“Knowledge relieves all suffering. Knowledge liberates. Which knowledge? Chemistry? Physics? Astronomy? Geology? They help a little, but only a little. The true knowledge is the knowledge of our own nature. Know yourself. You must know who you are, understand your inner nature.You must become conscious of this infinite nature in yourself. Then you will break free of your shackles.”
~Swami Vivekananda
About Us
The Center for Ayurveda is a full service Ayurvedic Healing Center.
We provide Ayurvedic diagnostics, counseling and treatment. At the Center for Ayurveda it is our intention to provide our patients with a serene, supportive environment where you may experience the profound healing system of Ayurveda.
Our founder and director, Mela Gaskins Butcher, will oversee every aspect of your treatment plan.
Specializing in the disorders of the Nervis, digestive, and skin systems.
A partial list of the disorders we treat are: anxiety, panic attacks, depression, insomnia, lack of concentration, asthma, allergies, acne, addiction recovery, weight loss, weight gain, digestive disorders, constipation, migraines, acid reflux, low assimilation, IBS, chronic fatigue syndrome, eczema, psoriasis, thinning hair and nails, fibromyalgia, back pain, high cholesterol, arthritis, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, vertigo, various cancers, thyroid disorders, low blood sugar, diabetes, recurring yeast infections, hypertension, high blood pressure and stress.
How We Work
In order to get you started on your Ayurvedic program, we need a minimum of two appointments with you. The first appointment is entirely diagnostic in nature. During the first session we cover your history, your chief complaints and we will run a thorough examination. We need 30 minutes of your time for this first appointment.
We will need 30 minutes of your time for our second appointment together. During this appointment we will cover your constitutional analysis, discussing with you your “dosha” or body-mind type. You will receive a file with the dietary and lifestyle that we have mapped out for you. We will then also discuss the optimal way for you to proceed.
What You Can Expect
For some clients, these two appointments are sufficient to suit their health needs. For others, we recommend taking you through an Ayurvedic cleansing program called Panchakarma. This means the five cleansing actions, and is a beautiful and highly successful program for eradicating disease from the body mind energy system.
When you first meet Mela, you know something is different about her. There is a certain calm that surrounds her which immediately relaxes and assures you that you have come to the right place. She is kind, compassionate and gifted. And she is passionate about improving the lives of others. If you are looking for ways to reduce stress or anxiety, you owe it to yourself to visit the Center for Ayurveda in Southern California.”
“I’ve been a patient of Mela’s and a student in her yoga classes for six months now. When I came to her I was in pretty bad physical condition. I weighed 235 lbs (I am a 6’0” 27 year old male). I didn’t have any energy, and I was winded easily. I didn’t exercise at all and I didn’t have much strength or endurance. I used caffeine to keep me going throughout the day, and I had trouble sleeping at night. I wasn’t happy with the way I was eating, but I didn’t know how to change. I came to Mela for a healthier way of life.
Mela spent a lot of time with me as a patient. She took time to learn who I was and what my life had been like thus far so she could tailor her recommendations to fit me specifically. She gave me a personal yoga and exercise routine I could do at home, and my own set of breathing exercises. She prescribed certain botanical supplements to help correct physical deficiencies. She not only taught me which foods were good for me, but how to fit them into an overall healthy way of eating. Over the last six months she modified these recommendations as I changed, adapting them to my needs as I progressed.
Now I feel great, and I am feeling better all the time. I currently weigh 173 pounds. I have more endurance and energy than I did even as a teenager. I feel strength coming into my limbs, and I feel like I am beginning to reclaim my body. I no longer depend on caffeine, and I sleep much better at night, and I FINALLY feel good about how I eat.It is Mela’s personality as much as the regimen she prescribed for me that has encouraged me to make the progress I have made. Mela is a deeply knowledgeable, kind and compassionate person whose humility belies her skillfulness. In yoga class she can make a room full of people like they are each getting a personal lesson. She doesn’t push you too hard or go too easy on you, but rather sets you at a pace that is just right for you. In her Ayurvedic capacity, she makes the patient feel like nothing is more important to her than your health. She takes pains to become intimately familiar with your overall physical and psychological condition and lifestyle so that she can give you the best possible advice. Mela is a gifted healer and a joy to be around. The fact that she is like this in addition to being a gifted yoga teacher and ayurvedic practitioner, is the reason I recommend her to my friends and family, and why I am recommending her to you.
If you are looking for your very own, personal healing angel-look no further than Mela Butcher!The amount of genuine caring and attention to my condition has been both impressive and heartwarming.
Thanks to Mela, the strong and horrible medications that I was taking to fight off Crohn’s disease are no longer a part of my daily routine. I am especially happy to no longer be taking the tablet form of chemotherapy that is often Part of a Crohn’s fighting program for western medicine. Instead, I am happy to report, I have gained back weight, fell better and happier, and instead of prescription drugs, I have my own healthy program of rebuilding that Mela has individually created for me.While the daily twists and turns in both my personal and professional lives has at times changed the equation, Mela has always come up with the right answer for each problem as it occurred.
I continue to check in with Mela to fine tune my health. It has been a great source of personal pleasure to take what has been a medical problem that standard western medicine does not fully understand and has no cure for and follow a natural and healthy path towards rebuilding. Mela is so caring and so focused on improving my physical AND mental health that I feel that I have a personal life coach to help me express my optimal life. She is a true gift and I would recommend her to anyone.