Hi, I’m Andrea Russell.

I’m an Āyurvedic doctor, yoga therapist, and meditation teacher living in Madison, Wisconsin with a super-sweet rescue pitbull named Lucy. If I could convince you of only one thing, it’s this: that there’s a path to transform suffering—of feeling out of balance, unwell, anxious, or like you’re spread too thin. There are tools that can help you heal, connect with what is meaningful, and live in alignment with your true nature.

The momentum of life can pull us off center. We don’t always get what we want, people we love die, and at times the world can be a hard place to live. We need practices that bring us back home to ourselves so we may stay true to what’s in our hearts. We need ways to cultivate wholeheartedness, compassion, transformation, and resilience. Ancient practices offer timeless tools that can help. I’ve experienced firsthand how they can be used to know the truth of who we are, heal our bodies, and wake us up to a more meaningful life in service of the greater good.

My Story

My work began with trying to figure out how to alleviate my own suffering and transform my life for the better. In 1995, I was searching to find the truth of me and my place in the world. I dropped out of college and moved to a cabin with no plumbing or electricity in a redwood forest. I became passionate about holistic health and wellbeing. My love of nature deepened and I was introduced to yoga, meditation, and cooking with whole foods. I returned home to the midwest to attend massage therapy school and apprentice with a local ashtanga yoga teacher. Among other things, I discovered a love of anatomy and the workings of the body.

I spent decades studying with remarkable teachers in the U.S. and India while pouring my heart into my passions—from taking trainings to leading trainings and filling my days with work I enjoyed. Along the way, I encountered challenges of IBS, chronic fatigue, and peripheral neuropathy. During the years that followed I tried Western and naturopathic medicine to try and alleviate my ongoing health challenges which didn’t produce results. Āyurveda became my path to deeper self-understanding and healing.

Living the principles of Āyurveda along with a daily yoga and meditation practice has made me healthier, my life more meaningful, and made me more skilled at how I serve in the world. Through my own struggles and healing, my mission became really clear: to provide people a path to live healthier, happier, more fulfilling lives so that the world is a better, kinder, and more compassionate place.

How I help

I offer four different kinds of services—Āyurvedic health consultations and cleanses, yoga instruction, and transformational retreats. In common between these things is their ability to foster self-understanding, insight, and wisdom so that you can reconnect with yourself, heal, thrive, and do the work you are inspired to do in the world.

I believe that all of these practices are best done in tune with the season of the year, which gives us a way to ground to the time and place in which we are living, as well as a way to be in tune with the season of our life so that we can enjoy the life we have and age more gracefully.

If you think that developing tools for self-healing, transforming your relationship with food, learning ways to move better, and living in alignment with your true nature can help you achieve optimal health, I’d love to work with you.

Please visit my work with me, courses, and retreat pages. If you’d like to receive my seasonal self-care guide filled with tips, recipes, and movement practices, sign up below. If you’d like to go straight to booking a session, you can do so here.

Credentials

Here’s the official stuff that makes me qualified to do what I do:

  • Āyurvedic Doctor, Boston Āyurveda School Inc.
  • Clinical internship, Institute of Ayurveda & Integrative Medicine (I-AIM) Hospital in Bangalore, India
  • Clinical Program of Āyurveda, The Vasanta Institute of Ayurveda in Pune, India
  • Pulse Reading for Clinical Skills, Āyurveda Institute with Dr. Vasant Lad
  • Marma Point Therapy, Āyurveda Institute with Dr. Vasant Lad
  • Integrating Yoga & Āyurveda, Kripalu School of Āyurveda
  • Healthier Hormones course with Dr. Claudia Welch
  • Āyurveda Mentorship program with Dr. Claudia Welch
  • Foundations of Āyurveda, with Dr. Robert Svoboda & Dr. Claudia Welch
  • Certified Yoga Therapist 1000-hours, International Association of Yoga Therapists
  • Yoga Alliance Registered Teacher 500 E-RYT
  • Pelvic Floor Yoga Teacher Training with Leslie Howard
  • Alignment Yoga 200 & 300-hour Teacher Training
  • Ashtanga Yoga Teacher Training with Tim Miller
  • Neurovascular Integration Therapist, Neurovascular Therapy Institute
  • Previous Wisconsin Licensed Massage Therapist & Bodyworker
  • Dharma and meditation study and teaching mentorship for nine years with Michael Stone
  • Co-facilitated and lead-instructor for Yoga Alliance accredited 200 & 500-hour teacher training programs for 13 years.

 

LISTEN

“I arrived to the retreat center drained emotionally, spiritually and physically. I left one week later strong, refueled and lifted up. Andrea orchestrated the week with a perfect balance of meditation, incredible teaching and a focused yoga practice along with plenty of time for relaxation and excursions. Thanks for a magical week Andrea.”

-Deb