Teaching the Full Wealth of Ayurveda in the Modern Western World

by Nidhi Pandya, CAP

“I consume ashwagandha, thus I practice Ayurveda.”

“I follow Ayurveda. I have taken a dosha quiz online.”

“I like what Ayurveda has to offer, but I find it very restrictive and daunting.” 

I have lost count of the number of times I have heard such statements. Given its vast scope and accessibility, it’s surprising how completely misunderstood and underutilized Ayurveda is here in the West. To put it into perspective, 36 million Americans practice or have tried yoga and 65 million have explored Traditional Chinese Medicine, while only 250,000 Americans have dabbled in Ayurveda. Given the potential that Ayurveda holds, this number boggles my mind.

Upon investigation and introspection, I found that Ayurveda is often presented in a very dogmatic and counterintuitive form. How did a health preserving and nurturing science that was meant to be intuitive, get so far removed from its original intent? This question led me to look back into my own childhood. My grandfather, being an Ayurvedic healer in Mumbai, introduced me to Ayurveda when I was still a baby. As a result, I was taught this natural healing science like one learns a first language, effortlessly through immersion. This approach eventually brought me to an epiphany: Ayurveda needs to be passed on as a science, not with a list of practices or prescriptions. Rather, it should be passed on as a complete set of principles that can be applied to all aspects of one’s life.  

As a practitioner in the West, carrying my lineage from the East, I feel responsible for passing on this wisdom in a way that communicates its true potential so more people can benefit from its richness. Together, we can present Ayurveda in its true light and preserve its original teachings, albeit in the modern world. The first part of this article deals with the challenges of the current presentation of Ayurveda by putting us in the shoes of the modern Ayurvedic enthusiast. The second part offers some tried and tested ideas that practitioners can put into practice to empower their clients and give them a more intuitive understanding of Ayurveda.

Challenge #1: You need to know your dosha to practice Ayurveda

The Challenge

Most people stumble on Ayurveda because it respects bio-individuality. And while a dosha quiz makes people feel understood, it can quickly become a trap. The body is a very complex machine that is changing all the time. It is impossible for any quiz to cover all aspects of a human body and at the same time be able to consider its dynamism. People are often frustrated as different quizzes may yield different doshic results. Additionally, putting ourselves into a box can be confusing as we may experience different symptoms at any given time. This often leads to doubt and frustration and even shying away from Ayurveda altogether. 

The Solution

While taking a dosha quiz can be entertaining and give someone an idea of his or her dosha, the results should not be considered a definitive analysis. However, the experience can empower people to tune into their own body to understand symptoms. Presenting them with a chart of 20 gunas, or pairs of opposite qualities (for example, wet and dry, hot and cold), and exploring their symptoms on the basis of their gunas, has often worked well with my clients. Additionally, dividing all symptoms into three categories—building or nourishing (K), transforming or heating (P), and drying or depleting (V)—can be very useful in getting a sense of one’s own body. As intuitive understanding is achieved, one can extend that understanding to everything in his or her universe. This is more empowering than surrendering to a quiz that one cannot fully comprehend.

Challenge #2: You have to eat Indian foods to practice Ayurveda

The Challenge

While Ayurveda has its roots in India, it is a truly universal science based on simple principles of the planet—of Mother Nature. When people feel they are limited to spicing their food with turmeric or eating khichdi every day, they find Ayurveda extremely restrictive and are less likely to practice it and pass it on. Additionally, certain Indian spices and foods can be very pungent for some. I often say that an Indian spice such as turmeric, when consumed with the wrong understanding, can become non-Ayurvedic, whereas a Western spice used with the right principles can become Ayurvedic.

The Solution

As practitioners, we have a duty to communicate the principles on which and how substances are used in Ayurveda. Substances are not used for their absolute benefits as measured in laboratories. They are used on the principle of Dravya (Substance), Guna (Properties) and Karma (Action). Each substance is understood for its potency, its properties, and thus its actions. It can then be determined if the herb or food should be used alone or in combination to create the desired outcome. Ayurveda provides the tools, or pramanas, so that new substances can be studied through this lens and their application can be understood in the modern world. The misuse of Ayurvedic substances has caused a backlash and thus slowed down the growth of Ayurveda globally.

Challenge #3: Ayurveda is not backed by science

The Challenge

In the world of rationalization and research, people are likely to label Ayurveda as unscientific. We ascribe so much power to only those things that can be comprehended through the five senses that we tend to discard explanations that require us to look beyond our usual way of perceiving as gibberish.

The Solution

One needs to be reminded of the innate power and instinct we all possess. Some of the most complex processes of life are intuitive. For example, when a baby is born, he or she instantly knows how to suckle. Even the process of intercourse, which leads to the creation of an entire organism, is almost free of intellect and cannot be replicated in a laboratory with cells even if one tries. I also often point at the accuracy of the scriptures to prove their merit. A verse in the Sharira Sthana, states that a woman is most likely to conceive on Dwadash Nisha, the twelfth night after her period. How did the sages know this information long before the West even understood ovulation? It is important to convey that this knowledge was procured through inner wisdom that was a result of deep meditation and total detachment from the sensory world.

Challenge #4: Ayurveda is popularized as a treatment modality

The Challenge

People often come to Ayurveda in their quest for an alternative healing method when the mainstream medical system has yielded no results. They are prescribed herbs and a diet they may follow blindly and see some results without knowing how these treatments work. While this approach to Ayurveda may help them in the short term, it does not offer the potential to transform their way of living. Ayurveda clearly states that eliminating the cause of the disease is more important than merely treating it.

The Solution

Seldom do people have an awareness or understanding that Ayurveda is an all-encompassing science and a source of profound wisdom that lends perspective to every aspect of life and our lived experience. It is not only a treatment modality, but also a body of knowledge that really teaches us how to live well, nurture and sustain well-being, and prevent disease. For example, the second chapter of Ashtanga Hridayam talks about sadvrutta, or good conduct. Similarly, the Uttar Sthan goes into details of caring for a newborn. There are no questions regarding human life that Ayurveda cannot answer. By offering clients simple Ayurvedic principles to follow, we can empower them to change their everyday life for the better. Some principles I offer in my practice are listed at the end of this article.

Challenge #5: Ayurveda is ancient

The Challenge

If Ayurveda dates back 5,000 years, why should it be relevant today? A lot of people dismiss Ayurveda as an outdated system, one that may have held merit in the past but is obsolete today.

The Solution

Just as physics is the science of matter and chemistry is the science of chemicals, Ayurveda is the science of life. The laws of physics don’t change, but their applications do. Similarly, since Ayurveda is based on the study of the human body and its connection with the universe, the principles of Ayurveda will remain relevant for as long as the Earth orbits the sun. I have found that instead of backing up the merits of Ayurveda using modern-day research, which can be easily refuted, it has been more rewarding to explain the Ayurvedic perspective by going back to how it originated, with a deep understanding of the macro-cosmos and micro-cosmos.

Challenge #6: Ayurvedic terms lose their meanings when translated

The Challenge

I have found this issue to be a real challenge. Sanskrit is a rich language, and the nomenclature encodes what a substance means. Very often, the message and depth are lost in translation.

The Solution

I find it very useful to use analogies and metaphors to convey the right meaning. For example, the word for oil is sneha, which also means “love.” Translating the name of the substance used for abhyanga as “oil” misses that point. Therefore, it is important for us as practitioners to familiarize ourselves with the basics of Sanskrit terminology so we can convey its deeper meaning to our clients. I have found that people connect more deeply with their practices when they understand their true essence.

Simple Principles & Tools

I would now like to offer some simple principles and tools that as practitioners we can use to educate our clients, teaching them how to bring sustainable Ayurveda into their lives or the lives of their clients. 

Following the Circadian Rhythm

I have found this to be the easiest way to communicate the ideal design for the day. We are diurnal mammals, and just as all mammals function according to their relationship with the sun, so should we. Our body is designed to rise with the sun and go to sleep when it sets on most days, except during really cold winters. Additionally, as the sun is just coming up in the morning and the earth remains wet from dew, our agni and biological systems are mirroring these phenomena. We can honor this synchronicity by kick-starting our system with some vyayam or exercise and a warm breakfast. As the sun peaks in the sky, our agni and ability to concentrate and focus also reach their zenith, making the afternoon pitta kala the best time for a big meal and intellectually stimulating work. All phases of the day can be explained by encouraging the client to look at the clock of the universe. 

Human Beings Are Warm Blooded

Human beings are warm-blooded creatures with a normal body temperature of 98.7℉, and our body likes to stay in that zone. At the same time, our body is constantly processing and transforming what we take in, whether it be food or information. Just as all transformation in the universe requires warmth, so does our human body, by way of endothermic and exothermic reactions. This analogy makes a great case for avoiding cold foods and keeping warm all that we consume.  

The Gunas Chart

Encouraging clients to pin up a chart with the 20 gunas to refer to consistently will be greatly beneficial. I encourage my clients to go back to the chart every time they are experiencing a symptom and to try to see where it falls on the chart. I also encourage them to bring their attention to the opposite guna to understand what they need to do or what they may need to avoid.

The above are simple and non-overwhelming ways to bring Ayurveda into one’s life. If we can make this science more accessible to people in a comprehensible manner, I am certain that it can be established as a health system that takes people away from the fear of disease and gives them the freedom that comes from being well.

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About the Author

Nidhi Pandya, CAP, is a third generation Ayurvedic practitioner. She has a strong foundation in the ancient Ayurvedic texts. She is a core part of the faculty at the US based Shakti School and been a speaker at various organizations, including Google and The Chopra Center.

Eight tips for better digestion with Ayurveda

Ayurveda is an ancient system of health care. Ayurvedic theory is based on the tridosha concept: vata, pitta, and kapha. These tridosha are the backbone of Ayurvedic diagnostic and treatment principles, including those related to digestion.

The functions of the doshas

Everybody has all three doshas in their body but one is predominant. Only a few people have two predominant doshas. If all the doshas are balanced, then there is no problem. But when a dosha goes out of balance, it can create health issues.

Vata dosha is responsible for circulation and elimination, and it controls the nervous system.

Pitta means “which digests,” so it’s no surprise that it’s responsible for digestion and body energy.

Kapha dosha provides structural integrity. It acts as a cementing agent, giving your body its weight, mass, and stability.

Digestion: the foundation of health with Ayurveda

So many people are struggling with digestive issues. You already know that pitta dosha is responsible for digestion. Pitta dosha is also connected to agni, or digestive fire. Agni is the gatekeeper of good health.

According to Ayurveda, strong digestion is key to good health. When agni is imbalanced, digestive problems start to appear.

Improper digestion creates ama (toxins) in the body. Ama is the root cause of many diseases. Ayurveda says that your stomach, your digestive system, is the root of your body. If the root is strong, things are in order. If our digestion is imbalanced, diseases can develop.

Our wrong eating habits imbalance our agni. Everybody tries to eat good, healthy foods. But sometimes we don’t take our food on time. We don’t drink enough liquids. And maybe in couple of years, we start experiencing digestive issues.

Eight tips from Ayurveda for balanced digestion

Here are few tips to keep your agni and, ultimately, your digestion balanced.

1. Drink 2 liters (67.6 oz.) of water every day

Ayurveda recommends drinking four glasses of water on an empty stomach. And during the day it’s advised that you drink one glass of water every one and half hours.

The proper way of drinking water is to take one glass of warm water and drink it slowly sip by sip and finish it. Don’t just take a few sips now and a few more again after 5–10 minutes, because that will imbalance the digestive fire. Always drink warm water. Avoid cold and chilled things.

2. Always eat seasonal foods

Always eat fresh, cooked, and warm foods that are in season. Eat at regular mealtimes. Eat slowly.

Don’t freeze or store food for future consumption. Fresh, cooked food is alkaline. Stored food becomes acidic. So, follow the wisdom of nature, and eat foods that are in season.

3. Eat regularly, but not too frequently

Never skip breakfast. Your body, especially your brain, needs fuel in the morning. Food is fuel. There should be at least a 4-hour gap between two meals. The only exceptions to this advice are kids, old, and sick people.

4. Eat the right foods at the right time

Your food should be digested before going to bed because your body slows down when you’re asleep. Eat at least 2 hours before going to bed. Eat heavier foods in the middle of the day and lighter, easy-to-digest foods in the evening.

Avoid spicy, cold, fermented, and frozen foods. Always eat freshly cooked food.

5. Leave room for digestion

Don’t fill up your stomach. This Ayurvedic shlokha tells you how much to eat:

POORTE ASHNAINA ARADHA TRITYA UDKENTU
VAYO SANCHNNARTHA CHATURTH AVASHESHYAT

“One should fill half his stomach with food and
leave one-quarter for water and one-quarter for movement of air.” 

6. Exercise regularly

Walk and exercise regularly. As they say: “After lunch, rest a while, and after dinner, walk a mile.”

7. Spice it up

Drink ginger tea. Add cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, and cumin. Add ajwayan and turmeric to your food. Keep in mind that everything should be used in moderation.

Ayurveda uses foods, herbs, and spices as medicine. This shlokha sums it up: 

VINAAPI BHAISHJYAEVIDHUI PATHYADEV NIRVARTATE
NA TU PATHYA VAHINSAYA BHAISHAJANANM SHTRRRAI

“No medicine is required by a person who carefully follows the prescribed diet guidelines. But who does not follow the diet principles cannot be helped even by hundreds of medicines.”

8. Follow Ayurveda’s daily habit recommendations

Follow Ayurveda’s dinacharya, or daily habit recommendations, to help keep your body in balance and, ultimately, free from disease.

Ayurveda helps you stay healthy and return to balance when your doshas go out of balance. It works with lifestyle, diet, and herbal remedies among other things to better your digestion. Please check with your doctor or health care provider before using any ideas mentioned in this article.

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about the author

N.K. Dutta, DNM, CAP, is Surrey BC Canada based Ayurvedic Vaidya. His main objective is to educate and raise awareness in human beings about Ayurveda in the world. He has more than 40 years of experience in Ayurveda. www.ayurvediccure.co

Myra Lewin: Achieving Success in Business and in Life

An interview with Myra Lewin, CAP AYT, Bali, Indonesia

by Maria Radloff

Is it possible to have a successful, thriving Ayurveda and Yoga business for over twenty-three years? Myra Lewin, NAMACB board certified Ayurvedic Practitioner and Ayurveda Yoga Therapist of Hale Pule Ayurveda and Yoga, has established that it not only is possible, but also can be done in a way that fosters self-preservation and balance.

I spoke with my Myra, who currently resides in a village outside of Ubud on the island of Bali. I could hear the tropical birds singing as we spoke on Zoom about how she was denied re-entry to her new residence in New Zealand due to the Covid-19 lockdown. When asked how this situation affected her business, she stated that many of the in-person trainings such as chef trainings and treatment trainings had already been cancelled due to Covid-19, but because her entire clientele was now online, moving locations was something that could be done with ease. Before coming to New Zealand, Myra had developed a beautiful Yoga and Ayurveda practice in Hawaii over the span of twenty years, in which 80 percent of the business was offered in person.

Being online has simplified her business and allows her to reach a global population, including people in pockets of the world that would never otherwise have access to her services. Although her business is more profitable, the struggle now is monitoring time spent at the computer since she has seen the effects on her body from sitting at a desk all day. Seven hours is tolerable, but on some days, the hours at her computer can get up to ten! She looks forward to returning to in-person clients and trainings by the end of the year.

Growing up in rural Tennessee, Myra enjoyed working on and racing cars, crafting with wood, and teaching. She got her first car at fourteen! She explored a career in manufacturing and distribution, but after ten years, the details of her true path began to unfold. She had been teaching Yoga and Ayurveda daily, doing workshops, and seeing clients since 1996, but based on an astrologer’s suggestions, she moved to the Hawaiian Islands, and felt the push to begin her full-time Yoga and Ayurveda business, even though it’s not what she ever expected she would do.

A beloved grandfather had shared words of wisdom about work and life with her, stating that those two things should co-exist. And from that inspiration, Hale Pule (“House of Prayer”) was launched in her Hawaiian home, allowing Myra to create a sanctuary for both herself and the clients she was serving.

So what are the secrets to Myra’s success?

Running a small business isn’t easy. It requires a major investment of time and energy, and there are sacrifices to be made. Attempting to become an entrepreneur can turn a person’s life upside down—leading to eating fast food on the run, not exercising, letting relationships fall apart, and definitely not making time for yoga practices. It’s almost a death sentence for some. But here is Myra, twenty-three years later, looking healthy and radiant, just going with where the universe takes her business and her.

1. Create a foundation assembled of practices that support you.

What does a normal “day at the office” look like for Myra? Since she has fully integrated her work and personal life, she starts her day early with her own practices. Unless she is catching an early flight or feeling sick, which only happens once every five to seven years, she never misses the meditation or pranayama segments of her daily yoga routine. She insists that having this foundation is critical to well-being and success. The rest of her day is filled with consults, administrative work, and team meetings. And she always finds time to cook simple meals and take a walk.

Before moving to Hawaii, Myra dabbled in Iyengar yoga, but soon switched to Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga when a friend suggested she needed a breathier practice. Working her way through Patthabi Jois’s first three series, she to this day draws from the Ashtanga practice.

Investing deeply in her foundation, she studied with Richard Freeman in Colorado, as well as trekking around the world to Mysore, India, to study with the creator himself, Sri Patthabi Jois. She was willing to share some funny stories of practicing with some of these master teachers, which all seem to take place in small spaces!

She met a lovely German fellow at the original Mysore Ashtanga yoga shala, which held only twelve people. Imagine a hot, sticky room, filled to capacity with moving bodies, sweating onto mats. The German gloated about his healthy, all-cabbage diet—from both his mouth and, well, the other end.

The other story takes place at Tim Miller’s shala in Carlsbad, California. A traditional Ashtanga Mysore practice lines up practitioners in two rows, facing each other. While getting into garbha pindasana, Myra found herself doing a complete summersault out of the posture, rolling into the row across from her. Ashtanga yoga practice is good for not only building strength and flexibility, but also serving up a nice dose of humility.

A beautiful lesson that Myra enjoyed sharing with me was that you can’t rush or force things in life, regardless of how enticing they may be. Only a couple of months into her deep dive into the Ashtanga yoga system, she had hopped into an advanced class that her mind loved, but her nervous system simply wasn’t ready for. After the practice, a friend found her sitting outside on the sidewalk, noticing something was wrong, making it clear there is no fast-tracking one’s yoga practice. To this day, Myra continues to practice a true vinyasa (slow connection of the poses with the thread of the breath) from Ashtanga yoga, modified to meet her body’s balancing needs.

From her own experience in going too far, too fast, she instructs her yoga clients to practice from the inside out. She asks them to focus inward, with full attention on the body, energy, and mental state rather than what is going on around them. She encourages a challenging practice yet not going beyond your limit. One of the most prominent trends she has seen in yoga is pushing too hard and over-practicing, causing depletion and injuries.

2. Manage your energy from the inside out. 

This takes us to another important secret of success—managing one’s energy. I inquired about how she manages to fit in her own practices, cook her meals, and keep up with work, even on the craziest of days. She laughed and said she doesn’t allow herself to have crazy days. She can’t afford the vata vitiation that gets stirred up from over-scheduling or trying to do too much. She values a steady day that chugs along at a comfortable, peaceful pace. She even takes this ideology with her on trips to Japan, where—although she believes that Tokyo is the fastest place on the planet—she maintains steadiness and good measure. Anything is possible when you take the time to prioritize, stay with the plan, and be a bit flexible.

We all must plan and prioritize our activities in this busy world, which offers so many interesting opportunities and enticing choices! Because it is easy to derail with distractions, one must be focused and not tempted to chase down and invest precious time into things that aren’t on the priority list. To illustrate, she shared a story of a client who offered to teach her 250 mantras. While she was amazed and enchanted that somebody could maintain such a lovely collection of chants, Myra instantly knew that her three to four chants were sufficient for her practice and was then able to strategically decline the tempting offer. It’s important to value experiences and practical application of knowledge rather than constantly collecting data and information.

This is another trend that she sees seducing humanity—trying to do too much. Without having a conscious understanding of one’s priorities, how can the right choices be made? She sees that overscheduled children will face imbalances as they grow up from not having the discernment to turn away exciting opportunities that sidetrack them from their true goals. This will exhaust them at an early age, depleting their ojas and vitality.

Throughout the day, Myra doesn’t let the outside world dictate the inside pace of her life. There is no need to succumb to panic from others if one can remain focused on the schedule and priorities set for the day. Energy management starts with having a clear vision of what the priorities are and making choices to support them, rather than becoming distracted. It’s okay to let everything else go.

A peek inside Myra’s successful business

Myra loves watching trends. Living in Hawaii, she watched the tourists as they ate in the local restaurants. Over the years, she saw their health declining as modern eating habits increasingly diverged from sustainable lifestyles. She constantly sees eating fads in the news and uses all this information to educate her clients on how to eat without falling victim to these modern trends.

When I asked Myra if she had any advice for new NAMA Professional Members, she offered that you need to remain attuned to the reasons why you chose this path in the first place. What is in your heart? Make your choices from the inside out. Stay focused. Clear the limiting beliefs that hold you back. 

1. Health starts in the kitchen.

This is illustrated in Myra’s desire to heal those who have fallen victim to poor eating habits. She follows her heart, not getting distracted by all the other problems in the world. A yoga teacher once instructed her to make cooking a part of her yoga practice. At the time she was not one who enjoyed cooking, let alone cleaning up afterwards!

 Myra grew up learning to cook a bit from her mother since they lived in a rural area and eating out wasn’t convenient. She learned just enough that she was able to serve up an entire Thanksgiving meal when she was eight because her mom had fallen sick that day. But it wasn’t until Myra dove into Ayurveda that her cooking skills solidified enough to author two cookbooks.

Before Ayurveda really hit the U.S., there were only two Ayurvedic cookbooks available: Amadea Morningstar’s The Ayurvedic Cookbook and Dr. Vasant Lad’s Ayurvedic Cooking for Self-Healing, which focused mainly on Indian cuisine. While these books were helpful introductions, it wasn’t until she got to peek into some kitchens in India that she had some aha moments. 

Myra produced two books on Ayurvedic eating and cooking. The first, Freedom in Your Relationship with Food: An Everyday Guide (2008), was written as a transitional book since Ayurveda hadn’t quite found its way into the mainstream yet. The book covers how to eat in a style that is still familiar to people in Western cultures, but gently introduces Ayurvedic practices. It also offers recipes that are accessible to those living in the West. 

Her second book, Simple Ayurvedic Recipes: A Companion Cookbook to Freedom in Your Relationship with Food (Simple Ayurvedic Cooking) (2011) focuses more on recipes based on her own simple everyday cooking—nothing fancy, just meals that are tasty and fulfilling. Rather than including photos of the food, Myra left the task of visualization to her readers’ imagination so they could create their own dishes, not recreate hers. Everyone has a different kitchen, a different environment, and a different body to feed, so food should be personalized, just like everything else in Ayurveda.

I was curious about her favorite flavors and spices, and when I asked her about them, she noted that we should be wary of our favorites because those preferences can indicate an imbalance. But to play along with my question, she did offer that she loves a nice blend of cardamom, cinnamon, and vanilla, as well as the pairing up of rosemary and ginger. She loves having access to fresh cilantro and coriander in Bali, too. Her advice when it comes to spicing is to begin with three spices plus salt, until you get familiar with some tasty blends and can begin creatively expanding your own master mixes.

Regardless of cooking skills, love is always the most important ingredient. Sharing meals with friends and family is a wonderful expression of this love, and it supports a connection with one’s self, the other dinner guests, and nature. Having grown up in a large family, Myra cautions against bringing the day’s drama to the dinner table, suggesting that we just keep the conversation light and enjoyable. Having some meals in complete silence connects us with the food and eating process.

2. Yoga and Ayurveda must be used together.

While practicing yoga helps us better understand ourselves as eternal, Ayurveda heals us from the disease stemming from our disconnection from this truth. An understanding of the holistic nature of using yoga and Ayurveda together for healing explodes the old way of viewing things, and as one’s thinking evolves, incredible changes take place. This allows life to get fabulous! Peak results are derived.

I asked her which topic in Ayurveda was her favorite to discuss with her students. She expressed how much she enjoys discussing the six stages of disease with them because they begin to observe their own symptoms and how imbalances evolve, so they can then take steps to reverse the disease process.

As one of the the early disciples of the integration of yoga and Ayurveda in the U.S, Myra grew up with access to master teachers who greatly inspired her, such as David Frawley, Robert Svoboda, Patricia Hansen, and Sarasvati Burman. Now that she is a master teacher herself, I wondered what advice she would offer a student seeking to embark on a new Ayurveda program. She suggested first getting clear on the why, visualizing how he or she wants to work with clients, and how that might show up in his or her life. For example, at what level would the student like to practice? It’s important not to get hung up on titles. Some individuals may excel as a health coach or counselor and would thrive in community education and assisting individuals with healthy daily routines. Others might be talented in treating diseases and imbalances or in developing custom yoga practices and behavioral and mental therapies.

When researching educational programs, it’s prudent to consider both the academics and practical experience of working directly with clients. Teaching students the principles of these disciplines in classes without demonstrating their application cheats them of a vital part of their training. Myra includes this integration of knowledge with the experience in all her training programs.

The hard parts of business 

It would be unfair to say that running a business is as easy as Myra makes it look. I had to know where she got hung up! The first thing she mentioned was marketing. This wasn’t a skill she developed in her previous business career since advertising was actually frowned upon in her industry. She had to begin from scratch, which was okay, because everyone was starting from scratch as the internet was just emerging in the mid to late nineties, perfect timing for her business, which opened in 1999. Honoring the flow, she accepted the resources that showed up when she needed them, nudging her toward developing a website and helping her to bring it to fruition. As online publishing gained momentum, she had to face her introverted personality and begin the process of posting photos and videos. She set out to prove that the integrated practice of yoga and Ayurveda is not just a fad, but a potent approach to healing and living.

If there is one thing to conclude from all of Myra’s advice, it’s to be naturally driven from within, which empowers creative choice. Design a marketing strategy from a place in your heart rather than being led around by external surroundings and circumstances. You should allow your marketing to express who you are. This authenticity will get people’s attention and allow them to receive and understand your message and will ultimately generate the results you are seeking.

Besides marketing, Myra finds administrative tasks somewhat burdensome and difficult. As technology develops, the simplest things become complex. These administrative tasks also require more hours at the computer, which continue to pile up these days.

Other than that, business for Myra has been enjoyable and a bit of an adventure. By maintaining her foundation built from supportive practices and by managing her daily energy from within, built around a list of priorities, she has found success both in her business activities, but more important, in her pursuit of overall happiness and well-being.

The future of Ayurveda in the West

As a Professional Member of NAMA, Myra values the many benefits of membership, like connecting with other members, making lifetime friends, and feeling supported in her work, as well as enjoying continuing education with monthly seminars. She’s no stranger to the annual conferences and loves to buy the recordings when she can’t attend in person.

Speaking about her vision of what is possible practicing Ayurveda in the U.S., she notes the importance of healthcare freedom laws. She hates to see limitations on the way Ayurveda is practiced and wishes that the rest of the states would follow the lead of the eleven states that have already embraced freedom in healthcare choices. She is concerned the practice of Ayurveda could get diluted when used within our current medical system, especially if it becomes commercialized. She yearns to see Ayurveda practiced to its full extent as a comprehensive system of knowledge and healing and feels that great education is the key.

To learn more about Myra and her Yoga and Ayurveda services, please visit Hale Pule.

About the Author

Maria Radloff is currently a student at Kerala Ayurveda Academy and practices and teaches Ashtanga Yoga and Sanskrit. Besides her passion for yoga, she loves design and writing and works as a graphic designer, specializing in non-profits and yoga businesses.

Annual Update From NAMA’s President

Join us for the Annual President’s Update Webinar on October 27, 2021 from 3-4 pm Pacific.
Learn more →

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by Margrit Mikulis ND, AD

It has been an honor to have had a front-seat view of the incredible work accomplished this past year. I feel proud of our growing staff, volunteer, and member workforce; their service is the heart and soul of NAMA. We are so fortunate that we have such a dedicated group of people within our organization who are thrilled about Ayurveda and who work to help NAMA and the profession thrive!

Since our organization’s inception, hundreds of people have served as volunteers, and notably during this past year, over 70 members have served NAMA in this capacity. I am inspired and stand in awe knowing the capabilities of our “think tank.” We are such a great powerhouse of professionals creating and gifting time for everything that represents our great organization and community within NAMA and for Ayurveda. Ayurveda is growing in the United States because of our collective contributions and the hard work we do each year.   

How does NAMA work as an organization?

At the close of our fiscal year, the Executive Director requests an annual summary from the Chairs of each Committee at NAMA to highlight the teamwork and accomplishments from the previous year. All detail then gets compiled into our annual report, which can be accessed online (2020/2021 Annual Report). This year we brainstormed about how we can help our members better understand how NAMA functions. In the spirit of knowing that we can always improve, we now aim to educate our community about how NAMA operates, and how we uphold our vision and mission as our initiatives evolve each year. For all of you, it is my hope that this article will serve as a step toward that goal.  

Before diving into the details of our board’s processes, I will provide some helpful background information on the general structure of a Not-For-Profit Organization (NPO).

NAMA is a Private NPO and as such incorporates the following structural features:

• Stakeholders: People and organizations invested in NAMA’s success, such as members, sponsors, donors, volunteers, and beneficiaries

• Governance Body: The Board of Directors elected by NAMA stakeholders

• Director Nominations: Election of Directors by the voting members

• Management: The body of people who oversee operations, including the Executive Director, who reports to the Board of Directors  

As a volunteer-driven professional membership organization, we rely heavily on our stakeholders, including our voting members, to drive NAMA’s progress. Without stakeholders we would not have an organization. We view our stakeholders as the mitochondria of NAMA, here to empower people and to help advance our profession, build relationships, continuously improve the organization, and increase our success so that we can continue to achieve excellence in educating the country and the world about Ayurvedic medicine. Our stakeholders are the building blocks and internal engine of NAMA that hopefully will continue to sustain our strength and fuel out growth for years to come.  

Yearly, the Board of Directors collaborates with the Executive Director to determine the type of work that needs to be accomplished in any given year. We can determine our direction because the Board, the Executive Director, the staff, and our Committee members are driven by NAMA’s mission, vision, and purpose. The board determines organizational goals and objectives for the coming year and the Executive Director, the staff, and all the Committees work in concert to achieve the goals set each year by the board.

As the Board of Directors, we must ask big questions:

• What do we need accomplish in any given year?

• Was there any work that was carried over from the previous year, and if so, what are the fiscal ramifications?

• What initiatives do we know we need to complete?

• Are our operations aligned with our strategic plan?

• Did we meet the previous year’s goals?

• What obstacles prevented us from completing work that needed to get done?

In addition, I would like to emphasize that we are always having to answer the question can we afford to do this?. We faithfully rely on our budget as the financial framework that guides us during the year (Financial/Treasurer’s Report).

These are just some examples of how we determine our path to the future and find the best ways to execute our vision and strategy while upholding our mission to serve our membership and the Ayurvedic community.

Workflow and Our Volunteers

Our Executive Director and staff are responsible for the administrative functioning of NAMA, an enormous task that is constantly expanding and becoming more complex. The NAMA Board of Directors and all the individuals from the different Committees make up the entirety of our volunteer team. You can dive deeper into learning more about the NAMA Board of Directors and each Committee by reviewing the annual report. Our volunteers are students, general members, and professionals from all over the country. Like me, some began volunteering as students who eagerly entered the field with a strong desire to progress to a professional track. Others are already involved in some Ayurvedic professional capacity and serve because they are also interested in growing Ayurveda and helping the profession evolve in the United States. When I reflect on such a fine collection of individuals dedicating their time, the volunteers seem like the mosaics of the Taj Mahal, each one contributing something beautiful and vital to NAMA’s structure and function over the past 21 years.

Highlighted Outcomes from 2021

Like many other organizations, NAMA experienced challenges and had to change direction in 2020 because of COVID-19. Timelines and work shifted as we responded to the needs of our community. Below are some highlights from the past year that can help illuminate some of NAMA’s incredible accomplishments in 2020:

• Accreditation Council: The NAMA Board of Directors and the board of the National Ayurvedic Medical Accreditation Council (NAMAC) worked the entire year to prepare for a successful Iaunch of NAMAC’s operations in August 2021. With NAMA’s financial support and the collaborative efforts of the NAMAC Board of Directors and NAMA’s Executive Director, Hilary Garivaltis, NAMAC was able to hire an Executive Director, Lisa Cavallaro, in February 2021. NAMA helped secure NAMAC’s initial operating budget with a financial commitment of $50,000 over the next year. This is a monumental endeavor and a historical moment for the Ayurvedic profession as we approach a new horizon of academic excellence for Ayurvedic schools and programs in the United States. 

• Certification Board: The NAMA Certification Board (NAMACB) is now four years old and has been working hard on promoting the Ayurvedic Health Counselor and Ayurvedic Practitioner certification exams while developing the Ayurvedic Doctor exam. The Ayurvedic Doctor beta testing phase should begin in early-2022. This exam will serve as the third component of the only official and verifiable set of professional certifications for Ayurveda in the United States. A huge accomplishment for any profession, the creation of certification exams is a hallmark of any profession’s growth and viability.

• Conference/Events: In 2020, we initially faced the challenge of having to make a swift and difficult decision to cancel our annual in-person conference but quickly moved forward to host our first virtual conference. Additionally, with the help of an outside consulting team, we determined that we would expand our events and host educational programming for the Ayurvedic community in 2020/2021. These events included Ayurveda Day and The Business of Ayurveda. As the pandemic extended further into 2020, the Board of Directors determined that it would be in our community’s best interest to host our 2021 annual conference on a virtual platform as well. Although the cancellation of the in-person conference is disappointment, we welcome this new opportunity to keep our community connected and to get more experience hosting large online events.

• Membership: The Membership Committee hosted a Leadership Summit for the first time this past year to give our Committee volunteers a chance to learn about all the wonderful things each Committee is doing. The Committee also hosted the first round of Student and Professional “Mingles” in response to the call for more time to connect and interact as a community. These events have been a great success, and we plan on continuing and expanding them in the coming year. We also created a special BAMS Task Force to focus on the particular needs and contributions of this growing portion of our membership community. Finally, the Membership Committee has now opened to programs that offer Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy and has welcomed the first two programs this year.

• Diversity and Inclusion: The NAMA board established the Diversity and Inclusion Committee in July 2020 to support the growing needs of our community.  The board felt it was imperative to offer a training series led by a specialist in the field so that we could provide more education on this important issue to our members. The Committee worked diligently and after conducting a rigorous selection process hired Diversity Antiracism and Inclusion Trainer Mariama Boney of Achieve More, LLC. With Mariama at the helm, NAMA hosted a three-part monthly training program between February and April 2021. “Reveal, Realign, Restore” was an interactive and recorded program that gave the participants an opportunity to discuss and celebrate diversity and inclusivity within the Ayurvedic profession.

• President’s Corner: From April 2020 through April 2021, I hosted 19 virtual programs for our community on topics ranging from Classical Ayurvedic Perspectives on COVID-19 to Biodiversity and Health with Vandana Shiva. Over the past year, I had great conversations with many NAMA board members, keynote speakers from our conference, and other professionals who specialize in topics related to Ayurveda. All past recordings are available to members and can be accessed from the events page on our website. 

Looking back on this past year, I am hopeful and remain positive about the future, yet feel compelled to acknowledge the suffering and challenges faced by so many of you and by all communities locally and globally. A massive global healthcare burden exists that can no longer be ignored. We know that this pandemic is an undeniable example of how our environment directly connects to our health and well-being. We as Ayurvedic professionals are grappling with the same questions confronting all of humanity and every faction of healthcare:

How do we respond to this increasingly urgent call for global health and wellness?

How can we as professionals and individuals promote health in our families and within our communities?

How can we protect Mother Earth and all of humanity so that our children and their children will come to know that a healthy planet equals healthier people?

Since the beginning of 2020, maintaining our health has taken on new meaning. Our service and the wisdom of Ayurveda are needed now more than ever. It is so important to acknowledge how the shared experience of the pandemic continues to influence and shape all of us as professionals. Knowing this I feel that we as colleagues must work together and keep striving to be of service to the Ayurvedic profession, to our communities, and to the world.

NAMA remains committed to growing with all of you. Ayurvedic medicine may be a young profession in this country but this ancient wisdom has flourished for millennia and is now taking root here in the United States. Collectively we are stakeholders in this profession, each one of us carving out the distinctions that define what Ayurvedic medicine means to the American people. As pioneers, we expect to wrestle with challenges; however we know that hard work, endurance, and commitment have proven to yield success after success for the National Ayurvedic Medical Association. Thanks to the efforts of teachers and students, doctors and clients, schools, product companies, cooks, authors, and scientists, and the passionate desire of the general public for alternative healthcare solutions, Ayurveda is no longer a quiet voice echoing across the mesas of New Mexico. We are a nationwide organization with a loud voice, opening doors for each other and all those who need Ayurveda’s natural, holistic approach to healing. 

We are all living and breathing examples of why Ayurveda continues to blossom and bear fruit, and every one of us can celebrate with certainty that we are changing lives, making history, and growing in strength and togetherness.

Hari Om.

In Gratitude,

Margrit Mikulis, ND, AD

NAMA President

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About the Author

Margrit Mikulis ND, AD, is a Naturopathic and Ayurvedic Doctor, practicing in Vermont and New Hampshire. She incorporates Ayurvedic principles and practices with other integrative medical systems and modalities. She has over 15 years of clinical experience serving children and families in the northeast and throughout the United States. Margrit serves on the NAMA Board of Directors and is currently NAMA’s President.

National Ayurvedic Medical Association 2021 Annual Conference Report

by Baba Lou Haber

The 17th Annual Conference of the National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA) brought together online 45 experts whose presentations centered on Ayurveda as evidenced-based and integrative medicine. The conference demonstrated how practitioners are harnessing scientific research to validate classical Ayurvedic approaches, growing expertise in disciplines of emerging importance such as microbiome research and genomics, and building bridges with Western medicine.

Integrative Medicine Defined

Among the first presenters was Victoria Maizes, MD, executive director and professor of medicine at the University of Arizona Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine. Maizes offered a definition of integrative medicine as “healing-oriented medicine that takes account of the whole person, including all aspects of lifestyle” and “emphasizes the therapeutic relationship between practitioner and patient, is informed by evidence, and makes use of all appropriate therapies.”

An internationally recognized leader in integrative medicine, Maizes began with an alarming statistic from JAMA: Even though 70% of deaths in the United States are due to behavioral and environmental factors, only 1%–3% of healthcare dollars are spent on disease prevention, compared to 97%–99% spent on medical care and biomedical research. She emphasized how “something is missing from our healthcare systems, and we believe that we can do a better job taking care of our patients through integrative medicine.”

Innovative Integrative Approaches

That spirit of advancing a better way to improve healthcare and foster wellness was abundantly evident throughout the NAMA conference. Presentation topics included evidenced-based approaches to healing leaky-gut syndrome (in which an unhealthy gut lining allows undigested food and toxins to leak into the bloodstream); innovative therapies to address gastrointestinal tumors; Ayurvedic approaches to mitochondrial diseases and disorders (which occur when mitochondria fail to produce sufficient energy for the body to properly function); and Ayurvedic prevention and treatment of gynecological disorders.

Among the presenters on yoga were Susan Bass, AP- and AYT-NAMA, E-RYT 500, C-IAYT, a certified Ayurvedic practitioner and Ayurvedic yoga therapist who founded the Sarasvati Institute of Ayurveda & Yoga Therapy and the Sarasvati Mission. “Ayurveda excels at digestion and detoxification, so it is about improving the quality of blood,” noted Bass. “That’s why Ayurveda and yoga are exponentially more effective when practiced together, because who cares if you have the blood moving around the body when it is of poor quality and does not nourish the cells and the organs?”

Bass led two sessions. The first examined the beneficial role of yoga in reducing stress and improving mental health. In her second presentation, Bass brought together asana, pranayama, mudra (gestures), and marma (vital body junction points) therapy to address vishama agni (irregular/weak metabolism), the type of digestive imbalance caused by excess vata (air/wind).

A Deeper Understanding of “Evidence”

Bhushan Patwardhan, PhD, national research professor at the Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, Savitribai Phule Pune University, provided an overview of Ayurveda as an evidenced-based science. He emphasized that Ayurveda and yoga require a different approach to research and a fresh look at what constitutes evidence, given that they have an entirely different framework than Western medicine.

According to Patwardhan, the integration of Ayurveda and modern medicine will entail an “epistemological transformation process” in which Ayurveda as a holistic, experiential, and natural approach will need to be more fully appreciated and understood by medical practitioners and the medical research community.

A New Paradigm to Foster and Sustain Health and Wellness

In her presentation “Biodiversity Is Health; Biodiversity Is Sustainability,” Vandana Shiva, PhD, likewise emphasized the critical importance of a paradigm shift—one to a more holistic understanding of health that includes our interconnectedness with all species and the entire planet.

“The paradigm we have today is one that doesn’t work with whole systems,” said Shiva, a researcher and eco-feminist food-sovereignty activist who founded the Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Ecology in Dehradun, India. In contrast, Shiva noted, Ayurveda teaches us that health is about balance. “The body is not little fragments and parts; the body is a non-separable whole interacting non-separably with the world and the biodiversity around us,” she said.

Shiva ended her talk with a call to action. “If there is one thing we can take forward from ecology, from biodiversity, from Ayurveda, it is our interconnectedness,” she said. “We are one, and we can be interconnected through health and regeneration, or through disease and degeneration. [E]ach of us should cultivate the will and determination and the hope that the regeneration part is what we will evolve.”

A Look at COVID-19

NAMA additionally offered a post conference event providing perspectives from conventional medicine and Ayurveda on COVID-19. The presentation, by Dhaval Dhru, MD, and Mimi Guarneri, MD, included a survey of preliminary research looking at promising results of both integrative and Ayurvedic treatments of the virus.

Throughout the conference, NAMA encouraged attendee donations to help the people of India during the country’s COVID-19 crisis through such organizations as Sewa International USA (www.sewausa.org).

Mark Your Calendars

Planning is already underway for NAMA’s next annual conference. The 2022 gathering will be a special event where participants will hopefully again meet in person. The theme of the conference, to be held in Tucson, Arizona, April 22–24, is “Ayurveda for Family Health.”

Originally published in Yoga Therapy Today, a publication of the International Association of Yoga Therapists (www.iayt.org). Shared with permission.

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About the Author

Baba Lou Haber has written for CBS News, served as a communications executive for several companies and public agencies, and is a Cicero Award–winning speechwriter. He is currently studying to be an Ayurvedic Health Counselor. Baba Lou also serves as a member of NAMA’s Communications Committee.

Helping Your Client Have a Healthy and Enjoyable Summer

A BRIEF REFERENCE GUIDE FOR STUDENTS AND AHC PROFESSIONALS

By Ana Chassot-Petersen, AHP, C-IAYT

Like George Harrison’s song says, Here comes the sun. It is a classic lyric associated with the season full of light, energy, and warmth.

As Ayurvedic practitioners who understand the significance of the change in seasons and its potential impact on health and wellness, we can offer our clients advice that goes beyond taking precautions to prevent sunburn. We understand that with its abundance of sun and heat, summer is the season that can most aggravate the pitta dosha.

When pitta accumulates and is aggravated, it can cause harmful inflammation – a hot topic these days. Studies have shown that inflammation can be a catalyst for negative cell transformation and become a pathway, or samprapti, for chronic diseases and some types of cancers. It can also accelerate the aging process. As we also know, more broadly, pitta regulates digestion, body temperature, and hormone levels, among other vital processes. It is responsible for metabolic transformations beginning at the cellular level. 

Making the change in seasons a teachable moment

A change in seasons is an opportune time to educate clients about health basics. Conversations can cover important topics such as adjustments to daily routine, diet, exercise, pranayama, and more. Of course, recommendations need to be client-specific, recognizing each individual’s prakruti (physical constitution) and potential for pitta accumulation and aggravation.

Below are some practices I have found personally helpful during summer. I offer them not as general advice, but to illustrate the breadth and depth of how we can engage our clients and help them to have a safe and enjoyable summer.

Starting the day well

• Lemon water in the morning has a sweet post-digestive effect (vipaka) and helps to alkalize the body, which can be helpful in circumventing harmful inflammatory processes.

• Because pitta can accumulate faster during late morning hours, eating a small and cooling breakfast can be a good way to begin the day. Include fruits such as cantaloupe, pears, and apples.

• For a more substantial breakfast, I like porridge with a little ghee, cardamom, some coconut milk, and turmeric.

Keeping to a consistent meal schedule

• Sticking to the classic Ayurvedic schedule of eating three times a day, with no snacking in between, can help keep pitta in balance. If we snack, we can create an overactive digestive fire and fuel harmful fermentation in the digestive tract. 

• Eat fewer calories. Controlling calories will help maintain a balanced metabolism and avoid pittagenic ama accumulation. Additionally, research indicates that a calorie-restricted diet can enhance mitochondria performance, which is related to the pitta dosha. (Of course, this suggestion is not appropriate for those who need heavier foods – for example, clients who are underweight or in a vata-aggravated state.)

Making good food choices

• Naturally sweet, astringent, and bitter foods are the basis of a pita-pacifying diet. Good options for summer include soaked almonds, avocados, bananas, and spinach.

• Feed the mitochondria, giving cells the fuel they need. Spinach and kale can boost the energetic metabolism that converts fats and sugars into adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, an organic compound that provides energy needed during the summer months.

• Prevent inflammation by including sources of omega-3s and alpha-lipoic acid, such as chia seeds, avocados, Brussels sprouts, chicken soup, and bone broths.

• For me, as the warmer months approach, blueberries always come to mind. The beautiful shape and cooling color of this antioxidant fruit always remind me of cute candies and take me back to happy and playful summers. Blueberries and other berries, such as blackberries and raspberries, and sweet fruits, such as strawberries, can protect the liver (a pitta organ), pacify pitta, and help to reduce the accumulation of heat.

• While they are tempting poolside treats and staples at summer barbeques, salty snacks and spicy foods can aggravate the pitta dosha.

Including helpful spices and herbs

• Cooling spices can pacify pitta. I like dry ginger, coriander, fennel, cumin, cardamom, and mint.   

• One of my favorite summer teas is fresh hibiscus. Hibiscus is packed with antioxidants that can help protect and detoxify the liver. Honey or maple syrup can be added as a natural sweetener.

• Even though not considered a cooling herb, ashwagandha calms the central nervous system and alleviates stress and irritability that can result from heat aggravation.

• Brahmi is a cooling herb. It also helps with irritability that can result from too much heat. The combination of ashwagandha and Brahmi can be very balancing.

Hydrating

• Adequate intake of water and other liquids is essential during summer. Depending on your client and their surroundings, natural coconut water may serve well as a cooling, hydrating, and rejuvenating agent.

• Aloe vera juice is also a very cooling and anti-inflammatory option.

Exercising when it is cool

• Summer can be a great time for invigoration. Proper exercise can slow inflammatory processes and helps keep telomeres – the ends of our chromosomes – long and strong as our cells divide. Remember, though, that it is best to work out or do an asana practice in the cooler hours of the day, such as the early morning or evening.

• Yoga postures such as uttanasana (standing forward fold), bhujangasana (cobra), and makarasana (crocodile) can cool and restore.

Practicing some cooling pranayama

• Sitali pranayama, a cooling breathing technique, can help to pacify pitta, especially in the summer. In a sitting position, with the spine erect, roll the tongue inward and point it outside the mouth. Inhale through the mouth and exhale through the nose. I have found that a round of six, twice a day can do wonders to cool the body and mind.

Enjoying some aromatherapy

• Picking a scent that evokes beautiful summer memories can be a cooling and healing experience. The scent of gardenia transports me back to my youth in Brazil, where the gardenia fields in my neighborhood perfumed the air during my early morning summer walks.  

• Sandalwood, rose, and neroli are great scents to enjoy and promote relaxation in summer.

Using cooling massage oils

• Good choices for massage before showering are coconut, Brahmi, and sunflower oils.

Getting a good night’s sleep

• Long, hot days make sleep all the more important in keeping the doshas in balance in summer. Studies have linked a lack of steady sleep to pitta aggravation and physiological inflammatory responses.

Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter. As we emerge to enjoy the good weather, we also can bring the light of Ayurveda to our clients and communities.

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About the Author

Ana Chassot-Petersen is a certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT), an E-500 RYT YACEP (yoga education provider), and a NAMA-certified Ayurveda Health Practitioner. Ana is also a journalist, TV and marketing promotions producer, and digital/TV content creator.

Integrating Ayurveda and Allopathic Medicine: An Interview with Charles Elder, MD, MPH

Internist, researcher, noted author, and NAMA member Dr. Charles Elder has expertise in both conventional and complementary medicine. He recently spoke with Baba Lou Haber, a member of the NAMA Communications Committee, to offer insights on how NAMA members can work collaboratively with allopathic practitioners. Read their conversation below.

Baba Lou Haber: Let’s start with how you became interested in Ayurveda.

Dr. Charles Elder: My journey actually began when I was admitted to medical school right out of high school. I was accepted to Boston University’s combined BA/MD program. I was only 17 and new to Boston, having been raised in northeast Ohio. To relieve the stress of it all I started a meditation practice at the greater Boston Transcendental Meditation Center and began practicing yoga as well. So I went through medical training meditating the whole time, which shaped my thinking. For example, if there was a patient suffering from anxiety for whom we were prescribing Valium, it struck me as bizarre that we were not suggesting meditation to help him.

I did my residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan, where I met my wife, Leslie, who was also a resident. She also had a meditation practice and already had some interest in Ayurveda. Together we went on a weekend meditation retreat where one of the speakers was Dr. Hari Sharma, who is an outstanding scientist. He gave a talk describing the antioxidant and antineoplastic properties of some of the traditional Ayurvedic formulas that he was studying in his lab. I found the whole thing mindboggling.

Baba Lou Haber: What a gift to have discovered Ayurveda at the beginning of your medical career! How were you able to integrate it into your practice?

Dr. Charles Elder: When we finished our residencies 30 years ago, Leslie and I moved to Portland, Oregon. I started working as a primary care doctor at Kaiser Permanente, where I still am. For the first 10 years or so I was just working hard being an internist, and it was a busy time. My wife and I had to balance career and family, as well as pay off student loans. But we also made time to take short courses in Ayurveda for physicians offered by Maharishi University, and we incorporated what we learned into our own lives.

About six or eight years into my job, I started getting frustrated because I had patients coming in with problems such as chronic pain, functional bowel disorder, anxiety, depression – problems where allopathic medicine can be weak. I knew I had all these tools in these areas, but could not use them, which was problematic. Eventually I wrote a proposal and got permission from Kaiser Permanente to do some innovative Ayurvedic consultations with patients who had these conditions. I detailed what I was going to offer and the metrics that would measure outcomes. The reviews after working with about a dozen patients were so positive that the pilot initiative ended up getting expanded to a Kaiser Permanente referral-based clinic, where I have since been doing integrative Ayurvedic consultations.

Baba Lou Haber: How have you continued to spread the word about Ayurveda beyond your clinic in Portland?

Dr. Charles Elder: In 2000 I did a part-time sabbatical at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, where there was a group of researchers interested in integrative medicine. That opened the door for me to begin research at the Center focused on how complementary medicine can improve mainstream medical care.

And in 2017 I took a second sabbatical during which Leslie and I wrote a book entitled Picture of Health to help people incorporate Ayurveda into their lifestyles. We use it as a manual for people who come to our clinic, and it also is designed to be a guide that people in conventional medicine can digest and assimilate.

Baba Lou Haber: Your story speaks to the importance of collaboration between Ayurvedic and allopathic practitioners.

Dr. Charles Elder: The potential for collaboration is enormous, and we need to make the most of it through relationship building around areas of mutual interest. There is so much common ground and so many things we can talk about in Ayurveda.

Take, for example, functional bowel disorders. Allopathic doctors in general are not great with what we call irritable bowel syndrome because it is abdominal pain and digestive complaints that we cannot explain. In so many words, that is the description and diagnosis. But the area of digestive disorders is one in which Ayurveda is very rich, and people can make a lot of progress seeing a NAMACB board certified practitioner. There are gastroenterologists out there who would love to have a competent, trustworthy person that could help these patients with diet and lifestyle.

Chronic pain is another example where Ayurveda can help patients make a lot of progress. Many times, not always, but many times, mind-body techniques, diet, daily routine, exercise, and yoga can a make huge difference in alleviating chronic pain.

There are many other areas – for example, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, depression, and menopausal disorders – where allopathic doctors need help and there is space for dialogue. So identifying and building relationships in those areas through dialogue can be extremely powerful.  

Baba Lou Haber: From my personal experience, not every doctor in conventional medicine is open to a conversation about Ayurveda. Are you being overly optimistic?

Dr. Charles Elder: Keep in mind that, in large part, training for allopathic doctors is focused on procedures and drugs, and their knowledge in other areas may be limited. Some doctors are more evolved and open to a conversation than others.

Remember also that different doctors will have sensitivities about different things. So you don’t want to jump right in talking about bastis and vamana, which are for a later discussion. And when you start prescribing herbs, be a little sensitive to where some doctors are coming from, because some have misconceptions. I would not necessarily talk about herbal supplements on a “first date.” As for me, I feel that if someone is getting herbs from a trained and certified practitioner, I don’t worry about it. On the other hand, if a patient just grabbed them off the shelf, I may be more concerned.

Baba Lou Haber: And what would you say to an Ayurvedic practitioner or student who looks with skepticism at for-profit companies within the healthcare industry?

Dr. Charles Elder: Let’s focus on people. I honestly believe that 99.9999 percent of healthcare practitioners want the patient to get better. With the well-being of the patient at the center of the discussion, everyone can get on the same page.

Baba Lou Haber: Tactically speaking, what is the best way for an Ayurvedic doctor to build bridges with allopathic doctors?

Dr. Charles Elder: That is a great question. How do you reach out to people? Get out there and network – that would be my approach. I think giving public talks is a good idea. Also, advertising in medical publications in a very targeted way. And if you can get into integrative medicine circles, good. Find institutions in your area that can serve as meeting grounds for people on both sides. Here in Portland, for example, there is a big integrative medicine community in which people can reach out if they are looking to collaborate. And there are a number of medical schools that have fellowship and research programs that may provide networking opportunities.

Of course, it is important to develop relationships with the right people. A lot of that can be personal chemistry. The good news is that, from what I see, the allopathic community is much more open these days than it used to be. The wisdom and science behind Ayurveda is so powerful – doctors are seeing that and taking notice.

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About the Author

Charles R. Elder MD, MPH, FACP, received his MD and MPH degrees from Boston University School of Medicine and completed residency training in internal medicine at the University of Michigan hospitals. He has served as a primary care internist at Kaiser Permanente Northwest (KPNW) for 30 years and has been the physician lead for the complementary and integrative medicine program at KPNW for 20 years. In this capacity, Dr. Elder offers a referral-based integrative Ayurvedic clinic, advising patients in the areas of diet, exercise, herbal medicine, mind-body practices, and other complementary medicine modalities. Dr. Elder holds a Senior Investigator appointment at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, where he has served as principal or co-investigator on a range of federally funded studies evaluating mind-body and other complementary medicine interventions in the setting of chronic disease management. Dr. Elder has an adjunct faculty appointment at Maharishi International University, where he serves as a course instructor for the online MS in Ayurveda program.

Baba Lou Haber is the chair of the NAMA Articles and Interviews Subcommittee. He has written for CBS News, served as an executive in the communications functions for several companies and public agencies, and is a Cicero Award-winning speechwriter. A certified yoga instructor (RYT 200), he is currently studying to be an Ayurvedic Health Counselor. Baba Lou is a graduate of Swarthmore College and Brooklyn Law School.

The Dangers of Self-Medicating with Herbs

by Manju Kolli

Before I had the joy of becoming an Ayurvedic Practitioner, I trained and served as a clinical pharmacist. My experience in pharmacy, spanning more than 15 years, has both informed and enriched my perspective on the Ayurvedic practice I have built.   

As a pharmacist, one of the most alarming and challenging trends I have witnessed is the surge in sales of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, particularly those designed to alleviate symptoms of a range of increasingly common chronic illnesses. The growing use of OTC medications has been further fueled by their affordability, as well as by a rise in the number of prescription drugs that are now available over the counter.   

Abuse and overuse of OTC medications can have serious consequences. The dangers from misuse of certain OTC painkillers, cough medicines, antihistamines, antacids, and laxatives, for example, are well documented within the medical community, and there is growing public awareness of the perils as well. 

We are now seeing rising sales of herbal supplements, the market for which is currently valued in the multibillion dollar range and continuing to grow as increasing numbers of consumers seek natural remedies, both to prevent disease and to address chronic conditions. Additionally, the COVID-19 crisis is prompting many wellness consumers to look to supplements, including herbs, to boost their immune system.

Given my overlapping backgrounds in pharmacy and Ayurveda, I am acutely aware of the dangers of potential misuse of herbal supplements by consumers who may be self-medicating. This concern is shared by Ayurvedic and allopathic doctors alike. A friend who is a nephrologist even made a personal appeal to me to help save people’s kidneys by warning them of the dangers that lie in the misuse of herbal supplements.

The Science of Herbs

Although those of Indian origin tend to see Ayurveda as grandma’s wisdom-infused medicine, the reality is that Ayurveda is highly scientific in its approach to health and wellness. The well-developed rationales and principles underlying this approach and the logical treatment protocols it comprises have withstood the test of time. 

Foundational to Ayurveda is the understanding that we all have a distinct blueprint at birth. As we mature, age, and go through life’s varied experiences and challenges, the natural balance of our original constitution (prakruti) changes and can be pushed out of balance. This imbalanced state (vikruti) is heavily influenced by our dietary and lifestyle choices. 

Since a person responds to external triggers according to their particular prakruti, one person’s medicine can be another’s poison. This insight is true for most herbs just as it is true for most drugs.

Also essential to the proper use of herbs is a clear understanding of the Ayurvedic principle Karya Karana Bhava, which holds that no event occurs in creation without a cause. Simply put, there is a cause behind each and every disease. Ayurveda’s wisdom is used to address that cause in order to maintain health, prevent disease, and restore balance. 

Let us look at the common problem of indigestion. One study cited by the National Institute of Health estimates that one in four Americans suffers from it. 

There are many causes of indigestion. I have grouped together some common causes according to the dosha they can aggravate:

1. Excessive or high-impact physical activity or insufficient food consumption, aggravating vata

2. Spicy, salty, or sour foods, or excessive anger, aggravating pitta

3. An extremely sedentary lifestyle or consumption of too many sweet and heavy foods, aggravating kapha 

Trikatu (which comprises dry ginger, black pepper, and pippali) can be very helpful in curing indigestion, as well as the bloating it can cause; however, it is only truly applicable to one of the three scenarios listed above.

In the first scenario, indigestion is likely to have resulted from insufficient digestive fire because of a loss of tissue strength, with the influence of vata’s predominantly dry and light properties. Trikatu will increase these depleting qualities, due to its own inherent dry and light properties, which, in turn, will aggravate the indigestion.

In the second scenario, indigestion results from excessive pitta, and trikatu will likewise aggravate indigestion and pitta due to its hot potency.

In the third scenario, however, trikatu is indicated as an appropriate pacifying remedy. 

Here are some other examples of commonly available herbs that are subject to misuse: 

Tulsi is known for helping with cold and cough symptoms. If, however, a cough is due to depletion, and it is dry, tulsi will increase the dryness and depletion and could aggravate the cough.

Ashwagandha is frequently used to treat depression, help with fertility, and increase muscle mass. If a client’s symptoms are due to excess accumulation of ama (undigested food in the body), however, ashwagandha will only worsen the condition. 

Triphala is definitely an amazingly versatile herbal medicine that can help in many scenarios, but long-term use of it can create a harmful dryness in mucosal linings. 

Neem can help with diabetes by removing excess accumulation of mucus. Yet if neem is overused after it achieves the desired action, vata gets aggravated, creating an imbalance.

Even ghee, one of the most widely advocated superfoods in Ayurveda, can be misused. If a person is suffering from insufficient digestive fire (mandagni) and excessive mucus, ghee can further dampen digestion and exacerbate the problem. 

These are but a few examples of why it is essential to understand the nature of both the prakruti and the vikruti of clients, as well as the pathological road map of their disease manifestation, before prescribing herbal treatments. It is also important to use the optimal delivery method, including the Karya Karana Bhava, that will efficiently and effectively deliver the right herb to the right site and body system. 

As these examples illustrate, well-meaning friends can naively advocate for an herb that has worked very well for them but can be harmful for someone else. In contrast, a knowledgeable Ayurvedic Practitioner can help clients find and correctly use herbal supplements that are right for them.

Our Role in Educating the Public

As Ayurvedic Practitioners, we play a critical role in protecting public health. Here are three suggestions for increasing awareness of the benefits of herbal supplements and the dangers of self-medicating:

1. Ask your clients to reach out to you with any questions rather than try to self-medicate based on advice from friends or information they find on the internet.

2. Offer free talks in public venues, such as virtual or live forums hosted by local libraries.

3. Author articles for local newspapers to educate your community.

The increasing popularity of herbal supplements and remedies represents a potential turning point in public awareness and medical community acceptance of Ayurveda as a credible pathway to health and wellness. It is up to us as practitioners and students of Ayurveda to help people understand that herbs and herbal supplements must be used appropriately.

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About the Author

Manju Kolli is an Ayurvedic Practitioner based in California’s Bay Area, where she is the founding director of Ayurhitam, an Ayurvedic wellness clinic. Manju has more than 15 years of experience serving as an allopathic clinical pharmacist at the long-term care pharmacy PharMerica. A NAMA-recognized Ayurvedic Practitioner, she also teaches Ayurveda and has expertise in women’s and children’s health, gut problems, skin conditions, mental health, and allergies.

Healing from Disasters by Getting to the Root Cause

By Madison Madden, AD

The word Ayurveda translates to the “science of life.” While its chief objective is to preserve health and prevent disease, Ayurveda also offers sophisticated healing and curative practices informed by an understanding of the laws of nature and the symbiotic relationship between human health and our environment. 

This ancient wisdom is waiting for us to seize it at a time when we are wrestling with global health crises, climate-related catastrophes, and many other challenges. Ayurveda understands all of these hardships as symptoms states of dis-ease. The Charaka Samhita,[1] one of Ayurveda’s four main texts, uses the term Jana Pada Udwansa, translated as a “disaster of a community of people,” to characterize four such states of dis-ease:

1. When a region gets denatured (Desha)

2. When water becomes toxic (Jala)

3. When air becomes polluted (Vayu)

4. When cycles of time become irregular (Kala)

When we look at the realities of our day, we see that we are not just experiencing one or two of these phenomena, but all four at once. 

Animal habitats have been denatured by urban encroachment. Water in parts of both the developing and developed world has become toxic. This past fall, the U.S. West Coast had the worst air quality in the world, and on a typical day in Delhi, the sun is not even visible. Cycles of seasons are changing around the globe due to rising temperatures and extreme weather patterns. These climate changes pose great danger: A landmark 2019 UN Climate Report estimates that about one million animal and plant species are threatened with extinction, more than ever before in human history.

So, what insight does Ayurveda offer regarding these afflictions, our planetary dis-eases? Ayurveda teaches us that a root cause of our societal problems is a disconnection from nature.

To put it simply, human beings on the whole attempt to dominate nature rather than live in harmony with it. Failure to adequately care for and protect our planet, unsustainable practices, and overconsumption are contributing to the breakdown of ecosystems and the extinction of species. 

In our systemic disconnection from nature, we have lost touch with ways of living with and caring for the natural world that were passed down generation after generation in societies and cultures around the globe. This ancient wisdom is invaluable in navigating our way back to a life that dwells within the bounds and bounties of nature. 

Cultivating Sattva

 According to Ayurveda, the remedy to our global crises is sattva, one of the three gunas, the prime qualities of nature. Sattva embodies harmony, wholesomeness, and virtue. 

 The other two gunas, rajas, often translated as action or agitation, and tamas, commonly translated as inertia, are also natural aspects of life. Disease, however, manifests only in rajasic and tamasic states. 

For example, constantly competing with others, which leads to stress, is a form of rajas. Overconsumption of heavily processed foods results in tamas. Both can contribute to chronic disease. 

Healing occurs primarily through sattva, which is why Ayurveda practitioners emphasize sattvic lifestyles. Just as nature expresses itself differently in various parts of the world, each individual must learn to live in harmony with their own nature and local surroundings. Such lifestyles comprise practices and diets that calm the mind, nourish rather than deplete or toxify the body and the environment, and recognize the interdependence between the individual and community. 

Moving Clients toward Sattva 

Here are five examples of how you can help your clients live a more sattvic lifestyle. 

1. Introduce them to the concept of matching their nature to Nature. Point out the similarities between the cycles of their bodies to the cycles of nature, and help them to live in greater connection. Examples include rising and setting with the sun, eating to the rhythm of agni (digestive fire), adjusting routines in keeping with the change of seasons, and easing into new stages of life. The wheel of the doshas (kapha, pitta, and vata) can be seen in all of nature. This is a wonderful way of teaching clients about the doshas without overwhelming them.  

2. Encourage them to discover a sense of purpose. Help your clients widen their gaze beyond the stresses of their individual circumstances and look toward how they can find ways to serve others. Help them connect with what brings light to their lives and what gifts they may have silenced. Finding purpose opens a pathway out of rajasticand tamasic dis-ease patterns. 

3. Teach them how to reduce stress and nourish their minds and bodies through their breath. Guide your clients to experience how the quality of their breath can transform their mindset, improve health, and increase their ability to respond meaningfully to others. 

4. Help them embrace a sattvic diet. Teach them about the impact of their food choices. Help them transition to more plant-based and seasonal diets, as well as foods and beverages that are suited to their particular constitution. Suggest solutions to their cravings for sugar and simple carbohydrate comfort foods that honor their rituals but replace tamasic choices with sattvic ones.  

5. Educate them about the benefits of panchakarma. Charaka notes that panchakarma detoxification therapy is an outstanding method for a person afflicted with the four forms of Jana Pada Udwansa. Panchakarma can lead to a true paradigm shift in mind and body. 

Looking Inward at Your Own Practice: Three Questions to Ask Yourself

Teaching and healing by example are fundamental qualities of a revered Ayurvedic practitioner. I urge you to ask yourself three difficult but vital questions: 

• How can I live a more sattvic lifestyle? 

• Where do I sacrifice sattva for short-term or material gains? 

• How can I help create more sustainable, local, and seasonal resources for my practice and community? 

Listen carefully to your answers. Our inward gaze can help us move from blaming others and finger pointing to cultivating the sattva we need to help ourselves and others heal from the Jana Pada Udwansa, the disaster of a community of people. 

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About the Author

Madison is a NAMA-recognized Ayurvedic Doctor, Writer, Environmental Educator, and Activist. She is the Co-founder of Pacific Coast Ayurveda and the International Institute of Tantric and Vedic Sciences, as well as a founding member of Mendonoma Climate Action Group, who hosted the largest regional event for Global Climate Strike Day in September 2019. Passionate about the vital intersection of health and environment, she can be found at livewiseheal.com.

[1] See Chapter 3, Vimanastana.

Why I Plan to Take the NAMACB Board Certification Exam

By Laura Klover

You might think that as a near straight-A student in college, I would be okay with the idea of taking a national certification exam. College, however, was many, many moons ago. Given that it has been such a long time since my last big exam, it stands to reason that as my Ayurvedic Health Counselor (AHC) program comes to a close and the prospect of taking the National Ayurvedic Medical Association Certification Board (NAMACB) exam looms, I am filled with trepidation.

The Importance of the Exam

To me, taking the AHC exam will be the culmination of my formal studies and a rite of passage. Not taking the exam would be like studying law and not taking the bar exam, or studying accounting and not taking the CPA exam. Taking the NAMACB exam marks a major milestone in my studies, an accomplishment in and of itself. Successful completion of the exam will provide proof that all my hard work and efforts have paid off.

 Ayurvedic medicine as a wellness profession is still emerging in the U.S. Passing the exam demonstrates to the public that I am an Ayurvedic professional who has attained a standardized amount of knowledge. NAMACB certification also assures clients of my proficiency in the services that I offer. Besides, when and if licensing comes to my state, I will have my NAMACB credential to support my state license application.

 Since I want to practice as an Ayurvedic professional, I believe it is important to support my profession, demonstrate my commitment to it, and participate in its self-regulation. NAMACB certification is one way I plan to provide such support. Credentialing processes in any profession or discipline foster credibility and elevate the profession. For the practitioner, credentials demonstrate attainment of peer-developed competency standards.

Passing my exam will allow me to use the NAMACB “CAHC” (Certified Ayurvedic Health Counselor) mark,  and will convey my credibility as a practitioner to my clients. As a NAMA Professional Member, my status as a CAHC will also enable potential clients to find me and verify my credentials via the “Find an Ayurvedic Professional” search on the NAMA website.

“Passing my exam will allow me to use the NAMACB “CAHC” (Certified Ayurvedic Health Counselor) mark, and will convey my credibility as a practitioner to my clients.”

— Laura Klover

Exam Preparation

Fortunately, the NAMACB provides potential exam candidates with some extremely helpful exam reference guides and practice questions. These resources are thorough to be sure, but I admit that I find them a little daunting in their breadth and depth. Then, there is the Sanskrit in the study materials. I am torn between utter respect for this sacred language and awareness of my lack of proficiency in it. Sighing, I return to my notes.

How will I know when I am ready to take the exam? Everyone is different; as for me, I will give myself a time limit in which to study and then force myself to take the test, treating it much like a final exam in college. Better to get it over and done with and the sooner, the better, while everything is still fresh in my mind.  

Time to get my exam scheduled! The NAMACB provides step-by-step directions on how to apply for the test and get a transcript approved and where and how to schedule your exam (online or on site). Click here for all this information and to schedule your exam!

One day soon, I plan to practice as a Certified Ayurvedic Health Counselor, and the path to this goal is through the national exam. If you are a student of Ayurveda graduating soon, or you graduated a while ago but have not yet taken the exam, won’t you join me?

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About the Author

Laura Klover is an Ayurvedic Yoga Specialist, registered yoga and meditation teacher, and a member of the NAMA Student Subcommittee. She loves building ojas by hiking with her man and her dog in the Kansas City heartland. Website: www.yogaprime.com; Instagram: @livingyogaprime.