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Nutan Varsha Abhinandan! Happy New Year! May the ancient yet ever fresh wisdom of Ayurveda bring you vibrant good health in all its physical and subtle dimensions. In this newsletter, you will find highlights from Vedika's fall 2009 classes: our annual Utsav celebrating the completion of studies for the year, and photos from a class visit to the Berkeley Botanical Gardens with our nature-loving visiting teacher Vaidya Yogesh Bele, enabling students to get to know the Ayurvedic herbs growing there. In addition, there are glimpses of an international Ayurveda conference in Germany which I was invited to attend, and news of encouraging developments in India for the preservation of the heritage of classical Ayurveda. Vedika Gurukula begins its 2010 classes in our new premises in Emeryville, California at the start of the auspicious Uttarayana time in mid January. According to Ayurveda's classic text Charaka Samhita and the practices of the Gurukula tradition, a new course of study – vidyarambha – should ideally begin in the Uttarayana time. This is the period when the sun is on its northern passage, bringing longer days to experience healing, vitality and inspiration from the Sun.
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Shakti Namaste
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Celebration of Studentship On December 14, Vedika held our second annual Utsav, celebrating the students who had completed their first and second years of immersion in the sacred science of Ayurveda at Vedika Gurukula. Students spoke movingly about their personal transformations in health and wellbeing, and the benefits this knowledge has brought to their families. One student told charming stories about how her parents, who are from India, would engage in lots of “strange” discussion when she was growing up about bowel movements and which fruits to eat in a particular season. In the course of her Ayurveda studies this past year she discovered her parents had actually been trying to bring gems of Ayurveda to their new life in the US. Now she understands the underlying principles and brings this wisdom to her own family, along with a new respect for what had once seemed like her parents' funny ways. Another student spoke about how her studies had brought about a profound integration of her spiritual, personal, professional and health-related aspirations, which had previously been disconnected and at odds with each other. As they received their certificates, the students glowed with the fruits of the knowledge they have imbibed. Our special guest was Hellen Nkuraiya, an inspiring Masai teacher and community leader from central Kenya. She runs a village boarding school, and a rescue center for women and girls, including young women who have lost their husbands to old age or AIDS. When one of the Vedika students visited her village last August, she took much-needed shoes as gifts from the Vedika students for the women and girls in Hellen's program. Just as Vedika Gurukula explores the balance of living ancient knowledge in a modern Western society, Hellen seeks to balance offering improved education and self-reliance for women with the preservation of their traditional culture. Commenting on the Vedika Utsav, Hellen said, "I have never seen anything like this before. Everything about it seems to be based on peace, and peace is exactly what I want in my life and for my community. It was a blessing to meet you all. I feel a deep connection and would love to study Ayurveda to be able to have the peace that I see in all of the people at the event." For more information Hellen's work see www.majimoto.org |
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Experiencing Ayurveda in Baden-Baden “Classical Ayurveda is a goldmine. We will see a paradigm shift in its recognition and utilization in the next 5 years.” This conviction was expressed by Mrs. S. Jalaja, the Secretary for the Indian Government's Dept. of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy traditional health systems). She was the Chief Guest at Ayurveda Hautnah: Experiencing Ayurveda in Baden-Baden, Germany, the first joint conference of the World Ayurveda Congress and the European Ayurveda Association (EUAA). It was inspiring for me to hear Mrs. Jalaja speak with passion about how Ayurveda recognizes the divine in everyone and therefore cultivates full spectrum health in body, mind and soul, and is truly universal. She spoke of the importance of bringing back the dignity of classical Ayurveda, in addition to supporting clinical research studies that confirm the effectiveness of Ayurveda in the modern medical world. Her grandfather had extensive knowledge of Ayurveda. Through her observation of how he lived and how the community around them stayed healthy through varying seasons and stages of life, she understands that Ayurveda is a vibrant living heritage and she sees how this unbroken tradition has great modern relevance. Nature supported her words: on his morning walk in the nearby Black Forest, Dr. S. K. Sharma, AYUSH's leading Ayurveda consultant, discovered the herb Daruharidra growing there in abundance. The healing qualities of this herb were described over 2,000 years ago by the early sages of Ayurveda, who found it growing in the Himalayas. Their next international conference will take place in Bangalore, India in December 2010. For more information see: www.ayurworld.org |
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New Course at Vedika Vedika has added a new two-month certificate course in Swasthavritta, an hands-on course for the general public to learn the basics of how to prevent common diseases and promote wellbeing. Classes begin in mid January. Presentations by Shunya Pratichi Mathur Shunya Pratichi Mathur will give a series of presentations on Ayurveda at the Linus Eugene Health, Wellness and Goals Workshops beginning January 23, 2010 in San Francisco. See www.wyssyr.com for details. NAMA Conference |
Tathaastu Magazine Launches in India
Our congratulations to Vedika's dynamic friends Tathaastu magazine for their launch in India. Tathaastu is proud to be available in the land where Eastern wisdom took birth and has flourished for thousands of years. Tathaastu is the leading holistic lifestyle magazine that celebrates a healthy, spiritual and peaceful way of life. Ayurveda, yoga and meditation are explored in depth. Tathaastu magazine can now be found in bookstores and airports in all the major cities of India. Vedika is honored to promote classical Ayurveda's wellness enhancing wisdom through two articles by Vedika faculty in the current issue of Tathaastu that is being read both in India and in the US:
Vaidya Ranade Receives International Awards
Without new and meaningful steps being taken to preserve India's rich heritage of traditional healing systems, this ancient wisdom may be lost forever. The awareness of the value of Ayurveda in today's world will arise of its own accord if this sacred science is actually being practiced. Thanks to the efforts of the Indian Central Government's AYUSH department, traditional healers in India will soon be treated as recognized health care practitioners. Traditional medicine is typically taught through oral education, small Gurukulas, apprenticeship, and personal immersion rather than being regulated and systematized through university courses. So it needs its own system of regulation. AYUSH is setting up a task force to provide legal recognition for genuine traditional health care practitioners. Guidelines will be drawn up for each system to self-regulate their traditional health experts. Encouraged by the World Health Organization's recognition of the importance of integrating traditional medicine with public health systems, AYUSH will also support the documentation and promotion of traditional medicine use in the community, and the sustainable practices of the cultivators of its supporting plant resources. Janet Dobrovolny,
To find out more about Vedika Global, Inc and its activities, |
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Our heartfelt congratulations to Vaidya Prof. Subhash Ranade, Vedika's esteemed visiting faculty and advisor, who has received two international awards this past fall. The European Ayurveda Academy presented Dr. Ranade with their Dhanvantary Award “for his most significant and laudable contribution to the field of ayurveda, with special reference to propagation of Education and Research everywhere.” Vaidya Ranade also received the prestigious International Dhanvantari Award for Excellence in Ayurvedic Practice from The Association of Ayurvedic Professional of North America. 
I want to express my gratitude and congratulations to Mrs Jalaja, Secretary of the Dept. of AYUSH, for recognizing the value of protecting classical Ayurveda in its purest form and recommending that Ayurveda be protected as a world heritage by UNESCO.
Vedika Global is a 501(c )(3) not-for-profit organization, dedicated to igniting a community healing and wellness movement with classical Ayurveda. Vedika's core program is a school offering transformative, lived education in the science and spirituality of Ayurveda, including unique wisdom from the Gurukula tradition. Located in the Emeryville/Berkeley area of California, Vedika Gurukula offers authentic education in Ayurveda's oral tradition integrated with the contemporary academic standards for Ayurvedic education in India. Vedika's culture is rooted in the spirit of service -- Seva -- and community upliftment – Sangha. The school includes a teaching clinic and open events to empower the broader community with the wisdom of Ayurveda. Vedika Global, Inc. %%PLUGIN_UNSUBSCRIBE: 174376-UNSUBSCRIBE%%
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