Education and Experience
Susan received her first certification in Ayurveda from the Chopra Center in 2008. Subsequently she has studied extensively with Dr. Vasant Lad, participating in all of his intensive courses in New Mexico as well as the 6-week Gurukula program in Pune, India, at the Vasanta Institute. Susan is certified in Ayurvedic cooking from Amadea Morningstar.
Susan is the author of the best-seller, Ayurveda Beginner's Guide: Essential Ayurvedic Principles & Practices to Balance and Heal Naturally, which has sold over 20,000 copies and is available in five languages. Her new book, from Simon & Schuster, is Seasonal Self-Care Rituals: Eat, Breathe, Move, and Sleep Better According to Your Dosha.
Learn from Susan
Susan offers free access to a recorded class on YouTube. In this class, she discusses using Ayurveda and an Ayurvedic approach to food as a way to increase your vitality.
Susan's Point of View
How were you introduced to Ayurveda?
My personal journey into the Ayurvedic lifestyle began when I came across the Ayurvedic cleansing technique of panchakarma. I participated in a 10-day program at the Chopra Center called Perfect Health, in 2007. What began as the release of damaging toxins and personal difficulties eventually grew into an impassioned vocation. The PK process led me to lose 60 pounds and to embrace Ayurveda as a lifestyle and a vocation.
When are you most likely to go out of balance and how do you bring yourself back in balance using Ayurveda?
I bring myself back into balance by returning to a kapha-reducing lifestyle. For me that means eating two meals a day, avoiding dairy, wheat, and sugar, and performing daily abhyanga. I incorporate Bhastrika breathing and being outdoors—barefoot if possible—as much as I can.
I also take a good long look at what happened to see how I went off course. Most importantly, I forgive myself and trust that Ayurveda will always bring me back.
What does the future of Ayurveda look like to you?
I want Ayurveda to be a household word like yoga is. I want to see an Ayurvedic practitioner on every corner with services available to all. I want to instill trust to the public that Ayurveda works and can heal.
What's one Ayurvedic practice anyone can implement to spur change in their life, right here, right now?
Drink hot water with lemon, lime, or apple cider vinegar in the morning after your brush your teeth and scrape your tongue.
