Natural medicine and healing in the Amazon

I have been suffering from an old injury.

A manta ray sting to my knee to be exact.

Together with my fybromyalgia it does not make life easy and living has been quite difficult.

Especially when I need to transit to one place to another.

Sometimes just standing makes me want to cry and scream.

Sometimes the pain is easier to take and I can actually walk around and do something.

Some of the plants that went into my steam bath water. There were various kinds of stinging nettles for instance.

For my work this is not the ideal condition because I need to visit schools in variety of locations.

And the roads aren't even close to optimal condition.

I also need to stand for hours when I do teacher trainings or other public speaking.

Which usually leaves me incapacitated for days.

A friend from work was kind enough to ask if I would like his father to do a natural medicine and healing session with me.

Churi yuyu, a plant with natural penicillin.

The family members are all evengelical Christians and native Kichwa indigenous people.

His father is very well known healer and has an extensive knowledge of old Amazonic medicine, and different plants and herbs.

Another friend, a Finnish missionary that is also a very good friend of the family, drove me and my son to their house.

As a precaution if I would not be able to drive back home after the treatment.

It was wonderful opportunity to first learn about the natural healing and the plants that grow around us.

Preparing the herbal infusion for the steam bath.

Like Domingo, the healer, said:There are plants that grow right next to us, but if we don't know about them we won't apreciate them either.

I was able to participate in the preparing of the medicine and then I was given the herbal steam bath, it really made me sweat everything out.

Meanwhile my son bathed in the river and had a really lovely afternoon of his own.

After the steam bath, I was told to wash myself with the water and not take a shower for few hours to let the herbs do their work.

The bath works as a natural intoxication and fluid removal method, and to start-up the metabolism and get it working.

The water that was left over after my bath. The steam bath really made me relax and felt amazingly good.

I was also given herbal medicine to drink,I must say that it is the worst tasting medicine I have ever had in my life.

Before I took my steam bath we prayed together.

All the time the family took us into their activities and shared their life with us with the hospitaly that Ecuadorians are famous of.

There is always time to be friendly and enjoy one another.