Further to last week’s ‘Should Expat Politics Matter?’ topic, may I start this week by calming any nerves I may have jangled with my assertions, with the words of my friend and migration expert, Ei!’s Gilda Pereira, who says: “You come to have a happier, lighter life. You should try to disconnect a little bit. Turn it (the news) off and get the best of Portugal.”
I offer this as at least a temporary conclusion to the matter, such that we can return to a workable, if not permanent peace, around political fascination and engagement, and so that we might relax into a deeper daily experience of wellbeing and joy. Why else would we be here, after all?
So, on that note, it may come as no secret, if you see my words here on a regular basis, that I am something of a ‘hedolist’. Not a ‘hedonist’ exactly, if that’s how you first read it, but a chap with hedonistic tendencies that are expressed in a holistic way.
I seek joy, and regularly find it here in the Portuguese culture, which I see is similarly invested in a win-win way of life, where, if we all take care to make our little part of the world a pleasing place to be, that scales up to a proto-utopian environment, in which we and our families can enjoy the day-to-day, AND face life’s inevitable challenges should they arise.
As I write today, I am under the influence of perhaps one of the most hedolistic experiences I have ever enjoyed, which is incidentally making it very difficult to articulate in words what I want to tell you – about the transcendent and blissful, somewhat out-of-body, journey that I made this morning in the countryside just beyond Caldas da Rainha.
In the hands, literally, of Sarah Taylor, a Canadian recently immersed in Portugal (with husband Daniel), I stepped out of time and space as I underwent what she calls a ‘Vitality Reset’. On paper or according to her website: two hours of ‘Tama Body Therapy’ (touchless lymphatic drainage) combined with a ‘Customised Vitality Lift’.
As is often the case with holistic therapies, which to me are treatments that aim to address all aspects of our being, as well as look at the causes of our symptoms, the words alone fall far short of the experience on offer; a source of frustration, I’m certain, for the practitioners who can work magic like Sarah.
“Experience a holistic, hands-on frequency session designed to uplift your face, elevate your spirits, and reignite your inner spark!” is the offer (and, by the way, I am only a little offended by the suggestion I need a face-lift), and is, I am hoping, enough to get people onto her marvellous massage table. Add to that this therapist’s use of “an intuitive healing approach combined with advanced frequency technologies”, and it’s a no-brainer, to get connected up like me, as you see in the picture.
Now I know ‘no-brainer’ is seen as an inappropriate term in some circles, but let me tell you, two hours beyond or without my brain’s most impudent and persistent input was more than appropriate, as time and normal consciousness blurred into insignificance, leaving me lifted (as promised) but better still, feeling not just relaxed, but ultimately reset.
I will take it for granted that my “face, neck, décolleté and shoulders” are in better shape. Yet it’s my sense of being, wellbeing, that benefited most, sending me back into the day, not really knowing what day it was, with unanswered calls and messages, left nonchalantly to languish in the cloud, far away, and unattended to.
Personally, and still luxuriating post-treatment, I am so glad Sarah, a self-confessed “student of life and human behaviour”, brought her 20-year background as a Master Esthetician & Laser Technician, Naturotherapist and Facilitator/Life Coach to Portugal’s Silver Coast.
Ready and beautifully set-up in the delightful Caldas hills, she works with individuals, as she did with me, and told me she’d also “organised and facilitated classes on energetic processes and worked with groups of people to help them clear energetic blockages”, which is apparently her idea of fun.
“I continue to offer the body process today that personally changed my life and many of my client’s lives,” she says, having more recently added ‘Human Design’ to her toolbox, should you ever need a “2/4 Ego Projector” at your service.
Bodily, I experienced electrical, light-based, aroma and touch therapy in her haven of healing and healthiness. But this is more, to me, than a mere spa or beauty treatment, which she is clearly able to offer if that’s what the client requires. This, if you want it, is deep and profound work, true beauty, you might say – accessible through the outer layers of our skin, going beyond to the more soulful, spiritual levels of ourselves.
“All my life, I have genuinely only ever wanted to show people that they are beautiful. That they possess something inside them that is truly special, something only they can bring to the world,” Sarah explains.
“I realised, in my early 30s, after a particularly difficult period, that corporate life was not for me. It was time to take a chance and truly follow my passion. I began my studies in Esthetics, a place where I could be with people and give them my full, undivided attention and love,” she adds, as another who has changed their work, their world, and is now happy to be in Portugal.
“After many years of employing various devices, I found the true heroes of the skin, body, and mind,” adds Sarah, revealing more about herself and perhaps the true nature of health and healing. “I truly believe a holistic approach creates the changes we really desire. In addition to a naturotherapeutic approach and healing touch, I have seen amazing changes with energy therapies. They create not only a lift in the skin but a full-body upgrade and an energetic lift of the spirits.”
Clearly sensitive to energies, vibrations if you like, Sarah says she and Dan left Canada when “what used to feel ‘light’ just didn’t anymore”.
“We decided it was time to live our dream and move to Portugal. I closed my business in Canada, sold all of my equipment, except for my favourites, and brought with me what I wanted for my own body, mind, and spirit – to age as gracefully as I can, and maintain good health.”
And it looks like, thanks to Sarah, you – just like I did so blissfully and deeply, today – can too.
Treat yourself to a ‘reset’: https://sarahsenergetics.com
By Carl Munson
Carl Munson is host of the Good Morning Portugal! show every weekday on YouTube and creator of www.learnaboutportugal.com, where you can learn something new about Portugal every day!
