Beavercreek grad practices natural healing; The 33-year-old runs the Ayurveda center on North Fairfield that focuses on individual patterns of energy. Dayton Daily News (Ohio) November 9, 2006 Thursday

November 9, 2006 Thursday

SECTION: GREENE COUNTY; Pg. Z4-5

LENGTH: 839 words

HEADLINE: Beavercreek grad practices natural healing;
The 33-year-old runs the Ayurveda center on North Fairfield that focuses on individual patterns of energy.

BYLINE: By Joanne Clodfelter Contributing Writer

BODY:

BEAVERCREEK - Anjali Mediratta Brannon wanted to change the world by becoming an economist who worked with developing countries in Latin America.

After receiving degrees in economics and Spanish from Marshall University, studying in England and in Columbia, and working in Washington, D.C., the 1991 Beavercreek High School graduate made a significant career change, and is now changing lives one person at a time at her Ayurveda Natural Health Center in Beavercreek.

"I basically realized that D.C. is a town of really bright 20-somethings who work as slave labor. I got burned out," she said. "I did a lot of soul searching.

"I see so many people suffer from ill health and side effects. I knew there had to be another way," Brannon said. "When I found Ayurveda, it clicked."

Ayurveda means "science of life," and originated in India more than 5,000 years ago. It is often called "the mother of all healing."

Brannon, 33, studied for three years in Albuquerque, N.M., at the Ayurvedic Institute's Advanced Studies and Clinical program, and returned home to Beavercreek to set up her practice.

Ayurveda has no standardized treatment. It is based on the belief that each person is unique, with his or her own pattern of energy. The goal is to create physical, mental and emotional balance for the individual.

"The body always wants to heal itself," Brannon said. "But it doesn't always have the tools and resources. We're trying to increase the vitality, the reserves and the amount of energy in the system. The system gets depleted and confused, and the body struggles to heal itself."

To assist the body with its healing, she offers Ayurvedic consultations, which are based on observation of pulses, the tongue and fingernails, while the client is fully dressed.

In addition to offering Ayurvedic consultations, the center has a staff of 15 and also offers yoga, dance and spiritualgrowth classes; bodywork and guest speakers; and one-, three- and five-day retreats.

They also sell a variety of health-related products.

Terri Riddiford, M.D., along with her partner, Cynthia Pickens, M.D., of The Healing Place in Beavercreek, are members of the GMH Primary Care Network. They routinely refer clients to Brannon's center for private consultations and classes.

"We attest to the belief that there needs to be integration between traditional and holistic medicine," Riddiford said. "Health is more than the absence of disease; it is the integration of body, mind and spirit. Health is the return of wholeness and ultimately reflects a higher state of consciousness."

Riddiford has had Ayurvedic treatments for more than 20 years with great success.

In 1986, while a medical student at Wright State University, she and Pickens saw a flier for a meeting with Dr. Joshi, an Ayurvedic practitioner.

"We were two newly minted, white-coated, Western medical physicians," Riddiford said.

They had a consultation with Dr. Joshi, who recommended diet changes and supplements.

"It made a huge difference," Riddiford said. "It's a powerful healing system."

"We don't diagnose, treat or prescribe," Brannon said.

"We suggest, counsel and offer guidance. We guide people in the right direction and help give them the resources and as many tools as we can. Ninetynine percent of the people feel better when they walk out of here. "They feel more relaxed, more empowered and have a greater sense of vitality." The Ayurveda Natural Health Center is at 1342 N. Fairfield Road, Suite B in Beavercreek. Their phone number is (937) 429-WELL (9355) and the Web site is www.midwestayurveda.com.

They do not accept insurance, but offer a sliding fee scale for those in need.

Contact this reporter at joanne clodfelter@ameritech.net.

My Ayurvedic consultation

After filling out a health history, Anjali Mediratta Brannon took me into a private room that had a couple chairs and a massage table.

While I sat on the massage table, she used four fingers to feel the organ pulses in my wrists, one at a time, and simultaneously.

She identified 12 different pulses as she pressed on my wrists, including colon, lung, gallbladder, circulation and heart.

She also looked at my tongue and fingernails to determine overall health, oxygenation and absorption of nutrients.

She asked me a lot of questions, and her observations were astute.

For example, she asked me if I was cold all the time, to which I answered yes. She asked if I had low energy in the afternoon (yes). She asked if I woke up during the night (yes).

The consultation took about 30 minutes, and afterward she had recommended a custom blended herbal remedy that she said would take care of my dry eyes, insomnia and coldness; a dietary supplement; and two types of oils.

She also gave me a list of recommended foods for my particular constitution, as well as exercises to reduce tension in my neck and shoulders.

Then, she did a mini-body work session that included foot massage, polarity (energy-balancing) therapy, and cranial sacral, which balances the cerebro-spinal fluid in the body.

Afterward, I felt lighter and more flexible.

GRAPHIC: Anjali Mediratta Brannon performs an Ayurvedic pulse assessment on Felisha Beverly, an ayurvedic massage therapist at Brannon's Ayurvedic Natural Health Center, 1342 N. Fairfield Road, Beavercreek. Staff photo by Jan Underwood

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