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THE AYURVEDA LIFESTYLE NETWORK
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Interview with Dr Donn Brennan Founder President of The Ayurvedic Practitioners Association by Judith H Morrison
Dr Donn Brennan was born in Ireland, studied medicine at University College Dublin, worked in different specialities in hospitals in the island of Ireland before moving to Lancashire where he worked as a GP. Now he is an Ayurvedic practitioner and the founder President of the Ayurvedic Practitioners Association (APA) in the UK. Q You became disillusioned with the conventional medical model. Can you say a little more? DB I have always had the utmost admiration for the compassion and industry with which my medical colleagues work to relieve suffering, and of course I recognise the benefits for the many who need these treatments, but I was always searching for something more. I was disappointed that the emphasis in allopathic medicine was on disease rather than on prevention and health. Q What led you to Ayurveda? DB In 1980 I was working in a casualty department and decided to study and practice Transcendental Medication (TM). I qualified as a TM teacher and was amazed at how many people reported a marked improvement in their health when they meditated. But the turning point was a meeting with Dr John Duffy, an eminent Irish cardiologist, who had just returned from Maharishi's first ever, European course in Ayurvedan health specifically for medical doctors. I spent 18 months studying Maharishi's Vedic Approach to Health in America and India. Since 1990 I have been working full-time promoting, lecturing and consulting in Maharishi's Vedic Approach to Health. Q Are there other GPs who are interested in TM? DB I have spoken with many GPs throughout Europe who, because of its scientific validation, recommend TM to patients suffering from all kinds of illnesses with huge success. The contemporary medical approach that we are merely physical bodies, bits and bobs of liver, spleen, lungs etc. to be looked after by individual specialists does not bring us to optimum health. We, humans, are not merely material entities who happen to have an occasional thought. We are consciousness. We are that fine field of awareness that reverberates as mind and materialises as physical structure, and from that perspective we can heal from within ourselves. The Ayurvedan healthcare system connects consciousness with physiology. Q It is only recently that complimentary health practitioners have to comply with standards of training and practice. The Ayurvedic Practitioners Association (APA) is a representative body of Ayurvedic practitioners in the UK, and as its president you have been involved in the discussions with government representatives regarding the regulation of Ayurveda? What are the regulations and how will those practicing Ayurveda be affected? DB The Government intends to regulate practice of complementary health care in order to ensure high standards of practice with patient safety as the primary concern. At the same time legislation on healthcare products and herbal preparations is evolving. There was need of a professional body inclusive of all Ayurvedans practising in this country to advise and co-operate with the Government. Therefore, the Ayurvedic Practitioners Association (APA) was set up. The intention of the Government was to have a register of all qualified Herbalists, Chinese Medicine practitioners and Ayurvedic practitioners who alone would be legally entitled to practise. This should happen in 2006 or 2007. Until then anyone can claim the title Ayurvedic practitioner. So the best way to be sure of a practitioner’s standing is to see if he or she is a registered member of the APA, who will have checked the practitioner’s qualifications and that he or she is adequately insured to practise. Currently, one role of the APA is to help all practitioners to ensure that their training will be adequate to get onto the statutory register when it is set up. For those with only some training the APA has produced documents advising on the standards they will need to meet and how to get further training. Also, the APA runs regular Continuing Professional Development (CPD) seminars for practitioners. The new register will require all practitioners to be involved in CPD. Standards of practice are an important issue for public safety and the good name of Ayurveda. The APA has an educational document for its members on this. The APA also provides a list of active practitioners on its website with their contact details, as there are many enquiries for local practitioners. APA has also been active to negotiate very favourable medical practice insurance rates. The pharmaceutical committee of the APA is active in looking at issues concerning our medicines. This is the most pressing and depressing issue we currently face. Legislation already passed in Europe (the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive) will come into fore over the next few years. It requires that all ingredients in an herbal preparation be demonstrable by laboratory procedures. Such scientific investigations are only capable of showing three herbs in a combination. Therefore, any more than three herbs in a preparation will not be allowed under this law as currently interpreted. This deprives us of almost all of our materia medica. That is not to mention the expense of meeting the requirements and of licensing herbal products in Europe, which will put almost all manufacturers of these products out of business. This is before legislators even start to look at our minerals, animal products etc. in our preparations. One manufacturer in this country has been prevented from distributing Hingustak Churna because it contains salt! Currently legislation that will allow those on the statutory register (once it is set up) to combine their own herbs is being reviewed. With all of these laws now being put in place to govern Ayurvedic practice over the next 30 years, it is essential that all practitioners get involved to make the APA a strong and dynamic organisation. Q So anyone who calls him- or herself an Ayurvedic Practitioner in the UK must be a member of the Ayurvedic Practitioners Association? DB Anyone who calls himself an Ayurvedic practitioner should be a member, so as to keep him or herself informed and to support the profession. For those not fully qualified, there are categories for associate members and students. Currently there are few fully trained practitioners in the UK. To find an Ayurvedic practitioner look on www.apa.uk.com. Q With the growing interest in complimentary medicines there are beginning to be moves towards integrated healthcare. What contribution can Ayurveda make to integrated medicine? DB One thing that is clear to me from my medical background is that modern medicine does not have an understanding, nor the basic principles that would allow for integrative healthcare. How can materialism fully grasp health when humans are patently spiritual beings with feelings and thoughts that lie outside the biomedical paradigm? It is my contention that the best candidate to integrate all current strands of mainstream and complementary medicines is Ayurveda. The emphasis on understanding fully the patient using the holistic perspective of Ayurveda allows selection of the appropriate spiritual, emotional, mental or physical therapy for that individual. According to the patient’s nature and needs the appropriate modern medicines could be given alongside the appropriate complementary therapy in an integrated fashion. Furthermore, Ayurveda empowers the patient in understanding and promoting their own health in an integrated fashion. Dr. Donn Brennan (Dip. Ayu)
Spring 2006 |