Ayuwanna by Barberyn recently held an open day event, exhibition, and workshop series titled “Journey to healing with Barberyn” at the Prana Lounge premises at No. 60, Horton Place, Colombo 7. Curated with the intention of sharing the ancient wisdom of holistic healing with the general public, the event touched on how one may navigate through stress and anxiety during these challenging times.
Brunch spoke to Ruvi Rodrigo from Barberyn by Ayuwanna to learn more about the workshop. When speaking on why she felt the need to host such an event, Rodrigo informed us that it was in honour of their 50 years of service.
“The event was held free of charge to educate and create awareness about Ayurveda, yoga, meditation, and medicinal plants where practitioners utilise natural therapies and treatments to heal and renew the mind, body, and spirit,” she shared.
The event, held over the course of two days, commenced as a memorable evening when the exhibition was officially launched with a Dhanvantari Puja, followed by live eastern classical music and refreshments. We had the opportunity to attend the first opening day and begin our journey into holistic healing.
The exhibition took guests along an insightful journey through Barberyn as they walked the passage to healing and discovered the numerous Barberyn Ayurveda resorts in Sri Lanka and the wide range of Ayurvedic treatments on offer. All around the hall, there was a display of the medicinal herbs and treatment from Barberyn’s Institute of Ayurveda and Alternative Medicine and ancient Ayurvedic practices utilised today at Barberyn.
The event also featured a session where guests could discover the healing power of medicinal forests and preservation of ayurvedic medicinal plants – a lesson conducted by Prof. Piyal Marasinghe, where guests learned about the fascinating variety of indigenous plants and its unique preservation methods.
“We had a session for kids as well; it was an interactive activity on making your own medicinal pouch (beheth pottiniya) conducted by Anusha Samarasinghe and allowed space for kids to get creative and use the knowledge from the previous lessons in building a medicine bag specifically made for themselves,” Rodrigo further stated.
Furthermore, viewers got a glimpse of Diyabubula, the enchanting art and jungle hideaway designed by renowned artist Laki Senanayake for Barberyn.
The two days featured a wide variety of Ayurveda-related workshops and several key highlights were Prof. Marasinghe’s engaging workshop on the preservation and healing power of medicinal forests and plants, a heart-centric meditation session by Shobana Cooke, and an exploration of the integration of yoga and Ayurveda with Rekha Krishnamoorthy.
Additionally, Rodrigo told us that an interactive panel discussion was held by Ayurveda practitioners Dr. Sewwandi, Dr. Haresha, and Dr. Charitha to debunk the most common myths in Ayurveda, and Dr. Rashipaba provided an informative session on how to embark on your own Ayurveda journey.
Other Ayurveda-related workshops illustrated the cleansing methods in Ayurveda, maintaining an ayurvedic routine, and a self-massage oil application session by Chief Therapist Janani. The workshop series also incorporated an Ayurveda-related film screening and post discussion on the holistic system of Ayurveda, which we found to be very informative and a great first step into the art of holistic healing, where many misconceptions were cast away, as the film enabled newcomers to have an open mind and heart.
Overall, we found that “Journey to Healing with Barberyn” brought together like-minded individuals within a holistic community in urban Colombo as they embarked on their own journeys to attain optimal health.
Rodrigo added that through such events, they hope to encourage more guests to take up ayurvedic practices by showing them what it entails exactly and how to go about it.
