Ayurveda Day in Austin

During the first week of October, a small group of people interested in Ayurveda got together to celebrate the first Ayurveda Day in Austin.

AAPNA (Association of Ayurvedic Professionals of North America) has declared that the first Monday of every October each year will be "Ayurveda Day". Ayurveda Day falls on the eve of the birth celebrations of Dhanwantari. Lord Dhanwantari is the creator of Ayurveda.

AAPNA started as a discussion amongst a group of Ayurvedic Professionals back in 2003 and officially incorporated in December of 2007 as a non-profit 501(c)(6) corporation in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, USA.

Ayurveda is one of the world's oldest medical systems. Like Yoga, the origins are traced back to India. The maing goal of Ayurveda is to integrate and balance the body, mind, and spirit using hebs, massage and yoga.

Narender Pati organized the Ayurveda Day bringing a paned of experts in Ayurveda and Joytish (Indian Astrology) to discussed health in the US and how Ayurveda can become a support system to the US as complementary medicine.

Kerry Meath an Ayurveda practitioner and now a Master degree student of Public Health mentioned that 28% or Texas residents are obese and 30% overweight. Also 10% of the population in Texas has diabetes and only 45% of youth get regular physical exercise. In terms of cost to the society, the cost of obesity is 5.4 million dollars.

She thinks that Ayurveda principle of understanding the seasons and what to eat depending on each person's dosha (body's constitution) could help to iprove quality of life and health.

Renu Namjoshi a joytish practitioner mentioned that Ayurveda along with Indian astrology can help people recover from illnesses and keep their body in balance. She mentioned that in India, many of the important actitivies of a person are established after consulting the joytish astrologer.

Rocco Bruno mentioned simple tips to improve health like avoiding eating late, exercise frequently, the importance of fresh air and sun's exposure, and cultivation of love.

Though the attendance to this event was modest, they were deeply interested in the subject and eager to learn more about these two sciences that have endured thousands of years.

For more pictures from the event click here.

For more information about this and other Ayurveda events in the area contact Narender Pati at aumayurveda@yahoo.com or visit www.iwfusa.org