Nature: the richest luxury I´ve ever met

 

This weekend I had the opportunity to have one of the most luxurious experiences in my life: I attended a sweat lodge. Ok, the name may seem strange, but it is one of the most important rituals of shamanism, in which “we return to the psychologicalwomb”. After a meditation meeting and guidance of the shaman, the group of about 15 people went to a dark environment, properly and fairly warm due to the increasing number of hot stones which are continuosly placed inside the tent. Some even come incandescent, due to time they become immersed in a sacred fire.

Before the ceremony many people had talked to me about the symbolism of rebirth that this experience gives. I´ll expose here what I felt: it was a Saturday, there were still two days to celebrate my 30th birthday, and all I wanted at that moment was really let back and old Andre and enjoy the new age to bring out all I wanted mentally and spiritually in the new decade. I am a very rational guy, but the confinement environment and the heat generated a certain state of delirium, putting the thought to rest. One participant even threatened to give up, as the shaman asked her if her suffering was a wishful thinking, and she sought cure in that experience. She returned.
Everything contributed to this stage of sublimation in that day. The wheather was simply fantastic, with a sun that adorned the cloudless sky. The ceremony took place at the home of a lady named Teresa, in the neighborhood of Alto da Boa Vista. Simple and chic elegance marked the house, full of outdoor and window panes that called for the nature around to enter the house. After the sweat lodge, the group properly “born again” went bathing in a natural water pool, where we could even drink water at source. Wow, how long I didn´t do that … At the end, we have an indigenous ceremony with dances and shamanic rituals typical of a tribe of northeastern Brazil. And for those who thought the day was over, a delicious dinner was waiting for us. How we haven´t eaten since 10 am, the hunger was immense, and to sit with those people, eating delicious food and wathing the moonlight coming into the house, I realized which kind of life I was drawing for my new age.

Bottom line: The experience was unforgettable in large part by the mystical thing of coming into a dark tent and being exposed to heat nearly 60 degrees for two-three hours. The apparent suffering was much smaller than the feeling of taking care of you, in an environment with delicious smells coming from the herbs thrown on the hot stones, the heavenly environment where nature and architecture divinely talked, the words placed by the shaman, trade welcome the participants of the tent, and at the end, this festival of flavors. I do recommend it for people who wants to know Rio and indigenous culture in a memorable way. For those who want to know more about this experience, here it goes some contacts:
• Lino Py (Shaman driver’s Tent) – Contact: Fernanda Vilela 9515-8755 / fernandavilel@hotmail.com
• Jacira Monteiro (Therapist Shaman) – jacira9@yahoo.com.br
• Jorge Itapuã (Capoeira leader that was participating in the ceremony) – http://www.jorgeitapuabeiramar.com; http://www.abeiramar.com; www.jorgeitapuabeiramar.blogspot.com

• Sweat Lodge (Wikipedia concept) –http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweat_lodge

How this blog functions

After introducing my proposal and some concepts of which luxury I´m taking into consideration, I want you to know the dynamics of this blog. It will be like a diary. A luxuRIOus diary, where me, André, a carioca, will search memorable experiences to share with a special public. A public that can be foreigners searching tips from a insider point of view, or even other cariocas that want to know better their own city.

To start with the “right foot” I decided to show you my experience in the most commented luxury hotel in Rio: the Fasano. Just to remark, remember my luxury concept involve something that is special, rare and that generates a good feel, a touch in your soul.

        

My experience in Fasano has started well, as I was invited from a friend that is hosted in Fasano to spend an afternoon with him. Good company and a promise of good hospitality. Remember Madonna, Beyonce and Alicia Keys have choosed to stay there recently. While Copacabana Palace represents the old luxury, Fasano occupies alone the spot of modern luxurious hospitality in Rio . In the entrance I found a very efficient procedure to take me inside the hotel, and as soon the elevator open its doors in the last floor, I immediatly received a blow of the fresh wind that gave that afternoon a very good weather.

      

I hugged my friend and I couldn´t hide my happiness for being with him in that place that seemed so far something for very very selected people. And it is, at least in terms of price. To be hosted there you will need to pay R$ 900 for the cheapest room, plus taxes, food, drinks and so on. It´s not a cheap luxury. But it was time to have fun: gossiping, drinking prosecco, listening Bossa Nova, talking English (I love practicing), getting suntanned, diving in the most beautiful modern swimming pool I´ve seen. By the way, all the architecture (main areas, rooms, roof) was designed by Philip Starck, onde of the top designers in the world.

              

I liked to see that he choosed to use materials connected with Brazil culture and environment, as woods, Sergio Rezende furniture and so on. The chic aspect was done by the surrealistic mirrors that decorates all the spaces, and very clean design, what avoids stealing attention from the best: the Ipanema beach view.

After all, I´ve experimented the sauna and the gym, everything so clean, neat, and efficiente. By the way, efficiency seems the quality of this hotel. Many cariocas complain Fasano has a “paulistano” style, from the people that lives in Sao Paulo (the biggest city in Brazil). I do agree, but without criticism. For me its a real compliment, because Rio´s service is still one of our biggest problems in restaurants, stores and other face to face services. The clue: training! “Paulistanos” spend much more time studying, learning and applying international practices.

                       

Bottom line:

In my opinion, Fasano´s luxury was connected to this sense of efficiency. Sometimes I choosed being over demanding, asking the staff if they had moisturizer and extra towels. And I was immediatly attended, with a true smile in the face. Well, I do want to see more Fasano examples in my next luxuRIOus experiences. See u soon!

What luxury are we talking about?

                             

In order to help people (and even myself) to understand this blog and make it an useful media, I decided to write a glossary. Here I bring some very common terms used in the luxury industry, aligning them with the blog essence. To help the understanding I attach some pictures that translate my ideas. Be free to suggest new (and necessary) concepts for this sustainable luxury. Here we go…

 

The true luxury

 

                          

First of all, I want to present the concept of luxury I´ll use to disclose Rio de Janeiro to the world in this blog. Luxury is everything done respecting our feelings, our truth. The simpler, the more luxurious you can be, cause you show who you really are, your soul: the richer aspect of your existence. So the “luxuRIOus” I´ll show here is the Rio´s history, and its people, feelings, tastes, sounds, smells and images. Many people make confusion with the concepts Luxury and Lust, specially in Portuguese language. You can even find lust, brands and celebrities here. But be sure that when I mention them, its due to the Rio´s soul.

Now I´ll present me. My name is André Dametto, I´m a carioca (how we call people who are born in Rio), I lead an executive development company (www.andredametto.com.br)  where I work as a teacher, management consultant and coach. I love traveling and taking pictures (www.flickr.com/olharesnovos). Analysing my own life experiences I realized that I´m always seeking this true luxury experiences in my life, based in this concept I´ve presented above.

Searching for the concept of Rio´s luxury in the web, I just found links related to real state and prostitution, what makes me realize that we have a big opportunity to develop this new LuxuRIOus brand.

Here I´ll use the English (and coloquial) language, cause my objective its to “talk” with people all over the world. I emphasize: what I value here is the real luxury, then everybody that connects with this aspiration is invited to read and send me the most luxuRIOus experiences.

Be sure you and me will learn, create and have fun here, this is Rio´s soul!

André Dametto