About Joanna Webber
I'm a fully qualified Ayurvedic Practitioner with a BSc in Ayurveda (Manipal, India, First Class Honours) as well as a Hatha Yoga teacher, with over 20 years combined experience. I am co-founder of The Ayurvedic Academy, a leading provider of Ayurvedic education.
I gained a first class BSc in Ayurveda from Mayur Ayurvedic University of Europe and has completed 500 hours of clinical Ayurvedic internship training in India (Alvas Ayurvedic hospital, Karnataka; Dr Marda, Pune, and Jiva Ayurveda, New Delhi). I'm a full member of the Ayurvedic Professionals Association. I've trained with Sascha and Rebecca Kriese and Dr Vasant Lad. I'm currently completing an Advanced Diploma in Integrative Counselling to enable me to fully address any emotional aspects of health issues.
I've completed both the Basic and the Advanced Yoga teacher training qualification with Sivananda Yoga. She has also qualified in: Yoga therapy for lower back pain, Dr Robin Monro, Yoga Biomedical Trust; Pregnancy Yoga, Uma Dinsmore Tuleyl and Ayurvedic Yoga, Mukunda Stiles. I love to weave these sister sciences together to support a more integrated approach to health in my Ayurveda practice (face to face and online).
I've also completed the foundation course in Western Herbalism from Heartwood College. I'm also a self-taught forager, having gained much experience while running Pukka Herbs Herbal Education department for a very happy 6 years. She is now the UK brand ambassador for Yogi Tea.
Prior education and experience
Previous to practicing Ayurveda and Yoga, I completed a Masters in Human Sciences at Oxford University and worked in corporate social responsibility and ethical investment. I have a Post graduate Certificate in Education, and feels strongly about making diet, lifestyle and herbal advice more readily available, so people of all ages can make informed and empowered choices for themselves. I live in Somerset with my family, lots of animals and spend all my spare time foraging and growing food and herbs.
“Ayurveda is about living in connection with ourselves, as well as our daily and seasonal rhythms — something the rest of nature and all other species manage to do without even thinking about it! I love that this becomes a creative dance as nothing is ever still, and we must constantly adapt to thrive, especially around spring and autumn when the seasons change, leaving us a little vulnerable. It is about having the knowledge to live the best life you can. And fulfilling your true potential (dharma) and enjoying yourself on this journey of discovery as to why you are on this planet at this time.” (from an interview of Joanna with Jasmine Hemsley, read full interview here)
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My journey to becoming an Ayurvedic practitioner
My yoga journey began when I was 19 years old. It kept be sane whilst at Oxford University, a very stressful environment! I spent the next 10 years exploring various Schools of Yoga. After 5 years working in finance, as an ethical investment analyst, I was exhausted and quit to explore alternative ways to work. I had set up yoga classes for stressed city workers which I really enjoyed so I trained as a Sivananda Hatha yoga teacher in the Austrian Alps, which have a similar feel to the Himalayas. I’ve never looked back and love teaching in different environments such as drug rehabilitation projects, festivals, companies, health clubs, children’s groups as well as my own home where I often serve up an Ayurvedic thali afterwards for “Yoga Supper Club” or at the very least, a chai and an energy ball.
My interest in Ayurveda was awakened as a tourist in Kerala in 1999, where I visited a very old doctor in a sleepy backstreet. He asked no questions but held my wrist and read my pulse. To say I was amazed by what he could tell from my pulse is an understatement and I made a commitment to study Ayurveda in the future. It was a very moving experience as he also ready my friend’s pulse and correctly said she had cancer, and correctly indicated the area of the body, but that there were no longer any cancer cells in her body. This has turned out to be true as she has been in remission ever since.
It took a few years more but I eventually studied Ayurveda with Manipal University. I am truly indebted to all my teachers along the way, and indeed future teachers as Ayurveda is a lifelong journey. I have especially enjoyed studying with Sascha and Rebecca Kriese of Ayuseva, who have been instrumental in me setting up my practice. Though I’m most especially grateful to the old vaidya (doctor) in the Keralan backwater, whose name I do not know.
Ethics and sustainability
I aim to be socially and environmentally responsible, embracing inclusivity in all I do.
