Goodbye Rasa Ayurveda

After spending much of the last 9 years here in Kerala, South India – a time richly abundant with life, love, learning and service–the moment has come to permanently close Rasa Ayurveda Traditional Healing Centre for Women.
Rasa Ayurveda Traditional Healing Centre for Women was a truly rare place – one-of-a-kind in India and in the world! A place women came from all over the globe to lay down their burdens–and their bodies– to heal naturally with the help of Ayurveda and to reunite with the best of their own true selves.
It has been a great honor to work over the years toward a closely-cherished dream, to see it come to life, and to sustain its operation in the midst of all life had in store and all the complexity of requirements here in South India. And a great privilege to see so much goodness brought to so many.
During our Rasa Ayurveda years, what did we do exactly?
~ We established and operated our clinic to the benefit of hundreds of women seeking relief from symptoms of autoimmune conditions, infertility, restoration after chemotherapy, chronic digestive disease, mental/emotional imbalances, detoxification and rejuvenation, and more.
~ We cared for the health needs of local women.
~ We educated Ayurveda “newbies” and seasoned practitioners from many countries to prepare them to live well, and to share their skills and knowledge with others.
~ Through the Muthashi Project, we reached out to local Malayalee communities to encourage the younger generation not to loose the traditional knowledge and skills of their grandmothers–recognizing and using native medicinal plants, maintaining a healthy, traditional diet and continuing to perform hands-on in-home Ayurveda therapies for prevention and healing in daily family life.
~ We invited orphan girls into our clinic to learn and experience Ayurveda, and to feel known, respected and cherished.
~ We sought always embraced our patients, staff and community as members of our own Rasa Ayurveda family.
After the sudden death of my adopted brother and partner in creating and sustaining Rasa Ayurveda – Sanjeev “Sanju” Kumar S. – I hoped our staff and his widow, Bindu G. Nair, might rise to the incredible task of maintaining all we created in Rasa Ayurveda. I wanted to continue to provide the opportunity for women everywhere to find us, to travel to us and to experience all that was waiting for them here on a quiet street in a traditional neighborhood on the edge of ancient Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.
But everyone has their own dreams, and working as hard as is necessary to operate a women’s clinic 24 hours a day, 7 days a week was something only Sanju and I possessed the calling for. It is a serious and multi-faceted responsibility to provide Ayurvedic consultations, treatments, medicines, nutrition, lodging, education, counseling and protection to women who have travelled across the globe, to reside fully in your care. It took the best of both Sanju and I together to provide all the the support and services women received upon arrival at Rasa Ayurveda. (After all, if a woman doesn’t feel safe, comfortable and embraced by people who care and have faith in her and in her treatment, how can she get the most out of her healing journey?)
Now, dear Sanju aniyan has gone on into the infinite. While he is very much with us in Spirit, without his form alive and active in our midst, there is nothing to do but accept that the Divine has new plans for all of us.
My wonder and gratitude for all the incredible blessings fill me up and spill over! I’m grateful, now, even for all the intense challenge. Grateful for all our wonderful and unique patients–so many women, each who brought their own blessing to us. I’m grateful for the chance to learn so much in these years of applying the wisdom and the medicine of Ayurveda to so many, each with different needs. Grateful for the goodness and unique qualities of all our patients, staff and community. And deeply grateful for that mysterious Grace that allowed everything to sprout, bloom and give fruit here in Kerala, India.
Sanju aniyan and I strongly agreed on one thing: The patient is 40% of the cure. In addition to providing treatments and medicines, our aim was always to nurture the best in every patient’s mind and heart – to help her feel her own wholeness again, regardless of her symptoms or health challenges. Seeing the “poorna”–the fullness, completeness and innate perfection– in each person is the • essence • foundation • hub of worthwhile work • and provides the wellspring of energy and creativity I believe brings Ayurveda to life and to greatest healing effect on every level.
In looking back over the years of Rasa Ayurveda, my heart is warmed with the knowledge that these 9 years glow with their own perfection and fullness. Grace knows NO BOUNDS…
~ I bow to the Divine Grace that bestowed all the opportunities to create Rasa Ayurveda, to learn so much and help so many.
~ I bow again, accepting the Divine decree that it’s time close the doors on 9 years of Rasa Ayurveda wonder. With surrender and joy, I’m ready to embrace the blessing of what is next.
I’ve had a favorite saying–a motto, really– which is more true now, than ever:
“The world is my oyster and OM (that primordial peace and resonance deep within and everywhere) is my home.”
From this unshakable foundation, I look forward to sharing my wisdom born of experience, Ayurvedic education, skills training and encouragement to those women and businesses who are dedicated to fostering healthy, fulfilling lives–all in harmony with Nature. Knowing and practically applying the timeless principles of Ayurveda can inspire beautiful and effective designs for healing and living in every culture, place and time.
If you share my deep interest in nourishing a truly functional harmony–both in your inner world and in the world you create and relate to around you–I welcome you to explore my new website ayurmama.com–Ayurveda for Women, Ayurveda for Life. Once you’ve landed at ayurmama.com, be sure to enter your email to receive special notices, information and great offers to learn, experience and apply Ayurvedic wisdom into your life and work–wherever you are!
With love, care and appreciation,

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Dear Niika,
I am so very grateful that I had the opportunity to spend such a special and healing time at Rasa Ayurveda. I will never forget the beautiful space, high up in the building with the warm air and the woven palm leaf partition walls. In effect we were being healed in open Nature, but in private and as an individual; part of Nature and surrounded by Love and simplicity and having treatment given with joy and abundance! Simplicity, beauty and a special purpose, to give health, love and understanding and as you say completeness to each person, without any pretensiousness and with straightforward respect and care for each person in their own unique way. I am so very sorry also to see the centre close, so I am so grateful that I could experience it. I am sure that you Niika will do amazing things with your life. I hate good-byes and one should not look back but look forward. So difficult when you achieved so much perfection! I enjoyed learning about local traditions, taking walks in the local area and greeting the children who came out to meet us, hearing their songs and the sounds of their lives as I slept in my room at night. The space was simple and yet so rich in meaning.
Good-bye Rasa Ayurveda but hello to your new venture and I look forward very much to receiving your emails and information and hopefully I will again be able to be part of what you do!
With Love, Krystyna
Dear Niika, the time I spent with you at Rasa Ayurveda was life changing and I have admired you for all these years. I was so blessed to spend time with you and Sanju and will always keep those memories in my heart. Thank you for all you have done and your courage on this quest of life. Currently I am living in the high jungle of the amazon rainforest in Peru learning and writing about the plants here. I hope our paths will cross again one day my , October 9th Soul Sister….with love and gratitude….Katie
A handful of comments on this post, via FaceBook…
Ashira Jasmine So grateful to have experienced the beauty, magic and healing of Rasa Ayurveda Centre! Thank you Niika!
March 3 at 11:19am · Like
Julie Wardwell A beautiful center it was! Much Gratitude for the gifts and knowledge I received from Rasa Ayurveda
March 3 at 3:09pm · Like
Celine Nandini Faivre Medici much gratitude for all that you put into it dear Niika. hope to see you sometime, somewhere in the world. The time i spent there was very precious. love to you and all. xxx Nandini
March 3 at 5:19pm · Like
Stacey Overstreet Wow – it was a magical place that will always stay in the hearts of those that experienced it.
March 3 at 5:26pm · Like
Kaitlin Quistgaard So grateful for our experience there. Thank you. You created so much beauty and healing. I can’t wait to see what arises in the space created by this closure. The universe has good things in store for you!
March 3 at 8:02pm · Like
Marisa Laursen Oh my dear Niika! I am sad and yet content…Rasa has been such a lovely gift to so many! When one casts a stone into a pond, long after the stone settles to the bottom, the ripples continue their journey…and the ripples that you created, Nikka, reverberate long and far, and deep. I am forever profoundly affected by Rasa Ayurveda, and so deeply grateful for the gift you gave me and the world by creating such a special, sacred space. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to experience it’s gifts. As you progress along your path, feel content that you made a difference, that you served many, that the trail you leave behind is one to feel proud of and grateful for. I look forward to our own paths continuing to cross, and to witnessing what you next manifest. In love, light and gratitude…
Gwen Nagano Sad to hear but the next chapter will be even more amazing!
Like · Reply · March 3 at 9:13pm
Julie Nieman Marker Wow, on to a brand new exciting chapter!
Like · Reply · March 4 at 1:03pm
I never came to Rasa Ayurveda but since I found you online three years’ ago, it was number one on the list of places I wished to visit. I dreamt of it regularly. Your work, your philosophy, your support of women, your love of Ayurveda, all shone through and I felt sure this was a genuine and special place. I felt drawn to come, if only one day Lakshmi would bless me with the means to do so. Now it is not to be, but I nevertheless feel inspired by what you did there and am in awe of your achievements. I wish you health and happiness on the new path the universe has for you. Jacqui.
Dear Niika,
Many apologies for not responding when Sanju passed on – I couldn’t quite handle it under the pressure of so many other passings in recent years. I felt your burden and grief and can only now respond to say that your beautiful soul knows no bounds and will find a way to serve in this new way. Your website shimmers. You look brilliant, just radiant in your new space. I wish you well and hope to meet up again in the future.