The 6 stages of disease has been the most interesting part of Ayurveda. One clearly sees the ‘common sense’ in the 6 stages as described by Ayurveda that lead to the manifestation of disease, and thus we understand how important it is to balance our diet and life style choices.

The goal is to help the group get a ‘general idea’ of the Ayurvedic concepts of Dosha, Agni, and the 6 stages of disease during three sessions of 45 minutes to one hour each on zoom.

A group of 3 clients. One male and two females, the ages are 33, 37 and 61. No intakes will be done for these clients. A few of these clients have allergies.

Meet three times on Zoom during 45 minute sessions.

Each session had a main topic for discussion. The topics were discussed in the following order: Dosha, Agni, and the 6 stages of disease.

Second session, clients where asked to pick one thing that they could do daily for the coming week. The following is a sample of the practices offered: 1) Tongue Scraping in the morning when you brush your teeth; 2) Note the quality of our stool. Looking to see if it is healthy as described in the session; and, 3) Chew food thoroughly before swallowing – chew up to 20 times before swallowing.

Third session clients were sent a Survey to complete. Everyone completed and returned the survey. The results of the Survey have been uploaded to the supplemental documents.

Jnana Yoga was the tool used to provide Ayurvedic knowledge to help clients make more informed and discriminating decisions as they manage their lifestyle and diet.

Prior to the first session clients were sent a description of Ayurveda which is on the Johns Hopkins Medicine website to review prior to class so that they may see that Ayurveda is recognized in the United States by health professionals.

Week 1: One of the clients stated that it was interesting to learn about the three different types of doshas.

W2: One client asked a question about the color of a healthy stool. In the latter part of the session clients where offered eight practices and where asked to pick one out of the eight to practice for the coming week. Another client said that they would like to do three Sun Salutations for the coming week – one of the practices offered.

W3: At the end of the 6 stages of disease session, one of the clients said that “this was the most informative class of all three classes.”

During the second and third sessions asana and meditation was suggested, as well as simple Ayurvedic practices such as, chew food thoroughly before swallowing to assist digestion, and several other suggestions. All of the practices were offered again for a second time to the group during the last session and an email list of all of the suggestions was forwarded to the group.

Yes, I planned three sessions and was able to give three sessions to a group of 3 clients. Originally, it was going to be a group of 4 but one person could not meet at the same time as the other members.

From the responses on the Survey offered to the clients, I would say that the goal of providing ‘a general’ idea of the Ayurvedic concepts of Dosha, Agni, and the 6 stages of disease to clients/students was achieved.

The following Survey question and client’s response that show an essential teaching of Ayurveda ‘to keep the dosha in a balanced state’ was learned:

What is one thing that has stayed with you?
Client 1: “There are 3 doshas and the goal is to keep them in balance.”
Client 2: “In Ayurveda, disease processes are seen as originating from imbalance in the three Doshas, which impacts Agni and results in a buildup of Ama.”
Client 3: “The six stages of ama toxicity."

I had to adapt to a child being in the class. One of the mothers did not have a babysitter so the child was in the classroom with us. It turned out to be fine. The child was quiet 99 percent of the time, and the mother was able to listen.

All of the information that was presented in the PowerPoint slides (Dosha, Agni, and 6 stages of disease) came from the class Lessons, Slides, and Handouts. There was no manual given in this class. I was able to show Uma East my Advisor the 3 PowerPoints sessions created. Additionally, some videos from Youtube on Doshas, tongue scrapping, and Neti pot use.

Yes, I would approach it the same way. I found that by going over what I had learned in my Ayurveda module to prepare for these sessions to present to the group, I actually deepened my Ayurvedic knowledge, and I was able to present general Ayurvedic information with some degree of confidence, and as a result I feel that the clients benefited from the sessions. The Survey given to the clients at the end of the third sessions show that the clients were interested and were motivated to make small changes in their lifestyle.

The results of the Survey have been uploaded to the supplemental documents.