About Seva

I’m Seva Van Why — Ayurvedic practitioner, educator, author, and guide in embodied healing arts. For over 25 years, I’ve been walking the wisdom of Ayurveda beyond textbooks into clinical practice, educational spaces, and professional communities where depth meets application.

My journey began in the early 1990s at The Chopra Center for Well Being, where daily immersion in Ayurvedic living and healing became my grounding. That early experience — learning from experienced therapists linked to classical lineages and hearing teachings from Dr. Chopra — sparked a lifelong devotion to this science of care and transformation.

Over the decades, I’ve learned and practiced across a myriad of modalities and settings — from holistic massage and midwifery to organic herbal apothecaries and Ayurvedic clinical therapies. I manage a private healing practice and holistic education hub, both virtual and in person, and teach many types of yoga and asana.

Today, I am a continuing education provider and the founder and lead faculty of Seva Ayurveda Academy, where I teach Holistic Bodywork education, Ayurvedic body therapies, Marma Therapy, and integrative care — guiding practitioners to blend classical understanding with embodied skill. I’ve had the honor of holding staff and leadership roles with The Chopra Center, National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA), Optimum Health Institute, California College of Ayurveda, and respected Ayurvedic schools across the U.S., mentoring countless students and clinicians.

I also speak and present regularly at national and international gatherings, including Learn Skin — Integrative Esthetician Symposium, NAMA conferences, World Massage Festival, Yoga festivals, and more — sharing clinical insight, teaching frameworks, and practical integration of Ayurvedic therapies for the modern healing arts.

My work is grounded not in theory alone but in lived experience — with hundreds of hours combined of training and practice holistic health, nutrition and bodywork in both western modalities and classical Ayurvedic practices, marma and pranic healing, and specialized training in Ayurvedic obstetrics, women’s health, clinical nutrition, and pulse reading. Through ongoing study with respected teachers including Dr. Vasant Lad, Dr. David Frawley, Amadea Morningstar, and much more, I continue to refine and deepen my capacity to support both practitioners and clients in sustainable wellbeing.

I am also the author of The Ayurveda Spa Therapy Manual, Dough Basti: The Ancient Healing Art of Ayurveda, and Savor the Flavor — Ayurvedic Recipes for Tea & Spice Blends, each crafted to bring classical bodywork and Ayurvedic perspective into clear, usable form for therapists and learners.

My philosophy honors Ayurveda as a living tradition — one that thrives when practiced with integrity, care, and presence. I believe that healing is not a prescription, but a relationship — between practitioner and client, between body and rhythm, between tradition and today. In service, there is transformation. In presence, there is healing.

If you feel called to grow your skills, deepen your practice, or bring Ayurvedic insight into your work or life, I would be honored to walk with you.