Skip to main content

AWC 8: Foundations of Ayurveda

Course Description

AWC 8 Foundations of Ayurveda will take you on a journey from the ancient roots of Ayurveda to its present form. You will learn its fundamentals, from its origins to its current purview. This classical to modern approach will move from the Vedas, as the initial source, through the Upanishads, the 6+1 philosophies, its language, and its associated sciences all the way to its place in our modern world.

Covered Topics

  • History of Ayurveda – where it came from
  • Sanskrit pronunciation of Ayurvedic terms
  • Vedic/Ayurvedic world-view
  • Core principles of Ayurveda (20 qualities, triguna, tridosha)
  • Overview of Ayurveda
  • Origins of Ayurveda
  • The Use of Sanskrit in Ayurveda
  • Major Ayurvedic Texts
  • The Vedic and Yogic View
  • Sanskrit basics, including pronunciation of alphabet
  • Pronunciation and meaning of many Ayurvedic terms, verses, and chants
  • Understand the Sankhya philosophy of creation
  • Learn how the sense organs relate to our senses and sense objects
  • Sankhya Tree (Triguna, Tanmatras, 5 Elements)
  • 8 and 16 Limbs of Ayurveda
  • The 20 Qualities
  • 3 Doshas
  • The 5 tastes in terms of elements and effect on doshas

Faculty Instructors

Arun Deva

Sevanti Institute Instructor

Arun Deva, DASc, AYT, E-RYT(500), C-IAYT, YTRx practices yoga, and Ayurveda. Quietly. Mostly in Los Angeles. But he also travels to teach. And this could perhaps be not so quiet. In fact, he tends to get a little passionate about his favorite subject: the surcease of suffering. He likes to wander about looking for the Buddha in every face he sees. And this sometimes, as you may imagine, is quite challenging. Arun is a graduate of the American Institute Of Ayurveda; Ayurvedic Practitioner (NAMA), Ayurvedic Yoga Therapist (NAMA), Yoga Therapist (IAYT), and a Vinyasa Krama certified yoga teacher (E-RYT500). The founder of Arunachala Yoga & Ayurveda, Arun has had the pleasure of serving both the National & State Ayurvedic Associations: NAMA & CAAM for over 15 years. Currently, he heads NAMA’s Committee for Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy. Arun teaches internationally, lectures at conferences, writes articles for different publications, has been featured on both radio and television, and has a clinic for consultations and various treatments including panchakarma and yoga therapy in Los Angeles/West Hollywood. He also teaches the Ayurveda and Yoga modules for many Teacher Training Programs around the world and is Director of Ayurveda at LMU’s YTRX Program. Arun has often presented at both the NAMA and SYTAR Conferences. Born in India, where he began his studies as a child, Arun has made his home in Los Angeles since 1977.