Facebook Profile
Ayurveda Books
Personal Website
Google Maps
Along with a doctorate degree in reproduction biology in India, Dr. Verma studied Neurobiology in Paris University and obtained a second doctorate. She pursued advanced research at the National Institutes of Health in Neurology, Bethesda (USA) and the Max-Planck Institute in Freiburg, Germany. At the peak of her career in medical research in a pharmaceutical company in Germany, she realised that the modern approach to health care is basically fragmented and non-holistic. Besides, we are directing all our efforts and resources to cure disease rather than maintaining health. In response, Dr. Verma founded The New Way Health Organisation (NOW) in 1986 to spread the message of holistic living, preventive methods for health care and to promote the use of mild medicine and various self-help therapeutic measures. She is the first one to present the scientific aspects of Ayurveda in the world through her tremendous knowledge base on the basics of Ayurveda. Her theme is to make yoga and Ayurveda as a way of life and emphasize on prevention of ailments. She argues that about 85 percent of Ayurveda scriptural tradition is on prevention and this has been our tradition or parmpara for thousands of years. Besides, nearly 99 percent people are ‘healthy’ but are risking ailments due to erred way of living and lack of knowledge. It is wise to put effort in public health care to keep the society as a whole healthy with our traditional methods which are simple and cost effective. Dr. Verma, who has finest of scientific education in India, Europe and America, thinks that modern medicine is totally focused on disease whereas Ayurveda is largely focused on maintaining health and prevention. Therefore she has devoted her life to make a fundamental knowledge base to maintain health.
Dr. Verma has a following message for humanity: ‘Ayurveda is a system of health care that puts the responsibility of your health on you as svadharma. First priority of life is life itself and it is the prime duty of each individual to do all to invest in personal health. ‘Be old and wise and not old and senile’ so she wrote in her book published in 1990.
Dr. Verma grew up with a strong familial tradition of Ayurveda with a grandmother who had enormous Ayurvedic wisdom and was a gifted healer. She has studied Ayurveda in the traditional Guru-shishya style with Acharya Priya Vrat Sharma of the Benares Hindu University for 23 years.
Dr. Verma is an ardent researcher and is working hard to compile the living tradition of Ayurveda and spread it in the world through her books and other activities. She has published twenty seven books on yoga, Ayurveda, Women and Companionship. The books are published in German, English and various other languages of the world. Besides, she has published numerous scientific articles. She lectures extensively, teaches in Europe and gives radio and television programmes. A film on Ayurveda with her was made by German television in 1995 and was shown in 100 countries, in 130 languages. It was the first film on Ayurveda and was also shown on Doordarshan (Indian National Television). Dr Verma has been writing regular columns and articles for several important magazines and journals like Ayurved Sutra, Dharohar, Ah Zindagi, Life Positive and several other magazines. Dr. Verma has made extra effort to publish her books in Hindi and is making effort to publish them in other Indian languages so that the tradition of Ayurveda is not lost with the rapid modernisation in India. Her books and articles deal with practical aspects of Ayurveda and touch lives of many, both home and abroad.
Dr. Verma’s biggest contribution is her research in Ayurvedic food culture and Ayurvedic living tradition on healing women’s troubles and ailments. She has described International Ayurvedic recipes to suit our modern life and modern taste. She says that ‘all Indian food is not Ayurvedic and Ayurvedic food does not have to be Indian- it is just the matter of balancing’.
Dr. Verma is the founder and chairperson of the Charaka School of Ayurveda and The Ayurveda Health Organisation, which is a charitable trust for distributing and promoting Ayurvedic remedies and yoga therapy in rural areas of India. She does regular lectures and workshops for school children in the rural and remote areas of Himalayas to promote wisdom of traditional science and medicine. Under this trust, her major project is to begin a school in India for training poor children after they finish school in various practical aspects of Ayurveda like cooking, making special spice mixtures, marma massage, home remedies, cooking etc. so that they can be employed in the upcoming Ayurvedic revolution in India. The important aspect of this school is to save the wisdom of folkloric medicine which is alive in almost every part of India (in every gali, muhalla). These especially talented people will be invited to this school to teach the students. The school is named after her legendry guru Acharya Priya Vrat Sharma.
Dr Verma speaks Hindi, Punjabi, French, German and English and she has knowledge of Sanskrit.