The course you are about to embark upon may be viewed as a stepping stone towards something greater than appears on the surface. The path of self-healing, and/or healing another person, is one of the most rewarding directions a person can take in life. Healing, not medicine, but true healing, is an extraordinarily vulnerable and authentic process that can only occur in light of an accurate understanding of ourselves. It is known in both yoga and Ayurveda that a false view of reality (avidya) is the most common source of suffering, while an accurate view (vidya) can heal, uplift, and evolve us on the journey through life. Our work then is to rectify false views.

What is exchanged between a skilled Ayurveda Counselor and client is life wisdom, the definition of Ayurveda. The practitioner of this healing art transmits the universal form of this knowledge, from heart to heart, in such a way that it becomes authentic, personalized self-knowledge for the client. Self-knowledge is the most powerful of all medicines. You know the old adage: you can give a man a fish, or teach him how to fish. Counseling teaches, rather than does for.

While great diagnostic skill is needed, very little self-knowledge is required to treat symptoms. Those on the path of self-understanding will naturally remain healthier and heal faster when an imbalance occurs. Those less connected to themselves, those more superficially oriented, will likely struggle more. The practice of self-reflection, the self-inquiry itself, is the bridge between self-healing and self-realization. We awaken our clients to their true nature – Prakriti.

One of my early teachers in the natural healing arts once said to me, “If you wish to treat symptoms, become a doctor. If you wish to heal people, become a sage.” As did my teacher, I suggest you become a sage. Those words would forever affect who I was and how I worked. I no longer distinguish between my work as a yoga practitioner, a yoga educator, and an ayurvedic physician. The lines between these disciplines are blurred, as they should be. The father of modern yoga, Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, was such a sage. He understood the nature of the individual from the Ayurvedic view and the yogic view. He was an enlightened teacher with a complete view of humanity.

While Western medicine is a disease management system, Ayurveda wellness practices are health-creating systems. Remember, our work is to rectify false views of ourselves and our nature. Go and transform the untrue to the true, and hold people’s hands as you guide them from the unknown to the known.

Blessings on your journey. Be brave, vulnerable, and compassionate, and stay true to yourself along the way.

James Bailey, DASc, AD, LAc, MPH, E-RYT500

To inspire an awakening to personal authenticity, as the highest expression of faith in oneself, on the path of self-healing and self-actualization. To evoke more mindful ways of living, thinking, and feeling. To provide tools for self-knowledge. To bridge traditional eastern teachings and modalities to modern day living. To lead individuals to sacred places within themselves and on the planet. To remember to jump in bodies of water as often as possible.