"There is no decoration here. Feng Shui is a series of principles about how energy is mobilized and has nothing to do with the decorating factor per se. Decoration in Feng Shui is used as a means to work on the person," he points out.
By Amelia Cuesta
Editorial Staff El Inmobiliario
SANTO DOMINGO –Sandino Grullón is a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine who, for the past 27 years, has specialized in acupuncture within the traditional Western framework, and this is just the beginning. He began practicing yoga at age 13 and since then has been on a constant path of inner exploration that has led him to many places: Taoism, Buddhism, and other philosophies that have provided him with diverse tools.
He is the only Taoist monk in the entire Caribbean who has been ordained by two monasteries in China, formalized through the "Yellow Document" sealed by the Chinese Government, in which he is officially recognized as part of a lineage, that of the Dragon Gate (Taoism).
It also belongs to the Kaula School lineage (tantrism), and is one of the four tantric schools of the Kaulas in the country; to the Guhyapada lineage (Ngakpa: yogi in the Himalayan tradition) and, although they all originate from different philosophies, they have something in common: external practices related to health and longevity, meditation, and practices in which the individual harmonizes with the environment as well.
A free spirit in search of harmony and balance in life, who walks the world providing the necessary tools to those who seek or need them.
In a conversation with "el Inmobiliario," Dr. Sandino explains what the Feng Shui technique means to him, what it means to be a Taoist monk, and discusses his extensive training in the Eastern arts.
“Chinese philosophy and medicine encompass many elements: life, physical practices such as tai chi, kung fu, or qigong, internal development such as meditation in all its styles, both contemplative and energetic, and practices related to harmonizing the environment. This is where Feng Shui and Chinese astrology come in; that is, ‘I harmonize the individual in the space they occupy between heaven and earth.’ So, my role here, what I have chosen to do through my daily work in my practice, is to provide tools precisely so that people can have a more harmonious life,” the doctor explains.
Sandino's education encompasses many factors that have adapted to the needs of the moment, teaching him that everything has its place and its time. We live in a world that sometimes moves faster than we do, and it's important to have a foundation for harmonizing the spaces we inhabit and maintaining balance within our homes and ourselves; this is what Feng Shui is all about.
“Taoist philosophy has a foundation that allows you to access various arts because they all speak more or less the same language, like the five elements in Feng Shui. Its harmonization is found in medicine, martial arts, and Chinese astrology; in other words, there's a profound philosophy based on energy, yin and yang, the elements, and trigrams, which allows you to access other areas.” He points out that once you have that foundation, you're already involved, and ideally, you should continue enriching yourself.
“Traditional education is very different from today's, where people just say, ‘I want to study Feng Shui,’ and focus on only one thing. In traditional education, all the arts are covered, and then you delve deeper into the ones you like best. I came across Feng Shui, and it seemed like the most sensible thing to do,” he says.
Sandino has led workshops and seminars and trained many consultants—individuals capable of going into spaces and working on them. He has harmonized businesses and homes, one of which is his own workspace at Casa Holos. For this project, he personally sat down with the architects and engineers and worked on the plans using Feng Shui principles. “There’s no decoration here. Feng Shui is a set of principles about how energy is mobilized and isn’t about decorating per se. Decoration in Feng Shui is used as a means to work on the person,” he explains.
She emphasizes that women are the ones who most frequently request her services. "In my workshops, retreats, and seminars, the majority of attendees are female; I would even say that they make up 95% of the people who come to my practice. Over 60% of the businesses I've harmonized with Feng Shui are run by women," she reports.
“Women are in charge of the home, they are the protective force and the ones who nurture the family. They are always aware of what needs to be done, beyond the material aspects. ‘How can I encourage the boys?’ ‘How can I make the relationships better or healthier?’… Women have the aesthetic and energetic sensitivity to realize that something isn’t right in the space and that it needs to be addressed differently. They are more sensitive to their surroundings,” Sandino emphasizes.
"All I do is try to put tools in people's hands so they can reconnect with their true nature and harmonize their lives. That's my role," says Sandino.
And he lives by this both in his private practice and in the various workshops he offers: meditation, Thai massage, tantric practices, and more.
He says that being a Taoist monk goes beyond simply providing tools to those who seek them; it also requires working on oneself. Therefore, his life is governed by a set of practices and principles that range from what he eats to how he interacts with others and when he does each thing. "It's about living at the extremes. Alongside that is the practical aspect; I have a personal practice, a practice of body movement, meditation, a series of regulations that make my life stable and healthy, giving it an internal reference point and not just an external one," Grullón affirms.
"I love what I do because it allows me to help people harmonize their lives. From the physical, like knee pain, to an emotional situation, or even the way they perceive their reality. The purpose is for the individual to have a fuller life, giving it a dimension beyond the material and earthly—which does involve the material and earthly, because it's important—we live here—but it's not limited to that. It supports them to grow in every sense of the word and find their balance. What happens then is that they begin to oscillate harmoniously between yin and yang, so that instead of remaining in that duality, in a struggle, it becomes a dance of polarity where they expand and contract, like the pulse of life, like the pumping of the heart, like your arteries and lungs; a constant pulse of expanding and contracting yin and yang; day and night, up and down, taking and letting go.".
Simply listening to this professional opens doors and creates possibilities. Knowing that applying this knowledge can create harmony even in the relationships of those who share spaces and make things flow more smoothly is a contribution from which many of us can benefit.
