Todd Caldecott is a Canadian clinical

herbalist Herbal medicine (also called herbalism, phytomedicine or phytotherapy) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. Scientific evidence for the effectiveness of many herbal treatments ...

Ayurvedic Ayurveda (; ) is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. It is heavily practised throughout India and Nepal, where as much as 80% of the population report using ayurveda. The theory and practice of ayur ...

practitioner in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, author of the textbook ''Ayurveda: The Divine Science of Life'' (2006) and ''Food As Medicine: The Theory and Practice of Food'' (2011), and co-editor of ''Ayurveda In Nepal: The Teachings of Vaidya Mana Bajra Bajracharya'' (2011). He is also a former film and television actor.

Life and career

Caldecott was born in

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the cap ...

, British Columbia, and graduated from University Hill Secondary School in Vancouver in 1987. That same year, he won best actor in a Vancouver Theatre Festival for his performance in a play by Sheldon Rosen called ''The Box''. Shortly thereafter Caldecott, also known as Todd Shaffer, obtained an agent, and began working in the film and television industry, guest-starring in several television shows including '' Wiseguy'', ''

21 Jump Street ''21 Jump Street'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Patrick Hasburgh and Stephen J. Cannell for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It aired from April 12, 1987 to April 27, 1991, spanning 103 episodes over five s ...

'', ''

Danger Bay ''Danger Bay'' is a Canadian television series, produced in Vancouver, with first-run episodes broadcast on CBC Television in Canada and The Disney Channel in the United States premiering October 8, 1984. Reruns of the show continued on The Disn ...

'', '' Northwood'' and '' Bordertown''. He also acted in a number of made-for-TV movies including ''Mother May I Sleep With Danger'' and ''One Boy, One Wolf, One Summer'', and the feature films ''

Fear Fear is an unpleasant emotion that arises in response to perception, perceived dangers or threats. Fear causes physiological and psychological changes. It may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the ...

'' and '' Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan''. After becoming disillusioned with the film industry, Caldecott traveled to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

West Asia West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenian ...

in 1990 for a year-long trip on a budget of only a "few dollars a day".Caldecott, Todd. 2006. Ayurveda: The Divine Science of Life. Edinburgh, UK: Elsevier. p xi. During this year he studied Indian classical music in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

and

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

; and

buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditat ...

Bodhgaya Bodh Gayā is a religious site and place of pilgrimage associated with the Mahabodhi Temple complex, situated in the Gaya district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is famous for being the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have attained e ...

, India; and Nilambe,

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. During his travel and study he became very ill, at one point suffering from both bacillary and amoebic

dysentery Dysentery ( , ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications may include dehyd ...

. After leaving India he traveled in a weakened state to the Northern Area of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, including

Gilgit Gilgit (; Shina language, Shina: ; ) is a city in Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan, Gilgit–Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kas ...

, the

Hunza valley The Hunza Valley (; ) is a mountainous valley located in the northern region of the Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. Geography The valley stretches along the Hunza River and shares borders with Ishkoman Valley, Ishkoman to the northwest, Shigar Val ...

and Pasu. It was in these areas, renowned for their long-lived inhabitants, healthy food and glacial water that he "partially recovered" from his illness. He then went on to travel throughout

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, spending several weeks as the guest of a

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

master in

Shiraz Shiraz (; ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the popu ...

. Returning to Canada, Caldecott sought relief from what now had become a chronic digestive disorder, and found success in the treatments of an Ayurvedic physician. This would prove to have an enormous influence on his life path, and shortly thereafter Caldecott enrolled and graduated from a three-year, full-time clinical program in Western Herbal Medicine at the Coastal Mountain College in Vancouver. After graduating, Caldecott immediately traveled back to India to study

Ayurvedic medicine Ayurveda (; ) is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. It is heavily practised throughout India and Nepal, where as much as 80% of the population report using ayurveda. The theory and practice of ayur ...

Coimbatore Coimbatore (Tamil: kōyamputtūr, ), also known as Kovai (), is one of the major Metropolitan cities of India, metropolitan cities in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyy ...

, India, over a five-month period, and then returned to Canada to begin practicing, writing and teaching. In 1999, Caldecott relocated to

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, where he eventually became clinical director of the Wild Rose College of Natural Healing. Here Caldecott developed, administered and taught a three-year clinical program in Western Herbal Medicine. During this time Caldecott completed the manuscript for a textbook called ''Ayurveda: The Divine Science of Life'' (), which was subsequently published by

Elsevier Elsevier ( ) is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its products include journals such as ''The Lancet'', ''Cell (journal), Cell'', the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, ...

in 2006. Caldecott is co-editor of ''Ayurveda in Nepal: The Teachings of Vaidya Mana Bajra Bajracharya'' (), along with Madhu Bajra Bajracharya and Alan Tillotson. Published in 2009, this book summarizes the clinical practice of Ayurveda according to the late Vaidya Mana's hereditary tradition of Ayurvedic physicians and Buddhist priests in the Kathmandu Valley. Todd Caldecott is also author of ''Food As Medicine: The Theory and Practice of Food'' (2011), which describes the preventative and therapeutic application of food and dietary therapy, drawing upon the traditions of Ayurveda, Chinese medicine, and other traditional systems of healing. In 2012, Todd Caldecott founded the Dogwood School of Botanical Medicine, which offers distance learning programs and a

gurukula A () is a traditional system of religious education in India with ('students' or 'disciples') living near or with the guru in the same house for a period of time where they learn and get educated by their guruji. Etymology The word is a com ...

-style, mentorship training program for aspiring practitioners. Todd Caldecott also maintains an extensive website containing free content on natural health and wellness including a blog where he regularly posts.

References

External links

Dogwood School of Botanical Medicine website

Todd Caldecott's website

Website for Ayurveda In Nepal

Website for Food As Medicine: The Theory and Practice of Food
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Caldecott, Todd Living people 20th-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers Ayurvedacharyas Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian male non-fiction writers Herbalists Male actors from British Columbia People from New Westminster Writers from British Columbia Year of birth missing (living people)