by Simone Burgos, LMT

It's May! And our body's are transitioning between the cold of winter and the warmth of summer.  As summer’s warmth begins to greet us, our consciousness begins to shift, once again, to our bodies. Detoxifying our bodies in preparation for exposing our skin to the sun is a wonderful, healing gift we give ourselves. In uncovering our bodies, we are in full exposure of our senses. This is exactly the time to experience detoxifying massage.

Lymph Drainage Massage (LMD) is a profound tool for you detoxify from winter's sedentary life and prepare your skin for the summer and the sun.

Lymph drainage is a natural cleansing system for your body. The lymph system is a critical part of your immune system.  Good lymph flow, good health, fewer allergies, colds and flus, less puffiness, easier weight loss.  

With Lymph Drainage Massage, I stimulate a filtering process which helps remove toxins and bacteria from your body. This clears the way for you to feel and experience all of summer’s beautiful gifts – from the touch of the smallest breeze to the warmth of the sun radiant on your back.  

Throughout the summer months our bodies have the tendency to retain water and become swollen. Lymph Drainage Massage is a very healing tool for getting rid of edema ~ the retention of water. This form of massage is very soothing and amazingly light in touch. It reminds me of the ocean ~ slow in movement, like waves lapping on the sand.

Our lymphatic systems are very close to the skin. This is why the touch is light. During the summer, I give these massages without heavy oils and creams. Instead, I use my own unique technique of rubbing a healthful talc-free powder over your skin. While invoking wave-like movements, I detect the rhythm, flow and depth of the quality of lymph fluid in your body.

To gain the most benefit possible, I recommend you incorporate a light, balanced and healthy diet. This massage technique and a Spring Detox Food Cleanse are sure to make you feel rejuvenated, lighter, soothed and ready for more summer fun!

With love,
Simone

Call or email Oriens to book Lymph Drainage Massage with Simone!  
212-213-5785 or info@oriensliving.com

  Simone Burgos, LMT

For the first thirty years of life, it’s likely that most of us don’t give menopause a second thought. We’re too busy growing – mentally, emotionally, intellectually, and certainly physically to spend much time considering what our body’s journey will be later in life. Somewhere in our late thirties, however, we begin to know in a deep way that menopause is part of our path. For many women this inspires worry … and fear. Fear around aging, around changes in our bodies and lives, in our sexuality and our identity.

We can have confidence though, because one thing that women experience all of our lives, is change. Our bodies are NEVER stagnant. Our hormonal bodies are always shifting – and menopause is just one of those shifts. In fact, peri-menopause and menopause are a gift of change for women.  If we are at our strongest and most confident, we will know that menopause is not a loss at all – rather, it is the recall of the self.

As we hit puberty, our bodies naturally prepare for motherhood – and they sustain that role for a long time. This is embodied – built into our DNA – mapped into us genetically. There’s no judgment about whether we have a family – or a child. It is simply how our bodies guide our journey. Our bodies (and perhaps even our souls) have a map that says that the years in between puberty and menopause are focused on the “nature” of mothering – to be loving and caring – to be focused on others. We see again and again that this is true for us, whether we have children or not. We are the growers of humanity.

Later, when we reach menopause and begin to experience the end of our menstrual periods, we are at an age where our identity begins to shift away from “others” and back to our own process. Our bodies themselves are no longer focused on “mothering” (or finding mates) – our map shifts – and we are once again connecting with self. THIS TIME in our lives is a huge opportunity for a renewed spirituality. Why?  Because spirituality takes TIME and focus. Two things we do not have when we are focused on being the growers of humanity and mothering the universe around us.

Trust me, menopause and peri-menopause should not BE frightening. Yes, this is a period of change (no pun intended), but it can be a time of great laughter and freedom. Our autonomy and power become very apparent to us. As empowered women, we have a renewed freedom from the “roles” that are put on us by others or society. While we might have been tied down by approval in our 20’s and 30’s, this is definitely released as we approach menopause.  We are attractive for US.  We are alluring for US.  We are engaging for US.  It is no longer about others:  a mate, a partner, our children, our obligations.  

Don’t be fearful – be THRILLED! We often achieve great things in the years of menopause. Gifted with time, a renewed focus on self, and LIFE EXPERIENCE, we soar to new heights in life – we begin our own businesses or create amazing new careers, we finish (or even start) our education, we write that book, we take that trip.

USE this time to claim your life and spirituality anew. Rediscover your body. In peri-menopause or menopause our bodies need a new kind of tender loving care and respect. Consider yoga to stay peaceful and fit at this time especially – and Maya Abdominal Massage to gently guide your body through its process – increasing vital blood flow to organs and maximizing hormonal health. Most of all, embrace this time. It is YOUR time – and while every moment in our lives IS ours, we are finally empowered enough to know it – body and soul. 

Maya Abdominal Massage

Simone Burgos is a Certified Arvigo Practitioner, bringing the wisdom of the ancient Mayan tradition to the West.   

Today is my birthday. It is a day to celebrate every good thing that would ever come to me!  Every precious friend, every love, every triumph – it all begins on the sacred day of our birth. On that day, for each of us, we are given a sacred, precious, beautiful body to move us through our life journey. It is amazing.

In our lifetime, our eyes will process more images than we can conceive, they look upon great beauty and will share our deepest soul secrets through even the most subtle of glances. They will be the doorways to amazing visions. Our ears will hear music, not only the kind we will dance to, but in the laughter of friends … and children. They will listen to the stories of those we love and they will share with great empathy in the hard times and will allow us to be there in support and friendship. Our mouths will taste great things – magical things. They will drink from the very fountain of life itself – water. Pure and simple and life giving. Our sense of smell will guide us toward amazing gifts of beauty, like flowers, and homemade bread, and the smell of our partner. Scent will also be a doorway to precious memories, long forgotten.

But it is touch that has guided MY life. It has been my gift of healing – to myself and to others. It has been the guiding force in my life – taking me from teacher to teacher, learning hidden and ancient arts – like Maya Abdominal Massage from a Mayan Shaman in Belize. In my native Brazil, I experienced touch modalities and herbs as a way of healing. My experiences with local "sages of the healing arts" gave me an intrinsic knowledge of the connection of all things. The frequent use of plants and herbs, praying and touch, awoke in me the desire to be of help to others and assist with the reawakening of our connection with all life.

I have learned from great institutions, like the Swedish Massage Institute, to share all of my soul through the healing art of touching another human being. We are born to this world in one sacred body, and every time we reach out to touch another person, or even more – when we are open and vulnerable and allow someone to touch us, we participate in that sacred connection.

I have been privileged and used my gifts to support men and women – but especially women. I have supported them through fertility issues and change of life, I have shared my sacred gift of Maya Abdominal Massage with those of us in menopause and those of us in recovery from illness. I have been graced to participate in healing both physically and spiritually. And today, the day that I celebrate my own sacred birth and sacred body, I am filled with gratitude for all of the bodies I have connected with through my journey.

May you spend this one day amazingly aware of YOUR precious body. May you “touch” those around you in meaningful ways. May you remember to allow others to connect with you spiritually – and physically. You are here to connect, and even through this article, I celebrate your connection with me.

Simone Burgos, LMT

Honor Your Sacred Body with Maya Abdominal Massage 

Simone Burgos is a Certified Arvigo Practitioner, bringing the wisdom of the ancient Mayan tradition to the West.

Perhaps you feel worn down from the heat outside and the stress at your work. Maybe you are stressed because you cannot get away right now (or at all) … but you can create a mini refreshing, playful rejuvenation ritual at home – right in your own bath.  Embrace the healing qualities of fresh herbs and flowers, like basil, rose and mint, and scatter them into your bath. The energy of pure water can rinse a lot of our burden away. Green herbs like mint and basil are things that are still alive and raw, therefore they invigorate your body. They allow you a peaceful, spiritual connection. In fact, they set the stage for a whole aura cleansing.

You will be surprised how refreshing taking a bath is in the summertime. The idea of taking a bath in the summer might sound strange, because it is warming, but that warmth can sooth your weariness – or you can use lukewarm water to cool your soul. You want to feel refreshed, after all! There are so many great ways to take a bath in the summer time.  Here’s one you might not know:  generously sprinkle peppermint leaves into your water (not the essence – the actual leaves).  This benefits your circulatory system…  great for tired legs! Embrace the freshness of the fragrant green leaves – of life.

Another great way to enjoy a fun, easy bath in summer is to use actual rose petals (instead of rose essence). Remember, essences are more warming. With this “recipe” of live rose petals, we are caring for our deeper selves. Your bath doesn’t have to be “just” sensual or only a relaxing event. You can make it fun and playful, like a day at the beach or out in nature. It’s great to take the time to be playful and fun at home as well.

If you simply don’t have time to strip down and lay in a luxurious tub, even sticking your feet in a bucket with luke-warm water and peppermint soap is a quick pick-me-up! Every thing that embraces refreshing water, refreshes life.

Simone Burgos, LMT
Massage
Maya Abdominal Massage and Mayan Wisdom Talks

Work with Simone through personal Mayan Wisdom Talks: “How amazing I feel after a fresh flower, life, leaves takes away all of the burden of the day, of the week. And cleanses my aura.”

Enjoy Maya Abdominal Massage, PreNatal massage and more with Simone!


Ever since an early age I was drawn to water. A beautiful abundant river ran on the back of our house and we daily splash on the water and people wash their clothes, women did dishes and so I lived in the semi-paradise small town where everything was so abundant and organic, no plastic bottles, no worries with tomorrow just freely leaving daily what life brought to us.

Later on in my life, while in high-school in the big city, I would reflect on this state of beauty and nature and tears would come out of my eyes, for the river I knew no longer existed and it was being polluted with a tire company and pesticides for farmers and cattle farming.

I have been thinking a lot about the amount of synthetic estrogen that has been thrown in our waters and consequently our bodies, and my question is how are we going to be able to maintain a balance in progesterone to be able to create, a fertile body --- will avoiding these chemicals, once infertility is diagnosed, make much difference? Who can say?

Let’s raise our consciousness to the fact that the cause is not only one problem, there are several. I have been meditating on clean water this week, and when I say clean I mean not plastic bottled water which contains bisphenol A or BPA’s which are suspected of causing breast and prostrate cancer, diabetes, hyperactivity and other serious disorders in laboratory animals.

If you want to avoid these chemicals in your plastic water bottles, look for and avoid the number 7, usually found within the recycle symbol. The "number 7" plastics contain BPA. This chemical mimics estrogen in the human body, scientists say.

An article in the British Telegraph newspaper, Infertility: Handle With Care, implies that these chemicals are the cause of a number of health problems, including infertility. While the article itself makes clear that the scientists are "suspicious" but can't prove its effect, the chart at the end of the article makes it seem like there's no doubt these chemicals are to blame to a number of heath problems, including infertility and miscarriage, in mice... mice -- not people. Genetically mice are actually very close to people, which is why researchers use them. Our intake of these chemicals is far below what the mice were purposely fed, in large quantities.
www.keepitorganic.org/category/packaging-concerns/bisphenol-a-bpa.

As a preventive matter lets keep our bodies and planet clean from so many pollutants. Eat live, pesticide-free food, grown with clean water.

With love,
Simone


World Water Day The international observance of World Water Day is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED).

“There is enough water for human need, but not for human greed.”
– Mahatama Ghandi