Whenever you feel stuck in life or feel a lack of focus and energy, chakra balancing is usually the answer. Our chakras or the seven centers in our bodies through which energy flows, are linked to certain states of being. This flowing energy, called prana, is our life force and it’s what fuels us and keeps us alive, in fact, the word chakra means “wheel of spinning energy”. When chakras are blocked resulting in stagnant energy, crystal therapy has often found to be the answer! So if you have a bad back and placing a healing stone helps, why not embed the healing gems into your clothes, says, Zakiya Dhiyab Hamed Al Zakwani, Founder of Zproyecto Chi Couture – a new line of dresses, abayas, lounge, swim and beachwear, offered both off-the-peg and customized individual pieces with a world-first natural healing element. We find out more…
What does Zproyecto mean and how do you pronounce it?
Zproyecto is a brand name created from the first initial of my first name, Zakiya, an Arabic name that translates into “Pure” in English. Proyecto is a Spanish term meaning Project.
When the two are combined, the philosophy of the name behind the brand translates into “A Project of Purity”, since I wanted to merge two cultures into one.
Being an Omani and married to a Spaniard, with a Spanish daughter, this was my main driver to select a Spanish name. In addition, I wanted to include products for both Middle Eastern and western culture, since they are two extremes I would like to unite. All our products are natures gift to mankind and are hand made with love.
It’s pronounced as Zed –Pro- yec- to or Zee- Pro- yec- to.
What is the science behind having crystals in your clothing?
I wouldn’t use the word science, in fact I would say the pseudoscience behind incorporating crystal healing to clothing is simply following Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Clothing is considered a basic physiological need, and I decided to take this need, and attach a healing crystal that caters to a person’s need as well. This need works on the four human planes, the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.
Many people are skeptical, or have a lack of knowledge about crystal healing but through our Zproyecto Chi Couture line, they can experience crystal healing and their first semi-precious stone encounter, for which we are sure they will come back to learn more.
Can you please tell us about how it all started?
It all started when I felt a gap in allopathic medicine, the bad side effects of medications. My daughter was persistently falling sick and always being prescribed antibiotics, one thing led to the next. I had an unfortunate encounter with a psychologist after my daughter contracted H1N1 just a week after her 18 months vaccine, who wasn’t helpful at all. My mother advised me to look for a good homeopathic doctor in Abu Dhabi. Doctor Mapolin from Lotus holistic alternative medical centre in Abu Dhabi healed my daughter from her persistent cough of two months in just two days. After that day, I immediately decided I wanted to study homeopathy. I searched and found The School of Homeopathy in the United Kingdom, and applied to study there. While studying homeopathy, I encountered crystal healing as an alternative healing, of which I had knowledge from the past, but only through reading books. This time I decided to dive in until I got certified, and started Zproyecto.
Can you tell us about your approach to design?
With designing I use an in-house design team hand-picked by me, one of them being my sister Badriya Al-Zakwani, although she would tell me off for sharing her name in public, as she’s an introvert who hates the limelight.
Currently she is designing the Zproyecto Chi Couture line, since she has an eye for fashion and loves fabric shopping, she incorporates my ideas and produces the clothing line. I do not come from a design background, I am more a healer who wants to treat and heal God’s creation, starting out with my own veterinary clinic for animals in Oman, the Capital Veterinary Center, and now a crystal healing boutique.
I’m in the process of studying homeopathy. As a mother I just can’t do it all, although I try. I do, however, personally stitch the logo with the semi-precious stone onto the clothing line and do some basic jewelry making.
What crystals should we all be working with in 2021 and 2022?
One crystal cannot fit all, so I usually conduct a questionnaire to choose the crystal that fits best for each individual.
The crystals for 2021 and 2022 would be:
- Rose quartz for self-love
- Amethyst for calmness and relaxation
- Shungite, black tourmaline and hematite for repelling negativity and harmful radiation
- Tiger’s eye and citrine for courage and manifestation
Can you tell us about major crystals and how they help in balancing our chakras?
Chakras are the energetic wheels within our body. Our seven main chakras resonate with seven different colors. We wouldn’t want an underactive or overactive chakra – crystal healing helps in balancing that.
Crystals will absorb any negative unwanted energy and at the same time, through their piezoelectric effects and vibrations, crystals release and give positivity to these chakras, bringing them into balance.
Each stone is selected specifically for each chakra at Zproyecto and we have specially cleansed, charged and programmed pouches of chakra healing crystals comprising seven semi-precious stones:
- Red jasper or garnet for the root chakra.
- Carnelian for the sacral chakra
- Yellow quartz for the solar plexus
- Green aventurine or rose quartz for the heart chakra
- Lapis lazuli or sodalite for the throat chakra
- Sodalite amethyst or clear quartz for the third eye chakra
- Clear quartz or amethyst for the crown chakra
Clients lie down in a meditating position and place the crystals on their chakras one by one, starting from the root chakra and ending at the crown chakra, leaving them on for seven minutes or just following their inner intuition.
Then the chakra healing semi-precious stones are removed one by one, starting from the crown ending at the root chakra.
We always ask clients to submerge their crystals in Himalayan salt water and throw away the water immediately after the treatment, then place them on a feldspar crystal or selenite disk to recharge them. We recommend never sharing the crystals between individuals. Each person’s crystals needs to be kept for them only, since crystals have memory and we don’t want the negative energy to pass from one person to another.
Due to the fact that the crystal lattice is so even, the energy it emits is constant. When dissonant energy is inputted, it is balanced and transformed into a harmonic energy. The closer you have healing crystals to your body, the stronger their vibrational effects would be!
Guests undertake a consultation questionnaire, and healing crystals are then incorporated into the Zproyecto logo and attached onto the fabric.
The abayas, for example, come in a range of fabrics including chiffon, silk chiffon, silk satin, organza, crepe, French lace and other specialist state-of-the-art Japanese micro-technology abaya fabric. While each abaya includes hand embroidery of different threads, beading work and high quality iron heated crystals, a cleansed charged and programmed semi precious stone is subtly incorporated into the Zproyecto logo.
These crystals work to improve different aspects of the wearer’s life, tailored to their needs – like physical and mental power, manifestation, self confidence, good communication, self love, calmness and relaxation, eliminating any sort of ‘dis-ease’ as explained in homeopathy when a person is in any form of discomfort.
“Our clothing works on multiple levels. We appreciate women want to look and feel beautiful, so we have created a stunning range of handmade garments in some of the finest fabrics. But we have also added an element which will give women that extra edge they might need – whether it’s to give them strength, courage, help them face an ailment or resolve a worry or fear – we think Chi Couture combines the best elements of femininity with a powerful new aspect of fashion which will help them achieve their goals,” says the creative healer.
The range can best be viewed at the exclusive Al Ghurair store, priced from AED350 to AED1200. Bespoke customisation according to client preferences, size, fabric and colors can take just 14 days.
As well as Chi Couture, Zproyecto brings a basket of unique, rare and exciting offerings to the discerning UAE market, including a handpicked range of healing crystals, home décor, healing jewellery, Hojari Omani frankincense, handmade meditation carpets and mats and handmade candles and incense.
Visit https://zproyecto.com/ to know more.