Today we’d like to introduce you to Danuza Aquino.
Danuza, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born in the southeast of Brazil and grew-up with a background of diverse social problems including severe poverty and violence. I became very impressed by the efforts of some leaders and organizations to help individuals, families and society as a whole restoring people’s health and creating motivation for new leaders to help the world. From a very young age, I became interested in politics and activism as a way to help advocate for change that could bring improvement to people’s lives. I was also fascinated by how to heal people and their environments using simple collaborative methods and building community. I was engaged in spiritual paths through various religious organizations and my own existential curiosity. I was very puzzled by the fact that I could also talk to the dead and heal people’s diseases with touch and prayer. I began to naturally combine my genuine ability to heal with the deep passion to bring more love and peace to the world. I began to see that people’s problems and health were directly connected to their social/ economic background and beliefs plus lifestyles. I studied the body, the mind and the spirit through various degrees and today combine everything in a holistic approach to improving health and bring healing to the world. I graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a master’s degree in Education (family therapy track), and I also hold a bachelor’s degree in Physical Education and a bachelor’s degree in Healing Science. In addition, I have experience with both non-profit groups and substance abuse and domestic violence related issues. I also worked at Saint Elizabeth’s’ as a multilingual advocate for over two years. I believe that it is only through persistent loving work and deep self-awareness that we can begin to change the state of the mental health of individuals and improve their day-to-day functions and behaviors as well as our own. Having been a witness to many crisis, injustice and dysfunction in my own life, I am quite familiar with the distress involved and the amount of patience and collaboration it takes to revert the situation and return that individual/family or community to a more healthy and stable situation.
For the past twenty-three years I have been living in the USA and working in many jobs until I could fully dedicate my career as a holistic medicine practitioner and family therapy clinician. I founded this organization called Star of Life Healing Center in 2000 in order to help bring together like-minded professionals and volunteers to help heal and restore love to as many situations and relationships, including the relationship to self and our planet. In the beginning, the organization was also involved in a lot of training of new leaders and distribution of aid for underserved communities at risk for unemployment, homelessness and mental distresses. After several financial crisis, I had to cut some programs and add more volunteer time. The pioneer work in Jaboticatubas, Minas Gerais Brazil for the past 17 years aiding emergency situations, managing crisis, building community and training leaders has helped restore hope for many individuals and families in that region. Today I live in Somerville with my two children and my husband and I dream of a world with no borders, fences or walls and people loving and smiling throughout a healthy planet!
Has it been a smooth road?
Many challenges in my life: starting from severe poverty and social injustice plus violence all around me to political corruption and family losses including my own father having a profound car accident that almost lead to his death at the year I was born. After that, several years of family crisis with my father sick and mother raising 6 children. Then maintaining sanity through school and sports plus my political activism and spiritual quest. Then a disturbing young adult life with exposure to all kinds of trouble and financial crisis. Then the challenge of moving to another country to seek a better life and leave my family, friends and culture behind. Later, the healing center had several challenges from moving physical spaces to having financial crisis to being almost closed a few times. The biggest struggle is to help people understand who we all truly are as human beings together in this small planet and that our mission is simple, selfless and honorable- to love!
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Star of Life Healing Center – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
The healing center is like a mother- it does everything from helping someone choose healthier products to their home, to having better communication to their children and decrease violence and addictions to improving spiritual awareness and doing activism for humanitarian causes. But here are some of our past accomplishments asides from individual/couples and family holistic therapy:
-group meditation- mindfulness and guided-imagery
-providing relief /aid to emergencies around the world (Spain, Brazil, Sri lanka, USA and Mexico)
– providing life skills and community entrepreneur leadership training and incentives
– providing relief for the poor and disenfranchised and connecting them to resources
-providing alternative treatments for mental and physical health
-providing inspirational/motivational lectures and consulting for positive change in lifestyle and political activism
– shamanic and other spiritual journeys and workshops
-providing holistic treatments: hands on healing; Reiki; Channeling; Nutrition consulting; financial consulting and life coaching; Breathing therapy; music therapy; Craniumsacrum; Therapeutic massage; Reflexology; Rebirth and Regression; Tarot Reading and spiritual/ intuitive reading
I personally do most treatments except for tarot readings and rebirth sessions. I have other therapists/healers that help. I also do some trainings and community activism in partnership with organizations such as Brazilian women’s group, BU and ACS group.
I am known for my ability to heal/love people and incredible compassion to the suffering in life! I am also known among friends and family as a fighter for justice and equality!
I am proud of our mission and the fact that I can rise after a terrible fall and start again! I never give-up! What sets me apart from others is the absolute certainty that we are all uniquely gifted individuals with our missions and unique set of talents to share in this world- and at the same time we are exactly the same and have no need to “set ourselves apart” because success and accomplishments are tricks of the ego and not a natural flow from the heart! When your heart and spirit are in tune with what you love to do, everything is a natural genuine success!
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I like that we have more progressives than people who are comfortable with the current status quo of growing inequality in the world! In other words, there are more people willing to have equality and justice for all here in Cambridge/ Somerville and in Massachusetts in general.
I do not like that our medical /mental health system is very focused on profit and lifesaving/crisis interventions instead of prevention and inspiring well-being.
Pricing:
- Private therapy sessions $100 one hour
- Private home healing sessions $500 2-4hrs
- Group session and workshops- usually donation basis
- Consulting and Coach or spiritual readings $250 1-2 hrs
Contact Info:
- Address: Danuza Aquino; Book “Tired of being a nobody” by Danuza Aquino available at www.lulu.com
- Website: www.danuza.org; www.staroflifehealingcenter.org
- Phone: 6178181102
- Email: Danuza@hotmail.com
- Facebook: Danuza Aquino
Image Credit:
Cover for the book “Tired of being a Nobody” image by Carl-Fredrik Westin and Luciane Simonds
