When I needed it most, Ayurveda became my light in the dark.

This is my story.

Who is Hilary Garivaltis?
Why would I LOVE to study with her?

Our health and well-being were guided by the principles of osteopathic medicine mostly and when we were sick, my father treated us through manipulating the spine to open up the life force and allow the body to heal itself. The combination of my father’s work and my mother’s love of nature shaped my life and trajectory.

I consider myself privileged in so many ways. I grew up in middle class America; in a family of seven; in a working-class city in Massachusetts and with a second home in the country in New Hampshire. My father was an osteopathic physician when it was not a fully recognized profession yet. My mother was a great lover of nature and gardening and made sure we were immersed in it as much as we could be.

I loved gardening, the woods, horseback riding, hiking and just being out in nature. My parents had to watch me closely or I would wander off into the woods, always with my trusted labradors, but fearlessly exploring. Nature spoke to me so strongly and when it was time to choose my college major I knew it would have to be either forestry or agriculture. I chose agronomy (plant and soil science) and dove in. 

During my college years I was exposed to yoga and Transcendental Meditation, which impacted my life enormously at the time. I became a regular meditator and felt profound results at a time of life that was challenging. 

Life brought me from school to working on many farms and opportunities to dive into sustainable, organic farming and living. I met my husband while working on one of the oldest farms in Cape Cod and we eventually bought our own herb farm in western Massachusetts where we have raised three children and continue to live.

During, what I affectionately call, my “crazy” years of young motherhood, co-managing two businesses and our small family farm, I lost my way…

I had stopped meditating, started using alcohol and cigarettes as destressing tools and worked non-stop. I was getting burned out and I was still in my 30’s. My physical and mental health was declining. I suffered from a very irregular menstrual cycle that came about 3-4 times per year and knocked me out for days with severe bleeding, cramping, nausea and fatigue. I had very physical work and many of my joints were beginning to become stiff and painful. I began gaining weight and had a hard time losing it. My energy and moods were erratic.

Though I had a wonderful family whom I loved with all my heart, I was feeling unfulfilled and off track. This is when my best friend reminded me that perhaps taking up my meditation practice would be a good idea. So I marched off to a local TM facilitator to get back on track with my practice and during that visit, he shared a cassette tape series from Dr. Deepak Chopra called Quantum Healing. I eagerly listened to the tapes on my long drive home and a spark was lit. I could not believe what I was hearing. It all sounded so familiar and true, like I knew it from many lifetimes.

My life began to turn around at this point. I started my early morning meditation and rose before my children were up. I took time for myself and collected every book I could find on Ayurveda back in the mid-90’s. I began to feel “myself” again and craved my quiet morning practices and time in nature. 

The books were enlightening, but I knew I needed to study with a qualified teacher to really get the essence of these teachings. I had convinced myself that I could not take the money or time from my family to pursue an education and the only school I could find at the time was in New Mexico which was not possible for us. 

Then, one fine day, a came across a holistic newspaper that had blown off a stand into my path and revealed an advertisement for the New England Institute of Ayurvedic Medicine holding classes in Cambridge, Massachusetts starting in the fall of 1997. They had teachers that I recognized from books I had read and also a few teachers directly from India. It looked like an amazing program and it was being offered over the course of a year over long weekends. Certainly a doable proposition. 

My husband did not hesitate when I told him and he said I had to do it. He would cover the kids, work and the farm once a month while I went to Boston. My in-laws also stepped up and contributed to my tuition and a dear friend offered me a place to stay. It felt like a miracle as it all came together. 

Before I fully committed, I decided to attend a weekend course that was being offered near me at a retreat center with Dr. John Douillard, who was one of the faculty in the program. He was so inspiring, practical and made this foreign science so easy to grasp. I was fully sold and committed to my studies at that point, though I did not have a clue what I would end up doing with it besides supporting my family and my own health.

I devoured the classes, books and every opportunity I could take to learn. The stack of books on Ayurveda continued to grow along with the passion to learn and explore. 

During my yearlong education, I became particularly enamored with the body treatments and pañcakarma , specifically, and decided what better way to learn Ayurveda than to have a full body experience. I decided to head off to John Douillard’s center in Boulder, CO for a week long panchakarma . 

Though many things were better for me as I embraced the teachings of Ayurveda and implemented a better lifestyle and diet, I still was suffering from an irregular cycle, joint pains, fatigue and low-grade depression. John suggested I keep a journal of my process and as a “good” student and client, I followed all his advice and boy did it pay off……

The protocol started two weeks before I actually started any treatments and continued for another 2 months post panchakarma. I remember the day I took my final handful of herbs when I took out my journal to see where I had started and where I ended up and low and behold my periods had become normal for the first time in my life; my joint pains were nonexistent; my energy was strong and solid and my depression had lifted and was replaced by a sense of enthusiasm and joy. 

I had done all the hard work and followed the Ayurvedic protocols while working on adjusting my diet, though not vegetarian at this point, but much better as a whole. I learned that the baby steps are important and support from a community and loved ones is essential.

Armed with this experience, I became even more hungry to learn and experience more. I jumped into John Douillard’s, one and only, full training of the treatments included not only in a spa setting but for a full panchakarma. I loved this part of the work, though I was not a massage therapist by training. I continued to train, experience and learn these treatments since the first training in 1998.

In December of 1999, a fortuitous invitation from David Frawley (one of my teachers in the school) came, inviting me to a one of a kind gathering in India of Vaidya’s from all over India in Rishikesh. I told my husband, jokingly, wouldn’t that be something to attend, knowing that we could not afford it, nor could I be gone for one month to a strange and foreign country with three young children and work……but my husband insisted that we try to work it out and miracle of miracles I went. 

I had only left the US to cross the border into Mexico and Canada and once to St. Vincent. The thought of going to India was such a big deal, but dear classmates from NEIAM were joining me and it made it all seem less daunting. So off I went in February 2000 to India. 

Oh boy, what a culture shock for this American farm girl. It was amazing. The arrival in Rishikesh felt like a jolt of energy. I felt a buzz the whole time I was there. The program was incredible. From early morning to evening a parade of well-known Vaidya’s came to speak to what ended up to be a contingent of worldwide students of Ayurveda (30 of us). We had representatives from Europe, South America, Canada and the USA. 

There was a hesitancy at the start from the Vaidya’s looking at this audience of westerner’s as they wondered how much they should share of this precious science, but as soon as we began to have interchanges it became a “love fest”. They were so impressed with our dedication and thirst for knowledge that by the end of the month they were showering us with blessings to go and share as much as we could around the world. 

Being in Rishikesh was an additional blessing as we partook of the holy city, the Ganga and an amazing homa(fire ceremony) that had not been performed in the village for decades. The blessings kept piling up. I remember our last day and the circle of sharing before we departed. Everyone was glowing, inspired and enthusiastic. I shared that I felt I had only touched the tip of the iceberg of knowledge and wondered how to begin in sharing this knowledge. I felt inadequate to take on the task, but was immediately interrupted by some of the Vaidya’s present to say it was my duty to share whatever I could and continue to study and grow. I felt as though this long lineage had just tapped me on the head and given me permission. 

I came home with a mission, but still unclear on the path ahead. I started a modest practice in the hills of the Berkshire’s and worked with a local alternative medicine group and our hospital to offer some classes. It was a start. I continued to study every chance I could. 

Then one day my husband came home after meeting with a client at Kripalu Yoga and Health Center in Stockbridge, MA, an hour away from us, to say that he had mentioned me in a conversation and they wanted to talk with me about Ayurveda. Off I went and before I knew it I was working to help them establish Ayurveda into their curriculum and their Healing Arts Department. 

I trained their staff in the treatments and we started a modest panchakarma  program and by January 2005 a full-fledged Ayurvedic Health Counselor 700 hour program. We launched the program with a record 120 students. Kripalu had never seen enrollment in a training program like this before. There was a pent-up hunger for this kind of course. I continued to run the program for the next 12 years along with being involved nationally with helping to establish Ayurveda as a profession through working on the board of the National Ayurvedic Medical Association. I served NAMA over the course of 20+ years as a volunteer and then as their Executive Director.

My passion continues to be sharing Ayurveda and finding ways for it to grow and thrive beyond the borders of India. My curiosities continue to grow and have propelled me toward a few new passions: “Vedic Psychology” as well as how to catalog our western herbs through the Ayurvedic paradigm and create a more sustainable herbal foundation for Ayurveda in the west. 

I continue to volunteer and work nationally and internationally with groups and entities promoting and supporting Ayurveda. I also love to teach whenever I get a chance and have honed an introductory course for those that want to just get started. I love to connect people whenever I can to further studies and have wonderful relationships in the broader community of professionals and educational institutions.

I am here in service to you and Ayurveda!

Ways to Work Together

Special acknowledgement to my teachers and mentors:

Mom, Dad (Sam and Barbara Jones), Dr. Satyanarana Dasa, Dr. Sunil Joshi, Dr. Subhash Ranade, Dr. Avinash Lele, Dr. R.H Singh, Dr. Nanak Chand Sharma, Dr. Bheema Bhat, Dr. Tiwari, Dr. Vasant, Professor Chunekar, Dr. Virender Sodhi, Dr. John Douillard, Vamadeva Shastri (David Frawley), Dr. Vats, Dr. S.S. Sharma, Dr. Vasant Lad, Dr. Robert Svoboda, Dr. Jay Apte, Dr. Rosy Mann, Dr. Claudia Welch, Dr. Partap Chauhan, Dr. Anusha Sehgal…….and many more.