Ayurveda doctor Dr. Wolfgang Schachinger
Career
Read the interview with Dr. Wolfgang Schachinger about his career now
Question: Dr. Schachinger, you are a general practitioner. How did you come to work as an Ayurveda doctor?
Dr. Wolfgang Schachinger: That’s an exciting story! I completed my training as a general practitioner in the summer of 1982. I then had to complete my community service and spent a few months as a locum before opening my own practice in 1984.
It was precisely at this time that my spiritual teacher Maharishi Mahesh Yogi began to recommend Ayurveda as a useful complement to meditation and yoga . His aim was to renew Ayurveda and start the globalization of Ayurveda.
I took part in the first training courses organized by Maharishi and trained as an Ayurveda doctor.
Question: How well known was Ayurveda back then?
Dr. Wolfgang Schachinger: The term “Ayurveda” was completely unknown in Europe at the time. I often heard that the words “Ayurveda” and “Aloe Vera” (a well-known medicinal plant) were confused with each other. Virtually nobody knew what the term “Ayurveda doctor” meant either.
Question: What is special about Ayurvedic medicine?
Dr. Wolfgang Schachinger: I was very touched by my contact with Ayurveda. I had studied medicine with great hopes and expectations. My motivation was to learn how to “heal” people, to lead them to better health. But the conventional medicine we practiced at the time was a disappointment across the board. It was almost always about suppressing the worst symptoms of illness. Conventional medicine is part of a “disease management system”.
As an Ayurveda doctor, I have dealt intensively with the topic of “health” and how to improve health and well-being. Every Ayurveda doctor learns the definition of health and how to optimize it at the beginning of their training. As an Ayurveda doctor, you have a clear goal for every patient: to improve health. And this requires different strategies to those used to combat symptoms alone.
Question: What does the term “Maharishi Ayurveda” mean?
Dr. Wolfgang Schachinger: In the thousands of years since it was first used, Ayurveda has changed again and again. The classical texts are still available and used today in their original form. Nevertheless, there are various interpretations and applications that have shifted more and more from the spiritual to the material realm over the course of time.
In his initiative to globalize Ayurveda, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was keen to focus on the fundamental aspects of Ayurveda true to the original texts.
Veda is the foundation of Ayurveda, and Veda is the science of consciousness, the practical application of the basic intelligence of nature. According to Maharishi, every Ayurvedic doctor should know this and take it into account when making recommendations.
Question: How were you able to apply Ayurveda in your practice back then?
Dr. Wolfgang Schachinger: I was very lucky to have been trained as an Ayurveda doctor by outstanding and very famous teachers. The special thing was that many of my teachers were then in Europe for longer periods of time and had free time between training courses. I invited these very experienced Ayurveda doctors to my practice and was able to work with them in my own environment. With the traditional Ayurveda doctor with a wealth of experience at my side, I was very quickly able to apply a wide range of Ayurvedic therapies and procedures to my own patients.
I was also helped by the fact that I had already trained as a teacher of transcendental meditation and studied “Vedic Science” during my medical studies. Through this knowledge and my work as a meditation teacher, I already had a valuable insight into regulative healing processes, which greatly supported me as an Ayurvedic doctor.
How did your work as an Ayurveda doctor become known to the general public?
Dr. Wolfgang Schachinger: My reputation as an Ayurveda doctor grew spontaneously over the years. Essentially, patients came to my practice through personal recommendations without any advertising. At the end of the 1990s, the demand was so great that I employed a second doctor in my practice, which was still run as a health insurance practice at the time.
In 1993, we also began offering Pancha Karma cures in our practice. There were one or two interviews in the press or on television.
I stopped working as a statutory health insurance doctor 10 years ago. I had so much to do as an Ayurveda doctor that I had to decide on an activity. And that could only be my vocation as an Ayurveda doctor. My daughter Dr. Valeria has also been working in the practice as an Ayurveda doctor for 4 years.
My international activities as a speaker at lectures and training seminars have spread my reputation as an Ayurveda doctor beyond the borders of Austria.
Question: How is it possible to provide good care for such a large number of patients?
Dr. Wolfgang Schachinger: Five years ago, I took a new, very innovative step. I am the first Ayurvedic doctor in Europe to offer Ayurvedic cleansing treatments in webinar format, i.e. via electronic media.
Each participant is sent remedies and written instructions. Together with my daughter Dr. Valeria, I guide the participants through an Ayurveda cure at home in live lectures that are broadcast on the Internet. This means that one Ayurveda doctor can provide the best personal care for hundreds of patients at the same time. A great blessing of modern technology that I wouldn’t want to do without!
Question: What are your prospects for the future?
Dr. Wolfgang Schachinger: In spring 2022, I fulfilled my long-cherished dream as an Ayurveda doctor. Over a construction period of 18 months, we built a new home for our work – Home of Ayurveda somamed – the center for Maharishi Ayurveda and holistic medicine.
This house was built according to the principles of Vedic architecture (Maharishi Sthapatya Veda) with high-quality organic building materials and radiates a strong healing power. In this building I have perfect conditions as an Ayurveda doctor: sufficient space for all treatments, rooms for inpatients and outpatients, thermal healing water and the fantastically beautiful location in the natural jewel of the Hausruckwald in the municipality of Geboltskirchen.
In our center “‘Home of Ayurveda somamed” we offer the unique symbiosis of Maharishi Ayurveda, the local healing resources (thermal healing water) and scientifically based modern diagnostics and therapy.