Our Story

Essential Ayurveda started life in 2003 inspired by the travels and studies of Ayurvedic practitioners Laura and Andrew Shakeshaft.


During our travels in Asia our eyes were opened to the wonderful world of traditional healing systems where we witnessed first-hand the amazing effects possible using natural medicine. Returning home we enrolled in the first Ayurvedic Masters degree program in the U.K with Middlesex University. After five years of study and clinical internships in India and Sri Lanka we were ready to start our clinical practice - and also to begin our quest to harness nature’s incredible healing potential in a range of natural Ayurvedic products developed to help people heal and live well.


Two decades on and integrating our experience from teaching, running clinics and our Ayurvedic retreat we continue to develop our range - distilling the very best from time-honoured traditional techniques together with recent insights and advances in product testing, formulation and processing methods.


We take great care every step of the process - from sourcing the best quality herbs and teas from around the world - to choosing the most effective processing methods to ensure that when our remedies reach you they are bursting with freshness and potency. Small-batch production also allows us to harvest and manufacture at specific times of the year producing a quality that just isn’t possible with larger-scale mass production.


We test our products at multiple stages during the manufacturing process. Both raw herbs as well as finished products are tested for heavy metals by independent laboratories to ensure quality and adherence to UK food standards. We are proud to be a Soil Association Organic certified company which means that we comply with the highest organic food standards.


We are very excited to have partnered with Amaiva - our fabulous sister comapny based in Germany where we are pioneering a great range of products integrating the best of Ayurveda's wisdom with contemporary Functional medicine concepts, using organically certified European herbs as well as high-quality minerals, probiotics, vitamins and enzymes. All manufactued and tested in Germany to strict GMP and HACP standards.


 We use our products every day in our own clinical practice and each day more and more health professionals are choosing to use our teas, supplements and oils - and their feedback together with our own clinical experience helps us stay fresh and to continue to refine and develop what we do – with love 😀