A journey to wellness
Everyone in the know is talking about a popular television personality’s different look with her tautly contoured face. I’ve spoken with celebrities whose once sagging jaws have become nicely shaped, and their skin radiantly smooth and wrinkle-free.
Their secret is their having undergone aging and longevity programs at The Zen Institute Medical Spa.
Since it opened its doors in 2005, Zen Institute has been offering non-invasive, nonsurgical face contouring, body sculpting, and skin rejuvenation.
As it celebrates its 13th year, it is recognized as one of the top 10 best medical spas by Asia Spa. It has branches in Quezon City, Bonifacio Global City, Batangas City, Binondo, Manila and Sofitel Hotel in Pasay City.
Looking 30-ish at 50, Dr. Mary Jane Torres, comely owner and medical director of The Zen Institute told a group of media practitioners that beyond good physical looks, “a beautiful person is one who exudes inner peace, a positive outlook and lives a healthy love-filled life.”
Dr. MJ recently launched the MJ Ultimate Wellness Program whose aim is to restore the quality of health, focused through the client’s mental, emotional, and physical aspects in order to achieve “ultimate wellness for a better and more positive life.”
Each program, she said, is tailor-fitted for each patient, consisting of four main categories – detoxification, weight management, hormone balancing, and regenerative cell therapy.
Dr. MJ graduated from the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, had her postgraduate internship at St. Luke’s Hospital and underwent training with the country’s leading dermatologists and surgeons. She trains Asian doctors in Thailand and Bali, Indonesia. She completed her Botox training in Istanbul, Turkey, and Lipotherapy in Athens, Greece. She is also a member of the American Academy of Anti-aging Medicine. This is where she learned the practice of Integrative Medicine combined with aesthetic treatment.
She is a member of the International Society of Mesotherapy, the French Society of Mesotherapy, and the Italian Society of Aesthetic Medicine and Surgery. She pioneered in the body sculpting technology called Resonax in the Philippines and Platelet-rich Plasma (PRP).
Zen Institute’s treatments include stem cell therapy, which she said is the “absolute best evidence-based preventive measure against cancer.” An added bonus is having wrinkle-free skin.
MJ ‘s wellness journey begins with skin care for babies, then preventive treatments for ages 20 to 39 and anti-aging for 40 and above. As one-stop centers, Zen Institute’s branches carry products for skin rejuvenation, acne, and skin whitening.
A group of media practitioners went on a tour of sweet-smelling rooms for consultation, massage therapy and nonsurgical aesthetic treatment at Sofitel Hotel. In one corner stood the colon hydrotherapy machine for detoxification, the first in the country. A fitness gym and stem cell lab are found at the Morato, Quezon City branch.
If you see us media girls looking younger, that would be because we treated ourselves to face and body contouring at Zen Institute’s spas.
* * * Fund-raising projects for Marawi victims continue, thanks to the generous spirit of concerned citizens. For one, the University of the Philippines Alumni Association (UPAA), in cooperation with the Sigma Rho Fraternity and the Office of the UP president, will present “MARAWIT: a concert for Marawi” at the UP Film Center Cine Adarna on Feb. 27. Performers in a program of music for solo, double and triple choirs, will be the combined choral forces of the UP Madrigal Singers, the UP Concert Chorus and UP Singing Ambassadors. Call the UP Alumni Association office for ticket inquiries.
* * * Also, on the UP campus, the office of the university president, in cooperation with the Cultural Center of the Philippines, will present on March 23 “Simulain at Pangarap,” a musicale celebrating the 106th year of the first UP commencement exercise. To regale music lovers with its performance is the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra. Maestro Herminigildo Ranera will be the conductor. Venue will be the UP Quezon Hall amphitheater. Prof. Ramon Acoymo will be the emcee/annotator. The event is open to the public.
* * * A few words about Dr. Ramon Acoymo. He has bachelor degrees in biology (cum laude), and voice (magna cum laude), and a master of music in voice plus a Ph.D in the history and philosophy of education.
He is an ALIW Hall of Fame awardee for Best Male Classical singer; first-prize winner in the United States National Association of Singing Teachers Voice Competition, and a UP Chancellor’s Awardee for Most Outstanding Classical Musician.
He is also the Outstanding Alumnus Awardee for Achievement and Service in Music and Music Education given by De La Salle University, the UPAA, and Phi Kappa Phi International Honor Society.
* * * According to True News reports, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte advised returning overseas migrant workers, mostly women, not to use condoms as they “are not pleasurable.” Instead, he recommended “free” contraceptive pills and illustrated his point by putting a wrapped piece of candy in his mouth. “Here, try eating it without unwrapping it,” he told them. “Eat it. That’s what a condom is like.”
Responding to the president’s flowery message, Juan Antonio A. Perez III, Commission on Population executive director, issued a statement reiterating the efficacy and practicality of the condom’s proper use as a modern Family Planning (FP) method.
“On a technical note, condoms are the preferred method for prevention of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs). When used properly, condoms are the best way to prevent HIV. In family planning, condoms are a temporary method and unlikely to be used as a long term FP method,” he said.
On another occasion, Health Assistant Secretary and Director of the National Epidemiology Center Dr. Enrique Tayag said that “risky behaviors contributing to the rise of HIV/AIDS include not using condom.”
The HIV/AIDS & ART Registry of the Philippines noted that about 59 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were reported in March 2017, comprising six percent of the total newly diagnosed cases of HIV, 86 percent or 51 of which were male. It was through sexual contact that they were infected (18 male-female sex, 25 male-male sex, and 16 sex with both males and females). The ages of male OFWs ranged from 21 to 52 years and 53 percent of those belonged to the 25-34 age group.Among the female OFWs, the ages were between 2450 years old, while among the female OFWs diagnosed in March 2017, 50 percent belonged to the 25-34 age group.