Deepak Chopra, a former chief of staff at Boston Regional Medical Center, realized the connection that health has to a balance of body, mind, and spirit, and has spent the last twenty years writing and speaking about alternative medicine. The Chopra Center for Well Being in Carlsbad, California, was created in 1995 and used to expand his approach to healing. By combining practices of western medicine with the traditions of natural healing, Chopra created training programs in mind-body medicine called Journey into Healing. Based on the ancient practice of Ayurveda, which acknowledges that everything you interact with has an effect on your health, the program is recognized as a continuing education course through the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, and fills requirements for the American Medical Association Physician's Recognition Award, so it is not just fluff class on healing with herbs and twigs. One of the guiding principles of Ayurveda is the connection between mind and body and Chopra teaches that being healthy is more than just being free of disease, it is being balanced in body, mind, and spirit. On Chopra's Website (www.deepakchopra.com), you can learn more about the three mind and body principles of Ayurveda, called doshas, and take the "What's my Dosha?" quiz to find out if you are more Vata, Pitta, or Kapha.
With more than 36 books and 100 audio and visual materials in publication, including Ageless Body, Timeless Mind; The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire: Harnessing the Infinite Power of Coincidence, and The Path to Love, Dr. Chopra was recognized by Time magazine in 1999 as "one of the Top 100 Icons and Heroes of the Century" and described as "the poet-prophet of alternative medicine." His Website also offers daily inspirations and "practice for spiritual success," culled from his best-selling book The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: "Nature's intelligence functions with effortless ease ... with carefreeness, harmony, and love. And when we harness the forces of harmony, joy, and love, we create success and good fortune with effortless ease." If we could only remember to embody these virtues in our lives as we rush around.
