JEFFREY HUAMANCHEQ WIUM

My childhood was filled with nature, exploration, sports and the relative ease of small-town life. At ten, my family moved to suburbia and by my mid-teens, I was feeling rebellious, disconnected and increasingly alone. I was suffering from cultural homogeny and an absence of meaningful touchstones.

After high school, I followed an invitation to work overseas. I spent the next ten years developing a multimedia career while living in metropolitan centers, navigating demanding environments and managing foreign locations. I learned life lessons, technical skills, artistry and business practices from leading professionals. I explored world cultures, politics, finance, art, humanities, science, ideology and ethics first-hand.

Even though I felt a strong sense of expansion, accomplishment and freedom, there was still something missing– something deeper, more primal, more enigmatic. It reached a tipping point in 1990. I decided to shift tracks and accepted a scholarship to the San Francisco Art Institute. A year later, I moved to Los Angeles to work in commercial television production.

Shortly thereafter I was invited to join a sweat lodge ceremony run by a local elder-artist. I found inspiration in the ceremony, the grandmother’s wisdom, her authenticity, presence and prayerful ways of being. I returned each month to delve deeper. She encouraged me to walk my true path, seek deeper answers, release my mind and reconnect with nature.

By 1994, I was feeling burnt out from production work and took a sabbatical in the coastal redwoods of Northern California, not far from my childhood home. In the quiet of the giant trees, I slept ‘til noon, walked with no time or destination, unwound my stress and searched for purpose and meaning.

After six months of rejuvenation, I returned to Los Angeles to fulfill my goal of directing. And it was there, on set, in the middle of managing actors and crew, that I realized my professional life was incongruent with my personal and spiritual needs. I became acutely aware of the cost of my occupation, fast-paced lifestyle and distance from nature. I was 28-years-old, experiencing a fundamental change of heart, mind, emotion and value.

I spent the next six months searching for a conscious production company. To no avail, I sorted my belongings and relocated to Oregon to focus on my wellbeing. I took a local production job to cover expenses and spent most of my time out-of-doors. I enjoyed the slower pace, kind people, riding my mountain bike across town in winter snowstorms and stopping for a river swim in the heat of summer.

Then one evening, while biking in the hills, I had a spontaneous mystical experience that dramatically shifted my reality. I was stunned, at a complete loss for words and reference points. I realized then that I needed proper guidance to help navigate my changing reality. My chiropractor introduced me to a Chinese qigong master who invited me to explore the art form. Seven months later, I received the Tibetan Avaloketesvara initiation and undertook an educational journey to China and Tibet to study with additional masters.

When our programs concluded, I stayed on in Tibet to explore my inner and outer terrain. While in a temple in Lhasa, I had an extraordinary experience with a group of monks who invited me to join them in their ceremony. I sat down and a monk placed his traditional yellow hat on my head and wrapped his woolen robe around my shoulders. He then encouraged me to chant. To my utter surprise, I knew how to make the guttural tones. I chanted with them for some time. All 50+ monks and their Rinpoche smiled at me with pleasure. I smiled back and felt a deep sense of peace, knowing and familiarity. This experience stirred a deep sense of connection and resonance in me. It also offered more insight into the Great Mystery that had presented itself to and through me back home in Oregon.

Days later, I travelled into the high Tibetan plateau, to a monastery close to Chomolungma (Mount Everest). There, I had an encounter with an elder, adept caretaker who had been observing my movements and meditations. Late that afternoon, he approached and asked about my reasons for visiting. My answer was clearly not satisfactory as he strengthened his voice and shook his broom, repeating his query several times. He then said, “Go Home! You won’t find what you are looking for here! You will find the answers you seek in the land where you were born!”

What?! Why? When? Who?… How?…

My return ticket was some weeks away so I departed for Nepal and onward to India to follow a vision I had received while in Lhasa. During my visa stop in Kathmandu, I had a supernatural experience that stretched my reality even further. My mind had no reference for what was occurring. I was in uncharted territory. It was as if life’s mysteries and orchestrations were being revealed to me in real time without a filter or instruction.

I flew on to New Delhi and took a 12-hour bus ride to the Tibetan enclave at Dharmsala. En route, I met a German monk who pointed me to a quiet refuge at the edge of town. I spent my days visiting temples, meditating, exploring the landscape, contemplating reality and discussing documentary ideas with the Tibetan government in exile. I then traveled south into Nepal to visit the birthplace of Gautama Buddha and sat with the Tibetan caretaker’s insistence that I look to my birth country’s native wisdom.

When I returned to America, I began studying the philosophy and lifeways of the Lipan Apache. I refocused my media projects to promote ecology, sustainability and wilderness adventure. A couple of years later, I met the mother of my children, followed a vision to purchase a homestead and began designing and building facilities for our eco-spiritual living center.

All was moving along well. Then, in 2002, while filming a reality tv series, I sustained an injury that became my reality check. Through my recuperation process, I discovered the limitations of allopathic medicine and the need for more integrative mental, emotional and energetic methodologies.

I shifted my career track to pursue wholistic health and spent the next four years researching, studying, certifying and weaving it all into a professional practice. I found meaning in ancient ways, purpose in helping others and deep gratitude for the national broadcast television company who covered the costs of my educational and professional transformation. I learned that obstacles are truly opportunities in disguise.

In 2005, I traveled to the Andes to attend an energy medicine conference in the Peruvian highlands. While there, indigenous medicine practitioners invited me to study directly, one-to-one. This was my first apprenticeship with the Andean-Inkan Holy Mountain Tradition. It was a deep homecoming – one that offered a harmonic pathway to integrating my personal, professional and spiritual lives.

I made regular educational journeys into the highlands and deep forests to work with maestros. They helped me better understand my inner world and how to integrate their ancient, unbroken, multidimensional cosmology. In 2007, I was invited into the tradition’s celestial realms and began an intensive period of in-field training and exposure to non-duality and collective consciousness. Nine months later, I was initiated by a lightning strike to the head. The Elder Ones asked me to organize Andean retreats, travel abroad to convey wholistic wisdom and help people develop more conscious ways of living.

In August 2008, while pilgrimaging in the Peruvian highlands, I received a vision to make the film Wisdomkeepers, Paqo Andino. During a rest, I shared the vision with my Andean colleague. He smiled and said that he had had the same vision a few months earlier, but didn’t know how to do it. We agreed to collaborate and see how it showed up.

Back home, a couple of weeks later, I called a friend to share my experience. He was silent for a long moment then said that he and his family would like to provide funding for the project. Wow. Beautiful. We began pre-production and stated filming in January 2009. We wrapped production in October 2010 after ten expeditions in the Andes where we filmed between 12,000 and 16,000 feet.

During production and editorial, I learned to balance the needs of relationship, family, friends, parenting, filmmaking, teaching, clientele, homestead construction and my own initiation process. It was full on. I was learning to plan and flow with the unknown, juggle demands, keep a steady hand, and get out of the way while birthing the vision. Life edu.

In January 2014, I began a six-year journey offering film screenings, cosmological talks, consultations, in-person programs and retreats worldwide. When international borders closed in 2020, I landed in Montana to reconfigure, rest and spend more time with my children.

Since 2006, I have produced a series of projects and educational opportunities to convey wholistic lifeways and sacred practices that have, for the most part, been lost to time and modern culture. The wisdom itself is not my own. I am a messenger. I base my work on conscious living principles, self-responsibility, non-duality, community, sovereignty, trust, inner wisdom and sustainability. I dedicate myself to caring for our inner fire and creating opportunities for wholistic wellbeing based on honesty, freedom, interdependency, mutual benefit, empowerment and joy. I find life best lived naturally with courage and humility as guarantees, and community consciousness as encouragement to fly.

EXPERIENCE & EDUCATION


1986 - PRESENT

Audio – Video – Film – Photography – Writing – Webcrafting
Biointegrative Architecture – Ecological and Environmental Design
Creative Development – Consultation – Production

2004 - PRESENT

Integrative Wellness Practitioner – Educator – Wholistic Coach
Conscious Living Programs – Immersive Healing Retreats
Online Offerings – Mentorship – Nature Ceremonies


RESEARCH, EDUCATION & INITIATION

2021–Present Andean-Inkan Wholistic Lifeways Conveyance
2017–Present   Bioenergetic Quantum Research Initiative : Europe and UK
2007–Present Andean-Inkan Celestial Practitionership : Peruvian Andes, Global
2004–Present    Andean-Inkan Energy Medicine Research : Peruvian Andes, United States and Europe
2004–2006       Andean Pampamisayoq Apprenticeship : Peruvian Andes
2004                    Hawaiian Lomilomi Massage LMT Certification : Hawai'i
2004 Positional Release Therapy PRT Certification : United States
2003–2004       Kripalu Yoga Teacher RYT Certification : United States
2002                   Wilderness First Responder Medic Certification : United States
2001–Present Ministry : Birth, Life, Death, Union and Initiation Ceremonies : Global
2000 Natural Horsemanship, Instruction and Backcountry Guiding : Colorado
1999–2004       Usui-Tibetan-Sai Baba Reiki I, II & III : New Zealand and Hawai’i
1999–2002       Tracker Indigenous Skills, Philosophy and Scout Training School : California and New Jersey
1996                 Chinese Academy of Somatic Science : Beijing and Lhasa
1996                   Oregon College of Oriental Medical Qigong Study and Avaloketesvara Initiation            
1990–1993   San Francisco Art Institute and Santa Monica College : California
1988–1990 Camera Assistant Studio and Office Manager : New York, London and Paris
1985–1988 On-Camera Talent : Asia, Europe and the Americas
1967–                Life…


PERSONAL, PROFESSIONAL, CULTURAL & IDEOLOGICAL

North, Central and South America, Caribbean, Europe, Scandinavia, Arctic, Middle East, East Africa, Tibetan Plateau, Himalayas, Nepal, India, China, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand and Hawai’i


MULTIMEDIA PRODUCTION & WHOLISTIC DESIGN

WIUMWORKS MEDIA : Writer/Producer/Director/Cinematographer/Stills/Sound/Editor : 1991–Present

BIOINTEGRATIVE ARCHITECTURE : Wholistic Design and Sustainable Construction : 2002–Present

LIVING WISDOM EDUCATION : Wholistic Living Programs and Videos : 2019–Present
– Conscious Living Series 1-4
– Sacred Ways of Living Series 1-3
– Moon Gatherings Community Programs 1-65
– House of the Sun Community Programs 1-8
– Uri Marama Toa Healing Haka
– Te Raku Rangimarie Peace Offering

WISDOMKEEPERS, PAQO ANDINO : Feature Documentary, Peru : 2009-2013

REDBULL BAFFIN ISLAND B.A.S.E. JUMP PROJECT : Television Feature, Arctic Nunavut Nation : 2003

THE MOLE : ABC-TV 13-part Reality Television Challenge Series : 2002

BEYOND THE RED PLANET : Feature Documentary , United States, Jordan and Australia : 2000

GREAT HIKES : OLN 13-part Ecological Adventure Series : 1997
 – Wild Coastlines, Rainforests and Conservation, Washington
– Grand Staircase Ecology and Impact Abatement, Utah
   – Blast Zone Regeneration and Ecosystem Integration, Washington
  – Mountaineering and Avalanche Safety, Oregon
  – Fire in the Natural Cycle and Family Hiking, California
      – Spirit Walking and Federal Designation, Oregon
    – Polynesian Heritage, International Trade and Environmental Impact, Hawai’i

AMERICAN RIVER JOURNALS : OLN 26-part Watershed Ecology Series : 1996
– Clearcut Harvesting, Landslides and Turbulent Waters, Oregon
– Natural Ecosystem Maintenance and Eco-Tourism, Florida
– Water Quality, Manatee Protection and Path to Recovery, Florida
   – Preservation by National Decree, California
  – Flood Control Politics, Heritage and Habitat, California
– Water Diversion, Cooperative Managemt and Preservation, Hawai’i
    – Native Species Degradation and Sacred Watershed, Hawai’i

ECOLOGY & SUSTAINABILITY PROJECTS : Freelance Writer, Producer, Director, Cameraman and Editor : 1996-2000
 – Nawiliwili Bay / EPA Watershed Restoration Project : Regenerative Economy Documentary
– New Perspectives in Economic Renewal : Socio-Economic Revitalization Project
 – Children of the Earth Foundation : Camp Administration, Medic and Promotional Video Production
– Skyline Ranch : Natural Horsemanship, Backcountry Guide and Adventure Video Production
– Sustainable Living Project : Ecology-based Educational Multimedia
– Real Goods Solar Living Center : Systems and Facility Instructional Videos
– Tibetan University of International Business and Economics : Economic Development Assistance
– Oregon Yurtworks and Synergist Saddles : Instructional and Marketing Videos
– Soaring Crane Qigong and Nada Yoga : Instructional Audio–Video Series

OUTDOOR SPORTS & ADVENTURE SERIES : Ski-based, Aerial and Action Cameraman : 1996-2000
– Red Bull Extreme Ski and Snowboard Tours, Swatch Boarder-X Tours
– U.S. Paralympic Ski Championships and FIS World Cup Ski Competitions
– U.S. Ski Team Instructional Videos and Board Wild Series
– More Than A Game : ABC-TV Pro Athlete Mentoring Series
– Traveling Man : Finnish TV-CBC Lifestyle Documentary Series
– Wind & Fire High Altitude Balloon Traverse and Hood to Coast Ultra Marathon Relays : OLN
– Oregon Outdoors : ABC-TV Series, Zion Narrows Canyoneering and Royal Gorge Cross Country

TCI MEDIA SERVICES : Lead Writer/Producer/Director/Cameraman/Editor : Oregon, 1995–1996

ATLAS PICTURES : Co-Writer/Director, Anheuser-Busch National Campaign : Los Angeles, 1995

CUCOLORIS and PROPAGANDA FILMS : Director’s Assist/AC/OP/Location Scout-Mgr/Field Producer/Post : LA, 1992–1994

FREELANCE WRITER / PRODUCER / DIRECTOR / CAMERAMAN / EDITOR : Los Angeles, 1991–1994
     – EMI & Virgin Music America : Corporate Merger Artist Video
– James Funk, Virgin Music America : Electronic Press Kit
– Caffeine, Paradigm Productions : Interview–Talk Show Pilot

CONDE NAST PUBLICATIONS, VANITY FAIR MAGAZINE : Photography Assistant to French Editor : Paris, 1990

MONSTAFERCROPPITY : 1st AC/Studio and Office Manager/Coordinator/Portfolio Design/Casting : Paris, 1989

NICOLAYSON PHOTOGRAPHIC : Camera Assistant and Studio Manager : New York, 1988

PRINT, TV and STAGE PRODUCTION TALENT : Asia, Europe and the Americas, 1986–1988