JEFFREY WAMANCHEQ WIUM
My childhood was filled with nature, sports and the relative ease of small-town life. At ten, my family moved to suburbia and by my mid-teens, I was suffering from homogenous culture, rebellion, and an absence of spiritual touchstones.
After high school, I spent ten years building a multimedia career in metropolitan centers with frequent productions in foreign environments and cultures. I learned technical skills, business practices, design language and life lessons while assimilating international culture, politics, finance, science, art, humanities, ideologies and ethics. Throughout this period, I felt a strong sense of accomplishment and independence, but always felt something was missing. In 1990, I changed course, accepting an invitation to the San Francisco Art Institute to explore my inner vision and expression. A year later, I moved to Los Angeles to work in commercial music video and television production.
In 1992, a friend introduced me to traditional Native American sweat lodge ceremony. It touched a deep place within me. I returned each month to explore the teachings, practices, prayers and authentic ways of living. The artist-grandmother-facilitator who ran the lodge became a close friend. She encouraged me to release my mind, find my truth and deepen my connection with nature. Through her knowledge and guidance I began exploring the tenets of conscious lifeways and the sanctity of daily living.
By 1994, I was burnt out from production and took a sabbatical in the coastal redwoods of Northern California. For six months, I slept until noon, sat under the giant trees, lived without a schedule and contemplated life. After the reset, I returned to Los Angeles to begin directing. During my first production, in the middle of orchestrating actors and crew, I had a sudden realization that my professional life was incongruent with my personal and spiritual needs. I saw the cost of my income, the effects of a fast-paced lifestyle and the toll of living at a distance from nature. I was twenty-eight years old and experiencing a fundamental change of heart, mind, emotion and value.
For several months, I searched for a production company with environmental consciousness. I didn’t find one. I changed track and decided to move to Oregon to focus on personal wellbeing. I took a local production job to cover expenses and spent a lot of time outdoors enjoying nature, the slower pace, kind people, biking, mountaineering, winter snowstorms and summer swims. I felt myself shedding city life and finding my center.
Then one evening, while mountain biking in the hills, I had a spontaneous mystical experience that altered my reality. I was at a loss for words and reference. I knew I needed guidance to help explain and navigate this new realm. I was introduced to a Qigong Master who invited me to study the ancient art form. Later that year, I received the Buddhist Avalokitesvara initiation and began an educational journey to China, Tibet, Nepal and India.
After the academic programs concluded, I stayed on in Lhasa to explore ancient lifeways and search for deeper answers. While there, I had a deeply moving experience with a group of monks who invited me to join their temple ceremony. When I sat down, a monk placed his yellow hat on my head, wrapped a woolen robe around my shoulders and encouraged me to join the chants. I began mimicking their deep guttural sounds and to my surprise, I knew how to do it. The monks and Rinpoche smiled. I smiled back with feelings of joy, astonishment, gratitude, sacredness and place.
I then travelled from Lhasa into the high plateau to spend time at a monastery near Chomolungma (Everest). While there, I had an experience with an elder, adept caretaker who had been observing me throughout the day. Late that afternoon, he approached and asked my reason for visiting. I replied, “Meditating.” This didn’t satisfy his question. He repeated himself several times, peering deeper with each question. Then, in a strong voice, while raising and shaking his broom above his head, he 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!” I was stunned, confused, and a bit resistant.
Days later in Lhasa, I had an energetic encounter at a temple where I was instructed to travel to the Himalayas of Northern India. I departed for Kathmandu to get a visa. During my stay, I had a supernatural experience with a 100+ monkeys at a Buddhist-Hindu temple. I sat in awe and tearful disbelief, feeling like the Great Mystery was revealing Itself to me through a series of communications, events and ceremonies that were unfolding in real time, without a filter or instruction.
I traveled onward to Delhi and boarded a 12-hour bus to the Tibetan enclave at Dharamshala. En route, I met a German monk who pointed me to a refuge with silent accommodations at the edge of town. I spent my days exploring, sitting in temples, meditating and contemplating documentary projects with the Tibetan government in exile. At a tea house one afternoon, I learned of Gautama Buddha's birthplace in Nepal. I travelled overland for a day and found what felt like both a point of origin and endless expression.
With these experiences and the words of the Tibetan caretaker ringing in my ears, I returned to America and began studying the philosophy and lifeways of the Lipan Apache. I shifted my media production to focus on ecology, spirituality, sustainability and outdoor adventure. Two years later, I met the mother of my children and went on to build a solar homestead and community-based healing center while I learned to integrate my worlds.
In 2002, I was injured while filming a reality television series. This was a personal reality check. During my recuperation process, I came in contact with more comprehensive and integrative mental, emotional, physical and energetic ways of healing and being. Inspired, I began studying to become a wholistic health practitioner utilizing the retraining support provided by worker’s comp insurance. I spent the next four years researching, studying, certifying and developing an interdisciplinary health and wellness consultation practice.
In June of 2005, I traveled to the Peruvian Andes to attend an energy medicine conference in the Sacred Valley near Cusco. While there, indigenous maestros invited me to begin traditional studies. This was my first apprenticeship with the Andean Enqan tradition. It felt like a true homecoming– one that offered a deeply grounded path, expanded consciousness and integration of my personal, professional and spiritual realms. For the next two years, I made regular trips into the highlands and jungles where elders, paqos, shaman and maestros helped me develop more wholistic ways of living based on ancient principles, ancestral wisdom, animistic practices, conscious lifeways and multidimensional reality. Their sacred teachings and experiential reality taught me how to navigate perceptual complexities and incomplete cosmologies while living in a world of dualistic constructs, conflicts and contamination.
In January of 2007, I was invited into the celestial realms of the lineage. I began a more intensive period of directed learning under the tutelage of the Ancestral Elders and maestros. At the same time, I was tasked with organizing retreats in Peru and other countries to help people awaken consciousness and reconnect with nature. Nine months later, I was struck/initiated by lightning and confirmed as a celestial practitioner.
In August 2008, I received a vision to make a film conveying the sacred lifeways of the Andean Enqan tradition. I shared the vision with my colleague Tupac, wherein he smiled and said that he’d had the same vision a few months earlier. We agreed to collaborate and see how it unfolded. A couple of weeks later, I was sharing my experience with an American colleague. He listened intently and unexpectedly offered philanthropic funding on the spot. We began pre-production that October and started filming in January of 2009. After ten expeditions over the course of twenty months, we wrapped camerawork and shifted to editorial, soundtrack development, translation and film mastering. Throughout this time, I learned how to balance the needs of the project, marriage, family, friends, parenting, teaching, clientele, home construction and on-going initiations. It was full on, hands-on life education.
In January 2014, I began a six-year journey offering film screenings, cosmological talks, personal consultations and program retreats in twenty countries. When borders closed in 2020, I landed back the United States to rest, reconfigure and spend more time with my children. Since then, my work has focused on producing online educational series, continuing in-person retreats and conscious lifeways programs in various locations.
Throughout it all, I have been tending the fire by creating projects and experiential opportunities to engage wholistic wisdom, sacred practices and sustainable models that have, for the most part, been lost to time and modern cultures. The wisdom itself is not mine. I am a messenger (Wamancheq). My work is rooted in responsibility, transparency, freedom, empowerment, interdependence, mutual benefit and joy. My terra firma is collective self-care, contemplation, communication, co-creation and awakening consciousness. I am excited and humbled by life-learning, collaborative creation and the greater orchestration of it all.
EXPERIENCE & EDUCATION
1986 - PRESENT
Audio – Video – Film – Photography – Writing – Webcrafting
Biointegrative Architecture – Environmental Design – Green Construction
Creative Development – Consultation – Program/Project Management
2004 - PRESENT
Integrative Wellness Practitioner – Educator – Intermediary – Guide
Online Offerings – Conscious Living Programs – Nature Ceremony
Immersive Journeys – Healing Retreats
RESEARCH, EDUCATION & INITIATION
2021–Present Andean Enqan Wholistic Lifeways Conveyance : Global
2017–Present Bioenergetic Quantum Research Initiative : Europe, UK, and US
2007–Present Andean Enqan Practitioner and Guide : Peruvian Andes, Global
2005–Present Andean Enqan Energy Medicine Research : Peruvian Andes
2005–2007 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 Instructor and Backcountry Alpine Guide : Colorado
1999–2004 Usui-Tibetan-Sai Baba Reiki Mastery Certification : New Zealand and Hawai’i
1999–2002 Tracker Indigenous Skills, Philosophy and Scout Training : California and New Jersey
1996 Chinese Academy of Somatic Science : Beijing and Lhasa
1996 HHDL Tibetan Buddhist Avalokitesvara Initiation : Los Angeles
1996 Oregon College of Oriental Medicine Qigong Certification : Portland
1991-1995 International Media Production, Logistics and Technical Proficiencies : Los Angeles
1990-1993 San Francisco Art Institute and Santa Monica College : California
1988–1990 First Camera Assistant, Studio and Office Manager : New York, London and Paris
1986–1988 On-Camera Talent : Asia, Europe and the Americas
1967– Life…
PERSONAL, PROFESSIONAL, CULTURAL & IDEOLOGICAL EXPERIENCE
North, Central and South America, Caribbean, Europe, Scandinavia, Arctic, Middle East, Egypt, East Africa, Tibetan Plateau, Himalayas, Nepal, India, China, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, and Hawai’i
DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT & MEDIA PRODUCTION
CONSCIOUS LIFEWAYS / SEED (Socio-Ecological Education and Development) : Wholistic Lifeways, Principles, Practices, Consultation : 2025–
LIVING WISDOM EDUCATION : OnlineConscious Living Programs and Video Library : 2019–
– Conscious Lifeways of the Andes Series 1-48
– Conscious Living Series, Modules 1-35
– Moon Dialogues and Meditation Programs, 1-65
– Sun Dialogues and Meditation Programs, 1-10
– Te Raku Rangimarie Peace Offering
– Uri Marama Toa Healing Haka
WISDOMKEEPERS, PAQO ANDINO : Documentary Production, Film Screenings and Conscious Lifeways Programs : 2008–2020
BEYOND THE RED PLANET : Eco-SpiritualSustainability Documentary,United States, Jordan and Australia : 2000
WIUMWORKS : Conscious Media, Biointegrative Architecture, Environmental Design and Green Building : 1999–2025
GREAT HIKES : OLN 13-Part National Ecological Adventure Series : 1998
– 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 National Watershed Ecology Series : 1997
– 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 Management and Preservation, Hawai’i
– Native Species Degradation and Sacred Watershed, Hawai’i
ECOLOGY & SUSTAINABILITY PROJECTS : Writer/Producer/Director/Cinematographer/Stills/Sound/Editorial : 1996-2000
– Nawiliwili Bay EPA Watershed Restoration Project : Regenerative Economy Development Documentary
– New Perspectives in Economic Renewal : Kauai Socio-Economic Revitalization Project
– Children of the Earth Foundation : Camp Administrator, Medic, and Promotional Video Producer
– Sustainable Living Project : Real Goods and Oregon Yurtworks Design, Systems and Instructional Videos
– Tibetan University of International Business and Economics : Economic Development Assistance
– Soaring Crane Qigong and Nada Yoga : Instructional Audio-Video Series
OUTDOOR ADVENTURE SERIES : Ski-based, Aerial, Action, and Expedition Cameraman : 1996-2003
– Red Bull Baffin Island BASE Jump Project
– Red Bull Extreme Freeride Ski Competitions, Huckfest and Snowboard Tours
– FIS World Cup Ski Championships and U.S. Paralympic Ski Competitions
– ABC TV Reality Challenge Series and Youth Mentoring with Professional Athlete Programs
– Travel and Adventure Docs, Canyoneering, Alpine Ballooning and Ultra Marathon Programs
– Telluride Backcountry Natural Horsemanship and Alpine Hiking Docs
TCI MEDIA SERVICES : Lead Writer/Producer/Director/Cameraman/Editor : Oregon, 1995–1996
ATLAS PICTURES : Commercial Co-Writer/Director, National Television Campaign : Los Angeles, 1995
CUCOLORIS and PROPAGANDA FILMS : Director’s Assist/AC/OP/Scout/Mgr./Field Producer/Post : Los Angeles, 1992–1994
EMI VIRGIN MUSIC AMERICA : Electronic Press, Music and Label Merger Videos : Los Angeles, 1991–1992
CONDE NAST PUBLICATIONS, VANITY FAIR MAGAZINE : Photography Assistant to French Editor : Paris/Europe, 1990
MONSTAFERCROPPITY : 1st AC/Studio and Office Mgr./Coordinator/Portfolio Design/Casting : Paris, 1989
NICOLAYSON PHOTOGRAPHIC : Camera, Studio and Location Assistant : New York, 1988
PRINT, TV and STAGE TALENT: Asia, UK, Europe and the Americas, 1986–1988