They are lovely to look at, delightful to smell, and serve as expressions of love, friendship, and sympathy. But for Hollywood Riviera resident Mariana Ito and her many clients, flowers are also essential aides for holistic wellbeing. Mariana was introduced to flower essences as a young woman in her native country of Chile, where essences are easily found in corner pharmacies and in many homes. Mariana found that flower essences helped her maintain an emotional balance with a clear perspective on life.
Flower therapy is based on the works of Dr. Edward Bach of London, a pathologist and bacteriologist who in the 1930s noted that a patient’s mental health and attitude towards life were linked to their symptoms. He concluded that to get the root cause of a patient’s illness, they needed to be viewed holistically, including the physical, mental and spiritual. Dr Bach believed that the energies from certain flowers could aide with holistic healing.
In the hopes of bringing balance and peace into the lives of her friends and family, Mariana founded Flower Power Essences 23 years ago. It began as a small, independent business in Torrance and has now grown into the wellness center, Somos Life, which Mariana opened in 2018. Located in the shopping center on the south-east corner of Anza and Pacific Coast Highway, Somos Life offers flower essences as well as a variety of alternative and holistic therapies to heal the whole person.
“Somos Life is a place where people can learn the science of self-healing,” said Mariana, who moved to the Hollywood Riviera with her husband, Rex, 25 years ago and raised 4 children here.
“We are committed to helping the individual, neighborhood, and global community grow collectively to a higher state of health and consciousness.”
In addition to being a certified practitioner in flower essence therapies, Mariana is a certified Pair Biomagnetic therapist, a practice which uses electromagnetic fields with the goal of balancing one’s pH to relieve chronic pain, both physical and physiological. Together with flower essences, Mariana uses the combined application of these two therapies to provide results. Somos Life also offers reflexology, Korean Yoga, Restorative Zen and Spanish Iyengar classes, as well as Ayurvedic consultations.
To learn more about Somos Life, visit them at 24038 Vista Montana, Torrance or call 424-262-2192 and visit www.somoslife.com.
And don’t forget to enter this month’s raffle for a $25 Somos Life gift certificate.