
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.

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.

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.

“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.
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.’

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.