SIA – Ayurveda, Mental Health, and the Natural Environment: Reclaiming Balance through Sattvic Living
with Rika Yogeshwarun, MS, CAHC
8 p.m. ET | 7 p.m. CT | 5 p.m. PT
About This Seminar
How do our rhythms, senses, and surroundings shape the mind? Conversations about mental health often focus on what happens within us: our thoughts, symptoms, and coping strategies. Ayurveda invites a wider view. It recognizes the mind as continually shaped by the body, the senses, daily and seasonal rhythms, relationships, and the natural environment.
Drawing on her background in global mental health and her work as an Ayurvedic wellness counselor, Rika explores how classical concepts such as manas, the gunas, and the inner ecology of prana, agni, and ojas offer a relational framework for understanding mental well-being.
Why It Matters
Modern life has changed what we ask the mind to take in and digest. We face constant stimulation, little time in nature, and disrupted sleep and daily rhythms. This seminar looks at where classical Ayurveda meets contemporary research on nature exposure, light, and circadian rhythm. It offers practitioners a grounded, integrative lens that widens the field of inquiry and complements psychological and medical care rather than replacing it.
What to Expect
Participants will learn to:
Describe the Ayurvedic understanding of manas and the gunas as a relational model of mental well-being.
Explain how prana, agni, and ojas, together with daily and seasonal rhythms, influence mental and emotional balance.
Identify areas of dialogue between Ayurveda and contemporary research on nature exposure, light, and circadian rhythm.
Apply a six-domain Sattvic living framework and reflective questions to support clients' mental well-being.
The session closes with Sattvic living as a practical bridge. It covers small, sustainable choices in nourishment, rhythm, breath, rest, connection, and time in nature that support clarity and steadiness. You'll leave with a framework of inquiry to bring to your own life and to the people you serve.
Bio:
Rika Yogeshwarun is a CAHC Board-Certified Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor and the founder of Restoring Rika, a holistic practice specializing in wellness and mental health.
With a Master of Science in Global Mental Health and Society, she integrates modern research with Ayurvedic wisdom through a bio-psycho-social-spiritual lens. Her focus is on prevention, nature-based approaches, and Sattvic living. Her practice centers on plant-based nourishment and Ahimsa (non-violence), encouraging clients to live in harmony with the seasons and cycles of nature.
Rika has also contributed to suicide prevention initiatives, digital mental health research, and childhood domestic violence advocacy. Most recently, she has done Indigenous health work through a fellowship, alongside leading educational outreach and community-based health promotion.
Rika offers one-to-one consultations and welcomes partnerships, collaborations, and speaking invitations. Learn more at www.restoringrika.com or follow her on Instagram at @restoringrika.