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Ayurvedic Tongue Diagnosis & Constitutional Medicine
(3-Month Course)
Explore the transformative power of Ayurvedic Tongue Diagnosis & Constitutional Medicine in this unique course by Shantree, blending ancient Ayurvedic wisdom with decades of research. Discover the tongue's role as a diagnostic mirror reflecting internal organ conditions and nutritional states. Gain insights into overall health, identify imbalances, and kickstart your holistic well-being journey. Ayurvedic tongue diagnosis, a noninvasive tool, unveils the secrets of your digestive system, connecting you to the essence of Ayurveda—where simplicity meets profound health benefits without side effects. Start your path to excellent health through the wisdom of Ayurveda: do less, be more.
March 4 – May 27, 2024
Course Information (click the tabs below)
Leadership Pathway
Universal Interconnectedness, the body’s Constitution and Life Forces are the Primary Basis of Ayurvedic Medicine.
“As long as we are not living in harmony with nature and our constitution, we cannot expect ourselves to be healed. Ayurveda gives us the means.”
- Dr. David Frawley
The Ayurvedic Tongue Diagnosis & Constitutional Medicine Course is a unique program that incorporates the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda and the many years of Shantree’s decades of research and clinical practice based on his book ‘Ayurvedic Tongue Diagnosis. The tongue, often referred to as a mirror, displays the condition of the internal organs, mainly related to digestion, and indicates an organism’s nutritional and digestive state. Ayurvedic tongue diagnosis has various benefits, such as providing insight into a person’s overall health, identifying imbalances in the body, and serving as a starting point for further examination. According to the ancient science of Ayurveda, the tongue is a potent and primary diagnostic tool. This is because when digestion functions optimally, it affects all aspects of our health, and the tongue, which begins the digestive tract, plays a significant role in the process. Ayurvedic tongue diagnosis is a noninvasive diagnostic tool that can provide insights beyond the mouth and into the 30 feet of our digestive system.
The best thing about Ayurveda is its treatments always yield benefits without side effects. Ayurveda suggests two simple steps to attain excellent health: to do less and be more.
Did you know that our tongues are a crucial diagnostic tool, according to the ancient science of Ayurveda? This is because digestion plays a vital role in our overall health, and the tongue is where the digestive tract begins. So, a healthy tongue is an indicator of a healthy digestive system.
In Ayurvedic medicine, the tongue can provide valuable information about the functioning of various systems in the body. The tongue’s size, shape, colour, and coating can be examined to identify imbalances. This method of diagnosis can help locate issues related to digestion, circulation, or inflammation.
Benefits & Advantages:
Easy to Learn Technique for Health Practitioners & the Layman
Fast Client Assessment Method
No Equipment Needed
Ability to help us make a differential constitutional diagnosis
See Healthy Changes Quickly
A practical and effective, noninvasive method to perform an auxiliary diagnosis anytime, anywhere.
Treatment Protocols Using Ayurvedic Principles in Whole Foods & Herbs
Tongue diagnosis is a vital diagnostic Ayurvedic tool for assessing the current health of a patient and providing a basis for prognosis
It also informs about the underlying challenges of the patient’s constitution.
The tongue gives accurate information about the state of Prana and blood, disease progression and regression, degree of heat and cold, and the depth or penetration of a pathogenic imbalance.
89% to 97% percent accuracy before any blood tests, hair analyses, or urinalysis results come back from labs.
“Knowledge of constitution is the key for a holistic and integral health care, the true basis of any preventative medicine.”
- Dr. Vasant Lad
“Every single cell in the human body replaces itself over seven years. That means there’s not even the smallest part of you now that was part of you seven years ago.”
- Steven Hall
Includes:
Ayurvedic Tongue Diagnosis Charts
Herbal and Nutritional Protocols
Updated Ayurvedic articles and research papers
Tracking your progress worksheets
Engaging Practices with a Buddy
Before and After photos
Case Studies
Experiential models to deepen active learning
Three 1-hour one-on-one support sessions
Articles & Essays
The Healing Tastes Manual
Integrated home learning
Designing your Constitutional Lifestyle Program
Leadership Presentation Opportunities
Ayurvedic Foundations Manual
Ayurvedic Tongue Diagnosis e-Manual.
PowerPoints & PDF Files
Articles & Charts
Engaging Practices – Every Module will include:
3-Modules with a 28-day Transformation Process in each module
Living the Essential Keys
Reflections & Insights
Interactive Format
Group Processes
Buddy Mate for Change
Key Lessons
Q & A
Recorded Sessions for Future Viewing
Recommended Reading Shantree’s Ayurvedic Tongue Diagnosis book
An Ayurvedic Tongue Diagnosis Certificate of Completion (when taken with the Ayurvedic Tongue Diagnosis Correspondence Course
“By having reverence for life, we enter into a spiritual relation with the world.”
~ Albert Schweitzer
The Process
Ayurvedic Nutrition: Increasing Your Life-Force Energy (Weekend Workshop) March 1-3, 2024 (Optional Extra)
“A strong life force can be seen in physical vitality, courage, competent judgment, self-mastery, sexual vigour, and the realization of each person’s unique talents and purpose in life.”
- Ayurvedic Essential Principles
Module I
Ayurvedic Essentials: Ancient Wisdom for Whole Living - Virtual
March 4 – 25, 2024
4 Monday Evenings
7 - 9:30 pm.
“When diet is correct, medicine is of no need.” “Ayurveda teaches us to cherish our innate nature “to love and honour who we are,” not as what people think or tell us, “who we should be.”
- Ayurvedic Wisdom.
As per Ayurveda, the key to good health is having an intense digestive fire known as agni. Conversely, the accumulation of toxins, referred to as ama, is the root cause of diseases. When agni is in balance, it supp
orts proper digestion and absorption of nutrients, enhances energy levels, promotes healthy aging, and maintains equilibrium in the body.
It is essential to achieve a dynamic balance in all aspects of life, including physical, biochemical, intellectual, emotional, behavioural, spiritual, familial, social, environmental, and universal, emphasizing harmony with nature.
It is an art and science which involves unique diagnostic tools for understanding individual human constitutions and metabolic systems beyond nutrition and herbalism.
This ancient healing practice is based on three primary concepts: universal interconnectedness, the body’s constitution (prakriti), and life forces (doshas). The treatment goals of Ayurvedic Medicine are to help individuals by eliminating impurities, reducing symptoms, increasing resistance to disease, reducing worry, and increasing harmony in life.
Take this 12-part Online Course to learn the foundations of Ayurveda. You’ll gain a solid understanding of Ayurvedic principles and practices, empowering you to embark on a holistic health journey.
Health Benefits of Ayurvedic Medicine
Reduces Stress and Anxiety. One of the primary principles of Ayurveda is to maintain balance in the body and mind.
Boosts Immune System.
Promotes Digestion.
Improves Liver Function
Enhances Brain Function
Supports Heart Health
Improves Sleep Quality.
Curriculum
Week 1
History, Philosophy and Your Inherited Genetic Blueprint
Ayurvedic Foundations: Understanding Life-Force
The Constitution: Inner & Outer Ecology
Fundamentals of the Human Constitution
Understanding Your Constitution & Your Current Condition
Week 2
Five Elements Theory & Applications
The 3-Doshas, 5 Elements, 7-Dhutus, The 20-Tattvas
The Constitution of the Body and Mind, based upon the Five Elements
Causes of Constitutional Imbalance
The 20 Attributes of the 10 Constitutional Types
Week 3
Adaptation of Seasonal & Daily Regim
Sensory Theory
Ayurveda Psychology
Applying Energetic Nutrition
Tastes, Intoxification & the Mind
Week 4
The Sattvic Lifestyle Path
A Sattvic Live-Food Approach
Food, Prana & Consciousness
Health Protocol;ls for Vata, Pitta & Kapha
The 10-Keys to Determining the Quality of Foods
“As long as we are not living in harmony with nature and our constitution, we cannot expect ourselves to be healed. Ayurveda gives us the means.”
- Dr. David Frawley
Module II
Tongue Diagnosis:
What Your Tongue Reveals About Your Health – Virtual
April 1 – 26, 2024
4 Monday Evenings
7 - 9:30 pm.
A New Way of Seeing Nutrition
An innovative and unconventional approach to nutrition that emphasizes quality and pleasure in eating to enhance metabolism.
Ayurvedic Tongue Map
Ayurveda tongue diagnosis uses a map that illustrates the link between areas of the tongue and related organs to evaluate overall health and identify specific concerns.
If you notice a white coating on the back of your tongue near your tonsils, it may indicate the presence of toxins (also known as ama) in your colon. On the other hand, if the coating is in the middle of the tongue, it could mean that toxins are present throughout your gastrointestinal area.
Ayurveda tongue diagnosis is part of Ayurveda’s multi-fold assessment approach. The tongue tells us about our constitution by revealing our doshic picture. The images below illustrate the different characteristics of Vata, Pitta, and Kapha dosha-type tongues.
Curriculum
Week 1
Tongue & the Taste Buds
The Tongue Maps: Reading the Terrain
The Relationship of the Tongue to the Body
Constitutional Tongue Diagnosis
Taste Fundamentals
Week 2
History of Tongue Diagnosis
The Diagnosis
The Six Healing Tastes & The Elements
Tongue Diagnosis: A 4-Step Procedure
Week 3
Constitutional Examination & The Factors to Observe
Tongue Diagnosis & The Body Organs
Reading the Terrain & the Indicator Signs
Identifying the Imbalances of the Body Constitution
Week 4
Before & After Case Studies
Comparative Clinical Significance in Ayurveda, TCM, & Western Medicine
The 3 Stages of Investigation
The 7-Disease Tendencies
A Tongue Dairy
“As long as we are not living in harmony with nature and our constitution, we cannot expect ourselves to be healed. Ayurveda gives us the means.”
- Dr. David Frawley
Module III
Ayurveda & The Importance of the Microbiome
Gut Biome & Health Protocols & Case Studies
May 6 – 27, 2024
4 Monday Evenings
7-9:30 pm
Using Ayurvedic awareness techniques to calm the enteric nervous system and alleviate Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
Understand the latest research and methods to optimize the gut by activating the vagus nerve and parasympathetic, rest and digest mode.
Consider the effect of the emotions on digestion.
Learn about the latest scientific studies that help us understand the connection between the microbiome and Ayurveda’s prevention and treatment approaches.
“The gut is a companion, always by our side throughout our life journey.”
- Giulia Enders
“People have co-evolved with the environment (that have) adapted over eons to being at home in human bodies. The present-day result is that our metabolism, neurons and entire physiology is an interactive cross-talk with the bacteria in our bodies.”
- Bruce R. Stevens, physiology and functional genomics professor in the Col Medicine at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Metabolism is not a thing. It’s a journey.
Cultivating your gut biome in Ayurvedic Medicine calls this our agni or our Sacred Fire; when our fire is gone, we are gone.
“All disease begins in the gut.”
- Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine
“Happiness for me is largely a matter of digestion.”
- Lin Yutang
A powerful practice is mounting that the microbes in our intestines interact with our minds – and hearts – in significant ways. Gut bacteria have been linked to depression, anxiety and the regions of the brain that process emotions. These regions share brain circuitry that affects cardiovascular issues such as blood pressure.
A recent study found that over 40% of adults suffer from gastrointestinal disorders across 33 countries, with a sample size of over 73,000 people.
Gut Health: The Ayurvedic Perspective
Modern medicine has only recently acknowledged the significance of gut health in maintaining overall well-being. However, Ayurveda, an ancient science, has been based on this concept for thousands of years. Ayurveda is essential to a proper diet and digestion and is a key to good health.
Ayurveda, an ancient Indian science, believes that the movement and functions of the body are interconnected. It states that every disease is caused by some imbalance in the three doshas: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. These doshas are crucial in regulating various gut functions such as digestion, nutrient absorption and synthesis, metabolism, gut balance, waste excretion, etc. The Vata dosha primarily exists in the colon, where most gut bacteria reside.
How Ayurveda Helps Regulate Gut Health
Cleansing Protocols for specific constitutions
Nutritional recommendations
Dietary suggestions
Specific herbal protocols
Understanding Six Tastes for gut health
Ayurvedic Medicines for gut issues
How microbiome can enhance gut performance
Curriculum
Week 1
Great Gut Health & Ayurveda
The microbiota response to diet and dietary components;
Ways to modify the microbiota through dietary interventions;
The Six Stages of Digestion
Week 2
Conquering Common Digestive Complaints
Learn how to adjust diet and eating habits according to your weakness and learn the best way to treat bloat, constipation, diarrhea and reflux.
Designing a diet for doshic imbalances
Adapting Diet to the Seasons
Acid-Alkaline Balance – The Optimal Sattvic Path
Week 3
Balance the Microbiome for Optimal Immunity
Including seasonal cleanses
Understanding Ayurveda’s approach to intermittent fasting
Remedies for bloat, constipation, diarrhea, gas and leaky gut.
Rasayana Therapy, Constitutional Fasting & Purification Practices
Week 4
The Latest on the Gut-Brain Connection
Using Ayurvedic awareness techniques to calm the enteric nervous system and alleviate Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
Understand the latest research and methods to optimize the gut by activating the vagus nerve and parasympathetic, rest and digest mode.
Consider the effect of the emotions on digestion.
Learn about the latest scientific studies that help us understand the connection between the microbiome and Ayurveda’s prevention and treatment approaches.
Food, Prana & Consciousness
Case Studies & Advance Research
Includes:
* Eat to Thrive: Vital Life Energy-*Hippocrates Approach to Optimal Health e-Manual.
* The World Peace Diet -10th Anniversary PDF MiniVersion -Will Tuttle
“Foolish the doctor who despises the knowledge acquired by the ancients.”
- Hippocrates
The Course is done through Zoom. The link and all material will be sent to you through email.
The Experience
What Will You Experience?
“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” - Benjamin Franklin
The course offers a beautiful blend of modern science and trans-disciplinary knowledge essential to becoming an Ayurvedic Living Nutrition educator, with a wide range of experiential experiences.
By the end of this program, you will have a unique ‘Medicine Pouch’ that will equip you with specific skills, practices, and approaches to enhance your well-being and effectiveness as an educator. Topics covered during the program include visioning, project development, stewardship, and the ability to design programs. Additionally, we will delve into aspects of inner leadership like cultivating gratitude, balance, ‘inner resilience,’ and exercises that will help you ground your leadership in the heart, nature, and partnership with a community of other leaders.
Through this nutritional medicine program, you will learn a new way of thinking and being. You will discover to source your leadership from this connection and stay attuned to the patterns in your own life, creating a new level of success and awareness in your stepping forth – empowered!
Receive Lifetime Access to all Video Lectures Recordings
12 Live & Interactive Classes with Shantree
Case-study-based learning with intimate weekly discussion rooms
12+ Podcast-Style Audio/Video Recordings
30+ Live-Food Recipes
12+ Journal Prompts
12+ Live Meditations
1 Capstone Client-Case Taking
Certification of Completion post-graduation
You will explore the correlation between ecological design thinking and the related disciplines of bioregionalism and inner ecology and apply this to designing a healthy nutritional program;
The foundation of an ecological worldview (wholistic design, systems thinking, and rebalancing human gut microbiome) and the application of living systems principles to the design of systems, objects, and places;
You will develop personal and group inquiry practices to raise awareness of the interdependent relationship between the individual, society, and nature and between theory, experience and practice;
You will develop and enhance your design, communication, and facilitation skills in support of communities of place and interest;
You will make use of a range of tools, methods and facilitation techniques for project delivery;
You will collaborate to develop practices and principles encouraging a regenerative and healing approach to designing projects. You will then apply these practices in both class and community projects. Additionally, you will learn how to evaluate the relationship between the environment and built structures, behaviour, well-being, and resource consumption using research indicators and case studies.
“All the beauty that’s been lost before. Wants to find us again.”
A Leadership Approach
Leadership is a form of experiential education that has been around for a long time – almost as long as the concept of apprenticeship. In some cultures, herbal training is conducted where seasoned herbalists work closely with others to impart their knowledge. While the structure of these relationships may differ, the aim is to share information and provide support, guidance, and constructive feedback.
Our process supports individuals in becoming confident, skilled leaders. Often, those who have completed training in plant nutrition actively seek the support and guidance of an experienced nutritionist to act as a mentor.
Community is a crucial aspect of nutrition because wholistic nutrition is based on relationships. These relationships exist between ourselves, our health, and the plants we consume. One of the most unique relationships in nutrition is the bond between a plant mentor and their student. Aspiring nutritionists often find mentors to learn from, as this is the traditional way that plant medicine knowledge is passed down from one generation to the next. Many whole food nutritionists have had mentors who have helped them become the conscious nutritionists they are today, and some continue to work with mentors to further their knowledge.
The teacher-student relationship is valuable and unique because it helps us orient ourselves. Who do we want to become? In what direction are we moving? Mentors are individuals we wish to emulate, people who have been where we are now and have gone ahead where we want to travel. Having a mentor also helps us by providing insight and perspective when the going gets tough. When we struggle with new questions or a new case study, and we can’t seem to find answers, or when it seems like we’ve lost our way on our path, a mentor can be there with encouragement, a new idea, or the wisdom from a parallel experience that helps us find the missing pieces of our puzzles.
The definition of the word is “an experienced and trusted advisor.” That’s a rather broad definition! Each teacher-student relationship is unique since those two parts of the equation will always be two different individuals. It’s up to the parties involved to create the relationship in a way that makes sense for them.
In some cases, the teacher unfolds very informally, like a friendship. However, mentorships can also be very formal, even to the extent of the mentor being paid in exchange for their time and the mentoring experience being guided by a written contract that details specific goals and desired outcomes the student and teacher have for the relationship.
Regardless of the prearrangement being formal or informal, a mentor is there to inspire and support the ongoing growth of the student and to provide assistance. They should be willing to help us troubleshoot, although it’s okay if they don’t just hand us the answers! Making us think and offering helpful suggestions when problems arise are the symbols of a truly great mentor. They understand our efforts and are there for us when we need encouragement. They can also help us be realistic and hold us to a standard, helping set the foundation for skills and a knowledge base that will serve us well.
Most importantly, though, teachers can be role models. We should be careful not to put them on a pedestal – after all, our mentors are human, too – but at the same time, they should be people we think are worthy of imitating in some way. Our mentors are setting examples for us as teachers, consultants, and professionals.
It is important to remember that having a mentor is not a replacement for learning about herbs and herbalism on your own time – it should complement your studies. The point of being mentored is to assist you to grow on your path! Trustworthiness is essential; the relationship should always be directed by professionalism. The mentor-teacher relationship should always be mutually respectful.
“It is the supreme art of the educator to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.”
- Albert Einstein
Testimonies
“I learned a lot, and it opened many doors, and all of it was very practical, interesting, and intuitive. I plan to keep digging deeper, specifically on tongue diagnosis, and more largely on Ayurveda on the whole.”
- Heather
“I appreciate you sharing your knowledge and bringing together groups of bright/brilliant souls and for accommodating me joining late // making it work within my capacity at the moment. Was well worth it, felt like a great use of my time and energy, both very enjoyable and very educational, and I would be interested in a follow up course if and when offered.”
- Derek
“I truly enjoyed the tongue diagnosis course and will never observe a tongue without curiosity going forward! This valuable information should be a medical standard, and I am hopeful this knowledge will be more mainstream someday!”
- Wendy
Registration Details
2024 Dates
March 4-25 – Online Module I
April 1-29 – Online Module II
May 6-27 – Online Module III
Time:
1Monday Evenings
7 – 9:30 pm
(Virtual)
Registration
Note: Only 12 Positions are available
Your Price – $1500
Early-Bird – $1250
Certification Package – Register for this Course and the Ayurvedic Tongue Diagnosis Long-Distance Course for $2500
To maintain a high quality of learning and care, the Mentorship is limited to only 10 participants.
Course – $1500
Ealy-Bird or Full-time Students – One Month before starting date $1250
A $500 deposit will guarantee your spot
Partial scholarships are available if funds are available.
Please inquire: 519-652-0230To maintain a high quality of learning and care, this course is limited to 12 participants.
Scholarships – Partial scholarships are available upon request. Assisting promising young adults with the tuition costs of the mentorship program – please send a detailed letter of request. Our scholarship aims to build bridges between future leaders to experience the powerful connections between personal and planetary health. Please see the Scholarship Application Process.
Community Supported Education Program (CSE Program) ALL Scholarship applicants and anyone interested in financial assistance with the mentorship program should consider creating their Community Supported Education Program (CSE Program). Find more info and details here.
We live in a time of significant change, and creating a new story for our world is crucial. People all over the world are reclaiming their power and responding to the cry of Mother Earth. Are there young adults in your community who would thrive in our mentorship program? Help transform our culture, one heart at a time, by nominating a young adult to help redefine our culture.
Click here to download the Application Form
** Certificate of Completion in Ayurvedic Tongue Diagnosis is granted upon completion of this course, Ayurvedic Tongue Diagnosis Long-Distance course.
Payment can be made through e-transfer (bank-to-bank transfer) using PayPal below or by certified check. Please make cheques payable and mail them to:
The Living Centre 5871 Bells Rd.,
London, ON., Canada, N6P 1P3
Please note that we require a minimum number of registrants for the program. If we do not receive the minimum registration, you will be notified two weeks before the start date, and a full refund will be issued for the amount paid until then.
Meet your instructor
Shantree Kacera
Shantree Kacera, R.H., D.N., Ph.D., an international author and teacher, co-directs The Living Centre Eco-Spiritual Education Sanctuary since 1983. Shantree is the author of the first book published in English on the Ayurvedic Tongue Diagnosis. With a doctorate in Nutritional Medicine and Herbalism, Shantree pioneers integrative approaches to Ayurvedic Medicine, Living Nutrition, and Herbalism. Recognized as an elder by the Canadian Council of Herbalist Association.
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