About once a month I receive an email asking where to do go school to become an illustrious Ayurvedic Counselor, Practitioner, or Educator. What is so terribly exciting about the question is the sheer number of schools that have appeared or further developed their programs since I asked the very same question in 1997. Not only is the ancient wisdom being kept alive, the conversation is rising to embrace our postmodern challenges. Yet another example of how Ayurveda is intrinsically Integral – transcending and including that which has come before.

Here is a comprehensive  list of Ayurvedic Educational facilities & schools in the US, along with many interviews of the school founders: http://www.loaj.com/interviews.htm. If you are serious about packing up and moving to study Ayurveda, go ahead and buy this issue of Light on Ayurveda Journal, at least so that you know the big topics of conversation in Ayurvedic Education. Then subscribe to the periodical as many of the educators write there.

Fall Issue 2006 Vol. V, Issue 1 (AyurvedaEducation)

Ayurvedic Education in America
by Cynthia Copple
Gurukula Education
by Felicia Tomasko
The Value of Sanskrit in Ayurvedic Education
by Nicolai Bachmann 
Interview: Starting a School of Ayurveda at Kripalu
by Sivani Alderman interviewing Director Hilary Garivaltis 
Ayurvedic Schools in the U.S.: Comparison Chart
Ayurvedic Educators’ Insights
Op Ed Pages:
“The Need to Regulate Ayurveda” by Dr. Lakshmi Mishra &
“Regulation of Ayurveda through Evolution” by Dr. Marc Halpern
“The Need to Publish in a Peer-Reviewed Journal” by Dr. Alakananda
__________________________________________________

Resources aside, here are a few questions to ask yourself and then ask the schools you interview:

Are you looking for a more traditional program or a modern program?

Are you looking for a guru? Are you comfortable with a guru-based program?

Do you want to practice Ayurveda professionally or more for self development?

Are you looking for Classical Ayurveda or a more Tantric approach?

The best way to judge how the schools fit in to this is to see how their graduates are applying their education.

That said, for formal education I can’t help but recommend these institutions:

Ayurvedic Insitiute
http://www.ayurveda.com/about/index.html

California College of Ayurveda
http://www.ayurvedacollege.com/

Kripalu’s Program
http://www.kripalu.org/study_with_us/351

Bastyr
www.bastyr.com

May you be guided from within and without on your search.