Dr. Allen Power is a Geriatrician, Author, Educator, and composer/songwriter and one of BLCs advisors. I admire his work and I am grateful that he is sharing all of his outstanding experience and knowledge through his books Dementia Beyond Drugs and Dementia Beyond Disease. Allen and BLC share a common goal which is a “cultural change” to promote well-being. As Allen said so nicely in his book “we need to change our minds about people whose minds have changed”. Well-being cannot be bottled in a pill box since it encompasses different domains and senses. To promote well-being BLC applies the power of personal connectedness through Tango-, Yoga- and Aromatherapy. Several studies have shown that dance therapy stimulates social interaction, enhances mood, reduces anxiety and increases self-awareness. Yoga practices improve balance control and flexibility and Aromatherapy provides sensory stimulation and serves as a non-verbal communication. We combine all these positive qualities by offering BLC sessions that include Tango-,💃 Yoga 🧘🏽‍♂️ and Aromatherapy sessions.

To demonstrate the power of well-being BLC is collaborating with Nature Affairs for Human Growth and the Social Center in Quinta Do Anjo, Portugal. The Social Center has a day center with a capacity for 45 seniors and a group of 8 people is participating in the BLC pilot project to demonstrate that regular Tango-, Yoga- and Aromatherapy sessions increase the well-being in seniors with different neurological conditions. In collaboration with Decilo Bailando and 6 Senses Yoga we are providing multiple sessions of Tango-, Chair-Yoga and Aromatherapy during a period of three months. We are assessing the Quality-of-Life before and after the sessions through a validated questionnaire but hearing the participants laugh and sing and seeing their happy faces already proves the positive impact of the sessions. The most beautiful event for me was how the group started singing the Portuguese folk song “Alecrim Dourado” which translates into Golden Rosemary after smelling the Rosemary scent during the Aromatherapy. There is no better way to demonstrate connectedness and memory recall through Aromatherapy 💜

Besides the pilot we are also providing the BLC sessions for people living in assited living facilities and the following feedback was received from Rute Brito from the Orpea Porto Sales Residence in Azeitao: "I would like to say that it was a great pleasure for the Porto Salus Residence to have received you, especially for your knowledge, dedication, delivery and friendliness. You provided our residents with a morning full of memories of their past, either through TangoTherapy or through Aromatherapy, thank you for that."

Watch the film about the event at Orpea on the BLC youtube channel.