ACHARYA SHUNYA
Acharya Shunya is a globally-recognized exponent of classical Ayurveda anchored in the classic Vedic spiritual roots. Through her powerful, experiential, alchemically alive, community based, spiritually and psychologically rooted, ‘Alchemy through Ayurveda’ program, Acharya Shunya enables the healing of the whole person, including the mind, body, soul and relationships, in contrast to the more recent trend of de-spiritualizing Ayurveda.
Acharya Shunya’s Ayurveda students describe her as a catalyst for awakening health, a beacon of light that has illuminated their paths from powerlessness to powerful, hopeless to hopeful, ill health to healthy. Her students consistently remark at her gift of delivering profound wisdom eloquently, within the context of easy-to-remember, real-life application.
Bestselling Author
Acharya Shunya has authored several books and eBooks including Ayurveda Lifestyle Wisdom,
acclaimed as a top 10-books in Alternative Medicine in 2017. It was acclaimed as a top 10 book for Alternative Medicine by Healthline Networks. The book has been translated into 7 languages and helps health-seekers across the globe. It is being used as a curriculum by myriad Yoga and Ayurveda schools and teaching programs across the USA including the Loyola Marymount University' Department of Yoga Studies.
Founder and Pioneer
Acharya Shunya founded spiritual-philanthropic, award winning not-for-profit Vedika Global in 2007 with an explicit mission of transforming the world with Vedic wisdom.
She founded The Awakened Self Foundation in California in 2018, to empower health and elevate consciousness worldwide. It offers transformative learning in Ayurveda and allied Vedic sciences.
Chaudhary Award for Distinguished Service in Vedic Science conferred by California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), 2016
Nalanda Award for Excellence in Ayurvedic Education by American Association of Practitioners of North America (AAPNA), 2010
Hailed as Top 100 Ayurveda and Yoga Trailblazers by Spirituality and Health Magazine, 2015
Appointed Advisor to Government of India on International Yoga and Ayurveda Affairs, 2016-current.
President, Board of Directors California Association of Ayurveda Medicine
2013-2017
Member, Advisory Board and Governing Council for Consequential Ethics.
2019 - Present
Mother Padmavati Award for Commendable efforts in International education of Ayurveda by All India Institute of Ayurveda, India.
Invited as a featured speaker at the annual NAMA conference in 2014.
Speaker and Global Ambassador of Ayurveda
Acharya Shunya has delivered keynote addresses on Ayurveda at University of California – San Francisco, Los Angeles and Berkeley, Stanford University, California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), Sedona Yoga Festival, Kripalu, 1440.org, Shift Network, The International Ayurveda Delegates Assembly (a 60-country consortium), World Ayurveda Congress and the National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA). She was also invited to present on the status of “Ayurveda and Yoga in the United States” to the Government of India, a rare honor bestowed upon her by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Overseas Affairs in 2016.
Ancient Roots of Ayurveda
Fortunate to have been born in a 2000-year old spiritual Vedic lineage of teachers and healers from India, and personally groomed by her legendry grandfather in Ayurveda, Acharya Shunya conveys the deeper knowledge of Ayurveda often lost to modern seekers, while losing none of the original beauty, authenticity, purity, and power of the teachings.
Acharya Shunya’s Ayurveda education that lasted 14-years was conducted inside a traditional wisdom school (Guruklulam) was not only clinically sound but at same time, suffused with spiritual insights from the Vedas, integrated with Yogic and Advaita (nondual) philosophy and enriched with ancestral food and herbal wisdom, creating a perfect recipe for awakening health and lasting wellbeing.
Fortunate to have been born this 2000-year old lineage of teachers and healers in India, Acharya Shunya grew up immersed in the living wisdom tradition of Ayurveda where her own grandfather, who she calls ‘Baba,’ and talks about extensively in her book, took her under his wing and introduced her to the deepest possible knowledge of how to heal herself.
Today, Shunya imparts that same lineage enabled wisdom of Ayurveda wholeheartedly, without holding back, to anyone who cares to study with her, reaping profound spiritual wellbeing and unprecedented healing at the level of the body and mind. Moreover, Acharya Shunya has used the spiritually integrated model of Ayurveda to deeply examine her relationship with herself and the world. In doing so, she was able to overcome her own physical and emotional, even immunological health challenges, remove the veils of self-ignorance and awaken to a deeper truth, to abide in a state of abiding health, inner peace and soul contentment.
Acharya Shunya lives in Northern California with her partner Chef Sanjai, who is an Ayurvedic culinary expert. She enjoys sunrises, walks in nature, planting and nurturing her bountiful garden and teaching students who visit her from every part of the world. She delights in decoding scriptures, continuing to write books and nurturing her global student community.
