Wellness resort’s holistic health doctor draws from natural medicine and alternative medicine that helped her heal
- Doctor Marian Alonzo was sick and constantly in and out of hospital as a child; she recalls what was the ‘turning point in my health’ – and it was not surgery
- Alonzo, who designs the holistic treatments at a medical wellness resort in the Philippines, has brought her knowledge to Hong Kong in a week-long residency
As one of six children growing up in the Philippines, Marian Alonzo struggled with ill- health and had low vitality.
“I was always in bed and didn’t have any energy to play – even going to the restroom was an effort,” says Alonzo via Zoom from the Philippines.
“My nanny would carry me because I couldn’t walk, not because I had leg problems but because I had shut down. I didn’t even have the energy to open my eyes, even when awake,” she says.
Her parents looked for natural remedies at a very early stage.
“The turning point in my health ordeal was when I was nine years old and was supposed to have surgery, but at the time I was very tired. I told my mum no more, I just want to rest,” she recalls.
“I overheard a conversation between my mum and the doctor … there was concern and love from my mum, who said, ‘It’s her body’ and the doctor’s reply was, ‘How can you let a nine-year-old decide on something so important?’
“My mum answered firmly but respectfully: ‘It’s her body, that’s why she gets to decide.’”
Those words, she recalls, were like magic.
“I had a surge of vitality but didn’t know where it came from,” she says. “My mum standing up for what I wanted was very significant.”
Also significant was The Power of Alpha-Thinking: Miracle of the Mind, a book by Jess Stearn that her mother had read. “At nine years old I also read that book; it basically talked about not focusing on the problem, but daydreaming your future into reality,” she says.
“I was always in bed without energy and my body felt like it was not free, but my mind could free me, so I applied the techniques from the book.
“I would imagine waterfalls and wearing white coats – I did not know that I’d become a doctor – and working in paradise giving hope to people … that gave me more vitality, so that’s how the journey started.”
Nutrition and exercise are key elements of these programmes.
From May 17 to 23, The Farm at San Benito will have a week-long residency at The Upper House hotel in Admiralty, Hong Kong.
Staff will introduce its personalised treatments and holistic therapies, give talks and run workshops on juicing and preparing living foods – kept as close to their original form as possible to retain maximum nutrients and active ingredients.
Alonzo – who co-authored Raw!, a raw-food recipe book, and Cleanse!, a guide to the holistic healing of body and mind – will lead talks on applying integrative medicine to women’s health, and healthy ageing.
The Farm at San Benito x Upper House Wellness residency, May 17-23, The Upper House, Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Admiralty, tel 3968 1000
