“Alternative medicine” is a term sometimes used to describe quacks, but yoga expert Margaret Koblasova practices one kind that has been proven by the test of time.

Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy is alternative medicine because it takes a different approach to creating health. It doesn’t focus on symptoms, but instead corrects inner alignment and balance. Its three main principles concern nutrition, rest and exercise, she said. Nothing quack there.

Koblasova’s business is called Ananda Ayurveda. She meets with clients, assesses their physical, emotional and spiritual health, then prescribes therapies to improve the balance in their life.

She got into Ayurvedic counseling through yoga, but has always been interested in health. She worked in an emergency room to put herself through college and had a long career as a health care administrator.

After turning 40, she reassessed her life, realized she didn’t like her job and a year later was teaching yoga. That’s how she was introduced to Ayurveda, a sister science of yoga.

Both are interested in proper balance, but there are no poses in Ayurveda.

“Ayurveda views our state of health as the end result of how we interact with the world,” she wrote in a promotional pamphlet. “It’s the science of developing greater harmony with our environment through all we take into ourselves and do.”

If it sounds a little metaphysical, that’s because of where it’s from and how it developed in India. Even though Koblasova believes in the metaphysical aspects, she’s also very logical and understands how other people may see her craft.

She emphasizes that it is based on basic principles and natural laws that have been studied and refined for over 5,000 years.

“It’s sometimes like magic, but it’s really just common sense handed down over centuries. You can’t believe it works so well until you study why it works, and that demystifies it,” she said in an interview. “It’s probably the oldest form of continuously practiced medicine in the world.”

Koblasova said the ancient texts teach that everything in nature is a medicine for someone at some time in some amount.

Her job as a therapist is to determine what your medicine should be.

Ayurvedic treatment has to be customized to an individual. Two people with the same symptoms may receive different treatments because their inner constitution is an important factor.

The program uses herbs, diet, colors, aromas, lifestyle changes, yoga, meditation, massage and other five-sense therapies, she said.

Therapy begins with an in-depth consultation lasting an hour or two. She explores health concerns, lifestyle choices and assesses a client’s constitution.

Much of her advice is about nutrients: eat a variety of food, avoid processed food, eat fewer and less animal products and eat light dinners.

Other types of therapy sound more alternative, but seem less so the more one learns.

Much of the treatment is about creating peace. Color therapy might sound strange, but science has proven pink is more calming than yellow. Aroma therapies are now sold at big retailers and even bodybuilders use herbs.

“The end is to be in a state of blissful, calm existence to remember how quietly, intensely alive you are,” she said.

applying the simple and common-sense principles of Ayurveda, Koblasova said Americans can lose weight, avoid illness and have more energy without expensive doctor appointments.

“We can reduce health care costs cheaply, easily and feel better,” she said.

Karen Bean Strasser met Koblasova through the Park City Yoga Studio and attended her sessions to shed pounds, which she did.

“I feel better, have more energy and have lost weight,” she said.

She said the simplest thing she learned, which has also been the most practical, is just being more conscious of what she eats.

“Just that consciousness makes you change your habits,” she said.

Client Robbyn Paxton-McGuire also said the therapies have helped her become more aware of her body.

“Going into counseling with her increases your own knowledge of how to take care of yourself,” she said.

Mark Hurd had Koblasova as a yoga instructor and decided to give Ayurveda a try. He said it was no easy, quick weight-loss plan, but he soon felt he had more energy.

“Some of her ways of doing things seemed a little strange, but they worked for me,” he said. “I’d recommend it to anybody.”

Ananda Ayurveda

Margaret Koblasova

729-0556