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by Heather Baines Dear Members and Supporters, As you may recall, at our August “Town Hall Meeting” we presented a pathway to advance the legal status of our profession — the practice of Ayurveda — in the state of Colorado. At our Annual Members Meeting last Friday, we enjoyed a delicious meal together (thanks to our sponsors Little India, Organic India and Guayaki), enjoyed wisdom and storytelling by Alakananda Ma, and I gave a brief update to our members about our progress since the August Town Hall.  We’ve accomplished a number of benchmarks in a very short amount of time. First, after our Town Hall meeting we had more volunteers for a committee than ever before. This marked a significant increase in committee engagement and demonstrated excellent member support and encouragement for the initiatives undertaken by our Board. Second, we have recently attained a record level of paid memberships. Our Association represents the majority of Ayurvedic professionals, at all levels of practice, in the state of Colorado. Third, our cash reserves have held steady, and grown modestly, over the past four years. Our membership is strong, our advisory Board is engaged, and our Board of Directors is made up of servant leaders who give of their time and energy for the benefit of our members. I know I’ve said it before, but it is an honor and a joy to serve Ayurveda in this way. Now, I want to take a moment to thank our Governance Committee, which came into being after receiving support from those volunteers who came forward after our Town Hall. The committee consists of: George Laws, Heidi Nordlund, Susan Bernhardt, Sarasvati Buhrman and Susan Gordon, along with the leadership of Sujata Reddy, our Governance Chair. The goal of the Governance Committee was to investigate the possibility of completing an application to the Department of Regulatory Agencies in Colorado (known as DORA) to formalize a newly recognized profession in the United States: the clinical practice of Ayurveda, or Ayurvedic Medicine. Under advisement by our legal counsel, Robert A Lees, the Board authorized the Governance Committee to begin a process of discovery and take up the question about “whether there is a need to regulate a currently unregulated profession or occupation” to maintain the integrity of our practice and protect the health and welfare of the general public who seek Ayurvedic care. This committee accomplished their work in a thorough and timely manner, and by the end of this week, the COLORAMA Board will have a draft Sunrise Application to review. From the Governance Committee’s initial draft, questions, and comments, Bob and I have worked together to complete the application in a way that ensures that the questions we can anticipate from DORA have been answered to satisfy even the most staunch critic or skeptic.  We know Ayurveda is a powerful system of healthcare, and it has been your Board of Directors opinion that we have reached a critical moment in our profession. It is in the best interest of our clients/patients that we now take our place at the table of licensed healthcare professionals alongside Acupuncturists, Chiropractors, and Naturopathic Doctors, in support of an overburdened medical system. We are positioning Ayurveda as a truly integrative and complementary style of medicine able to support our client/patients in attaining their best health, happiness, joy, and fulfillment – the way only Ayurveda, and the ocean of wisdom it represents, can. The deadline for submitting our Sunrise Application to DORA is December 1. Please join us in offering your oblations (and, perhaps, your donations) as we approach this deadline. The path before us is right under our feet, illuminated from above, and we walk forward in honor of the great minds, those Rishis and our teachers of Ayurveda, who have led us to this day. Warmly,
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by David McConaghay  On Friday, November 9, 2018, we hosted our Annual Member's Meeting at Shift Workspaces in Denver. A delicious, nutritious dinner was served by Little India, and we were treated to nourishing herbal beverages provided by Organic India and Guayaki. In honor of International Ayurveda Day, which was recognized earlier in the week, Alakananda Ma told the story, as only she can, of Dhanvantari arising from the ocean of milk holding the pot of eternal amrita. The video of this is now available in the Members' Library.  Alakananda Ma in storytelling mode. COLORAMA President Heather Baines provided exciting updates on our legal and legislative efforts to protect and promote Ayurveda in Colorado. There will be more to report on this historic issue soon. The primary business item of our annual meeting is to elect board members. This year we had three available seats and three qualified candidates. Akacia Pulaski and David McConaghay were re-elected for another three years, and Ruca Love was elected to complete the remaining two years of the seat vacated by Sebastian Urrea. We are grateful for the many significant contributions Sebastian made in his year on the board, and look forward to his ongoing support on the Membership committee. Ruca is an Ayurvedic Practitioner, E-RYT 500 and Licensed Massage Therapist. She is currently working towards her Ayurvedic Doctor certification at Alandi Ashram and leads Yoga for 12-Step Recovery classes in Boulder. We are very grateful for her willingness to serve the COLORAMA mission and enthusiastically welcome her onto the Board of Directors. It was a wonderful event celebrating the Ayurveda community, and there is much to look forward to in the near future! If you haven't already, please join us and support our mission to protect & promote Ayurveda in the state of Colorado. Also please consider contributing to our legal fund. Thank you!  David McConaghay is an Ayurvedic Doctor, Vedic Astrologer, Yoga Philosopher and Doctor of Divinity candidate based in Denver, Colorado. He serves as Communications Director on the board of the Colorado Ayurvedic Medical Association. More information can be found on his website.
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