I really enjoyed talking with David Crow, who interviewed me on his educational site – MedicineCrow.com. David invited me to “tell all” about Rasa Ayurveda and the Muthashi Project.

To hear the interview, click here.

Don’t hesitate to download the pdf slide show found on the page, also, so you can enjoy the lush images of Kerala and Rasa Ayurveda, coordinated with the interview.

When you’re ready to listen, I hope you’ll brew a cup of tea, sit back and enjoy! Please allow plenty of time for the interview to fully download and begin playing as it is close to 90 minutes long.

Let me know what you think~

We look forward to welcoming you to Rasa Ayurveda Traditional Healing Centre for Women.

With warmest regards~

Niika Quistgard, CAS (Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist)

Women’s Health & Happiness Advocate

Founder & Director, Rasa Ayurveda Traditional Healing Centre for Women

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

Niika Quistgard :: Dec.10.2011 :: Ayurveda & Siddha, Culture, Spirituality, Rasa Ayurveda News, The Muthashi Project, Traditional Therapies :: 1 Comment »

Isn’t it amazing how much more powerfully and beautifully we create when we work together?

Women are great at inspiring and supporting each other, as “the beauty we love, becomes what we do.”

As this year’s Onam festival comes to a close, and the abundant array of Atta Pookalam  flower mandalas fill our vision, we are looking forward to a joyous season  bringing healing and happiness to women – East and West -  here at Rasa Ayurveda.

Over the years, women from all over the world have asked to come to Rasa Ayurveda to make a contribution of service. We are delighted to announce that we are ready to receive the participation of those women who are practicing and studying Ayurveda, who are  yoga therapists with an interest in Ayurveda, who are botanists, herbalists or researchers, as well as those who have other special knowledge or skills related to our work.

An Ayurveda Seva Residency at Rasa Ayurveda is designed to be an affordable work-study retreat–an opportunity to serve local and foreign patients, women and girls, and a chance to help preserve the traditional knowledge and practice of Ayurveda through The Muthashi Project — all while immersed in the ancient culture of Kerala and the living of Ayurveda.

If you desire to offer your time and skills towards our mission, we look forward to learning more about you and your desire to serve through your completion of the application below.

With respect and love,

Niika Quistgard

Founder & Director, Rasa Ayurveda Traditional Healing Centre for Women

Niika Quistgard :: Sep.09.2011 :: Practitioner Education, Rasa Ayurveda News, The Muthashi Project :: 1 Comment »

Rasa Ayurveda Therapists Give Ayurvedic Medicines to Take Home

This week, local women and children were especially invited to come to Rasa Ayurveda for complimentary Ayurvedic consultations, medicines and treatment. As Ayurveda’s popularity increases worldwide, it’s important to make sure Malayalee continue to benefit from the traditional medicine that arose from their own homeland, Kerala.

Invitation distributed to Women & Children around Rasa Ayurveda

In the United States this week, Thanksgiving is celebrated as a time to remember what we are most grateful for.

Here at Rasa Ayurveda, we are all –patients, students and the Rasa Ayurveda family–feeling grateful for the native plant medicines and the knowledge of traditional Ayurveda. We’re grateful we are able to share the power of this traditional medicine with women from all over the world, and with women in our own village here.

Niika Quistgard with Local Patient

With more gratitude, we thank all those who have contributed to The Muthashi Project in this last year, from the bottom of our hearts. We hope to do much more to protect the native medicinal plants and the unbroken stream of Ayurvedic knowledge. May the benefits of Ayurveda be enjoyed into the next many generations!

We look forward to welcoming you to Rasa Ayurveda Traditional Healing Centre for Women.

With warmest regards~

Niika Quistgard, CAS (Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist)

Women’s Health & Happiness Advocate

Founder & Director, Rasa Ayurveda Traditional Healing Centre for Women

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

Niika Quistgard :: Nov.24.2010 :: Ayurveda & Siddha, Rasa Ayurveda News, The Muthashi Project :: No Comments »

Rasa Ayurveda closes each year in early April for the hot season, reopening when monsoon arrives June 1st.  All our residential patients had gone, but before staff joined their families for a summer break, we put together a special event of The Muthashi Project for a group of young orphan girls–ages 9-13–to come spend a day with us, exploring traditional Ayurveda and having some fun…!

The entire Rasa Ayurveda family of staff members spent a day preparing for our special guests, setting up hands-on learning stations throughout the clinic, rehearing answers to anticipated questions and preparing the medicinal plant “party favors” to give the girls.

It was very rewarding to see all staff interacting with the girls with such joy, and to see the enthusiasm they enjoyed as they shared Ayurveda with the girls.

The girls arrived to enjoy tasty niruneendi naranja vellum – a kind of sweet lemon water made with Indian Sarsaparilla root, for its cooling qualities. Then we broke the crowd of girls into small groups, and each group visited every station:

Girls explore the magic of the biogas plant, where vegetable scraps are transformed into cooking gas!

~ A full clinic tour of the patient rooms, treatment rooms, kitchen and yoga hall, including an intriguing stop to learn how our biogas plant  produces cooking fuel from daily vegetable scraps.

The girls focus on 'dravyaguna,' the study of medicinal plants

~ A survey of our medicinal plant collection, with impromptu Q & A on plant identification, medicinal values and some smelling and tasting too…!

Making 'thali' - a traditional, handmade fresh hair wash...

~ A ‘thali’ table, where the girls each made fresh hair washing shampoo from hibiscus leaves.

Picchipoo jasmine is beautiful, and medicinal...!

~ The ‘picchipoo’ hut, where the girls learned about the medicinal value of a certain type of fragrant jasmine, and how we use the bandage these blossoms over the eyes after netra basti. Each girl was offered a piccipoo mala to wear in her hair, too…!

Exploring Medicinal Ayurvedic and Siddha Vaidya Oils made at Rasa Ayurveda

~ A visit with Dr. Geetha to explore a variety of Ayurvedic and Siddha Vaidya medicinal oils and their therapeutic uses. The girls loved trying to recognize them by aroma only!

~ A romp into the paddy field to identify medicinal plants, and just – to be free!

Talking over the process of making medicinal oils in the traditional way.

~ And, a session in the medicine hut with Sanju, who demonstrated the process of making traditional medicinal oils.

The girls paid great attention, and asked a lot of good questions. Some even wrote down every detail in notebooks, hungry for Ayurveda! It was a full, lively and satisfying morning at Rasa Ayurveda.

After our learning sessions, everyone cam together to enjoy some fun competitive games…! Musical chairs, ‘lemon & spoon’ and ‘stick the bindi on the sundari’! Every effort was made to win trophies! All had many laughs and enjoyed the good company.

With broad smiles, the girls headed up to the main building for a delicious meal of fried rice served on banana leaves – a Kerala favorite!

Taking a medicinal plant seedling home to the orphanage.

When it was nearly time to go, everyone gathered ’round. I called out the names of the trophy-winners and handed each prize to a gleeful victor. Last – but surely not least – the girls lined up and came forward one by one, as Dr. Geetha placed one variety of medicinal plant seedling in the hands of each girl, telling the name of the plant, and the medicinal use it will hold when it matures.

Everyone Enjoyed a Wonderful Day of Traditional Ayurveda

We look forward to more educational Muthashi Project events to protect and encourage the relationship between young Mayalayee women and girls and their native plant medicines.

We hear the girls have planted their seedlings at the orphanage already…!

We look forward to welcoming you to Rasa Ayurveda.

With warm regards,

Niika Quistgard, CAS

Managing Director, Rasa Ayurveda Traditional Healing Centre

RasaAyurveda.com

Niika Quistgard :: Apr.03.2010 :: Ayurveda & Siddha, Culture, Spirituality, Environment, Rasa Ayurveda News, The Muthashi Project :: 1 Comment »

Dear Friends,

When women come to Rasa Ayurveda for group programs, one essential activity is to interact with local Malayalee in a meaningful way thru The Muthashi Project. This week, women attending the Women’s Ayurveda Retreat at Rasa Ayurveda participated in our fourth  Muthashi Project event. Although I’m far away in the U.S. helping my son recover from his injuries, Sanju, Dr. Geetha, Sandia Bachman, Rema and all the staff and students did a fantastic job showing up to offer another great program, inspiring young Malayalee women to carry on valuable ancient traditional knowledge.

The Muthashi Project, founded in 2008, seeks to sustain the traditional relationships between Malayalee women and the native botanicals they’ve successfully relied on for medicine for thousands of year.  ‘Muthashi’ means ‘great-grandmother’ in Malayalam, the language of Kerala. ‘Muthashi’ represents the potential every woman has to live and heal thru her personal connection with Nature, the knowledge and experience of the generations of women that came before her, and the depth of her own wisdom.

The Muthashi Project sponsors Women’s Outreach Programs to inspire younger Malayalee women to continue the age-old practice of recognizing and using native plants as medicine. We usually offer these programs in communities lying just outside the city, where there is undeveloped land and backyard space for plants to grow, but where traditional knowledge and life-ways are evaporating quickly.

Continue Reading »

Niika Quistgard :: Jul.15.2009 :: Ayurveda & Siddha, Culture, Spirituality, Environment, Medicinal Plants, Rasa Ayurveda News, The Muthashi Project :: 5 Comments »