Company Background
Blue Oak Ayurveda is family owned business devoted to fostering individual health. Blue Oak Ayurveda’s namesake, the Blue Oak, is the most prevalent tree in Cathey's Valley, California. This is because Cathey's Valley is so close to what would be a seasonal desert—the San Joaquin Valley—and the aridity and heat of the summers thwart all but the stoutest of trees. So, the aforementioned tree is respectable in its shear ability to survive. But the Blue Oak is also the most idiosyncratic of trees: no two trees look alike. The variegation is enthralling and this makes it a perfect emblem of our Ayurvedic practice, as Ayurveda respects individuality and tries to promote longevity in the harshest of environs.
Literally translated from Sanskrit, “Ayurveda” means “the science/wisdom of life”. Ayurveda is an ancient healing system of India and has been in continual practice for over 5,000 years. As a holistic health system, Ayurveda aims to harmonize imbalances of the physical body and mind, and habitual tendencies of the individual. Rather than applying one-size-fits-all therapies or medicines, the Ayurvedic approach is to explore the subtle secrets of each person’s constitution. To determine the most optimal ways one can live in accordance with one’s nature and circumstances, treatments are given through diet, herbal remedies, proper rest and routine, mantra and meditation.
Blue Oak Ayurveda is a collective effort of Jon-Paul Salonen and Ruth Alana Smiley, life partners whose strengths in practice complement and augment one another. For them it is a dharmic pursuit, filled with satisfaction of life purpose. More about us:
Jon-Paul has been a resident of Catheys Valley since childhood. In the rolling oak lands of the central California foothills, he realized in adolescence that healing and spirituality were his calling. When others were joining the football team, he was seeking out Yoga instructors and studying Taoist philosophy. Through his early adulthood he experimented with an eclectic health program, fusing Taoist health maintenance and Live Foods, Food combining and Colonics (to name a few), in an effort to find suitable healing tools for himself and others. He eventually came quite naturally upon Ayurveda, a sister science to Yoga. His training in the California College of Ayurveda not only enlightened his mind, but introduced him to his future wife, Ruth. Jon-Paul graduated from the California College of Ayurveda (CCA), in 2002, and began Blue Oak Ayurveda shortly thereafter. He is also a Certified Massage therapist, trained in Myofascial release, trigger points and Ayurvedic Abyanga, Shirodhara, and Swedana relaxation and cleansing treatments.
Ruth, a more recent resident of Catheys Valley, originally hails from the Detroit area of Michigan. In her youth she was exposed to many ideas about health, from her parents to her teenage years as a clerk in a health food store. When a customer had a question Ruth could not answer, she immediately researched the topic, committed the solutions to memory and steadily built up her knowledge base about everything relating to health. After high school Ruth was beset by complications to her health, which spurred on her insight into healing. In her healing process she particularly studied Reiki (became a certified Reiki Master in 1998), flower essences and other esoteric modalities, as well as Ayurvedic dietary and constitutional protocols. Once recovered, she knew that what she must do is become certified to practice holistic medicine in order to help as many people as possible. Ayurveda, with its practical and all-encompassing approach to health care was her natural choice. She not only graduated from CCA in 2000, but went onto serve as an intern supervisor at the college for five years thereafter. Ruth currently manages and produces Blue Oak Ayurveda’s product line, and handles relations with the practitioner community.
BOA has had a very homegrown and organic evolution, with standard business relations officially beginning in 2003. At times growth has been paced, at times quick and spontaneous. The herbal stocks of our inventory and production capabilities have grown deliberately through reinvesting profits in the company again and again. We feel proud of our modest origins, but strive to offer quality and aesthetic of the highest order.
Our product line is hand crafted with care. We strive with our formulations to be bold and unique, yet pleasant and palatable. We feel in tune with our purpose and this manifests in our products and customer care.