This program is not being offered at this time.
A Holistic Approach to a Healthier Life
Inflammation is the body’s immune system signal to heal and repair damaged tissue in response to injury, infection, stress, and toxins. It can be triggered by anything the body senses is a foreign invader—things like viruses, bacteria, cancer, or even a transplant. In order to handle the “attack,” the body sends out antibodies and proteins to fight the invaders, then purges these chemicals out of the system when their job is done. Chronic inflammation occurs when people are under stress, worry a lot, or have lifestyle habits that have a negative impact on the body—eating unhealthy foods, drinking too much alcohol or sugary beverages, getting very little physical activity, for example. The body is unable to purge these chemicals, so they stay in the system and build up as inflammation. This can lead to ailments such as asthma, allergies, heart disease, inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, depression, and even cancer.
While Ayurveda has been talking about the mind-body connection for more than 5,000 years, only recently has Western medicine finally began to understand how stress induces disease in humans. By first determining the constitutional type (dosha) of the patient, the Ayurvedic expert gains an understanding of the patient that is often overlooked in modern medicine. Attention is given to factors like complexion, build, eye shape and the color undertones of their whites, tongue color, prominence of tendons and veins, mobility, personality traits, weather preferences, dreams. This deep dive into the dosha also reveals to practitioners the diseases and risk factors a patient is most likely to be affected by, laying the foundation for a personalized course of treatment.
Common Signs and Symptoms of Chronic Inflammation
- Body pain, chest pain, or abdominal pain
- Fatigue and insomnia
- Depression, anxiety, and other mood disorders
- Gastrointestinal complications such as constipation, diarrhea, and acid reflux
- Weight gain
- Frequent infections, fever, or rashes.
In this empowering program with Dr. Poornima Sharma, you’ll discover your own constitutional type and learn time-tested Ayurveda wellness practices, tools, and techniques to help you manage inflammation and prevent disease. You’ll craft a new daily routine that is designed to reduce inflammation, while simultaneously promoting improved liver strength and digestion, so that you can lead a happier and healthier life.
Consider deepening your experience by scheduling a virtual Ayurvedic Lifestyle Consultation prior to the program. In order to support you during today’s challenging times, we’ve reduced the fee for this evaluation by 30% for a limited time. An experienced Ayurvedic practitioner will conducts an in-depth doshic evaluation to determine what your natural state of being is and identify your imbalances.
Features
You'll complete a dosha quiz and short physical examination to determine your unique constitution and gain valuable insights into your emotional and bodily needs.
Ayurveda principles are based on the five elements: ether, air, fire, water, and earth. These elements work well in pairs—vata (ether and air), pitta (fire and water) and kapha (water and earth)—which is where we get doshas, or constitutions. Everyone has a unique elemental constitution, similar to how we think of genetic makeup in Western medicine.
Once we've identified your dosha, we’ll determine what foods would help bring you back into alignment—creating a custom diet that promotes healing.
Ayurveda understands that there is no such thing as a ‘one size fits all’ diet—each person has their own elemental composition, or dosha, and there are certain elements in food that can aggravate some individuals while helping others. That is why it’s important identifying your dosha is our starting point. We’ll then determine how well the digestive tract is working and what foods would help to bring digestion back into alignment, if needed—creating a custom diet that promotes healing.
We'll integrate your diet with a customized lifestyle plan that is easy and sustainable. Things like eating and sleeping at the right times, movement and meditation, and self-care can make profound differences to your overall health.
Just like with diet, a lifestyle should be customized to the individual. Ayurveda is all about bringing individuals back into balance with nature and circadian rhythms. This includes things like eating at the right time, sleeping at the right time, stress management, and self-care techniques. These practices are easy, sustainable, and can make profound differences to your overall health.
We'll introduce the daily practices of breathwork, meditation, and yoga to help you manage stress and reduce the time your body is in the sympathetic state—fight-or-flight mode—and not focused on immunity.
When an individual is in the sympathetic state—fight-or-flight mode—for long periods of time, their body is not focused on immunity or the other functions that are important at the moment. A build-up of inflammation can occur in these states, and disease occurs or progresses. That is why it’s important to have daily practices that include stress reduction techniques such as breathwork, meditation, and yoga.
All of these easy and sustainable diet and lifestyle changes help create an environment that is conducive to healing—bringing the body back into balance gently and naturally.
By determining your dosha, identifying imbalances, and learning how to correct them through diet, herbs, and lifestyle, we’ll create an environment that is conducive to healing—bringing the body back into balance gently and naturally.
By addressing the overall health of the body and mind, Ayurveda becomes preventative medicine, which can result in a decrease in—or even complete elimination of—chronic inflammation.
All of these dietary and lifestyle changes can result in a decrease in—or even complete elimination of—chronic inflammation. By addressing the overall health of the body and the mind, Ayurveda becomes preventative medicine, not only working to eliminate current dis-ease and disease symptoms but to bring the whole system into balance in a way that promotes total mind-body wellness.
Presenter

Poornima Sharma
Dr. Poornima is a certified yoga instructor and Health Coach with a Ph.D. in Foods & Nutrition and a special focus on obesity, diabetes, and iron deficiency. As a Health Coach, Poornima has had the pleasure of helping individuals from all walks of life take part in empowerment programs that leverage breathing techniques, yoga, and meditation to reduce stress and promote healthier lifestyles. She is also a RYT-200 certified yoga and meditation teacher with the Art of Living and looks forward to helping people focus on eating well, living well, and embracing mindful living to enjoy both positive inner transformations and outer dynamism.
“It gives me immense joy to share the gifts of meditation, breathing practices, yoga, wholesome living and timeless wisdom I have been fortunate to receive; it is extremely rewarding to see how the practices and processes bring such inner transformation & outer dynamism in everyone’s life in such a short time.”
Testimonials
Reviews
All options include daily vegetarian meals from dinner on the night of check-in through lunch on the day of checkout. (Rates below are per person.)
Online Program FAQs
Retreat Cancellation Policy
Your program is hosted on Zoom. In order to participate, you will need one of the following:
- Computer: Windows or Mac computer with speakers and a microphone. (Note: Webcams are recommended but not required.)
- Mobile Device: iOS or Android
- Phone: mobile, desk or landline.
You can find out more about using Zoom here.
Once you register and reserve your spot, you will receive a confirmation email with detailed instructions on how to access the online sessions. If you have any problems or questions, please feel free to reach us at 800-392-6870.
Schedule
All the knowledge, interaction, and benefits of our on-campus program in a special online format! Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with a like-minded community for support, education, and empowerment—in the comfort of your own home!
Friday 6:00–7:30 pm
Saturday 10:00–11:30 am
Sunday 10:00–11:30 am