News 12 November 2012

Dear Friends,
As some of you may know I have suffered from a degenerative disorder in the spine since 1972. I was diagnosis with a genetic problem in the vertebrae that inhibited correct growth. This caused the vertebrae to grow in an unequal manner and manifests as a deformed spine. I wore a corrective metal brace from the age of 16 to 18 years old which helped. The deformation of the spine causes the bones to touch and damages cartilage between the vertebrae. With age this manifests as osteoarthrosis, or inflammation of bone. This problem leads to other disorders with muscles and nerves that take over much of the work of the spine. I have lived the last forty years with varying degrees of pain. Thanks to this disorder I discovered Ayurveda in 1987. Thanks to this disorder I found a passion for traditional medicine and its functional approach to illness. Over the last 17 years I have shared this passion with you in France, Switzerland, Italy, Holland and Great Briton – the schools I created in Paris and Zurich in 1998 are 15 years old this year!

It has been a great experience to bring Ayurvedic medicine to Europe. Overall it has been fun to meet and work with you as individuals, as students and as groups of people. Unfortunately, my body is in too much pain to continue the administrative work of the school or teaching long programs. The office of the school in France is already closed; the school in France will officially end all activities in June 2013. Please note that I can no longer respond to email as I cannot sit in front of a computer for long periods of time. I want to thank all of you for your appreciation and support over the last 17 years. I wish you the best of luck in your continuing journey with Ayurveda.

I will continue to work for EIVS in Switzerland and I will continue the e-Learning program in English. Unfortunately, I have to delay the start of the Herbal medicine course (Dravyaguna) to the autumn of 2014. I plan to reduce drastically my work load in the 2013 / 2014 school year so that I can work on the rejuvenation of my back. I need to work another 20 years, and hopefully write a few more books that I have in mind on Ayurvedic medicine, so I need to be intelligent on how I use my body. In essence this means a major reduction in workload, e.g., computer time. Thanks for reading this, and I wish a Happy New Year to everyone!

Atreya Smith
12 November 2012
(updated 27 Dec 2012)

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