The following is a quote from the Wise Earth School of Ayurveda, whose core philosophy of healing lies in the principles of mindfulness (sadhana) and ahimsa (non-violence).

“We are always mindful of the moment. When we engage every moment without the cares and fears of the beyond, we are able to harness the spirit of sadhana, and every moment is filled with divinity. Sadhana can be practiced simply by breathing, having a compassionate thought, saying a kind word, reaching for a blade of grass, plucking a fruit from its vine, sitting in the sun and feeling its warmth, touching the earth with bare feet. In short, sadhana is the integral connection that keeps us forever dancing in rhythmic measure with the cosmic pulse. Our moment-to-moment awareness of this connection is the heart of sadhana. "

Ayurveda, the science of life, is the ancient art of living in harmony with nature.  It understands, and uses as its basis, the intelligence of nature and the inter-connectedness of every aspect of the natural world.  It is a holistic system with its roots in the Vedas which date back 7000 years.  The Vedic teachings originated with Rishis, wise ones who have passed their wisdom on in an oral tradition over the generations.

It is common to only think of Ayurveda in terms of nutrition but the Wise Earth philosophy goes beyond this and reminds us about living in the now and how we have to remember our inter-connectedness with all that is in order to become whole.

The Wise Earth School of Ayurveda was set up in 1981 as a centre for ‘Inner Medicine Healing’ through mindfulness (sadhana).  It is the creation of Sri Swamini Mayatitananda (known as Mother Maya), a Vedic scholar in the Veda Vyasa lineage who has developed and restored the vision of the rishis through the school’s education programme.  What is so exciting about this Centre is that the Wise Earth School is one of the only recognized schools in the world today that has been restoring the sadhana tradition of Ayurveda which has been out of practice since the beginning of India's medieval age (10th century, A.D.).

At the heart of its teaching is the inherent knowledge of the universe's cosmic rhythm, memory and karma and their influence on the body, mind, and spirit of all life.  Mother Maya  teaches how to embrace the integration of body, mind and spirit through nature's nourishers ~ Food, Breath and Sound… “Each of these is integral to our existence: we literally cannot function without breath; we are immersed in the sound of our mother's heartbeat and rhythms from the moment of conception; we are dependent for sustenance and growth on the bounty of nature's food”… and teaches how we can mine our own extraordinary resource of Inner Medicine by living everyday in sadhana (mindfulness).

Parallel with the principle of mindfulness is the principle of Ahimsa (non-violence).  Ahimsa is one of the Yamas, ethical guidelines at the heart of the eightfold path of Yoga, and concerns non-violence in all its forms i.e. towards ourselves, towards others and towards our environment.   The philosophy of Wise Earth therefore teaches us to live in mindfulness (sadhana) while “preserving the Mother Consciousness – honouring her river, sky, earth, wind, and space.”

The Wise Earth tradition is so named to differentiate it from the more modernised form of Ayurveda, which is more clinical and less intuitive in it approach to medicine.  But that is not to say that either form is good or bad, “Ayurveda’s adaptation to Western Medicine principles makes it a perfect catalyst to help transform Western medicine’s treatment protocols into more effective ones for the human physiognomy.”  Modern approaches to Ayurveda are influenced by allopathic medicine’s clinical and prescriptive nature, whereas Ayurveda in the Wise Earth tradition “is a preventative model of healing which informs that each and every person has the innate power to heal themselves once they are taught to use their Inner Medicine resources effectively.”

Ayurveda in the Wise Earth tradition, with non-violence and mindfulness at its core, “lays the foundation for cultivating inner awareness and reclaiming our connection to nature's rhythms (cyclical, daily, seasonal, lunar, and solar)….. In Wise Earth practice, we realise that disharmony and disease arise from forgetfulness of the Self as being One with the Whole. “

”In Wise Earth Sadhana practice …we learn to see, intuit, and honor the self, humans, trees, animals, birds, and fishes as sacred life. This path of practice with food, breath and sound, connects us to the greater energies of nature. Just as we cannot separate body, mind and spirit, neither can we separate Food, Breath and Sound from each other. Integrally connected, they provide a path of practice that brings us in harmony with nature's rhythms and helps us to cultivate good health, profound peace, and an understanding of our cosmic anatomy. Sri Swamini Mayatitananda informs that an integral part of our cosmic anatomy is cognitive memory (individual memories gathered from previous lives). Awakening this memory is essential before healing is possible.

Wise Earth work evolves from Mother Maya’s awakening and wisdom of the Mother Consciousness. The central purpose of this education is to strengthen and grow personal awareness of the individual so they reorder their inner medicine power to heal and be whole.