Arianne Vasquez, medical director of Aesthetic Science Clinic, walks her talk. Before she underwent breast augmentation, she meditated, cleansed her chakras or energy centers, and performed inner dancing, the use of movement to release blocked energies and to harness inner power.

During post-surgery, there was the initial discomfort of having foreign bodies in the chest. Her anxiety was heightened with thoughts about surgical complications. Thus, two of her reiki healer-friends healed her through long distance. She then felt a deep sense of calm and returned to work in five days.

Aesthetic Science clinic espouses a holistic approach to cosmetic enhancement as it offers life coaching and reiki healing. Although cosmetic dermatology and plastic surgery can beautify a person, it can’t take take away the bitterness or the harshness of the soul. Hence, the need for complementary treatments.

“Some clients want a change not just on the outside but also on the inside,” says Vasquez. The clinic offers life coaching to help them deal with deep-seated issues that brought them to the clinic in the first place.

Many patients, mostly women, want a boob job, a nose lift or eyebag removal because of low self-esteem born out relationship problems. However, they have unrealistic expectations about the surgical results.

“Surgery is not the cure-all. On the other hand, some patients talk about their problems while others remain silent.”

Stress

Vasquez added that undergoing major and minor surgery can still pose stress.

“Even if the patients come out beautiful or sexy, it will not ease their burden.”

Life coaching or counseling can help women realize that self-esteem is not based on looks alone but on their qualities.

For people with weight issues, doctors recommend diet and exercise before undergoing liposuction or non-invasive body contouring treatments for best results. Jason Peñaranda, the wellness doctor, specializes in detox and digestive cleansing.

“Some people have a hard time losing weight. The liver doesn’t function properly because of the fats in it,” says Vasquez. Some are advised to detox first, to cleanse the body off bad oils and residues from synthetic medicine.

With obese patients, life coaching can help identify emotional issues that spurred the weight problems.

“The approach is holistic because you’re not just working on the body but also the soul,” says Vasquez.

Peñaranda pointed out that after liposuction or completing their non-invasive body contouring treatments, patients come to him for diet and lifestyle change so that excess weight doesn’t creep back. While other doctors treat weight loss from a physiological viewpoint, he dwells more into attitude in order to affect transformation. Instead of making a restricted diet plan that tends to make patients feel miserable, he suggests adapting new habits and using food as medicine.

Peñaranda underscores the importance of keeping the digestive system in order so that nutrients could be easily assimilated.

Ancient art

Although most people visit the Aesthetic Science to improve their looks, some also come for reiki healing to boost their energy, both psychic and physical. Reiki is an ancient Japanese healing art wherein the healer goes through a meditative space to harness the Source and uses the palms to diagnose and balance the energies.

Vasquez also practices reiki healing with her crystals. Some of the cases range from severe allergies to victim complex. She meditates, puts the crystals on the patient’s energy centers and lays her hands. She stays longer in the weak areas to neutralize the imbalances. The healing takes place on the level of vibrations or frequencies.

Peñaranda explains that the healer is merely a channel of the cosmic energy.

“Supposing your energy is off. It needs another energy to put restore it,” he says. He likens the patient-healer dynamic to the child and adult.

“If you’re sick, your energy is like the kid who bikes in an erratic direction. It needs the assistance of an adult to make the child bike straight. Reiki provides the conduit for correcting an aberrant frequency.”

Says Vasquez, “From my experience, reiki lowers the blood pressure, relieves stress and provides some mental clarity. For post surgery, it speeds up the recovery. We had a patient who had gastric pains. In the process, she started crying as emotional issues came out. It taught me a lesson that you have to address the whole being.”

Although there is still resistance to alternative modalities, Vasquez observes people are slowly opening up to this new alternative. “They say there’s an evolution or a shift consciousness as the Mayan calendar ends,” she says.

Aesthetic Science is at Jupiter Place Bldg., Jupiter St., Bel-Air, Makati, tel. 8993643 and 0908-9967376; and Kennedy Center Prime St.t, Madrigal Business Park, Ayala Alabang, tel. 8098021, 3833488, 0916-3412464.