Professional herbal formulations and access

[Guest guest]

Honorable Vaidyas;

Perhaps I speak for many of this forum's less or non-trained and

western participants and listeners? And for those who would like to

begin some programme of transition before the very slow international

mails might serve them ordering from your clinics and personal

services.

 

It is so wonderful to recieve your sharing so much information and

the detailed protocols, herbal formulas and all! Sometimes it is

also a little disheartening to not know or have access to the

prepared formulas, and I am wondering if, when the time is available

to you, if you can mention some alternatives when we only have access

to the individual herbs? My feeling is your communication time will

be of even greater value.

 

As a student and postpartum ayurvedic care professional and trainer,

I collect and personally must have an ayurvedic "pharmacy" of about

2/3 of the single and basic preparation herbs available in the US.

While recognizing that pharmaceutical grade decocted/dehydrated into

tablets or other combined and preparations are much more potent, my

interest in learning more from your sharings catches on (of course my

lack of training as well as) the less accessable frequently cited

compounds. Hopefully this is not an unreasonable request sometimes?

 

With much gratitude for all the tremendous wisdom shared here, and

hopes to do it justice - and wisdom referring those in need of such

skill whenever possible.

 

Namaste!

Martha Oakes

Diplomate Ayurvedic Health Science specializing in

Ayurvedic Postpartum Care 13 years, Training & Aromatherapy

Gainesville, Florida

[Guest guest]

Honorable Vaydyas, Martha,

 

in this regard, I am a little like Martha, in the sense that I am a Diplomate

Abyangam Practitioner in Italy, and I am now in my 3rd year studying Nidan and

Chikitsa.

 

The same situation Martha is describing happens here in my country as well.

Also, there is a well-developed western phitotherapy and very often we have to

use herbs from our own western tradition and/or combine them with the Ayurvedic

ones. This is good, of course, and I believe I read somewhere that even Indian

Doctors when they are abroad and don't have their native resources available,

try and use what they have locally.

 

Maybe if would be useful to us, and to the spreading of Ayurveda in the world,

if some of you could kindly share resources and/or tell us where to find

comparisons between Ayurvedic herbs and Western herbs or so.

 

Thank you very, very much!

 

Marco Massignan

Medical Translator - Ayurveda Practitioner, Italy

epona

www.e-passport.it/marco_massignan

www.proz.com/pro/10478

 

-

doulaminerva

ayurveda

Friday, October 22, 2004 12:32 AM

<ayurveda> Professional herbal formulations and access

Perhaps I speak for many of this forum's less or non-trained and

western participants and listeners? And for those who would like to

begin some programme of transition before the very slow international

[ Rest of the message truncated by moderator, full text available as archives,

or those receiving daily digest may receive in today's digest itself]

[Guest guest]

Hello Marco

In Bologna there is doctor Guido Sartori

atah that produces ayurvedic formulations with western herbs.

 

Emy

[Guest guest]

Dear Martha and Marco,

It indeed is a sad state of affairs that though the knowlegde and

information about ayurveda had spread far and wide, there still is a

lot of difficulty in obtaining authentic ayurvedic medicines outside

the shores of India. The very few attempts made in this regard have

met with so many obstacles that the very near future doesn't seem

very bright atleast in this aspects.

It is heartening to know that there is an increasing number of

persons who are trying to obtain authentic ayurvedic medicnes not

just for personal use but also for the purpose of prescribing it to

others.

You have asked "if you can mention some alternatives when we only

have access to the individual herbs".

Well frankly if you have access to individual herbs you need not

look out for alternatives of formulations.

Formulations are based on certain principles. Once you understand

those (yes I now this is another aspect of ayurveda that is largely

glossed over) you can make your own formulation. For example on the

query about coffee Todd very nicely put forth what is known as the

Dravya-Guna of the coffee plant. I am pretty much sure that the

Dravya-Guna of coffee does not appear in any of the old ayurvedic

texts. There are many substances in use today which we have access

to because the world has shrunk. It would be unreasonable to expect

to find detailed information on every substance in ayurvedic texts.

And yet ayurvedic texts mention that there is no substance in the

universe that can't be used as medicine. The formulations mentioned

in the texts are just examples.

Again the number of individual herbs a person would have access to

differs from region to region.

I really cannot hope to understand the Dravya-Guna of a substance I

have never seen before. So though we might be able to help you with

some commonly available herbs if you train yourself to think in the

lines of Dravya-Guna (I am assuming you have gone through what this

is) then for a particular herb which is easily accesible to you but

not to me, you would be in a better position to explain its

properties and use to us.

Having said that we would be more than glad to discuss individual

herbs and their alternatives on a case to case basis. That is

ultimately the purpose of this group - to share information :->

 

With warm regards.