Director, Cynthia Copple

Cynthia Copple, Ayurvedic Consultant in Santa Cruz, California since 1982, is Director of Lotus Holistic Health Institute and President of Lotus Herbs. She has been trained in Ayurvedic pulse diagnosis and the use of Ayurvedic healing herbs by Ayurvedic master Dr. R. P. Trivedi of Hathras, India, who has encouraged and inspired her to teach and transmit the knowledge of this 5,000 year old system of wellness and rejuvenation from India. Her teachers include Ayurvedic Physicians and Doctors Vasant Lad, Pankaj and Smita Naram,and Sunil and Shalmali Joshi.

History: She has practiced and studied yoga and meditation for the past 20 years. She has been a practitioner and student of Ayurveda for 18 years. Her ancient history includes BA from UC Berkeley, l966; War Correspondent in Vietnam in l969; free lance writer & photographer l970-80; rock music/entertainment/circus publicist l973-76; owner of Lotus & Co. natural fiber clothing store l978-89.

What brought her to Ayurveda? In l982, after five years of intensive meditation and yoga, she underwent deep tissue bodywork and experienced specific positive changes in her mind and emotions. She had a burning curiosity to understand how simply manipulating the body has an effect on the mind. And vice versa, how the mind effects the body, as in hysterical diseases, or relaxation through meditation. There were no books or studies in western science which addressed this question in l982, and then she discovered the answers she sought in the ancient texts of Ayurveda.

Ayurvedic Training. She began her studies in l982 with Dr. Vasant Lad, at Mt. Madonna Center in Northern California. She studied intensively with Dr. R. P. Trivedi of Hathras, India from l982-85 for over 2,000 hours including observing and taking pulses of over 300 patients. In l990 she met Dr. Sunil Joshi in India and brought him to teach Pancha Karma in the US in l990-93. Her teachers include Drs. Pankaj & Smita Naram of Bombay, India, who specialize in infertility and pulse reading, seeing 500 patients a day. She spent two weeks in clinic with them in l990 and also sponsored them in the U.S. in l990-92.

Dr. Trivedi insisted that she had a gift for Ayurveda and "must bring Ayurveda to the American people." She began to see clients and import herbs part time while operating the store in Santa Cruz. Then in January of l989 she closed the clothing store and has worked full time in Ayurveda ever since.

Current responsibilities: She is President of Lotus Herbs, which she founded in l983 to import herbs from India. Lotus Herbs has been manufacturing the digestive tonic Drachsha since l982 and has a line of Ayurvedic classic solutions to common complaints.

She is Director of Lotus Holistic Health Institute in Santa Cruz (with branches in San Jose and Mill Valley), which offers Ayurvedic Consultations, Pancha Karma Cleansing Programs, Thirty Day Wellness Programs, Ayurvedic Yoga, Ayurvedic Day Spa Treatments and classes and workshops.
She is on the Staff of Twin Lakes College of the Healing Arts in Santa Cruz, teaching Introduction to Ayurveda, Ayurvedic Full Body Hot Oil Massage and Ayurvedic Facial Massage.