A CONVERSATION WITH LUA PHILIPA
Your morning routine?
I don’t have the same morning routine each morning, but I have some small rituals I try to put into all my mornings. One of them is that I always start my day with a large glass of water with lemon (I use half boiled water and half cold, so it gets lukewarm). I drink this as the first thing before breakfast and coffee. It is good for the digestion and gives me a boost of C vitamins to start the day. I also meditate most mornings. I really feel how good it is for me and how it calms me when I start my day sitting silently for myself and turning the awareness inward. It leaves me with a bigger feeling of peace and wellbeing in myself, and I feel much more ready for the day.
Also, I always eat a proper breakfast and enjoy a good cup of coffee. I really love breakfast and see it as a self-loving act to make something out of it.
What does a typical work day look like?
Right now, there are some bigger changes in my life which causes that my days currently are different than normally. I just moved from Aarhus, where I am from, to Copenhagen. Therefore, I recently left my part time job and right now I am in the process of finding a new one.
My education at Manuvision is part time and as a part of that I am slowly building my work as a body therapist and have a few clients a week. In the coming period my focus is to settle here in Copenhagen and in my new home and to find a balance between education, clients, and a job.
When do you feel most challenged?
I feel really challenged in the process of studying at Manuvision. It is not only an education, but also very deep personal and inner work. As a student at Manuvision you are often confronted with your own limitations, blockages, old beliefs, and patterns. You must let go of what is holding you back and move through and out of your own comfort zone to develop. At the education we try everything we are taught on ourselves and learn through our own bodies. This is what I really love about the education, but it is also what makes it really challenging. We must know ourselves well to be able to hold a safe space for our clients and relate to what they can experience during a treatment.
I also feel really challenged being in a relationship, but it is in a really good way. I don’t have much experience from earlier with being in a relationship and I am quite comfortable in being myself. Being with another person I must communicate my feelings and thoughts much more and I experience how I cannot hide myself from my boyfriend. Often, I feel like he can see right through me which can be super challenging, but it is really good for me. It helps me to let go of control and fear and gives me a feeling of growing on so many levels.
Your profession?
I’m currently studying body therapy at Manuvision and I am almost halfway through the education now. In December 2023 I will (hopefully) become a body therapist and I wish for this to be my profession.
One product you cannot live without ?
A good quality oil. To nourish my body both on the inside and outside.
Your favorite biyō product?
I have fallen completely in love with all the products for the face (gel wash, active oil blend serum, face cream) which I use daily right now. I really feel how they complement each other and nourishes my skin.
Tell us about body Manuvision?
Manuvision is a body therapy technique based on holistic principals. We see and treat the whole person; the mental, physical, and emotional state all affects a person’s health, and they mutually affect each other. In body therapy we focus on this connection between body, mind, and emotions and through treatments we seek for our clients to experience a bigger awareness and feeling of the connection between those three elements in themselves – a deeper feeling of profound wholeness. Some of the techniques we use to relax the body include massage, pressure points, stretching, reflexology, and joint release. We seek to connect to and calm the nervous system and to expand the breath, allowing the body to flow more deeply and freely. Manuvision treatment is effective in overcoming injuries, pain, discomfort, and tensions in the body. But also helping you overcome traumas, stress, anxiety, and depression. Basically, Manuvison body therapy is about releasing and allowing to let go. It is about creating space and opening up to something new. It is about connecting to and meeting your inner self. It is quite difficult to explain concretely because it is more a feeling rather than something I can explain through words – a feeling I wish for you to experience yourself.
What turning points have helped you define who you are today?
That is a big question and I feel that there are several answers to it. But one thing that have had a big influence on me is that I had an eating disorder from I was a teenager until my early twenties. I have felt very insecure about myself for most of my youth and it has been a long process to get well and let go of my eating disorder. But this process has also taught me a lot about myself. It has led me into personal development, spirituality, holistic thinking, and my choice of education with a desire to understand my inner world and get to know myself on a deeper level.
When do you feel most challenged?
I also feel really challenged being in a relationship, but it is in a really good way. I don’t have much experience from earlier with being in a relationship and I am quite comfortable in being myself. Being with another person I must communicate my feelings and thoughts much more and I experience how I cannot hide myself from my boyfriend. Often, I feel like he can see right through me which can be super challenging, but it is really good for me. It helps me to let go of control and fear and gives me a feeling of growing on so many levels.