Todd Caldecott

Last updated
Todd Caldecott
Born (1969-01-21) January 21, 1969 (age 54)
Occupation(s)Actor, Author, Medical Herbalist
Years active1987–1996 (actor); 1993–present (author, medical herbalist)

Todd Caldecott (born January 21, 1969) is a Canadian clinical herbalist, Ayurvedic practitioner in Vancouver, British Columbia, author of the textbook Ayurveda: The Divine Science of Life (2006) and Food As Medicine: The Theory and Practice of Food (2011), and co-editor of Ayurveda In Nepal: The Teachings of Vaidya Mana Bajra Bajracharya (2011). He is also a former film and television actor.

Contents

Life and career

Caldecott was born in New Westminster, British Columbia, and graduated from University Hill Secondary School in Vancouver in 1987. That same year, he won best actor in a Vancouver Theatre Festival for his performance in a play by Sheldon Rosen called The Box. Shortly thereafter Caldecott, also known as Todd Shaffer, obtained an agent, and began working in the film and television industry, guest-starring in several television shows including Wiseguy , 21 Jump Street , Danger Bay , Northwood and Bordertown . He also acted in a number of made-for-TV movies including Mother May I Sleep With Danger and One Boy, One Wolf, One Summer, and the feature films Fear and Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan .

After becoming disillusioned with the film industry, Caldecott traveled to India and West Asia in 1990 for a year-long trip on a budget of only a "few dollars a day". [1] During this year he studied Indian classical music in Chennai and Varanasi, India; and buddhist meditation in Bodhgaya, India; and Nilambe, Sri Lanka. [2] During his travel and study he became very ill, at one point suffering from both bacillary and amoebic dysentery. [1] After leaving India he traveled in a weakened state to the Northern Area of Pakistan, including Gilgit, the Hunza valley and Pasu. It was in these areas, renowned for their long-lived inhabitants, healthy food and glacial water that he "partially recovered" from his illness. [1] He then went on to travel throughout Iran, spending several weeks as the guest of a Sufi master in Shiraz. [2]

Returning to Canada, Caldecott sought relief from what now had become a chronic digestive disorder, and found success in the treatments of an Ayurvedic physician. [1] This would prove to have an enormous influence on his life path, and shortly thereafter Caldecott enrolled and graduated from a three-year, full-time clinical program in Western Herbal Medicine at the Coastal Mountain College in Vancouver. [2] After graduating, Caldecott immediately traveled back to India to study Ayurvedic medicine in Coimbatore, India, over a five-month period, and then returned to Canada to begin practicing, writing and teaching. [1] In 1999, Caldecott relocated to Calgary, Alberta, where he eventually became clinical director of the Wild Rose College of Natural Healing. [1] Here Caldecott developed, administered and taught a three-year clinical program in Western Herbal Medicine. [1] During this time Caldecott completed the manuscript for a textbook called Ayurveda: The Divine Science of Life ( ISBN   9780723434108), which was subsequently published by Elsevier in 2006.

Caldecott is co-editor of Ayurveda in Nepal: The Teachings of Vaidya Mana Bajra Bajracharya ( ISBN   9781600475023), along with Madhu Bajra Bajracharya and Alan Tillotson. Published in 2009, this book summarizes the clinical practice of Ayurveda according to the late Vaidya Mana's hereditary tradition of Ayurvedic physicians and Buddhist priests in the Kathmandu Valley. Todd Caldecott is also author of Food As Medicine: The Theory and Practice of Food (2011), which describes the preventative and therapeutic application of food and dietary therapy, drawing upon the traditions of Ayurveda, Chinese medicine, and other traditional systems of healing. In 2012, Todd Caldecott founded the Dogwood School of Botanical Medicine, which offers distance learning programs and a gurukula-style, mentorship training program for aspiring practitioners. Todd Caldecott also maintains an extensive website containing free content on natural health and wellness including a blog where he regularly posts.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ayurveda</span> Alternative medicine with roots in India

Ayurveda is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. It is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population report using ayurveda. The theory and practice of ayurveda is pseudoscientific.

Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health (MVAH) is a form of alternative medicine founded in the mid-1980s by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who developed the Transcendental Meditation technique (TM). Distinct from traditional ayurveda, it emphasizes the role of consciousness, and gives importance to positive emotions. Maharishi Ayur-Veda has been variously characterized as emerging from, and consistently reflecting, the Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy, representing the entirety of the ayurvedic tradition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brihaspati Dev Triguna</span>

Brihaspati Dev Triguna (1920–2013) was a Vaidya or Ayurveda practitioner and an expert in Pulse diagnosis. He completed his formal ayurvedic studies under the guidance of Rajvaidya Pandit Gokul Chand ji in his Gurukul from Ludhiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siddha medicine</span> System of traditional medicine originating in southern India

Siddha medicine is a form of traditional medicine originating in southern India. It is one of the oldest systems of medicine in India.

<i>Commiphora wightii</i> Species of plant

Commiphora wightii, with common names Indian bdellium-tree, gugal, guggal, guggul, gugul, or mukul myrrh tree, is a flowering plant in the family Burseraceae, which produces a fragrant resin called gugal, guggul or gugul, that is used in incense and vedic medicine. The species is native to southern Pakistan and western India. It prefers arid and semi-arid climates and is tolerant of poor soil.

<i>Eclipta prostrata</i> Species of flowering plant

Eclipta prostrata, commonly known as false daisy, yerba de tago, guntagalagara aaku, Karisalankanni, and bhringraj, is a species of plant in the family Asteraceae. It is widespread across much of the world.

Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (B.A.M.S.) is a professional degree focused on Ayurveda offered in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

Baidyanath Group is an Ayurvedic pharmaceutical company in India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaidya Suresh Chaturvedi</span>

Vaidya Suresh Chaturvedi (1928-2017) was an Ayurveda practitioner from Rajasthan, India. Previously he was a professor at Bombay University and has written many books on Ayurveda. In 2000, he was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in the India. As an active practitioner of the ancient science of Ayurveda (healing), he is known in the national and international arenas of alternate medicines and has presented numerous papers. He has held a number of conferences in India. He was, a Ph.D guide in the University of Mumbai.

Vaidyaratnam P. Sankunni Varier was an Ayurveda practitioner from what is now Kerala, India. He is well-regarded as the founder of Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala, a major Ayurvedic treatment centre in Kerala.

<i>Celastrus paniculatus</i> Species of flowering plant

Celastrus paniculatus is a woody liana commonly known as black oil plant, climbing staff tree, and intellect tree. This climbing shrub grows throughout India at elevations up to 1,800 m (5,900 ft).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AVP Research Foundation</span>

The AVP Research Foundation was established in 2003 as a research department under The Ayurvedic Trust and became an independent not-for-profit research institution registered under section 25 of The Companies Act, 1956 in 2012. The foundation is known for its excellence in clinical research on Ayurvedic medicines, initiatives on practice based evidence, developing research and education oriented software for Ayurvedic fraternity and its journal indexing service in Ayurveda. The department of scientific and industrial research, Government of India has recognised the institution as a Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.

Rajagopalan Krishnan Vaidyan was an Indian ayurvedic practitioner from the Indian state of Kerala and the president of the Association of Ayurvedic Physicians of Kerala.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arya Vaidya Sala</span> Indian Healthcare Centre

Arya Vaidya Sala, popularly known as Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala, is a healthcare centre located in Kottakkal, in the Indian state of Kerala, providing services under the Indian traditional medicine system of Ayurveda.

Vaidya Balendu Prakash is an Indian Ayurveda practitioner. He is a former physician to the President of India and the founder of Paadav, a specialty Ayurvedic hospital in Dehradun. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian award of the Padma Shri in 1999.

Devendra Triguna is an Indian Ayurveda practitioner, known for his expertise in Pulse diagnosis. He is a former honorary physician to the President of India and the incumbent president of the Association of Manufacturers of Ayurvedic Medicine (AMAM) and the All India Ayurvedic Congress (AIAC). The Government of India awarded him the fourth-highest civilian award, the Padma Shri, in 1999, and followed it up, a decade later, with the third-highest honour of the Padma Bhushan in 2009.

P. R. Krishna Kumar was an Indian Ayurveda expert and managing director of The Arya Vaidya Pharmacy (Coimbatore) Ltd. He founded the AVP Research Foundation, a non-profit organisation promoting research in the Ayurveda. He was the chancellor of the Avinashilingam University, and the chairman of CARe Keralam, a resource centre involved in efforts to standardise Ayurvedic medicines. The Government of India awarded him the fourth-highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2009, for his contributions to Ayurveda.

Vaidya Bhagwan Dash was an Indian author and scholar in the field of Ayurvedic and Tibetan Medicine.

Pankajakasthuri Herbals India Private Limited is an Ayurvedic medicine manufacturing company based in Tiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Established in 1988, Pankajakasthuri manufactures and develops Ayurvedic products and medicines. Pankajakasthuri is Kerala's first ISO 9000 certified Ayurvedic medicine manufacturing company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medical ethnobotany of India</span> Herbal medicine practiced in India

The medical ethnobotany of India is the study of Indian medicinal plants and their traditional uses. Plants have been used in the Indian subcontinent for treatment of disease and health maintenance for thousands of years, and remain important staples of health and folk medicine for millions. Indians today utilize plants for both primary medical care and as supplementary treatment alongside modern medical science. It is estimated that 70% of rural Indians use traditional plant based remedies for primary healthcare needs. This reliance of plants for medicine is consistent with trends widely observed in the developing world, where between 65% and 80% of people use medicinal plant remedies.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Caldecott, Todd. 2006. Ayurveda: The Divine Science of Life. Edinburgh, UK: Elsevier. p xi
  2. 1 2 3 "Clinic".