Heather Baines C-AP is the founder of Roots of Wellness Ayurveda. A cooperative of Ayurvedic practitioners, Heather partnered with Terra Rafael (Wise Womanhood) in 2014 and expanded in 2017 to include Ayurvedic bodywork and pancha karma body therapies.
Following a deep inner sense, Heather found Ayurveda nearly 20 years ago, after watching her father fight and succumb to a rare form of cancer. As she brought food to nourish him and to her family, as they cared for him, his fight reminded her that not all is war, and that health and healing must be a conscious act of consistent care, focus, and diligent practice. She likens her discovery of Ayurveda to a “remembering,” which led her to reclaim her lineage, her family’s traumas, and her relationships, under the vision and purpose of becoming the healthy grandmother to a healthy family. She was just 27 years old, in her first trimester, pregnant with her daughter, when she first declared this vital purpose and intention to break the cycles of intergenerational trauma that existed within her family structure.
The ocean of knowledge and bliss that is the practice of Ayurveda reminds Heather that she is not separate from but part of the wisdom of nature, a divine expression of what simply is, and that her purpose is to be with, to acknowledge, and to work towards flow, balance, and harmony among apparent opposites. In Ayurveda these opposites show up in the expression of the doshas, in the fundamental qualities of the traditional five elements, in their dance as they form matter, in their dynamism, and in their expansive silence. Her mother used to remind her, “we live in a fluid environment.” Heather has discovered that the health of the body, of our mental state, of our relationships, and of our spiritual state relies on both flow and stillness, of expansiveness and containment, of action and receptivity.
These states are experienced by every human being. When we find ourselves too reliant on one state at the expense of the others, illness and disease follow. The masculine and the feminine, the engaged and the passive, the thinker and the doer, the producer and the caretaker – it is our work as human beings to find the right rhythm, right timing, and right space to live into the fullness of who we came to be, to be the best, the highest, the most authentic and joyful version of who we are – to find a harmony among all of these states of human being-ness.
It is my honor and privilege to walk a ways with you on your path of becoming.
ॐ सह नाववतु।
सह नौ भुनक्तु।
सह वीर्यं करवावहै।
तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु
मा विद्विषावहै।
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥
Oṁ Saha nāvavatu
saha nau bhunaktu
Saha vīryam karavāvahai
Tejasvi nāvadhītamastu
Mā vidviṣāvaha
Oṁ Shāntiḥ, Shāntiḥ, Shāntiḥ,
O sacred holy Word, may we be protected
May we all be nourished
May we work together with great energy
May our intellect be sharpened (may our study together be effective)
Let there be no animosity amongst us
Om, peace, peace, peace
Now for the boring CV stuff.
Heather previously served as President of the Board of Directors of the Colorado Ayurveda Medical Association (COLORAMA) from from 2015-2020. COLORAMA aims to advance public understanding, acceptance and adoption of Ayurvedic health care. She previously served on the COLORAMA Board as Governance Chair and has been a board member since 2014.
A Professional Member of the National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA) since 2012, Heather has received recognition as an Ayurvedic Doctor, is certified by NAMA as an Ayurvedic Practitioner, and is a Registered Advanced Ayurveda Practitioner with the Association of Ayurvedic Professionals of North America (AAPNA).
Heather graduated Ayurved Vaidya Visharad (Ayurvedic Practitioner) in 2012 and Ayurved Bhishakgwara (Ayurvedic Doctor) in 2014, from Alandi Ayurveda Gurukula, under the primary instruction of Alakananda Ma and Dr. Bharat Vaidya (Ayurved Sadhana). From 2012-2014 she was Pharmacy Director at the Alandi Ayurveda Clinic and Gurukula, mastering the art and science of custom formulation and Ayurvedic medicine making.
Heather extends a deep bow of gratitude to her lineage of teachers living and passed: Alakananda Ma and Sadananda-ji, Dr. Bharat Vaidya and his family at Ayurved Sadhana for advanced studies of Ayurveda, Paramahamsa Hariharananda, Paramahamsa Prajnanananda, Paramahamsa Yogananda, Shri Anandi Ma and Dileepji.
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Need help?
Need support or a referral? Contact Heather and she will help you find a practitioner best suited to your healthcare needs.
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Please note that Roots of Wellness Ayurveda adheres to patient confidentiality and individual health information privacy in accordance with HIPAA Privacy Rules.
Our Ayurveda Practitioners are not licensed physicians or medical doctors. As appropriate, we will work with you to coordinate your Ayurvedic healthcare protocols with your medical care team. All herbal and supplemental remedies and formulations are checked for pharmaceutical drug interactions and contraindications, as well as for efficacy based on published scientific medical research. We operate with the highest standards of care and integrity, in full compliance with the Colorado Natural Health Consumer Protection Act, Colorado SB 13-215. For more information about Health Freedom in Colorado, please visit our friends at National Health Freedom Action.