First guest professor of Ayurveda in Germany

First guest professor of Ayurveda in Germany
At the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder) a visiting professorship for Ayurveda (or: Ayurveda) will be established. With financial support from the Indian government, the first chair in Germany for the millennia-old healing art of naturopathy. In addition to the historical development, students will also learn various methods of application of the complementary medical treatment approach in the future.

Ayurveda Chair unique throughout Europe
Various methods of Indian healing Ayurveda are already offered in numerous wellness facilities throughout Germany and also in complementary medicine, the methods in this country have many applications due to their often convincing success. So far, however, there was no corresponding chair that ensures training at a correspondingly high level. „I think that's a unique thing even across Europe“, The President of the European University, Gunter Pleuger, said at the handover of the official commitment of the Indian Government to finance the guest professorship for Ayurveda over a period of five years. From the coming year, the chair will be located at the Institute of Transcultural Health Sciences (IntraG) of the Faculty of Cultural Studies.

Supplement to conventional medicine
Rambabu R. Dwivedi from Gujarat Ayurved University had come to Frankfurt (Oder) to hand over the pledge with a large delegation of compatriots. The recognized expert and publisher of numerous Ayurveda studies presented the project and the principle of Indian healing art in detail. Dwivedi result in an unhealthy life path and one „suboptimal food“ helping many people suffer from ailments. This is where Ayurveda comes in with the central elements of Ayurvedic massage and cleansing techniques, well-founded nutritional science, spiritual yoga practice and comprehensive herbal medicine. Often extremely successful, as the studies of Rambabu R. Dwivedi prove, even in patients who could not be helped with orthodox treatment approaches. Particularly in the case of chronic diseases such as diabetes and mental disorders, Ayurveda has already achieved considerable treatment success. This is Indian natural medicine „but no competition for medicine, but a supplement, "emphasized Dwivedi.

Promote health and well-being
The head of the IntraG, Prof. Harald Walach explained: „We hope that in cooperation with the future professor (...) we will be able to offer an interesting lesson for our students, which broadens their horizons and their possibilities for practice.“ Besides, the experts want „To make Ayurveda usable for some medical problem children of our modern society by intensively researching it“, explained gelding. On the one hand, the students will be scientifically researching the method Ayurveda and its contribution as a supplement to conventional medicine, on the other hand, they will also learn the basics of traditional medicine. The goal of Ayurveda treatments is clear: to promote the health and well-being of patients. As a possible treatment field in combination with conventional medical procedures Dwivedi called, for example, the reduction of the side effects of modern drugs, which in particular many chronically ill patients would have to take, through Ayurvedic treatments. Prof. Wallach also emphasized that there are already promising initial research results in some clinical pictures, but that much work still needs to be done to bring Ayurveda, hitherto mostly based on empirical values, up to the state of a scientifically justified form of therapy.

Complementary medicine in great demand
One of the initiators of the IntraG, Hartmut Schröder, pointed out in the justification for the establishment of an Ayurvedic chair also that many people consider complementary approaches to treatment in addition to conventional medicine. For example, various studies have shown that about 60 percent of men and 80 percent of women resort to treatment methods in the field of complementary medicine. However, there are no clear standards so far, so that the number of black sheep is relatively large, the expert explained. Schröder can therefore imagine developing in the future at the European University Viadrina also clear standards that determine the quality of products and services related to Ayurveda.

Visiting professorship from 2011 - India pays 400,000 euros
The previous planning for a guest professorship will already be available in spring 2011. As part of the postgraduate master's program „Complementary medicine, cultural studies, medicine“ Teaching modules for the introduction in Ayurveda should be developed. The teaching assignment will be taken care of by one of three remaining Indian professors, said Ashutosh Agrawal of the Indian embassy in Berlin. The job is initially scheduled for five years and the Indian government will provide for two years each 200,000 euros as financing. „The relationship with Germany is very important to us“, It was said from the Indian embassy as justification of the first financial commitment at a German university for the establishment of an Ayurveda chair. In this country, those in charge are already dreaming of something bigger. The initiators at the European University are about to become the leading university in the field of Ayurveda, „in the German context and possibly beyond“.

Indian healing Ayurveda
The ancient Indian healing art of Ayurveda is considered as the expression of a holistic knowledge of man and nature, according to the information of the German Society of Ayurveda. Massages, tea, oils, meditation and exercise have always been part of the healing methods. However, in the modern world, these were almost forgotten in the interim until Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a representative of the yoga tradition, gathered experts from East and West at the beginning of the 1980s and established the renaissance of Ayurveda. In 1984, for example, the first ayurvedic health center in a western country was created in the USA. In India, on the other hand, Ayurveda has always been an indispensable part of the health system, not least because most Indians can not afford conventional medical treatment and many diseases can be successfully and inexpensively treated using the ancient art of healing. (fp, 22.10.2010)

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Photo credits: Jürg Krämer, Ch-info.ch, foot massage, usually naked, mounted with GIMP swimming trunks.