Bobby SiraSpecialist Oncology Pharmacist and Integrative Cancer Practitioner. Founder - PharmAveda. |
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About
I live in the heart of England with my family, surrounded by the rich landscape of Shakespeare's county and the feeling of space and light. It is the backdrop for PharmAveda's growth and evolution, and now for a practice focused entirely on supporting people through cancer.
For almost 30 years I have worked in Pharmacy and the development of services for patients, both in the NHS and private sectors, the last decade of them inside oncology multidisciplinary teams. The more I treated people with conventional medicine, the more I observed the reliance on drugs and the decline in responsibility for one's own health.
Our bodies and minds were oversaturated by the notion of a "pill to fix it," and I discovered an intuitive insight on how to guide people to rebalance, rethink, and reevaluate their responsibility to living.
This is the ground everything I do now stands on.
It is not separate from the cancer work, it is where the cancer work comes from. Everything I bring to someone facing a diagnosis today, the clinical astuteness, the Ayurvedic understanding of balance, the belief that a person is never just their disease, was formed long before PharmAveda existed. It is still what I return to.
I am trained in Integrative Oncology through ACNEM and in Advanced Integrative Metabolic Oncology through the AIM programme (Dr. Nasha Winters), which sits alongside my clinical pharmacy background and my years inside oncology teams.
For almost 30 years I have worked in Pharmacy and the development of services for patients, both in the NHS and private sectors, the last decade of them inside oncology multidisciplinary teams. The more I treated people with conventional medicine, the more I observed the reliance on drugs and the decline in responsibility for one's own health.
Our bodies and minds were oversaturated by the notion of a "pill to fix it," and I discovered an intuitive insight on how to guide people to rebalance, rethink, and reevaluate their responsibility to living.
This is the ground everything I do now stands on.
It is not separate from the cancer work, it is where the cancer work comes from. Everything I bring to someone facing a diagnosis today, the clinical astuteness, the Ayurvedic understanding of balance, the belief that a person is never just their disease, was formed long before PharmAveda existed. It is still what I return to.
I am trained in Integrative Oncology through ACNEM and in Advanced Integrative Metabolic Oncology through the AIM programme (Dr. Nasha Winters), which sits alongside my clinical pharmacy background and my years inside oncology teams.
"Responsibility, once truly realised, is not blame. It is empowerment.
We cannot heal while we turn away from our own dharma and karma.
We cannot heal while we turn away from our own dharma and karma.
My Journey
Over 15 years ago I began my journey to merge the science of the East and West and understand my own spiritual transformation. I stepped onto the progressive path of Yoga and Ayurveda while keeping close to the clinical world, through Functional and Integrative medicine, to ensure I understood the changing landscape of health.
Over 15 years ago I began my journey to merge the science of the East and West and understand my own spiritual transformation. I stepped onto the progressive path of Yoga and Ayurveda while keeping close to the clinical world, through Functional and Integrative medicine, to ensure I understood the changing landscape of health.
"The knowledge of medicine allows me to interpret individual response to holistic therapy in a clear and accessible way.
What I learn through the sciences of Ayurveda and Yoga has allowed me to combine the ancient with the modern to establish a niche for preventing, treating and healing. Holistic care considers each aspect of an individual and their environment.
For Ayurveda the mind and body are inseparable, and you cannot treat one without affecting the other. It gives importance to prevention over cure with its concise healthy living guidelines, swasthavritta, to ensure a balanced physiology, psychology and spirit.
I came to a time that occurs in everyone's life that feels like either a new beginning or a necessary end, a new dawn.
There was a profound, sudden realisation of the interconnectedness of my physiology and psychology when I suddenly reacted violently to an unexpected pathology. It was not cancer, but it was the moment that led me here.
It was a life changing moment that was to take several months of deep commitment and awareness to understand how I was able to heal from the inside, using techniques passed down from history. The molecular changes within were influenced by my movement, my thought patterns and by what I consumed. I was in constant conversation with my body and mind until a deeper spiritual connection evolved, guiding me to accept, absorb and transform.
Observing my body as a whole, and not isolating one organ from all others, honoured the internal connections and strengthened each system to direct its support to the failing one.
For Ayurveda the mind and body are inseparable, and you cannot treat one without affecting the other. It gives importance to prevention over cure with its concise healthy living guidelines, swasthavritta, to ensure a balanced physiology, psychology and spirit.
I came to a time that occurs in everyone's life that feels like either a new beginning or a necessary end, a new dawn.
There was a profound, sudden realisation of the interconnectedness of my physiology and psychology when I suddenly reacted violently to an unexpected pathology. It was not cancer, but it was the moment that led me here.
It was a life changing moment that was to take several months of deep commitment and awareness to understand how I was able to heal from the inside, using techniques passed down from history. The molecular changes within were influenced by my movement, my thought patterns and by what I consumed. I was in constant conversation with my body and mind until a deeper spiritual connection evolved, guiding me to accept, absorb and transform.
Observing my body as a whole, and not isolating one organ from all others, honoured the internal connections and strengthened each system to direct its support to the failing one.
"Every part is connected to the whole: nothing can be viewed in isolation.
Ayurveda, Mindfulness, Yoga Therapy and clear knowledge of the disease process all blossomed into one powerful healing mechanism, teaching me how to guide others in an accessible and affordable way, in an inclusive and nourishing environment.
It is this same mechanism I now bring to people navigating cancer:
the conviction that nothing in a person can be treated in isolation, that the body's own intelligence is a resource, not an afterthought, and that healing and disease management are related but not identical undertakings.
It is this same mechanism I now bring to people navigating cancer:
the conviction that nothing in a person can be treated in isolation, that the body's own intelligence is a resource, not an afterthought, and that healing and disease management are related but not identical undertakings.
The Balance
Everybody has the right to be healthy and happy, and somewhere along the way we have given up this right and accepted a variety of ill fated options in life. Most of this is simply due to imbalance.Each aspect of our life requires balance, just as each system of our body requires a control system that balances the internal and external environment, the homeostatic function for equilibrium.
On the smallest scale of our cells, equilibrium is what gives us good health, and disequilibrium is responsible for ill health. We are designed to respond to the changes in the world around us, from the day and night pattern to the seasons and beyond.
Ignoring the importance of equanimity is where stress arises from, and along with our diet, is a major contributory factor to imbalance and long term disease. For someone facing cancer, this stress is rarely optional, which is exactly why the work of steadying it matters as much as any protocol.
I will guide you to awareness of your personal "normal," not the one you knew before diagnosis or before this health event, but a new normal, shaped by everything you have moved through, and bring you experience and knowledge to help you discover renewed health, invigorating wellness and love for living through self-care.
"Once you start the journey you will change the way you perceive and live your life, deeply influencing your physical, mental and emotional health.
In December 2021, I was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. I was scared, angry and completely overwhelmed. The NHS was unable to offer me any help with my mental health (6 month waiting list to see a psychologist) and I was really struggling to cope. Delays in my treatment added to my anguish. Thank goodness, I found Bobby. He introduced me to breath work, meditation, yoga and a whole new approach to my body, and to my physical and mental health. With his pharmacy skills, he is now seeing me through chemotherapy, devising diet and supplement plans to minimise the side effects and boost my recovery after each cycle. So far, I have had minimal side effects, and I feel empowered and in control of my own treatment. My lifestyle and ability to deal with stress when my cancer treatment is over, are going to be very different to how they were before. I can honestly say Bobby has changed my life, and I cannot thank him enough for all he has done for me. His kindness, enthusiasm and positive approach have been a great support for me during the most difficult time of my life.
- Jayne Brumpton, Stage III Breast Cancer
One can only wish for such openness and sharing between guide and the seeker. I have learned so much along our journey, and I bow down to your acceptance and commitment of a new way of being. You have changed my life by allowing me to experience yours. Thank you for your consistency and inspiring focus. Sincerely grateful.
- PharmAveda (Bobby's reply)
Specialist Oncology Pharmacist • Integrative & Metabolic Cancer Practitioner • Functional Medicine • Ayurveda Practitioner • Yoga Therapy • Meditation & Mindfulness Coach