Namaskar!
As in any undertaking, everything starts with a dream, becomes a burning passion, and then develops into a clear vision. Such is the story of Shanti Ayurveda. The moving force behind Shanti Ayurveda is Sona Roy. He was born at Sehera village of Barddhaman district, West Bengal, India. He belongs to a lineage of traditional healers and educators. Life in the rural neighborhood was simple and in harmony with nature. Seasonal and traditional home cooking ingredients were brought in straight from their own garden-fresh harvest. Ayurveda home remedies for common cough, colds, flu, wound scratches, or even indigestion was taken from the kitchen and backyard herbal garden.
This ancient word-of-mouth knowledge of Ayurveda passes down from generation to generation in families. From his childhood age of eleven, Sona already had a great enthusiasm for Ayurveda and a passion in learning yoga meditation, as his great grandfather and grandfather were well-regarded doctors. Coming from such genetic lineage and wanting to become an Ayurveda healer and educator are reflective of his passion for holistic health endeavors.
Sona believes that the universe had given him a unique place to complete life in a full circle. In 1977, his higher discipline experience made him the lead as a volunteer missionary, traveling to Africa for social work. He worked on education, relief, and rural development projects to help the poor communities for 12 years. He was involved in relief operations in Africa and Ethiopia affected by the worst famine in a century. He witnessed sicknesses, sufferings, famines, and deaths of millions of people all over Africa. He credits his suffering and near-death experience from malaria in Africa as the germinating seed of his dream to create a disease-free, healthy and happy society.
He arrived in the Philippines in 1991 and engaged in relief operations in Zambales after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. He put up an Ecovillage resettlement project in Iba, Zambales in 1993 for the victims of Mt. Pinatubo. He saw that people in rural areas were trapped in the vicious cycle of poverty. They lacked access to basic human needs, such as food, nutrition, health, education, clothing, and shelter because of their inability to afford them. This vicious cycle created high employment in the rural areas.
Sona realized that his mission is to establish an Ayurveda Center in the Philippines that will provide ‘treatment and training’ to maintain health, prevent illnesses and overall well-being. It was a long and difficult journey but with devotion and dedication, God paved the way. With the proceeds from the sale of his condominium and with the help and support of his wife, Dr. Sharon Roy, ‘Shanti Ayurvedic Center’ was opened in Quezon City on October 18, 2013, with the vision of creating a healthy and happy society free from sickness and suffering where people live together in peace and harmony.
We all feel blessed to be able to establish ‘Shanti Ayurveda’ in the service of humanity. At Shanti, we are committed to provide traditional ‘Panchakarma’ treatment that has been practiced for thousands of years in India, known as the land of Ayurveda, and to teach ‘Ayurveda lifestyle’ to every household to understand how this ancient health science is still relevant today for changing lives, healing, and well-being.