
Allie Chisholm Smith,
Yoga Teacher,
Owner of Ahimsa School
“I myself have been a yoga teacher for 20 years, including teacher training for a past decade or so, and so I have a pretty good sense of what it takes to be a really skilled teacher and how to involve people in the teaching and I have to say that that’s one of Mary’s greatest attributes. It is her ability to bring the teaching absolutely to the person and she bridges the person and the professional in a way that I haven’t seen before. In fact, I mimic her often now in my own teacher training program in saying that nothing is off topic, that everything that is going on for that individual is relevant Ayurvedic medicine, and that’s particularly true when it comes to women’s health issues and I’ve frequently actually asked Mary, have begged her if she would do some videos on her women’s health insight because they are really incredible really tangible and different from anything I’ve ever heard before I have quested for those for my own clients and students. If I wasn’t here in Canada, I would be in her backyard in a tent awaiting further teaching from her.”

Karen Barbarick
“I graduated as a student of Mary’s from the California College of Ayurveda in the year 2000 and I must admit, all these years later, Mary is still my favorite teacher. She really brought it to life, Ayurveda, she brought it to life in a way that was almost story-telling and the elements and everything involved with the whole complex science of Ayurveda, Mary somehow had the knack to make it almost very easy for a preschooler- that’s the kind of special teaching I need! So, here’s to Mary and what a wonderful teacher and all of my great memories of that time of my life. I’ve been practicing for over 15 years now and I have a business called Bending Blade Yoga, and it all started with Mary.”

Carly Beaudin,
Clinical Ayurvedic Practitioner
“I know Mary from studying at the CCA and also from private tutoring with her after my graduation. I could never say enough about Mary’s teaching- she is genuinely my greatest Ayurvedic teacher. She brings so much knowledge to the table and the most powerful thing about her teaching is the ability to really take all these big ideas all these obtuse, theories and ideas and really bring them to the ground and make then understandable and digestible. And she really brings so much accessibility to this knowledge for people in the now, for people in 2015. She makes it really possible and really easy to blend this ancient knowledge with our modern lives. There are so many parts of Mary’s teaching that are potent that it’s hard to pick out just a few but another one of many, many of her strengths is her ability to answer questions from so many different angles. She’s never once failed on a question of mine and I had plenty and she would find answers for me. If I wouldn’t understand one way she would try to find another way. She was really committed to my learning and committed to making this knowledge really mine. I would take anything that Mary teaches at any point, I would take things more than once, there’s just truly no greater teacher you can ask for. Anyone who gets to study with her is genuinely lucky and I would always be grateful to her for every bit of time I’ve gotten with her as her student.”

Dr. Mark Vinick ,
Holistic Chiropractor
“I first met Mary Thompson about 16 years ago. She was an instructor at the California College of Ayurveda and she taught the first year program, and I can pretty accurately speak for everyone in the class when I say that we all really looked forward to whenever she taught. She has the unique ability to take complex subjects like Ayurveda, and be able to explain in such simple terms that it is readily accessible to anyone, regardless of their background. And few people have that rare ability to have a grasp of a subject matter as technical as Ayurveda, and at the same time be able to explain it in such a way. I highly recommend her.”
Linda Rosiak, Client
“Mary Thompson is my Ayurvedic practitioner. Mary introduced me to Ayurveda almost 20 years ago and really opened my eyes to what natural medicine could be. Mary has a great ability to be able to share her perspective and the Ayurvedic practices and bring it down to what everyday people can really understand. Both my husband I have been working with Mary and we both believe in Ayurveda because of what Mary has taught us.”

Katrina Svoboda Johnson,
Ayurvedic Practitioner
“I’ve known Mary Thompson for several years, she was one of my primary instructors when I was a student at the California College of Ayurveda and I’ve continued to study with Mary beyond graduation, whenever she gives webinars or classes. I’ve even asked Mary to supervise me with a couple of my clients.
I know Mary to be someone who has a unique combination of innately being a very skilled and adept teacher, while also being a very knowledgeable, effective and studied practitioner. I think we’re very lucky to have Mary available as a resource for us in learning Ayurveda. Mary has a unique ability to take pieces of information that seem big and complex such as pathology, and break them up into small easy to understand, easy to digest but most importantly, easy to work with pieces of information. Please study with Mary whenever you have an opportunity.”