Elaine Kahn, health and wellness coach
Disturbed by dreams of being trapped in a burning car, corporate vice president Tessa (not her real name) finds relief only when executive coach Elaine Coliangco Kahn of Integra Wellness Center guides her to realize that this is why she endlessly goes from one project to another, at the cost of her health.
“I keep on trying different ways to escape,” Tessa says. Elaine helps her understand that she is in fact already content with who she is, that there is nothing to flee from. The dreams stop, and Tessa regains balance in work and in life.
Beset by crying spells for no apparent reason, entrepreneur Diego undergoes a regression session with Elaine, and childhood memories of parental battles flood in. Reframing these enables Diego to know that as a little boy he was not the cause of their unhappiness, and now as an adult, he can release himself from guilt and finally take charge of his life.
These heart wounds are basic needs which were unfulfilled in childhood. Elaine says, “I center my healing on heart wounds. Most of my clients are seasoned executives, in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and above. For example, workaholics may feel not worthy deep inside, [compulsive] helpers may feel not accepted, and so on.”
“Most humans lead lives of quiet desperation,” Henry David Thoreau famously said. In various ways, all of us need healing, insight and care, which Elaine abundantly provides.
I have known Elaine since elementary school, where her intelligence and pluck enabled her to perform very well. She majored in chemical engineering, but through the decades, having experienced her share of health scares—a gynecological procedure gone awry, her infant son (now happily in college) enduring a traumatic accident, a parent dying of a dreaded disease—Elaine decided to delve into health and wellbeing for herself and her loved ones. Even as she managed supply chains for a Silicon Valley corporation for two decades, she honed her coaching and mentoring skills, which she now uses at Integra, a calming and healing sanctuary in Poblacion, Makati.
What sets Integra apart from other wellness centers is a genuinely holistic approach, integrating mental, physical and spiritual aspects. Elaine helms the mental and emotional programs, and while she is also well-versed in the other modalities, she works with global and local experts for body scans, organ cleanses, hormone and DNA testing, body wraps, lymphatic drainage, and an impressive array of Ayurveda treatments.
Years ago, Elaine was so gratified by the healing she received under a renowned Ayurveda practitioner in the US that she decided to incorporate this into the center. I am pleased to note that the same holds true with the other therapies in Integra—Elaine herself experienced the benefits, as did family and friends, so she offers them today to those in need of such.
Deeply spiritual, Elaine credits the Lord for healing her from a health crisis, and directs clients for counseling with the Carmelite nuns, among others. On a retreat in California, she was spellbound when the Jesuit priest Fr. Gregory Boyle, who runs a gang-intervention program in the state, told the story of his dying mother, who opened her eyes and told him in delight, “You are here!”
“Imagine God telling you, ‘You’re here!’ What if God is even more delighted to see you?” Elaine recalls Fr. Greg saying. This message of unconditional love resonated with her because a couple of days before she passed, Elaine’s mother had gripped her daughter’s arm and spoken to her fervently, too. Elaine found so much consolation in Fr. Greg that she invited him to give a talk in Manila. Fr. Greg chronicled his work with the young people whom society often shuns in several books, which I will review in depth next month. INQ
Contact Integra Wellness Center at 8353-4188, 0917-173-2886, 0927-778-0806, or info@integrawellbeing.com. Go to integrawellnesscenter.com.ph.
Queena N. Lee-Chua is on the Board of Directors of Ateneo’s Family Business Center. Get her print book “All in the Family Business” at Lazada or Shopee, or e-book at Amazon, Google Play, Apple iBooks. Contact the author at blessbook.chua@gmail.com.
