Meet Alakananda Ma of Alandi Ashram in Boulder

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alakananda Ma.

Alakananda, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Alandi Ashram is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary this year. Since our origin in 1990, we have been serving the people of the Front Range and beyond with Ayurveda and spiritual services. The two founders, myself and Sadananda, met in India in 1980 and journeyed together as simple pilgrims for five years. As a graduate of a London medical school, I naturally developed a profound interest in Ayurvedic healing. Arriving in Denver with eighty dollars in our pockets, we wanted to share the gifts and healing knowledge we had received and started Alandi Ashram in a teepee in Boulder County. Eventually, we settled in a small house in Boulder, where seekers and those in need of healing began coming for ceremonies and Ayurvedic medicine. Thus, a sliding scale clinic began to blossom, promoted mainly by word of mouth.

Soon, others wished to learn the teachings and practice of Ayurveda, giving rise to a traditional gurukula, a family-style school of Ayurveda, The gurukula gradually blossomed into a four-year in-depth program approved Colorado Department of Higher Education, Private Occupational School Board; yet still retaining its small scale and family feeling. The addition of student practitioners, as well as a grant from Banyan Botanicals to support our sliding scale clinic, have helped us offer Ayurvedic healthcare to people of all income levels.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been an easy road, although we have been carried forward by devotion and enthusiasm. Perhaps, if we had done a feasibility study, we would never have started! Alandi was not created from a blueprint, but developed organically, from the grassroots. Financial struggles abounded as we strove to serve in a pure and altruistic way and remain true to our principles of oneness, simplicity, love and connection. In 1997, we incorporated as a 501(c)3 non-profit, which has made it easier to reach out for donations to support our work and gave us the additional guidance of a Board of Directors. There have been many ups and downs over the years, and times of growth, expansion and blossoming have alternated with times of paring down and simplifying. We have had to navigate the impact of many national and local crises, including 9/11, various financial downturns that have affected both clinic participation and school registration, the 2013 Boulder Flood, which significantly damaged our center, and now the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Please tell us about Alandi Ashram.
At Alandi, we strive to live a holistic life and offer a seamless blend of Ayurvedic healing along with spiritual services such as meditation instruction and individual guidance. We honor one spirit through multiple world wisdom traditions, one heart in a diversity of individual expression and one consciousness in Earth and her varied life forms.

We practice simplicity by living humbly and sustainably upon our Mother Earth and express our love as a healing community rooted in the teachings of Ayurveda. Recognizing that health of the individual and the family rests upon the health of the Earth, we are devoted to earth-healing practices centered upon the five sacred elements: earth, water, fire, air and space.

Through our sliding scale clinic as well as our low-cost student clinic, we make high-quality Ayurvedic healing sessions available to all, regardless of income. We are proud of the service we offer through our clinic. We are also proud of creating the first four-year Ayurveda program recognized by NAMA, the National Ayurvedic Medical Association.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Being appointed President of NAMA, a role I served in for two years, was definitely proud moment in experiencing the trust my colleagues place in me.

Contact Info:

• Address: 2457 20th St, Boulder CO 80304
• Website: https://www.alandiashram.org/
• Phone: 303 786 7437
• Email: info@alandiashram.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alandiayurveda/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alandiashram

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