Nadezda Kovalevskaya, PhD
Hello, my name is Nadezda, I am a qualified Ayurvedic practitioner, nutritionist, herbalist, massage and Yoga therapist. In short, I am a chemist turned complementary health practitioner. Before starting my practice in 2016, I was doing biochemical research, studying mechanisms of drug action, and working for a genomic medicine company.
At some point in my life as a researcher and patient, I could no longer ignore limitations of the mechanistic scientific approach and pharmacological medicine. Therefore, with all my enthusiasm for research and studies, I got into holistic disciplines and the results haven’t stopped to amaze me ever since.
Education
- Ayurvedic pharmacology – Dravyaguna taught by Vaidya Atreya Smith (European Institute of Vedic Studies – the oldest Ayurvedic educational institution in Europe, Switzerland, 2017-2018).
- Traditional Yoga, YTT200 (Kaivalyadhama Yoga Research Institute, India, 2018).
- Ayurvedic nutrition and lifestyle taught by Dr Deepika Rodrigo and Dr Wathsala Wijesinghe (Ayurveda Institute, UK, 2016-2017, diploma with high distinction). Accredited by CMA (The Complementary Medical Association).
- Ayurvedic massage therapy (Ayurveda Institute, UK, 2016). Accredited by the CMA (The Complementary Medical Association).
- PhD in chemistry, specialisation in biochemistry (Moscow State University, Russia and NIMR MRC, London, UK, 2003-2007).
- MSc in chemistry (Moscow State University, Russia, 1997-2003), cum laude.
Currently studying:
- Well Woman Yoga (Birthlight, UK, 2017 – current).
- Yoga therapy for women (Adama Yoga, Russia, 2018 – current).
- The art of care: Thai traditions of rehabilitation (2019 – current).
Professional path
There have been doctors and community healers in my family for at least four generations. I grew up in the family of a neurosurgeon and an ENT surgeon and initially wanted to be a doctor, too. As long as I remember myself I have always been seeking the root cause of literally everything. In the end I decided I wanted to study sciences that had to do with human health and disease. I got my MSc and PhD degrees in chemistry, with focus on biochemistry. I then spent more than ten years in Life Sciences, doing research in leading universities and centres of Europe. I worked on structure of proteins and their interactions with drugs using NMR spectroscopy and other techniques.
In 2013 I left the academic world and worked for a Cambridge-based genomic medicine company for several years. At the same time I also worked for a charity that studied and promoted ethical and efficient data sharing for research.
I founded 1000 Miles Therapy in late 2016 as a practice for Ayurvedic nutrition and Ayurvedic massage. A couple of years later, as my views and skills evolved, I added Yoga therapy to my services to provide personalised approach to physical exercises.
My philosophy
In the course of my life as a researcher and patient, I became convinced about limitations of the modern scientific approach and pharmacological medicine. With all respect to modern medicine which fantastically handles zillions of acute conditions, I have no doubts that addressing chronic conditions could be seriously improved by introducing diet and lifestyle changes and by looking beyond physical symptoms.
A whole flower is not just a sum of separate petals, leaves, stem, roots etc, it is much more than that! Isolating one component of a system and studying it in isolation does not tell us much about the system, in the end.
Everything in our bodies is part of a system – all organs and tissues are interconnected. We all are part of a system – we are connected with our family, friends, society. We are not isolated beings and are influenced by our environment.
I started looking for a method that could give me a bigger picture, a systemic approach that would take into account those multiple factors that are responsible for health and disease. I was also interested in an approach that focusses on underlying causes rather than on masking symptoms. I found Ayurveda.
Ayurveda is the oldest medical system, it originated in India and has been practised for over 5000 years. It is a holistic medical system that takes into account the whole person, with their individual traits and circumstances, rather than reducing diseases to the physical body parts out of context. This offers a truly personalised approach to patients.
I am fascinated by the intrinsic self-healing powers that all people have, without exception. It may take a while to remove the obstacles that block this healing intelligence but once they start melting down, the life of the person undergoes a deep transformation and changes towards more balance, more understanding, more attunement to the environment and ultimately to greater happiness.
Links and contact details
My academic past:
ORCID research profile
Research papers on Pubmed
To make an appointment or ask a question:
please e-mail info@1000milestherapy.com or use this contact form.