UJ #13 - Health & Wellness

THE HEALING SPIRIT
Christian Declercq
When Niki Coate came to Cusco eight years
ago, she had a degree in journalism, a
master’s degree in literature, a backpack
and a ring in her nose. She also had a wide and genuine
smile that enabled her to make friends easily.
With friends we went on a trip out of the city, and we
certainly had a great time at night in the bars of San
Blas. What Niki was certainly in no hurry to do was
go home.
She spent her first three months travelling around
Peru, but would inevitably return to Cusco. She had
to go to the border to put her immigration status to
rights before starting another three months, which is
the time allowed on a tourist visa. Niki felt comfortable
in the streets of Cusco. She felt inspired by the mountains,
the mysticism of the Andes and the energy
that emanates from this city as by few others or none.
Thus meditating, one day she realised she needed
two spaces: one to live in and another to practise reiki.
“I found a house in the end, but it was too expensive.
So I started to rent rooms and people who came were
dedicated to these healing arts. And that is how the
Healing House came to be. A place where we practise
different types of yoga, reiki, ecstatic dance, taichi
and chi gong, among others, and where teachers of
different ancient disciplines come to teach us”, she
says.
Niki defines the Healing House as essentially a “house
of light”, a centre for the study and practise of ancestral
traditions of wisdom. In its seven years of existence,
the Healing House has become famous among
visitors and residents; it offers a place not only for the
communion of mind, spirit and body, but also for promoting
a lucid and holistic lifestyle.
The energy of the city that captivated Niki, did the
same to Jorge Cereceda, a young musician conceived
in Rioja but born in Chiclayo. After a life of travelling
around Peru, learning the mysteries of medicinal
plants and the importance of local sounds and their
close connection with the cosmovision of the Andes,
he settled in the Sacred Valley. At home with his wife
Magaly and children Mayu and Sol, he heads a project
called Healing Sounds (Sonidos que Curan).
Christian Declercq
Above:
Andean culture combined
with oriental cultures.
Below:
Reading the coca leaves
is one of the treatments to
heal the soul performed by
a shaman.
Right:
Treatment at the Healing
House is a team effort
designed to heal, create
and inspire.
Christian Declercq