Kripalu School of Ayurveda Faculty and Board of Advisors
Kripalu School of Ayurveda Faculty
All faculty have either a Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) degree or five years of study with a qualified Ayurvedic scholar, and have been teaching or practicing Ayurveda for at least four years. The following designations may also appear:
RYT: Yoga Alliance-registered Yoga Teacher
Jay Apte, MS Pharmacology, BAMS, received a degree in Ayurvedic and allopathic medicine and surgery from Poona University in India in 1973 and a master’s degree in pharmacology from the University of North Texas in 1991.
Scott Blossom is a licensed acupuncturist and yoga therapist and has done extensive studies in biology, anatomy, physiology, traditional Chinese medicine, and Ayurveda. www.shunyatayoga.com
Partap Chauhan, BAMS, is a silver medalist in Ayurveda from the University of Delhi, India, who has also studied under the renowned Ayurvedic scholar, Shri Nanak Chand, an expert in Ayurvedic Rasa Sastra. He began the Jiva Institute with his family in 1992 and has a thriving Ayurvedic Clinic and Panchakarma Center in Faridabad, India. He travels extensively teaching Ayurveda in over 30 countries worldwide and has established training programs in Ayurveda in India. www.jiva.com
Satya Narayan Das, PhD, is the founder and director of Jiva Institute of Vedic Studies. Trained as an engineer in India, he worked in the United States as a software engineer before returning to India where he met his guru Sri Haridasa Sastri Maharaja. He earned a doctorate in Sanskrit along with a degree in law from Agra University. His deep respect for the wisdom of the ancients motivated him to translate five important works from Sanskrit into English; his book The Yoga of Dejection is an exposition on the first chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. He has written two other books for devotees, Message to Disciples and Nama Tattva.
John Douillard, DC, PhD, is an Ayurvedic and chiropractic physician who has taught Ayurvedic medicine, natural health, fitness, and nutrition internationally for 21 years. He completed graduate studies at the World Center of Ayurveda in New Delhi, India, and received his doctorate in Ayurvedic medicine from the Open International University in Columbo, Sri Lanka. He authored more than 15 books, including The 3-Season Diet; Body, Mind, and Sport; Perfect Health for Kids; The Encyclopedia of Ayurvedic Massage, and three new Gaiam DVDs on stress, detox, and weight loss. He codirected Deepak Chopra’s Ayurvedic Center for eight years and he currently directs the LifeSpa Ayurvedic Retreat Center in Boulder, Colorado. www.lifespa.com
David Frawley is one of the few Westerners ever recognized in India as a vedacharya or teacher of the ancient wisdom. In 1995, he was given the title of Pandit along with the Brahmachari Vishwanathji award for his knowledge of the Vedic teaching. In India, he is recognized as a vaidya (Ayurvedic doctor), jyotishi (Vedic astrologer), puranic (Vedic historian), and yogi, a rare accomplishment for an American born in Wisconsin. In the United States, he studied Ayurveda with Vasant Lad and teaches through the American Institute of Vedic Studies.
Hilary Garivaltis, Dean of Curriculum for the Kripalu School of Ayurveda, received her training in 1997 at the New England Institute of Ayurvedic Medicine, and at the Jiva Institute and the Rishikesh College of Ayurveda in Rishikesh, India. She is recognized by the World Health Organization and sits on the board of the National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA). She provides one-one-one Ayurvedic consultations at Kripalu, teaches workshops on Ayurveda and Ayurvedic Bodywork nationwide, and runs Kripalu’s Panchakarma program. She also leads groups of students to India each year and facilitates their advanced studies.
Sunil Joshi, BAMS, MD(Ayu) is a world renowned Ayurvedic Physician from Nagpur, India. Dr. Joshi is on the advisory board of the Chopra Center for Well Being and has spoken at Columbia University, the National College of Naturopathic Medicine and the National Institute of Health in Washington DC. Currently he is involved with supporting the expansion of Ayurveda throughout North America, Europe and South Africa but focuses the majority of his time teaching and practicing at his two primary centers in India and Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Vasant Lad, BAMS, MASc, graduated from Tilak Ayurved Mahavidyalaya in Pune, India, with a master’s degree in Ayurvedic medicine. He has served as medical director of the Ayurveda Hospital in Pune and was professor of clinical medicine at the Pune University College of Ayurvedic Medicine.
Avinash Lele, BAMS, MASc, has a specialization in panchakarma and rasayan. He has been a postgraduate teacher of Ayurveda since 1983 in India, the United States, and Europe.
Sudha Carolyn Lundeen, RN, is a certified holistic-health nurse, Phoenix Rising yoga therapist, and senior Kripalu Yoga teacher. With more than 26 years in the healing arts, including tenure at a Boston teaching hospital, she offers private instruction in breathing, meditation, yoga, and stress reduction, and gives workshops throughout the country. Her personal experience of breast cancer paired with eight years as an oncology nurse gives particular power to her mission of helping people remember their inherent wholeness. Her Kripalu Gentle Yoga DVD has won three prestigious awards.
Rosy Mann, BAMS, has practiced Ayurveda for the last 14 years. Trained under the guidance of renowned Ayurvedic physicians in India, she received a bachelor of Ayurvedic medicine and surgery degree with distinction in 1994 from Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar, India. Her areas of expertise include panchakarma (detoxifying programs and procedures), Ayurvedic nutrition and cooking, Ayurveda for women, pulse analysis, and Ayurvedic herbology. She offers personal Ayurvedic consultations as well as educational courses, lectures, and workshops.
Rasmani Deborah Orth, EdD, is a senior Kripalu teacher who brings a 30-year yoga practice and a passion for comprehensive wellness to her workshops and consultations. A graduate of the Kripalu School of Ayurveda with advanced training as an Ayurvedic practitioner from the Jiva College of Ayurveda in India, Rasmani also draws from a background in counseling psychology and education.
Cynthia Snodgrass has been an avid Sanskrit scholar for over twelve years, having studied intensely with Vyaas Houston at the American Sanskrit Institue and at Harvard University. She has taught Sanskrit and sacred sound nationally, and is currently finishing her thesis on Gandhi's use of sung-prayers at the University of Stirling in Scotland. She is the founder of the Sacred Sound Institute, and has produced a series of CDs designed especially for yoga teachers, Essential Sanskrit: Vol. 1 Yoga Posture Pronunciation and Vol. 2 Prayers and Invocations, and two music CDs Waters for the Son and Moon: An Altar of Sound and Dream Chants.
Robert E. Svoboda, BAMS, graduated from the University of Pune in Pune, India, and is licensed to practice Ayurveda in India. During and after his formal training, Robert was tutored by the Aghori Vimalananda.
Claudia Welch, DOM, began her study of Ayurveda in 1987. She received a master’s degree in oriental medicine from Southwest Acupuncture College in 1997 and is on the teaching faculty there, as well as at the Ayurvedic Institute.
Kripalu School of Ayurveda Board of Advisors
Partap Chauhan, BAMS, is a widely traveled Ayurvedic speaker and is among the few Ayurvedic experts who has studied and now practices Ayurveda in its original form. He runs an Ayurvedic clinic and pharmacy in Faridabad, India and is founder of Jiva Ayurveda, which hosts the world’s most popular website on Ayurveda and offers a correspondence training course. He is the author of Eternal Health: The Essence of Ayurveda. www.ayurvedic.org
David Frawley is one of the few Westerners ever recognized in India as a vedacharya, or teacher of the ancient wisdom. In 1995, he was given the title of Pandit along with the Brahmachari Vishwanathji award for his knowledge of the Vedic teaching. In India he is recognized as a vaidya (Ayurvedic doctor), jyotishi (Vedic astrologer), puranic (Vedic historian), and yogi, a rare accomplishment for an American born in Wisconsin. In the United States, he studied Ayurveda with Vasant Lad and teaches through the American Institute of Vedic Studies.
Find out more about upcoming programs with David Frawley at Kripalu.
Ted Kaptchuk is trained in Chinese medicine and is an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and leads research in Asian medicine, placebo effects, and the patient-practitioner relationship. Author of The Web That Has No Weaver: Understanding Chinese Medicine, a classic in the field, he is currently serving his second four-year term on the National Advisory Council of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) at the National Institutes for Health.
Vasant Lad, BAMS, MASc, Ayurvedic physician and founder and director of the Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has been a practitioner and professor of Ayurveda for 35 years. His most recent book is Textbook of Ayurveda. www.ayurveda.com
Anne Meneghetti, MD, is a triple board-certified physician with an extensive background in health policy, multi-media health communications, and medical research. She trained in Ayurveda with Vasant Lad and has been a faculty member of several medical schools in Boston. She recently served as academic dean at Capital University of Integrative Medicine. Her current work involves communications to promote integration between conventional and natural approaches to clinical care. www.dranne.com
Daniel Seitz, JD, has a broad background in education, accreditation, college administration, and law, primarily related to complementary and alternative medicine. Daniel was founding dean for the Oriental Medicine Department at New York Chiropractic College, served as president of the New England School of Acupuncture, and chaired the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. He is currently the executive director of the Council on Naturopathic Medical Education.
Robert Svoboda, BAMS, was the first Westerner to graduate from a college of Ayurveda in India. During and after his formal training, he was tutored by the Aghori Vimalananda. He serves as adjunct faculty for the Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and for Bastyr University in Seattle, Washington. www.drsvoboda.com
Find out more about upcoming programs with Robert Svoboda at Kripalu.
