DRAVYAGUNA: THE AYURVEDIC APPROACH TO MATERIA MEDICA
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this journey, you won’t just understand Ayurvedic herbs — you’ll begin to feel in relationship with them.
This course lays a strong and enduring foundation in Ayurvedic herbalism, giving you the knowledge and confidence to begin working with herbs in ways that feel both intuitive and informed. What once felt like a vast sea of unfamiliar plants begins to organize itself into patterns — tastes, energetics, actions — each herb revealing its personality and purpose.
Whether you come as an Ayurvedic student, a wellness practitioner, a yoga teacher, or simply someone who feels called to plant medicine, this training equips you to bring herbs into your work and your life with greater clarity and trust in your understanding.
You’ll learn to speak about herbs not as abstract remedies, but as intelligent allies — understanding how they support balance, restore vitality, and respond to the needs of the individual.
As your studies deepen, so does your confidence — allowing you to thoughtfully integrate herbal wisdom into therapeutic settings, daily rituals, and the care of those you serve.
And perhaps most importantly…
You’ll leave with more than knowledge.
You’ll leave with a felt connection — a sense of familiarity with the plant allies of the Ayurvedic tradition, and the beginnings of a lifelong relationship with the living pharmacy of the natural world.
Curriculum
Begin your journey into Ayurvedic herbalism by learning how to prepare and work with foundational herbs drawn from the classical Ayurvedic materia medica.
As your studies deepen, you’ll build a rich herbal vocabulary — coming to understand plants not just by name, but through their energetics, actions, and therapeutic roles within the body.
You’ll explore how herbs support digestion and metabolic function, learning how to choose the right plants based on doṣa, agni, and individual constitution — bringing greater clarity and confidence to your recommendations.
From there, you’ll expand into herbal support for common systemic imbalances, including the respiratory, cardiovascular, and urinary systems, gaining insight into how plant medicine can gently restore balance across multiple channels of the body.
You’ll also study rejuvenative tonics and rasāyana formulations — exploring how herbs are used to build vitality, nourish the tissues, and support long-term metabolic resilience.
The training extends beyond internal use, introducing herbal applications in massage therapy and external body treatments — working with oils, topical preparations, and therapeutic touch.
As your knowledge grows, you’ll begin learning the art of formulation — how to thoughtfully combine herbs into personalized blends tailored to the needs of the individual.
Finally, you’ll receive an introduction to herbal support within pañcakarma therapies, including exposure to traditional preparations such as bhasmas and the contexts in which they are used.
Competencies
Demonstrated ability and knowledge to safely recommend predesigned herbal medicines, minerals and other natural substances for internal or external use with consideration of the dose (mātra), vehicle (anupāna) and timing (auśadha kāla) for the purpose of balancing agni (digestive fire), eliminating āma (undigested material) while supporting the malas (waste) and protecting and building ojas (essence of life), and treating disease.
Demonstrated ability and knowledge to administer, combine, provide, compound, and dispense herbal medicines, minerals, or other natural substances. Herbs may be used for internal or external use for the purpose of balancing agni (digestive fire) and eliminating āma (undigested material) while supporting the malas (waste) and protecting and building ojas (essence of life), as well as for treating specific diseases affecting any dhātu (tissues), upadhātu (by products of nutrition), malas (waste) or srotas (pathways) in any stage of the disease pathology.
Demonstrated ability and knowledge to make the following recommendations and provide the following treatments and interventions:
- Appropriate herbs to balance agni (digestive fire), eliminate āma (undigested material) and support the malas (waste)while protecting and building ojas (essence of life).
- Pre-designed herbal formulas or create custom herbal formulations that include the use of herbs, minerals or other natural substances for internal or external use with
consideration of dose (mātra), vehicle (anupāna) and timing (auśadha kāla). - Prescribe herbal and related medicines for the purpose of treating disease.
Knowledge of:
- Herb classification and their energetics based on taste (rasa), potency (vīrya), post-digestive effect (vipāka), quality (guṇa) and unique action (prabhāva)
- The actions of herbs (karma). The counselor is informed of the major actions of an herb. When Western terminology matches the Saṁskṛta t terminology, the Western terms should be known. When a unique action is described in Saṁskṛta that has no simple translation into English, then the Saṁskṛta terminology for that action should be known
- The effect an herb has on the agni (digestive fire), āma (undigested material), doṣas, and malas (waste)
- How to prepare powdered mixtures (cūrṇa)
- Appropriate dosage (mātra) based on age, strength, doṣas, agni (digestive fire) and pattern of elimination ( koṣṭha)
- The indications for using herbs and contraindications to assure safe use
- Herbs based on storage, processing, purity and government regulations
- The use of appropriate herb and herbal related medicines for the management of
specific disease conditions. - The effect an herb has on dhātu (tissues) and srota (pathways)
- Different anupānas (adjuvants) to target different doṣas and dhātus (tissues)
Your Mentor: Karta Purkh Singh Khalsa
When students speak about learning with Karta Purkh Singh Khalsa — known to most simply as K.P. — they rarely begin with his credentials.
They talk about his presence.
They talk about his candor… his quick wit… his ability to say the thing everyone is thinking in a way that disarms the room and makes people laugh while they’re learning something profound.
There’s a groundedness to the way he teaches — a lifetime of experience translated into language that feels accessible, human, and immediately relatable. Complex concepts don’t stay abstract for long. He has a way of breaking things down so they land, so they stick, so they make sense in the context of real life.
Of course, his professional background is extraordinary. With more than 50 years devoted to holistic health, he holds the title Yogaraj (Ayurveda) and has served in leadership roles that helped shape the future of natural medicine in North America — including President Emeritus of the American Herbalists Guild and Director Emeritus of the National Ayurvedic Medical Association. He has taught at leading institutions, authored thousands of published works, and contributed to the evolution of integrative health education for decades.
But what students remember most isn’t the length of his résumé.
It’s how he makes them feel capable.
He teaches with humility, humor, and a kind of lived authority that can’t be manufactured — the kind that comes from decades in practice, decades in classrooms, decades walking the path himself.
Learning with K.P. feels less like sitting in a lecture…
…and more like being guided by an elder who genuinely wants you to understand, to grow, and to carry the wisdom forward in your own way.
It’s this blend of brilliance and approachability that makes his classes not only deeply educational — but unforgettable.
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