Meet Your 2022 Presenters
Eduardo Cardona-Sanclemente
D.Sc., PhD., MSc., Ayurveda Doctor (NAMA)
Dr. Cardona has been practicing as a therapist for more than ten years and holds several distinguished positions at medical schools and in university faculties.
His therapeutic work using Ayurveda and modern medicine is integrative and includes hands-on techniques including Cranio-Sacral, Marma, Yoga and Lymphatic Drainage, which bring fresh perspectives to treating chronic ailments and diseases.
Dr. Cardona’s view is that combining the profound protocols of ancient medicine and today’s efficient modern medical technology is a beneficial pathway for treating suffering individuals.
One of the main areas of his teaching and research is the importance, connection and implications of lipids, such as cholesterol (both “The Good and The Bad” types) on diet and metabolism, as well as their potential role in the development of related pathologies such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes, stress and other risk factors of cardiovascular diseases.
With many years of studies and research published in peer journals and his own experience as a patient, Dr. Cardona has understood that the origin of disease is the lack of homeostasis – the absence of regulation of the internal environment that brings about stability.
Ismat Dhala-Nathani
BNYS, MSc, Doctorate of Natural Medicine (Ayurveda)
Ismat’s professional background is in natural health care, specializing in traditional Indian medicine.
With over two decades of experience, she has spearheaded CAISH, carefully guiding its growth since its inception in 2002.
Ismat focuses on melding ancient wisdom with current concepts of health and well-being.
From this frame of reference, she develops educational programs, materials and teaching tools.
Currently, Ismat is working toward accreditation affiliations and the standardization of Ayurveda and Indian Systems of Healing programs in Canada.
Over the years, Ismat has gained a multitude of experiences.
She is a health practitioner, academician, international speaker, healer, researcher, and practitioner of Nadi Vigyan.
She has held key positions in India, UK and Canada, among which are Assistant Dean at Dr. Lajpatrai Mehra’s Neurotherapy Hospital in India, and Consultant at the prestigious Hale Clinic in the UK.
Ismat has always been willing to share her knowledge and insights about Ayurveda and other Indian healing systems, including Indian Naturopathy (Prakruti Chikitsa).
As a result, she has been featured on television and in newspapers in the UK, Canada and India. She is a tireless champion for mind-body integration, health and hygiene, and food and nutrition.
Dr Arun Kumar Garg
PhD.MD.FRCPC
Meet Dr. Arun Kumar Garg, a renowned advocate for culturally sensitive and effective holistic healthcare.
He holds the position of Clinical Professor of Pathology at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia.
For three decades, he served as the Medical Director at Fraser Health's Department of Medical Biochemistry and Lab Medicine, and he continues to contribute as a consultant in Biochemical medicine.
Dr. Garg has received numerous accolades for his contributions to society, including being named one of the 100 most influential Indo-Canadians in the province by The Vancouver Sun in 2008.
He was also awarded an honorary doctorate from BCIT in 2010 and received the Philanthropic Champion Award from the Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation in 2011 for promoting stronger links between Canada and India.
Dr. Garg conceptualized the annual Canada India Network initiative conference and founded the Canada India Network Society to foster strong economic, trade, educational, and cultural ties between Canada and India.
He is a member of the Executive Committee of GAPIO and serves as the medical lead for South Asian Health Inst at Fraser Health. Dr. Garg's approach to healthcare is both innovative and holistic, blending scientific evidence with the wisdom of ancient philosophy.
He is a change-maker with a heart, bringing together the best of the East and the West.
Jessica Kruse
Yoga and Ayurveda Practitioner, Teacher
Jessica Kruse is an Ayurveda Practitioner, Remedial Massage Therapist, E-RYT 200 & S.I.T (Subconscious Imprinting Technique) Practitioner who studies across the globe.
She’s continued to apprentice and mentor with her first teacher of Ayurveda Dr. Jaisri Lambert (NAMA) since 2008.
She’s been fortunate to experience a unique apprenticeship of advanced clinical studies with renowned Ayurveda physicians Dr. Kesari and Dr. Ramkumar at Vaidyagrama in India and studies with Dr. Vasant Lad in both the USA and India over the past decade.
Jessica specializes in Ayurveda pulse reading, diet and lifestyle consultations & counselling, Ayurveda cuisine, Ayurveda Yoga Therapy, Turiya Therapy (Marma Chikitsa), Clinical and Ayurveda massage therapy, holistic aesthetics & beauty treatments and S.I.T – a science-based healing system designed to uncover and release repressed emotions and unresolved trauma that’s contributing to chronic physical symptoms.
Jessica currently has a flourishing practice in Costa Rica and travels to Canada annually to stay connected to clients and family.
She is the founder of La Vida Veda Ayurveda & Yoga Spa & School and facilitates international yoga retreats, Ayurveda seminars and Yoga Teacher Training.
Dr. Ramkumar Kutty
Ayurvedic Physican and Director of Vaidyagrama
Dr. Ramkumar is a Founder-Director of Punarnava Ayurveda, an institution committed to Authentic Ayurveda for Universal Well-Being.
He is a lifelong student of Ayurveda and other traditional Indian knowledge systems.
Over the last 15 years, he has given talks and conducted workshops in the Americas, Africa, Europe, Australia and South-East Asia propagating health and happiness through Ayurveda.
Punarnava Ayurveda is currently engaged in the creation of an experimental, green, self-sustaining, authentic Ayurveda healing community on the outskirts of Coimbatore in South India.
https://www.vaidyagrama.com/dr-ramkumar
Glynnis Osher
Ayurveda Alchemist, Spice Mistress
Glynnis is a passionate teacher, Ayurveda practitioner and author specializing in the healing arts of aromatic Ayurveda.
Her love of alchemy within Ayurveda practices brings inspired self-care products, spice blends, and learning materials to her students and clients.
Glynnis is on faculty at the Vancouver School of Healing Arts (VSOHA)/Rhodes Wellness College, teaching aromatherapy, Ayurveda head massage, Wellbranding, and Ayurveda self-care in the Bodywork Program.
She is the founder of Academy Aromatica, an online portal for Ayurveda education in the wisdom arts of Ayurveda, aromatherapy and aromanutrition.
Here Glynnis has created The AromaDosha Blueprint Online Learning Experience as well as the Thousand Petal Lotus Ayurveda Head Massage Master Training and Aroma 911:
Ayurveda aromatherapy for a wide range of health and wellness applications, and everyday emergencies.
Glynnis is co-author of the book Your Irresistible Life: 4 Seasons of Self-Care through Ayurveda
Natasha Jyoti Samson
Ayurveda & Yoga Teacher
My love for Ayurveda started during my 200-hr Yoga Teacher Training at the Salt Spring Centre of Yoga.
I furthered my studies and obtained my Ayurveda Health Counselor Diploma at the Mount Madonna Institute College of Ayurveda under prominent Ayurveda physicians; Dr. Vassant Lad, Dr. John Doulliard, Dr. Sarita Shrestha, Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar among others.
I completed my Ayurveda Massage Treatment Program under the guidance of my dear teacher Dr. Jaisri Lambert.
Over the past decade, I have been practicing and extensively studying yoga philosophy and psychology through the works of Baba Hari Dass, Patanjali, Eknath Easwaran and Alan Watts.
When the pandemic was upon us, I pivoted to offering online retreats, webinars, and classes. Focusing on Yoga as Medicine, nourishing your digestion, Ayurveda & Circadian Rhythms.
I will be launching my four (4) part Yoga as Medicine Series this Fall along with an East Meets West Wisdom for Woman Series in collaboration with Dr. Patricia Mills, Functional Medicine MD, and Health Transformation Expert, where we align Ayurveda with cutting-edge modern science research.
Preeti Syal
M.Sc., R.H.N., Ayurveda Lifestyle Consultant
Preeti Syal is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist (R.H.N.) from the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition, Vancouver and a Master of Science in Foods and Nutrition from Delhi University, India. She is also a certified Ayurveda lifestyle consultant. She has a passion for nutrition, a natural ability and a strong desire to share the knowledge with others.
She is from New Delhi, the fast-paced metropolitan capital of India, but has carried over her ancestral ayurvedic philosophy of diet and lifestyle to Vancouver.
Her passion for food has evolved to encompass a philosophy that focuses on whole and natural foods intended to nourish and promote health and well-being.
She aspires to help people restore balance and create wellness in their lives through her one on one consultations as well as Nutrition & Ayurveda workshops all over the lower mainland.
She believes that most chronic illnesses stem from improper digestion and malnutrition and she strongly believes that “Your health is in your own hands!”
Preeti is part of the teaching faculty at CSNN, the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition since 2010 where she teaches various Holistic Nutrition as well as Ayurveda courses.
Preeti is the author and curator of various self-paced online courses on Nutrition and Ayurveda. You may get life-changing insights from her courses which have the potential of helping you in all aspects of life- physical, emotional and spiritual as her courses are a perfect blend of modern Holistic Nutrition backed with the intelligence of our 5000-year-old Ancient Ayurveda Wisdom.
Neelam Toprani
Founder of Sewanti Ayurvedic Series
Neelam Toprani has over 30 years of experience in business as well as in Ayurveda. including scientific research, and product formulation as part of her specialties.
Her expertise lies in Ayurvedic product development based on classical texts, sales and marketing, and branding of retail products in the marketplace in Canada, the US, and Europe.
She also has extensive experience in Health Canada & FDA regulations, import and export regulations, and new product development of Ayurveda botanicals with sensitivity to Western culture in the nutraceutical market.
Neelam has been implementing NNHPD regulations (Natural and Non- prescription Product Directorate) for over 20 years and successfully licensed a wide range of classical formulations.
She is actively engaged as a Stakeholder with NNHPD, the Bureau of Program Policy, risk management, and the Bureau of consumer health product modernization of self-care products.
Her company Padmashri Naturals Inc. is a prominent Life Sciences company with Agriculture Canada and BC Trade & Invest and is invited as a trade delegate to various international
conferences.
Neelam will share the importance of Natural Health Product regulations for Ayurveda products
to the consumers, Ayurveda practitioners and teachers, and companies planning to sell
products in the market.
She will cover the key points in the NNHPD guidance documents for
licensing Ayurveda health products including self-care products, evidence requirements for
safety and efficacy, and the pathway for licensing Natural health products used in Traditional
Ayurveda Medicine.
Micheline Wong
BScPT, MHSc, BSc (Nutrition)
Micheline is a private practice physiotherapist in Vancouver and Salt Spring Island, BC.
She incorporates an integrated approach to physiotherapy and rehabilitation by combining orthopedics, visceral (organ) and neural manipulation with Ayurveda, marma point therapy and acupressure into her clinical practice. Micheline has a professional goal of completing a research project and book integrating physiotherapy with Ayurveda to develop the Brain-Gut connection in the management of Multiple Sclerosis.
She has completed Ayurveda training from the Maharishi International University (MIU) and has received mentorship from Jaisri Lambert since 2014.
Joanne Cooper
CYA-RYT, (Hatha, Ayurveda Consultation, Ayurveda Nutritional Counselling, Marma, Acupressure and Sound Therapy)
About Joanne:
Biofield Tuning Practitioner 2023
Ohm Therapeutics Sound Healing Practitioner 2023
Ayurveda Marma Certificate, Ayurprana 2022
Ayurveda Turiya Therapy certificate 2021 (60 hr), Jaisri M. Lambert
Marma Certificate 2021 (45 hr), SVAyurveda
Holistic Culinary Certificate 2021 (30 hr), Canadian School of Natural Nutrition
Ayurveda Integrative Nutrition Training 2019 (125 hr), Laura Plumb; Vedawise
Healing Light Yoga Teacher training 2018 (350 hr), New World Ayurveda
Nadi Pariksha, Pulse Reading 2017 (60 hr), Jaisri Lambert; Ayurveda Seminars
Ayurvedic Chef certification 2016 (100 hr), HalePule, Kaua'i
Ayurvedic Lifestyle Consultant certificate 2015 (750 hr), Greens Ayurveda, Kerala, India.
Professional Yoga Therapy Apprentice 2014 (PAYTA), (250 hr), Island Yoga Vista, Nanaimo BC, included registered Yoga Teacher training
Acupressure and Marma balancing training 2012, 2018-19
She loves to cook, enjoying fresh, local, organic and seasonal food, appreciating the benefits of an Ayurveda, vegetarian diet and lifestyle.
Professional member of the Ayurveda Association of Canada.
Sound Therapy and hands-on therapeutic acupressure and marma therapy are designed to open and clear energy pathways, increase resilience, reduce stress and improve the flow of prana - enhancing your sense of ease, flow and vitality.
Ayurveda nutritional and lifestyle counselling, Yoga practices to help support healthy radiance, recovery from illness and expand personal potential.
Ayurveda Cooking classes in the mid-Vancouver Island region. Introducing fundamental concepts as well as hands-on cooking theory and recipes, sharing these ancient healing principles for deeper nourishment and connection with our own bodies, seasonal rhythms and vitality.
Weaving Ayurveda into beginner/intermediate Yoga Classes using seasonally appropriate and body-type specific topics.