JEFFREY HUAMANCHEQ WIUM
Getting here: In my childhood I explored nature, played sports and appreciated relative ease of small-town life. At ten, my family moved to suburbia. By my mid-teens, I was rebellious and feeling disconnected. I see I was suffered from homogeny, need for spiritual touchstones and wise people to speak with.
Following high school, I worked overseas. I spent the ten years working in multimedia production. I lived in metropolitan centers, navigated demanding environments, worked on soundstages and foreign locations. I learned technical skills, life lessons, artistic design and business practices. I formed my way of living from modern culture, politics, finance, art, humanities, science, ideology and ethics.
I felt a strong sense of expansion, accomplishment and freedom. And, there was something missing– something more innate. I reached a tipping point in 1990. I shifted tracks and accepted a scholarship to the San Francisco Art Institute. At the end of term, I had work in Los Angeles and relocated.
I began music video and commercial television production. In 1993, I was invited to a sweatlodge ceremony facilitated by a local elder-artist. I found inspiration in the offerings, the wisdom, the authenticity and presence, and prayerful ways of being. I returned each month. The Grandmother encouraged me to walk my path, seek deeper answers, release my mind and reconnect with nature.
By 1994, I was feeling burnt out from intensive productions. I took a six-month sabbatical in the redwood forest. I slept ‘til noon, unwound, lived without a schedule and found a meditative quiet with the giant trees and coast.
I returned to Los Angeles to begin directing. On day 3 of shooting, in the middle of managing actors and crew, I had the sudden realization that my profession was incongruent with my personal and spiritual needs. Days on, I saw of the cost of my occupation, my fast-pace and the impact of living away 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. With no avail, I sorted my things and relocated to Oregon to focus on my personal wellbeing. I took a production job to cover expenses and a lot of time outdoors. I enjoyed the slower pace, the kind people, biking to work, winter snowstorms and summer swims.
I was slowing down and centering. Then one evening, while biking in the hills, I had a mystical experience that expanded my reality. I was at a complete loss for words and reference. I realized then that I needed guidance to help me better navigate. My chiropractor introduced me to his Qigong master who invited me to study the art form. That year I received the Avaloketesvara initiation and took an educational journey in China, Tibet, Nepal and India.
After programs concluded in Tibet, I stayed on to explore and experience life there. While in a temple, I had a beautiful experience with a group of monks who invited me into their ceremony. I sat down, a monk placed his yellow hat on my head and wrapped a thick woolen robe around my shoulders. He encouraged me to chant. And to my utter surprise, I knew how to make their multi-tonal sounds. I chanted for some time. The 50 or so monks and Rinpoche smiled with pleasure. I smiled and felt a sense of peace, knowing and surprising familiarity. My experience stirred a sense of reconnection and meaningful resonance. It offered insight into the Mystery that had presented itself to and through me back in Oregon.
From Lhasa, I travelled into the Tibetan plateau. I spent time at a monastery near Chomolungma (Everest). While there, I had an experience with an adept, elder caretaker who was observing me. He approached and asked about my reasons for visiting. My answer of meditating wasn’t satisfying his question. He repeating his question several times, shaking his broom in intensity. I didn’t know how to answer. 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?! Huh? Why? Who?… How?…
I departed Lhasa for Nepal and then to India. During the visa stop in Kathmandu, I had an another experience that stretched me even further. I was beyond my normal realm. My mind had no knowledge of what was happening. It was as if life’s presence, mysteries and orchestrations were revealed Itself to me in real time, without filters or instructions.
I flew on to New Delhi and took a 12-hour bus to the Tibetan enclave at Dharmsala. En route, I met a young German monk who showed me a quiet refuge-accommodation at the edge of town. I spent days visiting temples, meditating, exploring, contemplating and seeing ideas for a documentary with the exiled Tibetan government. I learned of the birthplace of Gautama Buddha in Nepal and went to sit and learn. The experiences were teaching me. I sat with the Tibetan caretaker’s invitation to look to my birth-nation’s native wisdom.
Two year’s on, I began studying the philosophies and lifeways of the Lipan Apache. I turned attention to media projects that promoted ecology, sustainability, wilderness, spirituality and adventure. I met the mother of my two children, built a homestead and worked regularly with free-lance productions. In 2002, I was filming a reality tv series and injured. It was a reality check. Through my recuperation, I discovered the need for more that allopathic modalities. I felt the need for integrative platforms for mental, emotional and energetic wellbeing.
I was inspired and began pursuing wholistic health full time. I spent four years researching, studying, certifying and weaving a professional practice. I found interconnectivity in ancient ways, purpose in assisting others and gratitude for the US broadcast company that covered my education and professional shift. I was learning to be with life and see obstacles as opportunities in disguise.
In June 2005, I traveled to the Peruvian Andes to attend an energy medicine conference in the Sacred Valley. While I was there, indigenous practitioners invited me to return and study directly. This was my first immersion into the Andean-Inkan Tradition. It was a deep homecoming for me – one that offered a conscious pathway for integrating my personal, professional and spiritual lives.
I made regular journeys into the highlands and forests to continue my work with different maestros. I was better able to understand my inner workings and how to integrate an ancient, unbroken, multidimensional cosmology.
In January 2007, I was invited into the tradition’s celestial realms and began an intensive period of in-field training and work with non-duality and collective consciousness. I was asked to organize retreats to share wholistic knowledge and support conscious ways of living.
In August 2008, I was in the Peruvian highlands with a group. Mid-pilgrimage, I received a vision to create a film of/from the tradition. During a rest, I shared the vision with my Inka colleague. He smiled and said he had had the same vision months earlier. And he didn’t know how to do it. We agreed to collaborate, to follow it and see how it revealed itself.
A couple of weeks later, I called a friend from home to share my experiences. He was silent for a bit, listening. He then shared that he and his family would like to provide production funding for the project. Beautiful. We began pre-production and started filming in January 2009. We wrapped production in October 2010 after ten expeditions. Our environments were from 12 to 16,000 feet.
I learned to balance the needs of production, relationship, family, friends, parenting, teaching, clientele, home construction and initiation. It was full on. Life edu.
In January 2014, I set out on a six-year journey that offered film screenings, cosmological talks, personal consultations, experiential programs and retreats. When borders closed in 2020, I landed in Montana to rest, reconfigure and spend more time with my boys.
Since 2006, I have been producing 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 mine. I am a messenger. I base my work on conscious lifeways, responsibility, sustainability, non-duality, community, sovereignty and trust. I care for the fire and offer opportunities for growth and wellbeing based on freedom, honesty, interdependency, empowerment, mutual benefit and joy. I find life I like to live naturally with others who sit with the Sun.
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 & Snowboard Tours, Swatch Boarder-X Tours
– U.S. Paralympic Ski Championships & 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 Alpine Balloon Traverse & Hood-to-Coast Ultra Marathons : OLN
– Oregon Outdoors : ABC-TV Series, Zion Narrows Canyoneering & 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