The Teachers

Vaidya Atreya Smith, BSc, MA (ayu)
Director and teacher of the Institute

Vaidya Atreya Smith became interested in studying the Upanishads and Vedanta from the age of 19. This growing passion led him to India where he lived for many years and chose to dedicate his life to Vedanta in his twenties. Since 1987, he has been practicing alternative medicines, Ayurveda and continues to study, teach and train practitioners in Europe.

He founded the European Institute of Vedic Studies, Switzerland in 1998. Through his research and teaching, he hopes to give as many people as possible access to this science, while adapting them to today’s Western way of life. Atreya has a Master’s degree in Ayurveda (MA) and a Bachelor’s degree in Biology (BSc). In 2005, his teachers in Vanarasi (India) awarded him the title of Vaidya or traditional doctor, etymologically: "who knows Ayurveda". Vaidya Atreya has been practicing Ayurveda for over 32 years.

He has worked with Professor K.C. Chunekar and Dr. Sunil V. Joshi to develop a comprehensive training for Westerners in Ayurvedic medicine. This work has resulted in a series of textbooks entitled "Ayurveda for Westerners". Atreya is the author of 16 books on Ayurveda and Jyotish and has been teaching Ayurveda for over 25 years.

Dr. Sunil V. Joshi, MD ayu
Teacher of Clinical Studies

Dr Sunil Joshi is a world-renowned expert on Panchakarma and is the author of Ayurveda and Panchakarma, USA, 1997. Dr. Sunil V. Joshi graduated from Government College of Ayurveda, Nagpur University, Nagpur, India in 1983 with a BMAS. In in 1988 he completed his MD(ayu) in the Clinical Aplication of Panchakarma from the Shree Ayurveda College and Research Institute, Nagpur University, Nagpur, India. He began his clinical practice in 1983. He established the Vinayak Panchakarma Chikitsalaya in 1985. Due to his outstanding accomplishments in the field of Ayurveda, Dr. Joshi was honored as the youngest recipient of the Maharshi Annasaheb Patwardhan award by the Vaidya Khadiwale Samshodhan Foundation, Pune in 1993.

Dr. Joshi began traveling to North America in 1989 to help propagate Ayurveda in the West. In 1997 he was invited to South Africa to help establish the first licensing program for Ayurvedic practitioners outside of India with the help of the South African Ayurvedic Medical Association. This experience encouraged him to develop a more extensive program for foreign practitioners of Ayurveda.

The Vinayak Ayurveda and Panchakarma Research Foundation was established in 2002 by Dr Joshi. The goal of the Foundation is to train prospective students to become qualified Ayurvedic practitioners dedicated to bringing Ayurveda to the world. Dr. Joshi feels that it is crucial for Ayurveda to become established in the West and that this program will be an initial step towards accomplishing that goal.

He has been the clinical adviser for the European Institute of Vedic Studies since 2005. Dr. Joshi has also taught a number of courses in Europe for EIVS in Switzerland, the United Kingdom and France and since 2006 runs the Clinical Studies Program in Nagpur, India for EIVS students. Dr. Sunil V. Joshi has over 36 years of clinical experience and has been the direct disciple of the greatest living Vaidya in his area of India during his youth.

Dr. Shalmali Joshi, BAMS
Teacher of Gynecology and Paediatrics

Mrs. Dr. Shalmali Joshi opened the Vinayak Panchakarma Chikitsalaya clinic with her husband Dr. Sunil V. Joshi in 1985 in Nagpur, India. Since 1985 she is a specialist in woman’s health issues at the Nagpur clinic. Dr Shalmali is responsible for gynecology and pediatrics. She is specialized in Ayurvedic nutrition and dietary therapies. She has a broad knowledge of plants and has specialized in Namarupa Vijnana in Dravyaguna.

Dr Shalmali Joshi knowledge is well known in the USA where she has been going since 1989 to practice and teach Ayurveda. Her students include the nutrition author Amadea Morningstar among others. She is a valuable resource to this course and brings over 34 years of clinical experience to her teaching.

Gayatri-Linda BENGAOUER
Massage teacher

Gayatri-Linda Bengaouer encountered Ayurveda and Yoga on her life path, first for her own healing, and then very quickly studied and accompanied others on the path of healing the different planes of the being. She has studied Ayurveda, nutrition, health, psychology, physical therapies, DLM Vodder, Foot Reflexology, Anatomy & Physiology and in energy healing from different traditions. In the early 2000’s, she practiced in the canton of Geneva where she worked with an endocrinologist. Then she focused on her own center in neighboring France (Centre Sattva - Sciez) where she teaches Yoga & Ayurveda. Her journey led her to obtain two Yoga Teacher Diplomas (Sivananda & Kriya Yoga) and to become an Acharya (advanced teacher) in the lineage she has followed for many years.

Trained personally by Vaidya Atreya Smith, Gayatri has also followed other teachings with different vaidyas and since 2005, she has become a member of the team of the EIVS, for which she conducts various courses and a certified therapist training. She has also taught for EIVS in England, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

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