Enkindling light at the Kayakalpa Center of Glen Ellen

The lighting of candles and other festive activities signify a triumph over darkness, joy over sadness and health over sickness.

By Jonathan Farrell | Special to The Sun

Nights are colder and daylight hours are shorter, as winter months approach. Perhaps this is why people the world over commemorate the season with lights. Dr. Raam Pandeya, his family and staff at the Kayakalpa center in Glen Ellen, California recently celebrated the festival of Diwali.

The November 4 lighting of candles and other festive activities signify a triumph over darkness, joy over sadness and health over sickness. This in essence is the spirit of Diwali as it is celebrated in many parts of Asia.

As Dr. Raam and his staff at Kayakalpa Center seek ways to help people attain good health, winter is viewed as an opportunity to focus on health, healing and rejuvenation.

The name ‘KayaKalpa’ comes from two words in Sanskrit meaning ‘body’ and ‘transformation.’ In the increasing distractions of a hectic, stressful world, people from all walks of life need to restore and maintain their health.

The Festival of Lights be it Diwali, Hanukkah or whatever you want in any culture through out the world is really an intuitive way of people seeking health and well-being during the winter months. Or, perhaps another way of saying it, during the “down time” of nature outdoors, people need to do healthy things to “recharge.”

Few people know the health power of sunlight, which is a natural source of vitamin D. Sunlight is one of the natural ways we get our dose of this essential vitamin.

Seeking natural and organic ways to heal is what Dr. Raam and the Kayakalpa Alchemy Foundation in Glen Ellen is all about.

Trained in Vedic and Pre-Vedic sciences, Yoga, and Tantra and Dr. Raam has received medical degrees in Ayurveda, Siddha Medicine and Homeopathy.

Vedic refers to the ancient culture of India and its traditions. Pre-vedic refers to the earliest civilization of the Indus Valley from which India has its roots.

While some of these forms of medicine and healing arts can be traced back centuries, (some scholarly sources say as far back as 1300–900 BCE), Dr. Raam is most discerning with an in-depth consultation. He utilizes everything available and most helpful to a patient/client.

His instinctively intuitive abilities have helped people restore, replenish and heal both in body and mind.

After many years spent interacting with prominent yogis, mystics, and medical scholars of his time, Dr. Raam introduced ancient Kayakalpa techniques of revitalization to the West in 1979.

Since then, he has worked on thousands of people from all walks of life with various health challenges, gaining recognition in the medical community as a groundbreaking and avant-garde practitioner.

“Yoga and other healing methods are entering our awareness more,” says local realtor Nada Rothbart. She met briefly with Dr. Raam and staff some time ago, regarding land and available property in the Glen Ellen area. Dr. Raam selected the Sonoma Valley because its natural and rustic beauty is conducive to health and well-being.

Although she is not a patient of Dr. Raam, Rothbart was impressed by the peaceful setting of the Kayakalpa center, which is situated along Glen Ellen’s Warm Springs Road.

She is also interested in the Ayurvedic approach to medicine. As Rothbart believes, “more people are benefiting from those proven methods to heal humans.”

Acquainted with alternative forms of healing, Rothbart is also a yoga practitioner. She turned to yoga when nothing else worked to help her restore her health and peace of mind. Eager to learn more about Dr. Raam and the Kayakalpa Alchemy Foundation, Rothbart is simpatico to the Ayurvedic approach and other Eastern forms of medicine. Rothbart points out that the word ‘Ayurvedic’ comes from two words in Sanskrit meaning basically, ‘life’ and ‘science.’ Or as some translations interpret a ‘life-knowledge.’

With a history that can be traced back more than 3,000 years, Ayurvedic medicine has lots of practical knowledge as well as profound wisdom. “It is unfortunate that Indian medicine (as well as Chinese medicine) are called ‘alternative.’ They have been healing humans for thousands of years, said Rothbart, much longer than western forms of medicine.”

And like Dr. Raam and his family who celebrated Diwali, she lit a candle on the menorah this Nov. 28 as Hanukkah has begun. The celebration of light in winter is universal just as restoring and maintaining health is essential. To learn more about Dr. Raam Pandeya and the Kayakalpa Alchemy Foundation and retreat center in Glen Ellen, visit

https://www.kayakalpa.com/

Enkindling light at the Kayakalpa Center of Glen Ellen

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