People
·
Wellbeing & Healing

Dr. Shantha Godagama, Ayurvedic Medicine by Simi Godagama

Published with kind permission of The Hale Journal.com

Dr Shantha Godagama, M.B.Ac.C, M.F (Hom), D.A.M & S, M.Ac.F, F.A.M.A (UK) Member of British, Sri Lankan, Scandinavian, Korean Acupuncture Association. Author of The Handbook of Ayurveda, Doctor of Ayurvedic Medicine

“It is called Ayurveda because it tells us which substances, qualities and actions are life enhancing, and which are not.”

Sutrasthana 30.23

With over 40 years of practice, Dr Godagama has acquired immense knowledge, experience and expertise in Ayurveda. The result of his vision and ambitions towards enhancing the recognition of Ayurveda in the West has been immeasurable.

After practicing Ayurveda and conventional Western medicine in Sri Lanka, Dr Godagama was invited to the UK by Dr Sidney Rose-Neil, founder chairman of the British Acupuncture Association, in 1979 to consult at the well-known residential Tyringham Naturopathic Clinic in Buckinghamshire.

He trained in Ayurveda for 6 years at the Colombo Government faculty together with Western medicine. After spending a post-graduate internship learning Panchakarma, Ayurveda’s detoxification therapy, he then joined a private practice in Sri Lanka, based entirely on conventional Western medicine where he remained for seven years.

At Tyringham, Dr Godagama was appointed as Director of Therapies by Sir Maurice Laing, Chairman of the Tyringham Foundation. His work was later recognised and honoured by Her Majesty The Queen by invitation to the Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace.

In 1987 Dr Godagama was awarded the Dag Hammarskjold Award for Alternative Medicine by Medicine Alternative.

In 1988 he joined the prestigious Hale Clinic, opened by H.R.H The Prince of Wales, in central London and since then has travelled extensively presenting and lecturing at world conferences on complementary medicine and has also appeared on British television.

In 1996 Dr Godagama founded the Ayurvedic Medical Association (UK) and is the director of the Ayurvedic Medical Centre and Panchakarma Clinic at the Hale Clinic, London.

Dr Godagama has witnessed the phenomenal growth of alternative medicine in the UK and has recognised the potential of Ayurveda, a philosophy of healing which once lay dormant but is now one of the fastest growing treatment modalities in the West.

Having run several successful private practices in the UK, Dr Godagama then pursued his ambitions for greater public awareness of Ayurveda. His aim was to make Ayurveda relevant, understandable and available to Westerners. Having written The Handbook of Ayurveda, which is published in many languages worldwide, Dr Godagama pushed Ayurveda onto the public domain. He later formed and became the Dean of the College of Ayurveda with Dr Sathyamoorthy and Dr Athique 10 years ago, which has now become the first institution in the UK to provide a Bachelor of Science in Ayurveda at Middlesex University.

In 2001 Dr Godagama was appointed by Lord Hunt, Minister of Health to the Medicine Control Agency as a panel member for borderline medicines in the UK and was invited to St James Palace by H.R.H The Prince of Wales for discussions on the future of Ayurveda and alternative medicine in the UK.

In 2005 Dr Godagama became the Director of the European Herbal Practitioners Association as well as ministerial advisor to the Department of Health on herbal medicines.

Alongside running several reputable clinics in the UK, Dr Godagama is currently serving as a member of the Herbal Medicine Regulatory Working Group, which forms the foundation for the government initiative for statutory regulation which will fall into place in 2009.

Dr Godagama has established many successful and thriving clinics throughout the UK and has worked with immense dedication in pioneering and pushing Ayurveda into the public domain. Upon arriving in the UK, he recognised the need for a more complete system of health in the West and over the years his work has been rewarded through the respect and recognition from his professors, colleagues, students and last but not least his patients. Through this Dr Godagama has become renowned worldwide as an expert in this unique healing tradition.

www.ayurveda.co.uk

For more information on the Hale Journal, please visit www.halejournal.com

www.halemeditation.com www.halehealing.com www.muscularskeletal.com

by Simi Godagama
Dr Godagama has established many successful and thriving clinics throughout the UK and has worked with immense dedication in pioneering and pushing Ayurveda into the public domain. Upon arriving in the UK, he recognised the need for a more complete system of health in the West and over the years his work has been rewarded through the respect and recognition from his professors, colleagues, students and last but not least his patients. Through this Dr Godagama has become renowned worldwide as an expert in this unique healing tradition.