Enkindling light at the Kayakalpa Center of Glen Ellen

November 13, 2021

Dr. Raam evaluating patient at session — Dr Raam Pandeya uses Kayakalpa, a specialized field of practice within Ayurvedic and Siddha medicine to help clients reach optimum health and wellness.Photo courtesy of Kayakalpa, Glen Ellen, CA

With winter months approaching the daylight hours are shorter, nights are colder. This is perhaps why people the world over commemorate the season with lights. Dr. Raam Pandeya, his family and staff in Glen Ellen, California recently celebrated the festival of Diwali on November 4.

Diwali is celebrated between October and November. It is usually commemorated for five days to a week. This year it was on Nov. 11, 2021. Photo courtesy of Kayakalpa, Glen Ellen, CA.

Celebrated in over a dozen countries in Asia, Diwali shares some elements with Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah. The lighting of candles and other festive activities signify a triumph over darkness, joy over sadness and health over sickness.

Winter is really an opportunity to focus on health and rejuvenation and this is what Dr. Raam and his staff at Kayakalpa Center seek to help people attain. 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. Few people know the health power of sunlight, which is a natural source of vitamin D. And that, Vitamin D is a basic nutrient and one that helps keep us at an optimal level of health. Seeking natural and organic ways to heal is what Dr. Raam and the Kayakalpa Alchemy Foundation in Glen Ellen is all about.

Dr. Raam with a client. Initial evaluation is followed by a four hour treatment session. Kayakalpa looks at the entire system of a person, not just symptoms of illness. Photo courtesy of Kayakalpa, Glen Ellen.

Dr. Raam is trained in Vedic and Pre-Vedic sciences, Yoga, and Tantra and he 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.

Some of the techniques used by Dr. Raam, such as the aromatic herbal-mineral paste called Alepa, patients have said, will leave you “floating on a cloud of bliss.”

Dr. Raam has been affiliated with the prestigious Hindi Sahitya Sammelan of Allahabad, India. Hindi Sahitya Sammelan is a dedicated university-level institution conducting the only Indian authenticated degree courses in Ayurveda available in North America before focusing his energies solely on the training and teaching of Kayakalpa.

“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. While not a patient, Rothbart was impressed with Kayakelpa’s peaceful setting along Warm Springs Road and Dr. Raam’s commitment to Eastern forms of medicine as she added.

“And, 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, Rothbart is simpatico to the Ayurvedic approach to medicine and the Kayakalpa Alchemy Foundation, she said. The word ‘Ayurvedic’ comes from two words in Sanskrit meaning basically, ‘life’ and ‘science.’ Or some translations interpret it as ‘life-knowledge.’

The altar of Shiva, the God of Healing & Dance in the sacred space of the treatment rooms. Photo courtesy of Kayakalpa, Glen Ellen, CA.

Ayurvedic medicine can be traced back more than 3,000 years ago. And, it is utilized as part of medicine in India and other places in the East. As Rothbart pointed out. “It is unfortunate that Indian medicine (as well as Chinese medicine) are called ‘alternative.’ They have been healing humans for thousands of years, much longer than western medicine.”

And like Dr. Raam and his family who celebrated Diwali, she will be lighting a candle on the menorah this coming Nov. 28. 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 the website.