I arrived back in India a few weeks ago for a very special event – to inaugurate a new home for myself and a friend here at Vaidyagrama, the Ayurveda community led by my teachers in Tamil Nadu, South India. We studied here together in 2011 and have returned nearly every year since. We made the commitment to become caretakers of a home here back in 2017, and after construction planning and pandemic delays, the vision is finally coming into reality.

The first thing we did the day we arrived was a traditional housewarming milk boiling ceremony. We heated an open vessel of milk on our new stove until it boiled over as a symbol of the abundance and prosperity we are inviting our home to foster. In our case, the milk overflowed on the east side of the vessel, an especially auspicious sign.

We then held a Ganapati homa in the house, which is a fire ceremony to clear any blockages to positive energy and to honor the many forces of nature with which we hope to align here. A priest chanted Sanskrit mantras and prayers while we made offerings of rice and ghee into the fire, setting a literal vibration of peacefulness and good energy.

Sound is said to be the first and most pervasive of the sense objects according to Ayurveda, inherent within all the other sensory inputs (such as touch, flavor and smell). Sound has an incredible power therefore to affect us. By infusing the house with soothing sounds from the start and chanting regularly to recharge the uplifting vibration, we hope to establish a light, peaceful and sattvic atmosphere.

At the end of the homa, the priest brought one of Vaidyagrama’s cows and her calf into the house for a blessing, as a symbol of the abundance of Mother Nature and the gods, especially Lakshmi (for whom this cow was even named).

The generosity of the cows is shown in their many gifts freely given, namely the panchagavya or 5 gifts of milk, yogurt, ghee, urine and dung, which are employed for fuel, medicine, food, fertilizer and many other uses. In honoring the cow, we are reminded of the cycle of giving and receiving in which we can intentionally participate.

It continues to feel like a small miracle that this house exists, inscribed in the stars somehow with our names. Like many other significant turning points in my life, the decision to create a home here felt almost like it was made for me, a clear “yes” that arrived fully formed without rationale or planning.

I do not yet know how much time I will get to spend here or what life here will look like. I will certainly continue to see clients and teach, both online and in person in the U.S….. and for now it is enough to dream of the possibilities, surrounded by my teachers, a community grounded in Ayurveda, and the guiding wisdom of nature.