Anubhava: Soliloquies

Dhaval Dhru MD is an Ayurvedic and Yoga practitioner, consultant and educator in Seattle area. He is retired ENT surgeon and retired Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Ayurvedic Sciences, Bastyr University, Kenmore WA. He is a faculty member at Mount Madonna Institute College of Ayurveda. He is past president of NAMA, serves on NAMA Board, several committees and on NAMA Credentialing Board.

Aadya Joshi is the founder of The Right Green, an initiative that champions the cause of biodiversity restoration through research, education and advocacy on high-biodiversity supporting native plants. She has created the first of its kind research based database of plant-insect feeding relationships for the Indian subcontinent and developed a BioPower Index to help landscapers, gardeners and civic authorities plant the best biodiversity supporting plants for their region. This information on native plants is made available to students and civic authorities through specially designed workshops, games, planting guides, and multimedia content. Aadya is a high school student at the American School of Bombay. She has received numerous awards including the Children’s Climate Prize, North American Association of Environmental Education Global 30 Under 30 award, Earth Day Network Rising Star and The Pollination Project Grant award.

Dr Abhishek Joshi was born and raised in an Indian family where Ayurveda was in daily practice. Born in a place which is much revered as a holy and spiritual place “Somnath” in the western part of India he had imbibed the powerful spiritual vibes right from his childhood. The practice of yoga and meditation was instilled at a tender age in his life by his mother who is a yoga teacher at a local school in India. This beginings inspired him to pursue a degree in Ayurveda School at India (Bachelor of Ayurveda Medicine and Surgery – B.A.M.S – 5½ years duration). His zeal in the science continued and he further did his post-graduation (M.D – 3 years duration) in Ayurveda. He was the topper in his university with a distinction for his master degree. He went a step further by embracing and internalized the knowledge of Ayurveda by pursuing his PH.D in Ayurveda at most prestigious institute of Ayurveda in India Institute for Post Graduate Teaching and Research in Ayurveda (IPGT & RA), Gujarat Ayurveda University (G.A.U), India. He was a doctorate of Ayurveda at a young age of 29 years. His keen interest in yoga and meditation was also very much alive and he became a skilled Meditation & Yoga teacher at age of 26 years. He is involved with the Art of Living Foundation, which impacts lives of millions of people round the globe across many countries. Dr Joshi has taken Art of Living happiness programs for participants from 12+ countries. He practiced and taught Ayurveda and yoga at a traditional Ayurveda hospital in Kerala, India for a year when he got a call from his university vice-chancellor to take up the task of spreading Ayurveda to other parts of the world. He was appointed as Chair of Ayurveda at young age of 31 years in a 53 years old university in Bali, Indonesia.