Founder
Founder and Principal
Nancy Raffa
Nancy Raffa established Healing Heart Ayurveda in 2020 to assess, consult, and guide clients toward improving their physical and mental health using the natural and holistic methods of Ayurvedic Medicine: one of the world’s oldest forms of healing. She distinguishes herself in Ayurveda Medicine through her deep knowledge of Ayurvedic herbs and methods, physiology, yoga, and meditation combined with her rich and instantly evident personal empathy, care, and compassion.
Ms. Raffa’s Ayurvedic training and experiences include Inpatient and Outpatient care, Pancha Karma treatments and advanced Ayurvedic body techniques, advanced studies of Dravya Guna, Ayurvedic Classical Herbology, herbal formulations, and their proper application, the assessment and management of complex clinical conditions, Marma Therapy, pulse diagnosis, Classical Formulation making, and Sanskrit.
As Healing Heart Ayurveda’s Lead Practitioner, Ms. Raffa has consulted and advised clients experiencing a wide variety of physical and mental ailments including Anxiety; Depression; Infertility; Menstrual disorders; Covid 19; Long Covid; Thyroid issues; Weight loss; Amenorrhea; Menorrhagia; Sports injuries; Stress Fractures; Digestive disorders; Constipation; GERD; Rheumatoid arthritis; Varicose veins; Gout; Hyperthyroidism; Fatigue; Lower back pain; Sinusitis; Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS); Insomnia; Infertility; and Pregnancy.
Ms. Raffa interned at the Kerala Ayurveda Health Village in Kerala, India, where she assisted several of the world’s most respected Ayurvedic doctors at inpatient and outpatient clinics, medical camps, and orphanages. She is completing her Doctoral Degree in Ayurvedic Medicine at the Kerala Ayurveda Academy under the mentorship of Dr. Jayarajan Kottikanth, Dr. Princy Prasad, and Dr. Sheena Soo Raj. She is a Student Member of the National Ayurvedic Medical Association, the California Association of Ayurvedic Medicine, the International Association of Dance Medicine & Science, and the Council for Ayurveda Research.
Ms. Raffa brings a distinctly unique background to Ayurvedic treatment. She has practiced meditation and yoga since the age of 12. She is a former world-renowned ballerina and ballet coach who has performed, coached, and worked with the best-known names in ballet for over 30 years. Dancers with whom she has performed or coached reads like a “Who’s Who” of the Ballet World, including Mikhail Baryshnikov, Rudolph Nureyev, Misty Copeland, Isabella Boylston, Catherine Hurlin, Fernando Bujones, James Whiteside, and Natalia Makarova. She was the first American female to capture the prestigious and rarely awarded Gold Medal at the world famous annual ballet competition in Lausanne, Switzerland, when she was just 15 years old. New York Times dance critic Anna Kisselgoff described Ms. Raffa as a “history-making” performer and proclaimed, “The dance is in her.” As a ballet stager and coach at American Ballet Theatre (America’s National Ballet Company), Ms. Raffa was the leading stager and repertoire director for world renowned choreographer Alexei Ratmansky during the entirety of his 12-year stint as Artist-in-Residence. She has staged his works all over the world. She has also worked with and staged the works of world-famous choreographers Twyla Tharp, Christopher Wheeldon, Helen Pickett, and many others.
