Embracing ancient wisdom: How three women are reviving traditional Asian healing practices

The idea for Uma Oils came from Holecek’s desire to bridge the gap between the purity of Ayurvedic traditions and the modern beauty industry. Oils are fundamental in Ayurveda—apart from balancing the doshas, Ayurvedic oils are used to help to calm the mind, nourish the deep tissues of the skin and maintain energy in the body. Holecek’s family had long supplied essential oils to luxury beauty brands, but she noticed these oils were often “stripped of their original purpose and wisdom”. 

She adds, “Uma was born out of a mission to honour and preserve that Ayurvedic heritage—my way of sharing the treasures of our family’s estate: centuries-old recipes, hand-harvested ingredients and the rituals that celebrate beauty as a holistic experience.”

Also part of her mission is to show that Ayurvedic rituals don’t have to be time-consuming or expensive.

“Many Ayurvedic practices, like yoga, breathwork and incorporating turmeric or ghee into one’s diet, are already mainstream—even if people don’t always realise they’re rooted in Ayurveda. As science continues to validate Ayurveda’s principles, and as individuals experience its tangible, lasting benefits, trust in its efficacy grows,” says Holecek. “Ayurveda also nurtures emotional resilience. Practices like meditation, journalling or even an evening ritual of massaging oil into the feet remind us to pause, reflect and care for ourselves. These small but significant acts make us feel connected to ourselves and the world around us, which is the ultimate form of empowerment. Ayurveda’s revival also speaks to our collective longing for self-connection. By inviting us to tune into our bodies and minds, Ayurveda empowers us to heal ourselves—turning a 5,000-year-old science into a solution for modern life.” 

Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner

Ten years ago, when Zoey Gong moved to New York from Shanghai, she began to develop an array of health problems— weight gain, skin rashes, joint pain, and most serious of all, a hard lump in her breast, diagnosed as a benign tumour, which was quickly removed by surgery. “In retrospect, all these health problems started because of the American diet, which is full of processed foods, refined sugar, additives and dairy. My condition got a lot better after I changed the way I ate. It was like magic,” says Gong, who changed her diet to follow the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). “TCM follows nature, and modern lifestyles really distance us from nature. You could say that, in some way, we are losing our natural instinct around food—yet our bodies are still designed to digest and utilise things from nature.”

Since then, she has built quite a name for herself in the wellness space for sharing and preserving the knowledge of TCM through educational content—she has more than 150,000 followers on Instagram—which includes easy-to-follow recipes and easy-to-understand breakdowns of TCM philosophies. In 2023, she launched her first book, The Five Elements Cookbook, and in 2024, she moved back to Shanghai, where she continues to deepen her connection with TCM.

“In China, there’s so much opportunity to learn about TCM, even for a practitioner,” she says. “The knowledge is endless and I love it. I’m constantly in awe of the wisdom of my ancestors and how much Chinese culture has influenced others around the world.”

Inspired and excited by this, Gong has begun hosting tours in Shanghai, showcasing the vibrant city to travellers by combining TCM experiences with other cultural sites. “As well as visiting temples and traditional Chinese gardens, I take people to receive TCM treatments like ginger moxa, meridian massages, and facial acupuncture,” she says. “I want my guests to be inspired by TCM when they are here. I want them to see how TCM is incorporated in our daily lives and what options they may have back home to continue using TCM.”

Recently, she’s been passionate about educating her followers about a TCM approach to women’s health. “Modern gynaecology in western medicine didn’t really start until the 1900s. However, in TCM, women’s health and reproductive health have been an important topic for thousands of years,” says Gong, adding that TCM treatments and practices for women range from medicinal meals and teas that support the menstrual cycle to the Chinese postpartum practice of zuo yue zi, which translates to “sitting the month”.

This practice can be traced as far back as the year 960, and involves the new mother spending a month at home while a pui yuet, or live-in confinement nanny, assists her in following routines designed to heal her mind and body after childbirth. This includes everything from breastfeeding guidance to preparing meals that follow a TCM-led diet to support the different stages of healing.

“TCM has always connected physical, mental and emotional health,” says Gong. “TCM offers what western medicine can’t—a holistic, sustainable, natural way of feeling better and becoming happier. When TCM modalities are used, the goal is to treat root imbalances. So, for example, if you are struggling with a digestive issue, the doctor may find that part of the cause is your thoughts and overthinking— governed by your spleen—and offer solutions that help with both. TCM nowadays doesn’t involve spirituality as much as in ancient times—but I believe that if you are a spiritual person, when your body and mind are free of illnesses, your spirituality will flourish.”

Medical Chief, The Farm at San Benito

The Farm at San Benito, a wellness retreat on the outskirts of Manila, is built on land that is said to be spiritually charged. Its 300-year-old mango tree, where the beloved resident peacocks roam, is one of many areas at The Farm where two energy lines are said to meet—creating an energy vortex, which is believed to bring positive energy and good health.

“When the energy—the vibration—of a place is higher, manifestation and healing can happen faster,” says Marian Alonzo, who has been medical chief at The Farm since 2002.

At The Farm, medical practices are paired with holistic healing methods—from physiotherapy to acupuncture and reiki, hormone balancing to psycho-emotional healing. But what really sets it apart is the deeply spiritual approach to health and well-being led by Alonzo and her team.

“Filipino healing tradition is anchored in spirituality, [believing] that within each human being is a drop of divinity which can co-create another, grander, healthier reality; that behind the physical world are spiritual beings,” says Alonzo. “But, like two sides of a coin, man can also create disease entities through anger, fear, jealousy etc, which can later negatively impact the physical body. When there is an imbalance or contamination of the pristine quality of nature [and the] elemental world, the elemental beings take on the burden—of pollution, effluvia of negativity and such. If the burden is too much, it can manifest as calamities or diseases.”

As a child, Alonzo was diagnosed with a serious heart condition that meant growing up with a deformed chest, difficulty breathing and regular visits to the hospital. A turning point was when Alonzo—exhausted from endless medical treatments—heard her mother tell the doctors that she would decide for herself what she wanted to do from now on. “When my mum stood up for what I wanted, for my autonomy, there was a surge of vitality in me,” she recalls. “That’s when I became open to natural medicine, and I learnt the value of contrast between ‘bodily unfreedom’ and the freeing quality of the mind.”

Despite her challenges, she graduated top of her class and qualified for Intarmed—a pre-medicine course at the University of the Philippines for which only the highest-scoring candidates are chosen.

At The Farm, Alonzo and her team believe that diseases are “messengers”—and if they decode the message, the messenger can either leave or offer insight into the person’s experience at this point in his or her life, and outline the necessary steps to usher them back to healing and recovery.

“The Farm diagnoses on a physical, energetic and psycho-emotional level, with the idea of bringing the person back into alignment to his or her spiritual essence,” says Alonzo, who believes in a more esoteric approach, or “seeing”,

to go beyond medical data and metrics. “We have many people who come to us who’ve known there was something wrong with them, something ‘off ’, but their tests from conventional doctors keep coming back ‘normal’,” she says. “But sometimes it’s not just the physical. I’m a doctor, yes, but even before I became a doctor, I had a sense for what can be described as ‘subtle bodies’.”

Whatever your beliefs, Alonzo says that miracles can happen—and that science is steadily proving that.

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