All we need is love
Love is space, it is expansion that allows for growth
Hi, I’m Tina, a Natural Holistic Healthcare Practitioner and Educator
In 1999, I felt failed by our healthcare system, as the prescribed medicine could not cure my ills.
I vowed to find medicine that healed at the core.
The next ten years, I studied intensely and began to realise there was more to who I was. Tina was really insignificant in comparison to the entire cosmos. I started eating wholesome foods for the first time, giving my body room to breathe and, equally so, receiving pranic energy. I qualified as a chef, worked on organic farms and in health food shops, began yoga and meditation, all the while deepening my understanding of nature's power to heal.
A decade later, my calling and desire to understand the disease process and how to treat it was fulfilled. I deepened my commitment to natural medicine and enrolled at Middlesex University to study Ayurveda (BSc Hons). I am grateful to my teachers. Dr Palitha, Dr Athique, Dr Joshi, Dr Prathima, Dr Anjali, Dr Vijay Murthy and the Late Paul Lowe.
After 4 years of learning Medical Ayurveda and western clinical sciences and completing clinical training at SMD Hassan and KLE Belgaum, I dove deeply into my spiritual nature through intensive meditation practices lasting over 7 years in India, some of it spent in the heart of Tamil Nadu ashram. It was the deep sadhana I had yearned for since I was a young child; it was a challenging time, as I had to give up trying to control and face all of myself. My faith deepened beyond my wildest dreams.
I am deeply grateful to have been supported and taught by self-realised masters in India and beyond, Arunachala Shiva, Ramana Maharishi, Nochor Venkataramana, Gangama, Lord Buddha, Maya Tiwari, Gangaji, Mooji, Sri Kumar, Lobsang, Dr Vasant Lad, Dr Svoboda, and other exceptional teachers of Ayurveda and Yoga, Dr John Doulliard, Dr Scott Blossom. This created a foundation for life, and their grace comes through my own teachings.
Returning to the UK and seeing the crisis of our NHS, I enrolled and completed an MSc at Middlesex University. Public Health research into the need for preventive healthcare was underway at the time of COVID, which also moved me deeply to do this work.
My trips to India are continual, each time to go deeper into knowledge and to be nourished by the beautiful, nurturing hospitality of India. Over the last couple of years, I studied with a traditional Doctor of Siddha Medicine in India, lopamudra Clinic, kerala deepening my understanding of Varma/Marma, a practice in which prana is manipulated and moved through the body. Finally, I received the full blessings of one of my teachers, Dr Suhas Shetty, the Principal of KLE Ayurveda, Belgaum and an Ayurveda Psychologist, to teach SwasthaVrtta (Preventive Medicine) widely.
In recent years, I finally became certified to teach yoga, which has been the icing on the cake. An injury some years before kept me from practising. By chance, I met a renowned Astanga Yoga Teacher, David Garrigue, in India. He saw my potential, and he got me practising yoga again. I then studied with Eddie Stern, Robert Moses and Harshvardhan Jhaveri, the teacher of the Yoga Education College. I learnt the essence of the Yogic philosophy and Pranayama at this school. The school is steeped in traditions of authentic lineages, which is why I waited all these years to earn my certification to teach.
My love of chanting the Vedas, with my teacher Shantala Sriramaiah at Veda studies, is instinctively woven into my life. I teach simple chants and collaborate with other teachers to share the knowledge more deeply in my sessions.
I began treating Ayurvedically, over the last 15 years, with many kinds of acute symptoms, animals and some severe conditions, that required long-term treatments and care. I use spiritual counselling, hands-on therapies, make/prescribe herbs/remedies, offer dietary and nutritional advice, cook, and teach pranyama, yoga or Chanting. The results are always astounding. The most significant impact I have seen is an increase in lifespan and overall health in some of my patients; it is like they are living again. It brings me wonder and beauty every time I see patients rise from the ashes and transform.
My life depends on Mother Nature and Universal Life Force
I bow to all the teachers in my life, especially the wise ancient sages who brought us the teachings thousands of years ago, and not forgetting Lord Dhanvantari, Patanjali, both fathers of Ayurveda and Yoga, and DakshinaMurthy, the first form of Lord Shiva.
In this living form, I am deeply grateful for one of my mentors, Reverend Elinore, a Zen Buddhist Senior Monk, who enlightens me with her wisdom and to all the other close friends and teachers who have given me support in my life.