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Jyotish Star of the Month |
By Vachaspati Christina Collins |
| Christina Collins: Karyn, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to speak with us today on Ayurveda and Jyotish! Karyn Chabot: Thank you! it is a great honor. Christina: How did you get started in Ayurveda?
Christina: When did you start your school, Sama, Sacred Stone Academy for Massage and Ayurveda in Rhode Island, and weren�t you one of the pioneers in this country to work with the sacred massage with hot stones?
Christina: The NAMA (National Ayurvedic Medical Association) convention is in Rhode Island in April, that�s an interesting coincidence! Karyn: Yes, it is! I am thrilled about this! I will be renting a booth there, so if you attend, please stop by to say hello and let me give you a hug! Many of my students and alumni will be attending. Christina: What training is required to be an Ayurvedic practioner here in the USA? Karyn: That�s a loaded question that would involve a long answer if I were to answer it completely. Besides NAMA, there are 2 other governing bodies for Ayurveda that have sprung up: Marc Halpern�s National Council on Ayurvedic Education and Dr. Shekkhar�s APPNA. It�s a challenge being a school and having to place my loyalties in one or all of these organizations.
Category I: Ayurvedic Health Counselor Ayurvedic Health Counselors are experts in health promotion and disease prevention (swasthavritta). They utilize the principles of Ayurvedic medicine to create diet and lifestyle (ahaar-vihara) recommendations according to their assessment of the client? S Ayurvedic constitution and imbalances (prakriti & vikriti), state of the doshas, agni, dhatus, malas, and the mind. After the completion of academic study they have Ayurvedic clinical experience (supervised clinical practice) including a minimum of 35 patient visits 1. They educate, motivate and counsel clients in order to support them to be successful implementing the principles of Ayurveda into their lives. Ayurvedic Counselors refer clients whose samprapti is beyond the third stage (disease state) to Ayurvedic Practitioners or Ayurvedic Doctors. Category II: Ayurvedic Practitioner Ayurvedic Practitioners are experts in managing and treating disease from the Ayurvedic perspective, using Ayurvedic etiology (nidan), pathology (samprapti), diagnosis and management of diseases (kaya chikitsa), in addition to being experts in the prevention of disease and promotion of health (swasthavritta). After the completion of academic study, they have Ayurvedic clinical experience equivalent to a minimum of six months of supervised clinical practice (including a minimum of 50 patient visits 1 in order to acquire and internalize a broad database of clinical experience and make clinical decisions. In addition to diet and lifestyle (ahara-vihara), Ayurvedic Practitioners are experts in the use of herbs as medicine(dravyagunavijnana) and Ayurvedic purification (shodhanachikitsa)and rejuvenative therapies (rasayana). They also understand the basics of conventional pathology. Category III: Ayurvedic Doctor Ayurvedic Doctors are experts at understanding disease from both an Ayurvedic and Western perspective and utilizing Ayurvedic methods of treatment. They have the highest level of education, training and competency. After the completion of academic study they have extensive Ayurvedic clinical experience equivalent to a minimum of one year of supervised clinical practice (including a minimum of 100 patient visits 1 in order to acquire and internalize a broad database of clinical experience in order to make clinical decisions based on experience. The Ayurvedic Doctor understands pathogenesis and disease prevention and health promotion (swasthavritta) and disease treatment from both an Ayurvedic as well as a Western perspective but only practices from the Ayurvedic perspective using Ayurvedic principles. Ayurvedic Doctors have a working knowledge of conventional medical pathology, pharmacology and laboratory reports, in order to interface with the conventional medical community and modify the Ayurvedic treatment program accordingly. Ayurvedic Doctors have a basic knowledge of public health and epidemiology and are informed consumers of medical research. They are able to make significant original contributions to the profession 2. Requires prerequisite study of Western sciences to be determined. Notations 1 A �patient visit� means a private one on one patient encounter between the intern and the patient with supervisor oversight. 2 Original research or review articles, discussions of controversy, conference teaching, presentation of case studies. Christina: Thank you for clarifying the process for our readers! Your daughter seems to be following in your footsteps as a massage therapist?
Christina: Yes, and you should be! Nothing like family dharma is there? I know you study and teach Jyotish. Do you plan to use Jyotish as a diagnostic school in your practice of Ayurveda? Karyn: I am passionate about Jyotish. Absolutely love love love it. I already do offer short intro courses in Jyotish as part of the Ayurveda program, but nearly as much as I would like. That will change with the September Program, as well as the new program this Jan 2017. I will be introducing medical Jyotish as an adjunct to our diagnostic methodologies. I am surrounded by many amazing Jyotish who will be helping me teach this at SAMA. Christina: I heard that the Rhode Island Yoga festival is coming up and you will be participating, what will you present? Karyn: I was asked to teach Intro to Jyotish and am thrilled about it! This class will be appropriate for people who have no previous Jyotish knowledge and is a great way to gain an understanding of the Ayurveda since each planet has a unique prakruti. I will make it personal during some of it by using a fun and accurate method I learned on the KRS YouTube channel using only your age and assigning ages to each house all the way up to 100. It�s an inspiring technique that�s great in a group setting so that each person can feel like they gleaned something about themselves. Christina: Who inspired or taught you along the way? Karyn: So many that I don�t think I can name them all here, thought I will try. My first introduction to astrology was when I was 12 years old by a woman in Vermont named Milliscent. I called her Mim. She was a glowing 70-year young, brilliant, mystical, poetic and astrologer as well as a Radcliffe graduate. I spent summers with her learning palm reading, poetry, Egyptian mysticism and western astrology. She was a family friend. I went on to study Philosophy at Salve Regina college. The Yoga Zen Buddhism course lit me up and propelled me to continue my studies in this vein. I met Michio Kushi when I was 23 and immerse myself in Macrobiotics. I studied Body Ecology with Donna Gates in GA for one year in 1996. Dr. Vasant Lad was by far one of my best Ayurvedic teachers, but I did study with Gandharva Sauls in NYC for many years, which propelled me to the Maharishi University where I met so many masters that I simply can�t name them all here. One of my favorite Jyotish teachers out there was David Hawthorne. I met many people doing �underground� Jyotish---different variations from the traditional Jyotish that Maharishi or Hart de Fouw taught. I lived in Fairfield (Iowa) for 2 years, living, breathing and sleeping Jyotish and the Veda. I have made many Jyotish friends along the way in my Ayurveda pursuits, as well as studied with them in snippets: Ryan Kurkzac, Sam Geppi, and Gary Gomes. My newest teachers are Penny Farrow, Simon Chokoisky, Joni Patry and Michael Sugarman�.and of course you Christina! Christina: What indicators in your chart do you think led you in the direction of massage and healing? Karyn: I am guessing Saturn in my 10th house Capricorn would give rise to me working the physical structure of the body, as well as my near full moon in the 1st house, Aries, makes me want to nurture and �mother� my clients. I believe my Jyestha Nakshatra in my 8th house Mercury (Mars) give me leadership and teaching skills in occult (Veda). All of my planets are either in the mid line or right (public) side of my chart, which makes me visible so clients and students can find me. I have 4 planets in Dharma houses and 3 in Moksha houses. I am guessing that�s why I am still single at age 52 and put my career in the studies of enlightenment----the eyes of the Veda---foremost in my life. Christina: Do you have a special routine that you follow to prepare for meeting with a client? Karyn: I am not much of a routine or structure girl, although I am striving to be. The big moon in my first house has me following my intuition and how I �feel� in the moment, which doesn�t give rise to much structure. I generally give the best readings after I have been on a walk in nature. Nature is my temple. It gives me clarity as well as provides me time to contemplate my client�s chart. I usually give a quick look before a walk, then let it integrate and ask for �messages� from nature. If I can�t get my walk, I will do a little yoga instead. I am a body-centered movement person and former professional dancer. Movement wakes up my creative juices and nature inspires me. I also use an astrological card system, like the book of time, to compare predictions, which helps give my readings more accuracy. It�s math and science----then I combine it with my moon. I am always prepared to �hear� spontaneous �messages� or cognitions during my readings as well because sometimes just when you think you have it figured out, the client throws a curve ball. Being fluid and versatile, trusting the �whispers� and magic over the science has been critical for me. Most of all, extending compassion to my client and reminding them of free will is more important than any prediction. During the warm season in Newport, I frolic in the ocean with my snorkel and spend much time under water. All your doshas �go home� when you immerse yourself fully in the ocean. I find it cleanses the karmas I may have taken on from clients�.and renews the sweetness of life. Christina: Would you like to share with us your plans for the future? Karyn: I will be leaving my Jupiter Maha dasha in about 3 years to go into my Saturn (in Dhanishta) period! I imagine I will franchise SAMA across the country and bring more Jyotish and Magic to the world. I would eventually like to open a Jyotish Program, as another branch at SAMA. Though I have studied many years of Jyotish, I still feel like a newbie. There are many things I have yet to learn simply because I haven�t had the time, not because I don�t have the passion or discipline. I believe my Saturn cycle will allow me the time I crave to immerse myself fully in the study of Jyotish and I am so excited about this! Christina: Thank you so much for a wonderful interview, good luck in all of your plans! Karyn Chabot Biography:
Karyn has an extensive education in the healing arts. In 1997 she graduated from The Ayurvedic Institute New Mexico, where she studied with the renowned Ayurvedic physician, Dr. Vasant Lad. Two years earlier she had graduated from Goddard College with a BS in Health & Wellness Sciences. Her studies have included two years at the Maharishi University in Vedic Science at the master�s level, and another year at Goddard College to gain her Master�s degree in Ayurvedic Medicine. She has also completed graduate work at Universal Massage Therapeutics of New Mexico and studied over 10 years in Jyotish (Vedic) astrology. She has studied Jyotish with the following Masters of Jyotish: Simon Chokoisky, Penny Farrow, David Hawthorne, Richard Edison, Christina Collins, Michael Sugarman and Ryan Kurczac. During her career in the health industry Karyn became a licensed nationally certified Massage Therapist,a certified Ayur*Yoga Instructor, and a nationally certified yoga instructor from the Nosara Yoga Institute in Costa Rica. She studied Ayurvedic Blueprinting with Gandharva Sauls, and graduated from the Ayurveda-Yoga Institute of NYC. She later became a certified master crystologist with the Taomchi Association of America, a 2nd Degree Reiki Practitioner, a certified Quantum Touch therapist, a certified Fitness Trainer and Nutritionist, and also became certified in modules I and II of The Bodytalk System. She studied Marma Therapy with Dr. Vasant Lad, Dr. Vaidya Mishra, and Dr. Naina Marballi at Ayurveda�s Beauty Care in NYC. In addition Karyn became a certified Ayurvedic Beauty Specialist with Sonia Masocco at The Ayurvedic Institute. She also took level one of The Yuen Method of Healing, and holds a certification as an Ayurvedic Pancha Karma Therapist and Medical Thai Therapist Karyn has presented Sacred Stone Therapy on national TV, in national and international spas and healing centers, and at many of the National Ayurvedic Medical Association annual conferences. She has also published industry-related articles in national magazines and has produced 7 comprehensive instructional DVDs on the art of stone healing and Ayurvedic spa therapies. In addition, she has written 8 illustrated bodywork books and correspondence courses for massage therapists. Sacred Stone Therapy was featured on the cover of the American Massage Therapy Association�s Magazine in Oct 2003 and March 2005. Karyn is a member of the American Massage Therapy Association, The National Certification Board of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork, and The National Ayurvedic Medical Association. She is also a former adjunct faculty professor at Bristol Community College, MA, in their massage therapy program. Her best healer and best friend is her 26-year-old daughter, Jaeda Chabot, LMT who is following in her mother�s footsteps and working as a licensed massage therapist and esthetician in Boston. The Newport Massage School at SAMA - Phone: 877-832-1372 Email: [email protected]
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