity”, Vilcabamba, a small town in the Ecuadorian Andes mountains. Many people have come from abroad and have settled in Vilcabamba precisely to seek a better quality of life. In fact many of them are professionals engaged in one or another form of natural therapy: massage, reflexology, acupuncture, osteopathy, yoga, bio-magnetism, Rolf therapy and more … Vilcabamba has it all.

Mariana Avila is a native of Vilcabamba. We visited her center of natural treatments called “Salud y Vida SPA“.

Introduction

Many of you living here in Vilcabamba already know Mariana and perhaps already felt her magic hands … I met her when she had a vegetarian restaurant. I must confess that was my favorite at that time.

However, we have now discovered other qualities and skills that she possesses. Mariana is a sweet and spontaneous person, inspires confidence, she carries within herself what I would call “the angel”, something that I immediately felt when I saw her. The persons who possess “the angel” have something special that other people don’t have, the true vocation of caring for others and do it with love, patience and sweetness. Mariana has that and it makes you want to stay there forever in a never ending massage.

She told us that her attraction for alternative therapies and natural medicine was born when she was still very young. It is something genetic in the Avila Cabrera family. She explained that several close family members favored the branch of medicine both eastern and western. She also has an uncle who is a shaman and her daughter Ruth is studying child psychology at the university. They are a long chain of guardians of health …

And before you ask, her prices are very affordable too.

The place is simple without fuss and quite cozy indeed, adorned with many beautiful plants and flowers of various colors. Every corner is well designed so that when one enters this place, one feels comfortable and relaxed.

Salud y Vida SPA Vilcabamba - The place is cozy and well decorated — The place is cozy and well decorated

Mariana told us that her customers usually ask for suggestions on which therapy to attend and she advises them depending on their ailments. However, the “baño de cajón” (in English literally “the bath in a drawer”) is always the recommended first step in order to detoxify the body and at the same time get the person to relax. She then continues with either a massage or an exfoliation, a mud bath, a reflexology etc …

Mariana has been trained through workshops, courses etc … about therapies that she performs in its SPA. It is evident that she loves doing these activities and this makes it different.

To let go in Mariana’s hands

As is our custom at bbxmusic.com, we want as much as possible to only talk from experience. For the purpose of this article, Mariana offered me to do me a treatment and I asked her which one she would recommend. We talked a little about my health and my ailments, she asked me a few things about my life. I have a tendency to be a little over stressed and nervous which in my case manifests itself in the skin. Because of this she recommended a steam bath and a clay exfoliation.

It is something that Martha has already mentioned above in her introduction but I wish to reiterate it because it is important. The therapist’s personality, her “energy”, her “aura” is an essential part of the patient’s experience, is it not? This is something that cannot be explained but rather felt. I felt immediately relaxed with Mariana and had no issue surrendering myself to her capable hands.

Baño de cajón (steam box)

Salud y Vida Vilcabamba - Baños de cajón — Salud y Vida Vilcabamba – Baños de cajón

This is basically a steam bath, similar to a Turkish bath but performed in a custom designed cupboard or “drawer” (hence the name “cajon” in Spanish which means drawer) inside which the person sits leaving only the head outside. I read that it is inspired from Ayurvedic medicine. The advantage of leaving the head outside is that one can still breathe comfortably “up here” despite the heat and heavy body sweating “down there”.

So I took off my clothes, put my belongings in a cane basket that she gave me and put on a white dressing gown.

It was then time to sit in the steam box that I distractedly was about to walk into with the gown still on. Mariana gently told me to take it off. “Of course“, I thought, “Silly me, I am not going to get in there with the dressing gown on, am I?”

However, I felt a little shy I confess. I heard myself saying, “What? I have to take it all off?“.

She laughed and replied:

“That’s right. The body is the body.”

I sat in the steam box and slowly felt the heat all over my body and the nice scent of the plants while I started to sweat a lot, which is good because the objective is for the heat to open the pores and allow the body toxins out. I had to stay 15 minutes inside the box.

From time to time Mariana approached to ask how I feel, wipe my face and put a wet towel on my head. Also when the heat became unbearable, we opened the lid a little to have a pause. I must say that she did the whole process very sweetly, nothing by force, nothing uncomfortable. After the treatment, looking at the photo below and remembering the heat and the cool “life saving towel” that Mariana put on my head, I had to laugh while thinking about those famous biblical words:

Clay Exfoliation

Salud y Vida SPA Vilcabamba - Exfoliacion con arcilla caliente — A sheet of plastic and a good blanket to continue perspiring

Fifteen minutes later I felt totally relaxed. Mariana then covered my whole body with warm clay including the face and wrapped me in a sheet of plastic and a good blanket to continue perspiring for about 20 minutes.

In this process I felt quite hot and thirsty, Mariana gave me to drink a refreshing mint tea, then she made an exfoliation with a glove to remove the wet clay, gently massaging the whole body.

Salud y Vida SPA Vilcabamba - Exfoliation — Salud y Vida SPA Vilcabamba – Exfoliation

Finally I took a shower, not too cold not too hot. Perfect ! And it was easy to take the clay off my body because the clay had not been allowed to dry out. I then leaned back in a long chair and felt like a fresh lettuce … well actually I wish I could have stayed right there to sleep overnight since I felt so comfortable and relaxed.

Reflexology

“Reflexology is the application of appropriate pressure to specific points and areas on the feet, hands, or ears. Reflexologists believe that these areas and reflex points correspond to different body organs and systems, and that pressing them has a beneficial effect on the organs and person’s general health.” Wikipedia.

We did not do a reflexology session. While she was briefly explaining us how it works, Mariana took my feet and applied pressure to different points. When she made me cringe or even jump she explained that the pain was not something normal but rather the reflection of a problem in some area of my body.

Salud y Vida SPA Vilcabamba - Reflexology mat — Reflexology mat

Talking about reflexology, Mariana had something interesting. She showed us a mat made in such a way that it stimulates the reflexology points of the feet, allowing to reach excellent therapeutic results.

My feet are very sensitive so I could not even stand for a minute on the carpet. It is like walking on pebbles but worse. Martha, who is native from here had no problem at all standing on it. “She is a river girl” I thought.

Actually, Mariana recommended me to take shoe-less walks on the river bank.

Massage

We did not have time for a massage. It must surely be excellent and we’ll try to include information on this topic some time on the bbxmusic.com web site.

In the mean time, if you are reading this article and have already experienced a massage at “Salud y Vida”, please leave your comment in the section below.

Conclusion

In her Vilcabamba natural treatment center, Salud y Vida SPA, Mariana knows her subject. She has a lot of experience dealing with both locals and foreigners. She works with sweetness, love and respect. The place is cozy and has good energy. We recommend it to anyone who wants to relax, relieve stress and improve his or her physical and psychological health.

Salud y Vida SPA - Natural therapies in Vilcabamba - Mariana Avila — Salud y Vida SPA – Natural therapies in Vilcabamba – Mariana Avila

Visit the center of natural treatments Health and Life the next time you are in Vilcabamba.

Contacts

Address: Valle Sagrado y Diego Vaca de Vega, Vilcabamba Ecuador (opposite to restaurant Mexibamba)
Tel: +593 (0)9 86782084
Email: marianaavilac@gmail.com
Opening hours: please call for an appointment

Comments

Do you wish to comment or share some experience? Please leave your message in the section below. You can also contact us through our web page here.

Subscribe to our newsletter

If you wish to be informed about what goes on at bbxmusic.com and receive quality information about Vilcabamba, the city of Loja and the entire Loja province in Ecuador, please do subscribe here.

#HechoConAmor #TodoLoja

Pharmacy in Loja – By the people and for the people

English version

Español AQUI

Only a few meters from the “centro comercial” main entrance in Loja, there is a pharmacy. The place is small indeed, so small that you may never have noticed it but his owner is not small and I don’t mean size-wise. Ramiro Delgado is what I would not hesitate to call a “great man”. On this beautiful sunny day I truly enjoyed spending a couple of hours with him.

Ramiro has done many things in his life and occupied important functions. For example, he was involved in writing the Ecuadorian constitution in 2008 in Montecristi and he has been the owner of a 5 floor business in central Loja with an ice cream parlor, a restaurant, a children playground, a dance club… but this place, this small pharmacy is truly his and he explains that it is in this place that he can truly be himself.

“Why own 10 businesses? To live with a level of stress of 500% ? No. It is better to be able to freely say hello to a friend, lend a hand to an elderly to help him cross the road. And be the person I have always been“.

Pharmacia del Pueblo Loja Ecuador - Ramiro Delgado — Farmacia del Pueblo Loja Ecuador – Ramiro Delgado

“My father was a wise man and he used to say that money only has two virtues: it poisons the soul and kills the feelings. Because when you have money you think that you can buy it all, you lose the capacity to love, you lose the capacity to respect and fell compassion.”

So once again in this small third-world country called Ecuador, I found myself exchanging profound ideas with a great and wise man in the middle of a nothing place next to a popular market where people go to buy their potatoes and their chicken. How amazing!

Let’s take a look at the place this man is running, shall we? It is a pharmacy, “the people’s pharmacy” is its name, la “farmacia del pueblo”, but we shall see that it is much more than just a pharmacy. It has all the expected pharmaceuticals for sure but also a range of natural products. We don’t have the space to list them all here and I strongly advise the reader to pay Ramiro a visit and check him out. Below is an example of a popular plant-based products that help people sleep better.

Farmacia del Pueblo Loja Ecuador - Pharmacueticals and Natural Products — Farmacia del Pueblo Loja Ecuador – Pharmaceuticals and Natural Products

Secondly, it is a small bank, two banks more precisely: Banco de Guayaquil and Banco de Pinchincha. In this pharmacy people come to make deposits and perform other types of transactions without having to queue in a main branch and with the possibility to talk to a real flesh-bone-and-heart human being instead of a human-like robot.

Farmacia del Pueblo Loja Ecuador - Banco de Guayaquil y Banco de Pinchincha — Farmacia del Pueblo Loja Ecuador – Banco de Guayaquil y Banco de Pinchincha

Thirdly, Ramiro makes copies of most types of keys with an automatic machine.

Farmacia del Pueblo Loja Ecuador - Key cutting — Farmacia del Pueblo Loja Ecuador – Key cutting

Finally and just as importantly, it is a place where everybody smiles and just that is a therapy that no medicine in the world can beat !

Farmacia del Pueblo Loja Ecuador — Pharmacy in Loja – By the people and for the people

So check him out next time you go to the market or have a need for medicinal products. His English is not great he does admit but he can understand you if you speak slowly.

Comments

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#HechoConAmor #TodoLoja

Vilcabamba Ecuador Real Estate for the Health Conscious – Life the way it was designed to be

SEEKVILCABAMBA.COM

If you are looking for real estate in Ecuador, whether you want to live here or make an investment, Vilcabamba is definitely a place to consider.

There is a lot of real estate for sale in Vilcabamba, from apartments or houses in town, to small or large pieces of land with or without buildings. For sure, there is something for everyone. Prices tend to be higher in Vilcabamba than in other places in Ecuador. This is due to the popularity of Vilcabamba, the “valley of longevity” with its ideal climate, lifestyle, abundance of food and also its cosmopolitan expat community. People come here to live not only from the USA but also from the UK, France, Belgium, Germany among other countries.

If you are considering buying real estate in Vilcabamba Ecuador, we have something truly unique to offer: a “non-gated” property of 70 hectares subdivided into spacious and private quintas (lots), located in one of the best and safest areas around Vilcabamba (San Pedro) along the most pristine river (Uchima), right at the foot of the world famous Podocarpus National park, only 6 kms from the centre of the Vilcabamba village.

The property is called “Cutanapamba”. It has everything to offer to nature lovers and health conscious people while at the same time being close to town.

Fifteen (15) lots (called “quintas”) of sizes ranging from 8,000 m2 to 17,000 m2 are for sale.

From Vilcabamba, head towards Loja on the main road, turn right into the San Pedro village, then follow the dirt road to Sacapo and then before going up to the Sacapo village turn right and head down to the Rio Uchima.

See

bbxmusic.com/projects/cutanapamba/property.aspx

for more details