Slow, hard, circuitous, and the aim is wholeness Working with the given Profile by Yasmine El-Rashidi (photos: Randa Shaath) 'I massage her every day, and cleanse her energy pathways. Even at this young age spiritual cleansing, and spirituality, is very important' Calming does not quite capture it. Peaceful doesn't really hit the mark, nor is quiet quite correct. Rawya El-Gammal is, certainly, all of the above, yet even combined the terms are hardly adequate as a description of this woman said to possess healing hands. It may be the enigmatic, low-key -- if still widely known -- professional persona. Or perhaps the low, soft, soothing voice. Or it could simply be her aura: tranquil, serene, indescribably peaceful. Whatever it is, she exudes serenity, and almost everyone who enters the sphere that comprises her immediate vicinity feels it. Yet her plans and future projects, as well as her past, reflect an abundance of energy, activity and achievement. And in a way it all makes sense. Rawya is a sports therapist -- among the drawer full of degrees and diplomas she holds is an MSc in Exercise Science from the UK. But she is a holistic healer too, a woman with deep understanding of the psychological components of well-being, working with reiki, holistic reflexology, holistic aromatherapy, jin shin do (acupressure), cranio sacral therapy, hypnotherapy and E-motion. And she believes, quite concretely, in the principles of astrology and the charts. Rawya is a Gemini, the third sign of the Zodiac, symbolised by twins, which may make sense of the seeming discrepancy between her interior and exterior energies. But, she laughs, "I've become more flexible in that regard. I did my husband's horoscope before we got married, just to make sure we were compatible. At 18 I would never have married him," she says, "because at that time it was the zodiac sign before the person. To Gamal [a Sagittarius] I would have said 'no way'." Her husband is grateful that her views have evolved since then, that the guidelines have become slightly less rigid. "I've grown to learn and accept that you can't really generalise," Rawya says of the signs. "But it is amazing how many people nod their heads in agreement when they read their signs. And it's amazing how many people grow into signs." Just as they grow into lifestyles. "Gamal has really opened up to it," she says of her husband. He is slowly beginning to appreciate what continues to be considered alternative health, and the alternative lifestyle that goes with it. He has accustomed himself to his cyclist wife, who regularly puts on her cap and track suit to cycle, at times from Zamalek to Maadi. And alternative is quite definitely how she is viewed. For while her approach to life "is very widespread around the world it's certainly not the norm, and so it is still seen as alternative," she says. If anything, alternative or natural therapies carry a weightier baggage in Egypt than elsewhere. They are often viewed as indicative of some alternative spirituality, of constituting a kind of religious thought far from the mainstream. While the woman who, it could be argued, epitomises alternative therapies in Egypt, firmly believes, and states, that religion is between the individual and God and certainly not between individuals, she does, upon urging, talk quietly about her life, Islam, about fasting and praying and the profound effect of each. "It takes time and work to get in touch with the spirituality of religion," she says. "Spirituality grows and changes. This is where I happen to be right now." The details, and the rest of the story, remain between her and God. Her work with natural therapies, though, and what exactly that is all about, is legitimately in the public domain. And while many of those who have sought her help were believers to begin with, others she has treated were sceptics at the start. "I've treated famous football players," she says, reluctant to share names. "They had paid thousands of pounds at all sorts of doctors before they came to me. I know they're happy, because they've recommended me to others." Rawya does not speak easily about the things she has done, but is well enough known for tidbits of information to be scattered here and there. She is the owner of SACHA (Sports and Aromatherapy Company for Health and Acupressure), and is a teacher trainer for ITEC (the International Therapy Examination Council) in the UK. She is a consultant on numerous health and sports-related magazines and Web sites and was nominated co-chairman of the Indian Board of Alternative Medicine which recognised her work at it's annual conference in Calcutta in December 2000 by presenting her with an Award of Excellence in Health Sciences. She is an accomplished cyclist, part of what was to have been the first women's national team, and introduced 'spinning' to Egypt. The list of her sports, healing and health-related activities and accomplishments is endless. Rawya is about to talk, but her mouth seemingly freezes as she changes gear. "Do you mind if we move?" she asks, getting up. "I think Zianne wants a change of scenery." Zianne is Rawya's 10-month-old toddler. She has been chattering to herself on a baby swing in the children's garden at the Gezira sporting club. But whatever stimulation the swing offered has apparently died. "Would you like to see something new," she asks Zianne as she picks her up and walks towards a clear spot of grass a few metres away. "Maybe you'd like to sit on your mat on the floor for a while." Five minutes later Rawya suddenly picks up. "I was saying about spirituality," she continues. "You need to accept situations you're in because they are part of a big, complicated puzzle and you need to accept that it's part of something coming to you. Through that acceptance you grow and develop, and develop trust, and faith, and inner peace." "At 17 I had a flourishing cookie business. I made cookies, cheesecakes, marshmallows. I was doing really well." She was also at Inji El-Solh's dance studio, where she was declared a failure. "Everyone at the time was telling me I was lost because I chose to take a year off before going to university and I internalised it, and so I was lost. They also told me I was a nobody and a failure, but I persevered on my chosen path to become a success, and that is what I became." "I was lonely and depressed and isolated. I had very few friends because all my friends were at university," she continues. "But I knew what I wanted to do, and I pursued it, and fulfilled the MSc prerequisites for sports therapy with grades I was never expected to get. I beat the odds," she reflects. "Where I am now, in terms of work, and spirituality, and focus," she says, "is part of a process. I started very young, and was working very young, and so my outlook on life changed very young." Zianne starts to cry. "Should I get out of your space, would that help?" she asks her quietly. "Or do you have a tummy ache." Rawya gently places her hands on Zianne's tummy, then works on some pressure points on her tiny feet. She quietens down slightly and is picked up for a nature walk. In the warmth of the midday sun, Rawya and Zianne take a five minute break; they look at the trees, and the flowers, and talk about how they feel, and smell, and what nature is all about. "Sorry about that," she says when they return from one of several little mother-daughter rendez-vous. There are only smiles on both their faces. It is hard, to be frank, not to fall quiet when you are around Rawya. "We get so caught up in keeping up, in what people say and think," she says -- very gently, very softly. "In this culture people look at the outside. My sister was my greatest teacher because she was very beautiful but she always wore make-up. We were sent to finishing school to become 'young ladies'. We needed to wear certain clothes, and make-up, and walk and talk and sit down in a certain way. To graduate we needed to walk up to the panel, hand in some papers, and sit down in a certain way. Well," she laughs. "I did all that, but I plonked myself down, and passed. And that's okay, because I'm me and I just accept me for me, who I am and my personality. I was always given advice that I didn't take, that if only I did my hair, or wore make-up, I'd be beautiful. Most people worry too much about that, worry about exactly what is being accomplished at every single moment. We forget to put energy into ourselves and taking care of ourselves -- our souls -- and we forget about faith." Faith, that is, in the bigger picture that makes up our lives. Her daughter, she believes, taught her a lesson about that bigger picture. "I was drowning myself in work. I wasn't eating enough, wasn't sleeping enough, wasn't meditating. I wasn't giving myself what I needed. I wasn't nourishing my soul." And so she was given a child. "Now," she says, "there's no space for right and wrong. I have a responsibility, and I have a responsibility to do a good job because she was given to me and she was a gift from God. And we have no excuse because the information is out there. You cannot close your eyes and say you don't know how to be a good parent, and then throw the responsibility on someone else. The responsibility is yours as a parent, and as a parent you also have a responsibility to take care of yourself so that you can in turn take full care of your child. I've taught Montessori, and through my work and background in child psychology I know that one silly mistake can harm people." And so motherhood has become a full-time job though she has not, of course, abandoned her other projects. They continue on the side. "You have to strike a balance," she says. "Between you and motherhood, and you and you, and you and the child, and you and marriage, and you and work. The balance is hard work." She consults with a few clients a day, does her reading and meditation, and works on her clothes line for "breast feeding in public", and still finds time for her and Zianne and Gamal. "And they all overlap, of course," she says, in her unfailingly soft voice. "Zianne had a mild ear infection recently," Rawya recalls. "Which is traditionally treated with antibiotics." Not something Rawya wanted to do, so she resorted to her own, alternative remedies. "I gave her homeopathic ear drops and then started bodywork on her," she says. "I looked back at the two weeks leading to the ear infection and what was happening to her and me. When you have ear problems," she explains, "they represent things you hear. And inflammation is an emotional way of expressing how you feel. So," she continues. "I decided we needed to look at the environment we were putting her in, and let her know that any tense discussions that had been taking place had nothing to do with her. I gave her an old ear remedy, massaged her sinuses, worked on some acupressure points that represented what we'd been going through. And things fell into place." Practicing what she preaches -- what is her profession -- on her family, is something she believes in fervently. "I massage her every day, and cleanse her energy pathways," she says. "Even at this young age spiritual cleansing, and spirituality, is very important." As is activity. "Not just for adults, but for young children too," says Rawya, one of the Egypt's best known aerobics instructors. "Zianne's been to yoga and aerobics with me. In a sling. It's our dance session together." She is the youngest baby to ever attend a class. And maybe one of the youngest people in Egypt to be accustomed to natural therapies. "It's never too young," Rawya says. "Babies are born with these natural energies, they just need help tapping into them, and they need to be acknowledged." And so too most adults, who have not been conditioned to tap into these energies, who have not been raised to acknowledge them with freedom and comfort. "Our lives are cluttered and fast paced. We don't give ourselves what we need and so all sorts of emotions manifest physically. I work with people on that. Using pressure points and energies, and movement and aromatherapy, I try to work with people to uncover hindrances in their day-to-day lives, and try to help them understand the roots of physical and behavioural manifestations." Her work, in a sense, is a constant endeavour to cleanse energy pathways, to return to a more natural, free-flowing state of being, one in which the mind is not quite so chaotic, the soul not quite so suffocated. And her reputation literally spans the world. Rawya is called to lecture and give workshops around the globe. And people, too, seek her out. On a recent visit to Cairo, a TIME magazine correspondent enquired about her services. "I went to her once before," the reporter said. "She worked on my feet. It was miracle work. I must find her again." It may not quite be miracle work but it certainly has an effect on people's minds; the relief, the calm clients feel when they leave the premises that comprise Rawya's little sanctuary. But it is not, she says, a one-off thing. "Finding that inner calm, and tuning in to your body's natural energies and responses and feelings is a life-long cycle. You have to change your pace, change your food, change your attitude. You have to be ready to change your perspective on life." The process is slow, and the work is hard, and some of the self-discoveries made along the way may not be pleasant, or easy to deal with. Ultimately, however, the process of feeling pain is what brings about peace and the joy. As Khalil Gibran writes, "your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding." It is this understanding, of one's loves and hates, joys and sorrows, pains and passions, that Rawya El-Gammal ultimately seeks. It is the journey to wholeness, and the guiding of others onto that path, that is what comprises this woman's life. It is the life we have been given -- in its emotional, spiritual, physical, and mental spheres -- that we must work on, 365 days of the year.
