What makes the Sarasvati Institute of Ayurveda & Yoga Therapy’s program unique?
What makes the Sarasvati Institute of Ayurveda & Yoga Therapy’s program unique?
By Susan Bass, Founder & Lead Instructor
We teach the integration of Ayurveda and Yoga Therapy; they are not taught as separate entities. I started studying Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy at the Ayurvedic Institute in 2004 and then went onto work in a Pancha Karma clinic in Massachusetts as the resident Ayurvedic Yoga Therapist in 2006. The clinic would recommend that the PK clients add Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy onto their program, but it was optional. What we learned through this experiment was that the clients in the Panch Karma clinic that added Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy to their PK protocol had more success and comfort in the process of Ayurvedic cleansing. Adding in the Ayurvedic Yoga therapy portion really helped them to integrate the power of PK into their bodies and lives. They would take the Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy skills with them and would often stay with weekly Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy sessions after Pancha Karma was completed.
It was such a fulfilling experience watching these PK clients blossom as they awakened the natural law within themselves. I saw with my own eyes how Ayurveda and Yoga therapy had a synergy that made them exponentially more effective when practiced together. We all know they are sister sciences but back in the early 2000’s it was hard to find anyone who was truly integrating them into practice. I was so inspired by the results of our PK clients who we taught Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy that I decided that this was my path in life. Modigliani says, “You have one real duty in life…to SAVE YOUR DREAM”, and my dream was to share the integration of these ancient sacred sciences that had saved my life and had given me so much joy as I watched others awaken their own natural healing powers when I shared it with them.
My teacher had always told me to define myself by what inspires me. I had pondered on that for years but when I witnessed the power of the integration of Ayurveda & Yoga Therapy, I GOT it.
Inspiration comes from the soul, and your dharma is your soul’s dream. My dharma was to teach Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy. Fast forward 20 years and I am proud to say that the Sarasvati Institute of Ayurveda & Yoga Therapy is an IAYT accredited Yoga Therapy Program as well as a NAMA approved Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy program.
Our students say the depth of personal connection as well as the ability of our faculty and curriculum to make this ancient knowledge accessible is why they continue to sign up for future programs. Our school is laid out in stand alone modules; someone has to recommit to go onto level two and level three to be able to complete the program to become a C-IAYT, NAMA Ayurvedic Yoga Therapist and become eligible to take the NAMA Ayurvedic Health Counselor board exam.
We embrace the science of Ayurveda and Yoga as much as we embrace the soul & spirit of Ayurveda and Yoga. We are lucky that we have the ability to do that since I know from my experience teaching Ayurveda at Colleges, Universities and Medical schools that the soul & spirit portion must be omitted in some organizations. We are a lineage school that embraces the soul & spirit of the Vedas.
Our focus on learning Ayurvedic assessment (pulse reading, tongue reading, and all forms of Doshic assessment) allows our students to truly understand and recognize Doshic imbalance. Our goal is to move someone from a vague concept of Doshic imbalance to a tangible, concrete understanding of how we utilize all of the tools from Ayurveda and Yoga Therapy to help our clients learn to create balance and harmony within themselves. That comes from first creating harmony and balance within ourselves. There is a never-ending focus on personal integration of these sciences for the purpose of Svasta (embodiment). If there is one word to sum up our goal and intention for our students, it is EMBODIMENT.
Susan Bass holds a Master of Science in Ayurveda & Integrative Medicine from Maharishi International University. She is NAMA Board Certified at the Ayurvedic Doctor level of study as well as a NAMA Ayurvedic Yoga Therapist and a Certified Yoga Therapist through IAYT. Susan is the chair of the AAC AYT Program Accreditation Subcommittee and the NAMA AYT Membership Subcommittee.
Read more about Susan here: https://nunm.edu/faculty/susan-bass/
