“It’s a science,” biogeometrist Alberto Amura explains of his integrated healing practice. “There’s no magic in this; it’s the way physics works.” The Argentina-born Amura has a diverse background, including a professorship in natural sciences, as well as studies in industrial chemistry, psychology in education, fine arts, and metaphysics. He moved to Taos, New Mexico from Los Angeles in 1999 to work with Dharma Living Systems as an interim director of the Yaxche Learning Center they were building. While there, he trained with the local shamans and healers because, though there are many “physical things we can do to help the planet,” he says, “there are so many things we don’t see and cannot measure.”
So he started studying biogeometry, the science of space energy balancing, and practicing radiesthesia, the idea that electromagnetic frequencies can be perceived and altered with objects that promote positive energies, hoping to devote his career to balancing out disruptive energies in spaces. Amura divides his process into three phases. First, he analyzes “the energies of the space inside.” Then, he works with the designer to pick materials and colors that flow with the energy of the space. Finally, he visits the nearly finished property and places a feng shui cure, usually in the basement or within the foundation. The end result, Amura says, includes crystals tucked away in the walls, while mandalas—spiritual symbols most commonly associated with Buddhism and Hinduism—that he designs adorn the floors of entrance lobbies and other areas to “bring peace and harmony into the space.”
He’s long been a partner of New York-based Clodagh Design, on the Miraval Life in Balance Spa in Tucson, Arizona; the residential Abington House in Manhattan; and the newly opened East, Miami hotel. Three years ago, Six Senses asked him to help with the Douro Valley hotel in Portugal, which led to a second site there, as well as the Kaplankaya resort in Turkey. This also includes the design of a labyrinth for the already opened Douro Valley property. To Amura, labyrinths are “like acupuncture to the planet. The energy they bring is beautiful,” he says. “My main focus, above all, is to help the planet.”