We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kelsey Gordon a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kelsey, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

Ayurveda is a Sanskrit word that breaks down to “Ayu” meaning life and “Veda” meaning wisdom. From the ancient Indian cultures, Ayurveda could be thought of as “Life for Dummies”. Ancient wisdom was documented to include recipes for healthy eating, meditation tricks and tips, and daily habits for a long and happy life. Ayurveda is a sister science to Yoga.

Ayurveda is fairly new to the United States, and is still finding its feet. Ayurveda is an inclusive natural medicine, meaning that people should utilize modern medicine approaches but pad their day-to-day life with the wisdom from the Vedas. Typically Ayurveda is seen in tandem to either massage therapy and/or as complementary alternative therapy.

I am taking a more shamanic approach to Ayurveda. Instead of following the reversal of symptoms or the soothing of the body from physical/emotional pain. I am focusing on daily living via meditation, depth exploration, and time spent in nature.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hello! My name is Kelsey Gordon, and I am an Ayurvedist who does Shamanic Healing who also happens to be a geek. I may take a playful attitude, but I am serious about wanting to aid people in balancing their health and lives using Ayurveda and Shamanic techniques.

My background started at the University of Kansas (Rock Chalk!) with a Community Health degree and for six years I worked in various capacities in Public Health. I always say that I had my “quarter-life crisis” and changed my life. I realized that I was competent in Public Health but it wasn’t my passion. I quit a Master of Public Heath degree and changed it out for an apprenticeship in Herbalism with Regina Compernolle, owner of Sacred Earth Arts.

My time with Regina opened my eyes to herbalism, shamanism, and a spiritual healing world. I started doing research and realized that Western Herbalism has a beautiful holistic approach. Looking at the whole body and using balancing techniques to get to the root of the problem. Eventually I came across some Ayurvedic herbs, and well… I fell in love and found my passion (who knew it wasn’t cookies!?). Ayurveda comes from the same wisdom as yoga, looks at the body in an energetic way and does a lot of little healings each day to maintain a long and healthy life. That is pretty great!

I work with clients to explore the depths of old habits by using everyday living: food, sleep hygiene, meditation, laughter/joyful moments, and vibrational therapies like drumming. I work with one-on-one consultations as well as leading small group classes.

To date I have created an Herbal Ayurvedic Coloring book and a children’s book. I think the best way to get to know ourselves is through our inner child. What better way to learn about herbs than by coloring them? And in the children’s book the three governing constitutions of Ayurveda – Vata, Pitta, and Kapha – are all represented by dinosaurs!

A great example of the type of work I do, is teaching people how to listen to their own body for what it needs. Sure, we all know that when the stomach is making T-Rex noises that probably means “feed me”. But what about if you are craving certain foods? I had a client who was going absolutely crazy for wanting to eat astringent foods, only for certain times of the month. We reviewed the timing of her cravings, and realized her body was trying to “dry out” in preparation for her extremely heavy periods. She didn’t even realize how much of a burden this was on the body, because it was something she has dealt with for such a long time, it had become the norm. We were able to get her some daily massage techniques and yummy recipes to help calm the cramping and heavy flow.

The main thing that I want people to know about me, is that I believe anyone can live a blissful life. It takes some deep healing, but it doesn’t have to feel like a chore!

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Being authentically me. I’m a geek who also loves frolicking in the woods. At first my Instagram was me trying to put out quotes from Budha, the Vedas, and Herbalists. All of those are inspiring to me, but it felt curated and flat. Now you go onto my IG, you’ll see some spectacular fails with herbal concoctions (those are always where the true lessons come from), me meditating/drumming, spiritual book recommendations, and the board games I am currently playing.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

The Holistic Business Academy and the corresponding podcast. Sarah Chappell just understands those of us in this odd little industry that can be lumped in as holistic practitioners. She doesn’t shy away from a few well placed f-bombs or from sharing her run-ins with that brick wall. She was a wonderful message of not letting fear make your decisions for you, while still giving realistic / practical advice.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.vedasaurus.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_vedasaurus/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelseygordon13/
• Other: https://vedicwitch.teachable.com/ https://www.amazon.com/Kelsey-Gordon/e/B0932CBDWQ?ref_=dbs_p_pbk_r00_abau_000000

Image Credits
Quinn Kavanaugh