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Who I Am (And Why You Should Listen To Me)
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In short, because I'm Karen Klutznick--a practitioner-level member of the National Ayurvedic Medical Association and member of the Association of Ayurvedic Professionals of North America-- and I said so.
In long, because I'm Karen Klutznick and I'm no different from you. In 2002, at the age of 40, I took my first yoga class. I was scared, overweight, weak and inflexible. I had high cholesterol, a slow thyroid, menstrual difficulties and depression. I was doing two jobs at the same time and was very successful professionally. Personally, I was pretty uncomfortable. And, although I had respect for those who did, I had no time or interest in a spiritual life. I have an MBA, for Ganesha's sake, I couldn't be chanting and meditating and all that stuff!
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Yoga class eventally led me to a week-long detox (called panchakarma) at The Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque, NM and world-renowned ayurvedic physician, Dr. Vasant Lad. I became enthralled by ayurveda and its teachings. The subject is so enormous, one can never reach its end or breadth. With gradual (I can hear Dr. Lad saying,"Ayurveda isn't a quick fix!") changes in my diet and lifestyle as well as subsequent panchakarmas, the weight came off, the cholesterol came down and my appetite for chanting and meditation increased.
Eventually, in 2006, I gave up my twenty-two-year career in real-estate development to attend The Ayurvedic Institute as a full-time student. I moved to Albuquerque and a culture completely different from any I'd known before. It was suburban! There were drum circles and potlucks and vegans! It was suburban! We took our shoes off and sat on the floor for classes! Did I say it was suburban? We chanted prayers in Sanskrit before and after every class! I loved it.
Leaving my job and moving to Albuqueruqe to study a field that very few Americans have heard of and for which there is no licensure or certification in the U.S. may sound extreme to some. To me, it made sense.
It's hard to break old patterns. Even if we know certain habits are bad for us, they're familiar and they provide some measure of comfort. Change requires courage. For some people, quitting a job and moving to a new place is a tolerable (even enjoyable) change. For others, switching from ice-cold beverages to room-temperature ones or the thought of changing his/her diet is almost unbearable. Magnitude is a matter of perception.
My job is to help manage your change from one way of life to another, more healthy, one. Don't worry, I won't be teaching you to meditate and chant (though I'd love to...it would change the world) unless it's something you desire!
Namaste
(Sanskrit for: "the divine in me bows to the divine in you".)
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