Beauty Maven to Ayurvedic Chef

 by Anne Leggett-Walker
February 2, 2013
Elaine Dodson’s Sacred Journey: From Hare Krishna beauty maven to globe-­‐‑trotting Ayurvedic chef Sambar, h ing, u rad, jiggery, channa, asafetida, garam masala, dhanna-­‐jerra powder, chaunce. Quite an Enigma intelligence code that would have made in WW II. As it is, it forms another kind of code for health, vitality and serenity: the lexicon of Ayurvedic cooking. Elaine Dodson — founder of Kalachandji’s restaurant in Dallas in the 1970s; Ayurvedic chef for her guru in Cambridge, England; named “Beauty and Wellness Guru” by the Today Show who started and founded holistic, organic health and beauty spas in Dallas — is still making it her goal to educate people, now about Ayurvedic cooking. Shared Elaine in an interview: “Preparing food consciously is all about energy and (you yourself) being ‘present’. It is all about the thoughts you are having while you prepare the food. If you are thinking that you are preparing the food for God, or the higher powers that be, then the food you prepare will have a higher vibration and a healthier affect on your body. Spices and the food you eat are medicine; they can lower blood sugar, heal the body and soothe the mind.”
Easy to understand when you have tomato sorba coconut soup with panir set before you, or a snack of spiced hot organic apple juice. For a full Ayurvedic meal one Saturday afternoon in January, a group of u s were served tridoshic Vegetable curry, vangi bhath (rice dish with eggplant and green peas), mixed sprout salad (which keeps for a week in the refrigerator and in h igh in protein), “Vitality Dressing” composed of spices and oil, and a square of a “sweet”. During another Saturday class in November, 2012, we created and dined on apple chutney – which can be made with peaches or mango or apricot and is absolutely delicious – khitchari-­‐rice, d al, Bengali royal rice (pushpanna), Ayurvedic sesame peanut rice, coconut rice, and cilantro chutney. Learn more with Ayurvedic 101 at the end of the feature.
Elaine — Dallas’ Most Unique Beauty Maven “Never would I have ever thought I would be cooking, much less become an Ayurvedic and vegetarian chef,” said Elaine. “I never liked to cook, never ever thought about it growing up. Only when I became a vegetarian in my 20’s did I have to learn, because I did not know anyone else who was a vegetarian.” Elaine started her beauty career first at age 19, uncovering in 1963 at a beauty school that chemicals create dis-­‐ease and illness, and that “one learns very little about wellness there.” She began using only organic products in the 1970’s and expanded to food. Eventually Elaine became a vegetarian. To learn how to combine science and nature to create healthy beauty and wellness avenues, Elaine trained under the “top scientists in the beauty industry beginning with Jherri Redding, and ended up studying with Horst Rechelbacher who developed the Aveda concept”. She built from “scratch” six large holistic day spas and salons in the Dallas area, including the first all-­‐Aveda concept spa and salon. She brought natural organic products to the fore and introduced aromatherapy as a healing tool to the Southwest. Elaine primarily operated in the Park Cities (Highland Park, Snyder Plaza, McKinney Avenue, Travis Street) and North Dallas (North Park East, Lovers Lane at Inwood, Tollway at Inwood). “I opened my first 6000 square foot salon in 1977,” said Elaine. “We named it ‘Backstage Dallas.' It had everything from healthy snack bars, to skin care and hair care treatments, to a photography studio, boutique. We sold many lines of organic products. I had some who believed in me who backed me. From there I went on to build five other large studios myself, creating and funding them.” From being trained for hair cutting and styling, Elaine became a tricologist (hair doctor), esthetician (skin care specialist), master colorist, make-­‐up artist, image consultant, and fashion expert. So much so that the Today Show called her the “beauty and wellness guru”. She was featured on the front page of the Dallas Morning News as “the Baptist who became a Hare Krishna” devotee. Elaine also has had numerous television appearances: on the Today Show from New York; on Channel 4 in Dallas with focus on a news story titled “From Baptist to Eastern Religion”; Channel 21, weekdays, in “Vegetarian Health and Lifestyle: Kalachandji’s Vegetarian Restaurant”; Channel 11, Point of View; Channel 8, PM Magazine in “The Making of a Star” and on Channel 4 again in Lifestyles as “Fashion Transformations”. Elaine Takes Her Talents on the Road “I struck out on a journey that changed my life. I really learned to embrace cooking when I ‘retired’ and moved to Mexico for seven years with my husband, who was working for NAFTA and water purification. Living our lives in Mexico was an incredible upscale, sacred experience. I had full-­‐time maids, gardener, and someone to chop and prepare Ayurvedic vegetables for me. It was then I devoted a lot of time to cooking in the Ayurvedic style.” Then Elaine’s guru request that she be “trained for two years with various cooks from different regions of India before we went to live with him” at his request to Cambridge, England, for several years. There she served as chef for her guru and her husband, Michael Roth, acted as secretary. When she met Michael, her husband of 25 years, in 1986, Elaine recalls that “he had to become a vegetarian to marry me. He had to respect I was a devotee of Krishna who had just moved out of the Temple after being celibate for five years. He honored all that and eventually became initiated himself.” Interestingly, Michael’s heritage is Russian Jewish beginning in Transylvania – as Elaine says – “home of true gypsies and that has always attracted me.” Elaine remembers that her guru “had always been thrilled that I was from Dallas, as most devotees are from all over the world. I had very successful businesses, was on TV regularly, had huge networks of friends and customers, made lots of money” — expanding the public perception of the Hare Krishna faith. Now she is taking that one step further by leading Sacred Journey Retreats to Hare Krishna and Ayurvedic centers in India. Elaine’s Heart is Here at Home But Elaine’s heart is here with her community. She recalls how one day she was walking down the hall in the Kalachandji’s Temple with her Dallas guru and he asked “How can we get people to come here?” Elaine’s answer was “a restaurant” and thus Kalachandji’s was created. One of Elaine’s spiritual teachers when visiting Dallas, said it was her destiny to bring enlightenment and knowledge of the Vedic tradition to the public here. She got her Dallas guru booked at special events like speaking to the City Council, and got the Hare Krishnas into the Cotton Bowl parade, with Mayor Annette Strauss also honoring the group with a special day. Elaine helped open Food for Life centers to feed the poor healthy vegetarian foods. Her guru’s last request, after she had served him in England and before he passed on, was to create cookbooks, workshops, and more to teach vegetarianism and Ayurvedic cooking to the public. Her book Cooking For The Guru – A Karma-­‐Free Diet is available on her website. Concluded Elaine: “In this world, nothing stays the same – change is the only constant. While that is undeniably true, you must also admit that change, particularly change that relates to the body’s appearance and its state of health, can go in either direction. Things can go up or down; we can regenerate or degenerate. It d epends on your desire and commitment.” About the author:
Anne Leggett-Walker
has studied yoga since the
‘60s, first with The Mother and Sri Aurobindo of India, Yogi Bhajan in Los Angeles, and has taught
Kundalini Yoga and Meditation in Dallas since 1995. Anne began her journalism career at The
Ventura Star-Free Press and has written steadily ever since. Email: [email protected]
Elaine Dodson is author of Cooking for The Guru: A Karma Free Diet, a
cookbook filled with healthy, delicious Ayurvedic vegetarian recipes. She is a
pioneer in the field of natural/organic beauty care and wellness with over 40
years experience in self image, fashion, skin care, and hair design in her awardwinning day spas and teaching others to “Stay Younger Longer” with Vegetarian
and Healthy Lifestyle choices.
Elaine Dodson
Elaine has lived, studied, and taught the Ayurvedic Lifestyle since the early 1970’s.
She is a makeover specialist, image consultant, writer, author, teacher, gourmet
vegetarian chef, and retreat leader. To learn about her organic beauty practices
visit ElaineDodson.net, and AyurvedicCookingClasses.com for everything you
need to know about living and eating healthy in the 21st century. Her next
Sacred Journey Retreat is planned for 2016. To view photo galleries and read
more, visit SacredJourneyRetreats.com.
Email Elaine at [email protected] or call (214) 948-7266.
AyurvedicCookingClasses.com
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ElaineDodson.net
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SacredJourneyRetreats.com