Speaker discusses holistic medicine

Sonam Targee, a practitioner of the 5,000-year-old Indian practice of Ayurvedic medicine, will discuss what is probably the oldest recorded healing science at 7 p.m. Tuesday, December 8, in the Welles-Brown Room of Rush Rhees Library.

Targee, who has a private practice in Rochester, has lectured at the School of Medicine and Dentistry and the School of Nursing, and given presentations at yoga centers and other local colleges. This past semester he also gave lectures and demonstrations as part of a new course in the Department of Religion and Classics titled "Medicine, Alchemy and Religion in India."

Known as an alternative to Western approaches to medicine, Ayurveda, which comes from two Sanskrit root words, "ayur" (life) and "veda" (knowledge), looks at each person as a unique individual for whom health maintenance encompasses diet, natural therapies, and herbs. Ayurvedic medicine places equal emphasis on body, mind, and spirit, and strives to restore the innate harmony of the individual.

In his talk, Targee will discuss the basic Ayurvedic concepts and will compare Ayurvedic medicine with traditional Chinese medicine and with Western allopathic medicine.