In 2006, while pursuing his postgraduate studies, Dr. Janardhana V Hebbar attended the Punarnava conference in Mahabalipuram, where he witnessed the immense global interest in Ayurveda.
Inspired by the event, he identified a significant gap in authentic, accessible Ayurvedic knowledge. This realization, coupled with the burgeoning internet era in 2009, motivated him to create Easy Ayurveda. Dr. Hebbar shared this journey in an interview with MysticMag, highlighting his vision to demystify ancient Sanskrit texts and make the principles of Ayurveda easy to understand for health-conscious individuals worldwide.
Thus, Easy Ayurveda was born, aiming to bridge the knowledge gap and promote holistic well-being.
What motivated you to create Easy Ayurveda?
It’s actually a bit of a story in itself. It was in 2006 when I was doing my postgraduation. There was an international conference in a place called Mahabalipuram near Chennai. The conference, named Punarnava, was attended by renowned figures such as Deepak Chopra and Robert Svoboda, along with many other international personalities. The event was a gathering of the who’s who of Ayurveda globally, and the international student community was also quite sizeable.
During the conference, there was a cooking show held in a small hut, surrounded by Westerners interested in Ayurveda. The cook was preparing one of the simplest Ayurveda recipes, which could be made with just three or four ingredients in about 10 minutes. As he added black pepper to the recipe, someone from the crowd asked why. The cook replied that it was “tridoshic,” meaning wholesome and healthy. However, I realized that black pepper, while beneficial for digestion and having anti-toxic properties, is not tridoshic in its true sense. This incident highlighted the gap in authentic knowledge being shared.
Two things stood out to me at the conference: the immense interest in Ayurveda from the Western world and the lack of easily accessible, authentic information. The ancient Sanskrit texts of Ayurveda are difficult to decipher and translate into common English. This results in many benefits and remedies being lost in translation.
After the conference, while I was working at a pharmaceutical company, I learned about blogging in 2009. The internet and YouTube were just beginning to bloom in India. My goal was to make Ayurveda knowledge easy and accessible, even for those who knew nothing about it but were health-conscious and curious. This was the origin of Easy Ayurveda.
How does Easy Ayurveda aim to make Ayurvedic knowledge accessible to everyone?
The initial goal of Easy Ayurveda, which began in 2009, was to write everything in very simple English, minimizing the use of Sanskrit. Even when Sanskrit terms are used, we provide their exact meanings in brackets, making the information accessible to anyone. We started by writing blog articles on EasyAyurveda.com to educate the general public on incorporating Ayurveda into their daily lives. Topics included the right time to sleep and wake up, daily regimens, exercise routines, oil massages, hydration, meal quantities, observing natural body signals, and maintaining mental focus and concentration.
Our content is not only for Ayurveda followers but for everyone. We wanted to make these principles easy for people to integrate into their lives, enhancing their overall well-being. Initially, we focused on blogs, but soon we expanded to a YouTube channel. From 2015 onwards, we began writing books and e-books, realizing the growing interest in Ayurveda.
We then started online classes on Ayurveda, which have grown from one class per week to three classes per week. Recognizing the need to reach a broader audience, we expanded beyond English. We launched a YouTube channel in Hindi and then in Kannada and Malayalam, languages spoken in South India. We also partnered with Somos India to offer content in Spanish, resulting in the co-publishing of an Ayurveda book on home remedies in Spanish.
Currently, Easy Ayurveda operates in five languages and has published over 16 books in these languages. We consistently publish a new book every three months and have written more than 7,500 articles and blogs. Our multimedia presence includes over 2,500 YouTube and Instagram videos.
The overarching aim of Easy Ayurveda remains to make Ayurveda accessible to everyone who is health-conscious. Ayurveda is a 5,000 to 10,000-year-old science that has stood the test of time, and we strive to maintain its sanctity while translating and extracting simple, practical information for a global audience. We are expanding our reach by partnering with teams in Poland, the Netherlands, Russia, and other countries to share our message worldwide.
What are some of the key topics covered on Easy Ayurveda?
Easy Ayurveda covers a wide range of topics, rooted in the ancient system of healing, medicine, and treatments known as Ayurveda. While Ayurveda’s core lies in treatments, surgeries, detoxification methods, and herbal remedies, we focus on making this knowledge accessible and practical for the general public. Here are some key topics we cover:
- General Lifestyle Tips: We provide advice on daily routines, such as the right times to sleep and wake up, the importance of listening to internal body signals, and guidelines for eating and drinking. For example, Ayurveda suggests drinking water only when truly thirsty and eating only when genuinely hungry, which can be life-changing for many people.
- Home Remedies: We share simple, effective home remedies, including herbal teas, infusions, decoctions, and oil treatments. These remedies are easy to prepare and use, making Ayurveda approachable for everyone.
- Ayurvedic Medicines: Our website features detailed information on over 4,000 Ayurvedic medicines available in India. We explain their uses, benefits, and how they fit into the larger context of Ayurvedic treatment.
- Treatments and Practices: We delve into various Ayurvedic treatments and practices, explaining how ancient masters like Charaka, Sushruta, and Vagbhata treated conditions such as anemia, pregnancy care, postpartum care, and childcare. We cover a broad spectrum of diseases and their Ayurvedic treatments.
- Educational Resources: We partner with Ayurvedic colleges and schools, especially in the USA, to provide educational resources. We write articles that align with their syllabus, benefiting both students and practitioners.
In summary, Easy Ayurveda aims to offer a comprehensive range of information, from lifestyle tips and home remedies to detailed medicinal knowledge and educational resources, making Ayurveda accessible and beneficial for everyone.
How do you ensure the accuracy and authenticity of the information provided?
Ensuring the accuracy and authenticity of the information on Easy Ayurveda is indeed a challenge, especially since we are translating ancient texts written 5,000 years ago into English and presenting them in today’s context. Here are the steps we take to maintain high standards of accuracy and authenticity:
- Expert Team: Easy Ayurveda is not built solely by me; we have a team of senior employees, including professors and experts in Ayurveda. For instance, one of our team members is a former principal of an Ayurveda college. This team of seasoned professionals reviews the content to ensure its accuracy.
- Quality Control: Every piece of content we write passes through at least one other member of our team for quality control. This helps maintain the authenticity and correctness of the information we provide.
- Experience: Having been active since 2009, we have over 15 years of experience in writing and sharing Ayurvedic knowledge. This extensive experience contributes to our understanding and accurate interpretation of Ayurvedic texts.
- Open Communication: We maintain an open comment section on our website and have a WhatsApp chat button on EasyAyurveda.com. This allows readers to point out any mistakes or inconsistencies. We welcome feedback and are open to corrections.
- Continuous Improvement: We collect feedback and information from our readers and use it to correct any errors. We publish these corrections in our newsletters to keep our audience informed and maintain transparency.
In summary, we ensure the accuracy and authenticity of our information through a combination of expert review, quality control, experience, open communication, and continuous improvement. We are committed to providing reliable and authentic Ayurvedic knowledge while being humble and open to corrections from our readers.
Can you share a success story from someone who benefited from Easy Ayurveda?
Yes, there are many success stories. One notable example involves the Easy Ayurveda Hospital. Alongside the Easy Ayurveda website, which has become a go-to resource for Ayurvedic knowledge, we also developed a hospital in India. Ayurveda is recognized as a legitimate medical science in India, so we are legally considered doctors.
Last year, we had a team from a Spanish-speaking country visit us. Among them were an orthopedic specialist and a surgeon. We frequently have students who are modern neurologists and other medical professionals come to learn Ayurveda. They then incorporate these natural healing principles into their own practices, which I find truly mind-blowing. What started as writing articles has now grown into something respected and integrated by Western medical doctors.
For example, our hospital has seen significant success in treating paralysis cases. Dr. Amruta and Dr. Ravi Ganesh are our main doctors handling these cases. Patients who have had a stroke a month prior and are experiencing hemiplegia (one side of the body not functioning) or quadriplegia (both hands and legs not functioning) come to us. Through Ayurvedic treatments, detoxification, and panchakarma, these patients often start walking within 10 to 15 days.
We also see great results in treating thyroid hormone problems, obesity, and other conditions. These examples demonstrate not only our reach in educating the masses, including modern medical doctors but also our impact in providing effective healing to those in need, often offering relief where other medical sciences have not. Both aspects have been incredibly fulfilling experiences for me.
What future developments can we expect from Easy Ayurveda?
Easy Ayurveda started humbly with a simple blog and then expanded to include a YouTube channel and video courses on various Ayurvedic topics in one language. Now, we have grown to offer content in five languages and are on course to expand to two more: Dutch and Russian. This natural path of growth reflects our commitment to making Ayurvedic knowledge accessible globally.
In addition to our digital presence, we now operate a hospital where we treat patients with serious medical conditions using Ayurvedic principles. This practical application complements our theoretical teachings and has been operational for over seven months.
Looking ahead, we have several goals:
International Partnerships: We aim to partner with Ayurveda schools internationally to help upgrade their teaching tools. This can involve writing manuals, providing our texts, and supporting the enhancement of their educational standards. While I studied Ayurveda for eight and a half years (five and a half years for graduation and three years for post-graduation), Ayurveda schools in the Western world currently offer one to four-year programs. There is significant scope for improvement in Ayurvedic education outside India, and we want to act as enablers to spread authentic Ayurvedic education worldwide.
Incorporating Technology: With the advent of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and new platforms like Discord, we plan to incorporate these technologies into Ayurveda. Our goal is to develop new tools for both the general public and Ayurveda students globally. These tools will help people integrate Ayurvedic principles into their daily lives and provide innovative methods for students to understand and learn Ayurveda.
In summary, Easy Ayurveda is focused on expanding its linguistic reach, enhancing practical applications through our hospital, partnering with international educational institutions, and leveraging modern technology to develop new learning tools. These initiatives will help us continue spreading authentic Ayurvedic knowledge and making it accessible to everyone.
Find out more at: www.easyayurveda.com
