Community Highlights: Meet Kara Aubin of Ayurvedic Wellness Center

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kara Aubin.

Kara, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin? 
I’ve been an adult-lifelong student of Yoga, and in 2009, I was introduced to Ayurveda through my Yoga community. I had taken a workshop and saw a visiting practitioner. I remember talking through my health with the practitioner in a very in-depth way – and naming all the things that seemed like my own individual quirks. I run cold, when I get sick it’s in this particular pattern, my mental state tends this direction, I prefer this kind of weather. Things I had always thought of as my non-related peculiarities – and instead this practitioner painted a picture of how each of those individual expressions and symptoms were part of a cohesive whole that MADE SENSE in the modality of Ayurveda. She then proceeded to explain that there were small, simple steps I could take to begin to shift these patterns. I was a little astounded – but also, I felt incredibly seen by this Ayurvedic practitioner. I was hooked and had to learn more. I’ve been an ongoing student of Ayurveda since. 

In 2014 I moved to Albuquerque to study for two years with Dr. Vasant Lad of the Ayurvedic Institute. I had the great fortune of working alongside him seasonally at his Institute in India for many years. I’ve been a practitioner of Ayurveda for 8 years and am currently pursuing my doctorate in Ayurveda. I’ve experienced the power and efficacy of this work in my own life and again and again with clients and students. 

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I’m an educator at my core, and so I’ve spent much of my career educating in various ways. Some of what I teach is “What is Ayurveda.” It’s not yet a mainstream science in the US, so I do a lot of education in the community and at my center to introduce folks to the paradigm, the approach, and what it looks like to use Ayurveda as a healing modality. I love this client and community education, and don’t consider it a struggle, but it is an ongoing endeavor. 

I’m also wired as an entrepreneur and have now founded multiple businesses. I’m really clear that this work of owning a business is not for the faint of heart! It is an incredibly creative and generative endeavor, and it teaches me so much – but I think ownership can be a lonely place if you’re not strategic about building a support team of mentors, coaches, and other wise counsel around you. 

Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about Ayurvedic Wellness Center?
I founded the Ayurvedic Wellness Center in 2020. We are a home for the traditional teachings of Ayurveda & Yoga in Southwest Michigan. 

I learned early on that I wanted to offer a wrap-around care model, and our various modalities and approaches meet a wide variety of wellness needs. Our wellness staff offers Ayurvedic consultations, Ayurvedic bodywork treatments, therapeutic massage, Yoga and meditation classes, sound therapy, as well as nutritional, cooking, and herbal education. Our team supports clients in person at the Wellness Center, at a distance via our virtual programs and retreats, and at any time/place via our on-demand library of classes. 

We’re known as a center of clinical Ayurveda, with a full-service Ayurvedic apothecary. We’re also known as a resource for students of Yoga and Ayurveda who want to go deeper in their practice and study. And I think we’re recognized as a place where the practitioners and staff are doing this work alongside you, which creates a deep and profound trust with our clients. We do our best to walk our talk. We use these sciences in our everyday lives, and it’s from that lived experience alongside our depth of study that we serve. 

I’m proud that we offer something for the newbie, something for those who are familiar with these practices, and for those who want to dive deep into wellness through the lens of Ayurveda & Yoga. 

What does success mean to you?
I was brought up in business by Julie Stanley of Food Dance in Kalamazoo. We used the Zingerman’s model of “multiple bottom lines”. What this taught me was that most businesses only measure success by their P&L statement, their one and only “bottom line,” but tracking multiple metrics of success could lend to a more responsible, human, and integrated way of doing business. In our holistic, purpose-driven business, we measure success by the success of our clients towards their wellness goals, the means by which our work supports and grows our staff, and the ways in which we use our environmental resources wisely. 

Our mission is to support people in accessing their inherent wellness and then utilizing that wellness to make a difference in the world. We believe that each client has the capacity to facilitate their own healing once empowered with the right technologies. 

Personally, I view my success as little-by-little better aligning with Nature, with my nature, to allow my gifts and my purpose-filled work to move into this world. 

I believe that when we’re healing individually, we also have the ability to do the collective work of healing. And I think we would all agree that this world could use more people doing the work of healing, individually and collectively. 

Thanks for your interest in my Ayurvedic journey, Voyage Michigan! 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ayurvedicwellness.center
• Instagram: @ayurvedicwellness.center
• Facebook: @ayurvedicwellness.center
• Other: https://ayurvedicwellness.center/on-demand-library

Image Credits
Chasing Light Photography