Begabati Lennihan

Begabati Lennihan, CCH practices homeopathy as a Certified Classical Homeopath and provides holistic health and wellness education as a Registered Nurse. After graduating from Harvard in 1974 at the top of her class, she embarked on an unusual career path. Instead of becoming a doctor like her father, she became an expert in natural healing by running health food stores in Boston and Cambridge.

Begabati first began working with homeopathic remedies in 1981 and began studying homeopathy professionally in 1995 with Dr. Luc De Schepper. She co-founded the Renaissance Institute of Classical Homeopathy with Dr. Luc in 1996, subsequently becoming Director of Teleosis School of Homeopathy (2002-2010). She lectures at Mass. College of Pharmacy and Lesley University’s holistic studies program.

In 2010 Begabati changed her focus to empowering people to use homeopathy for home health care via her GreenHealingTV channel on YouTube and her books:

Your Natural Medicine Cabinet
A Healer In Every Home: Dog and Cat edition
Cough Cures (written with leading pulmonologist Dr. Gustavo Ferrer)

Begabati’s interest in natural healing was inspired by her parents: her father a vascular surgeon who helped develop the Doppler ultrasound and her mother a biochemist who worked for Dr. Papanicolau, the originator of the Pap smear. Nature lovers and early conservationists, they gave Begabati her childhood wildflower garden. Many years later, in her health food store, Begabati was delighted to find that her childhood friends – the native plants of the New England wildflowers – are powerful herbal medicines and homeopathic remedies.

Begabati has practiced heart-center meditation for more than 40 years under the guidance of spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy, who gave her the spiritual name Begabati. (Literally, it means ‘a fast-flowing river’ and symbolically it refers to the individual soul plunging headlong to merge into the ocean of infinite consciousness.)

In keeping with Sri Chinmoy’s philosophy of community service, she teaches free classes in meditation at Harvard’s Center for Wellness; in keeping with his mind-body approach to fitness, she has completed 50 marathons, ultramarathons and triathlons. Based on her practice in heart-centered meditation, she is able to establish a deeply supportive and nurturing relationship with her clients.

How is Begabati’s practice different?

If you have already seen a homeopath or heard about the process from someone who has, you might appreciate the ways in which Begabati’s practice is different:

Gentle approach: Most homeopaths start with a single dose of a high-potency (strong) remedy in order to induce an aggravation (a temporary worsening of symptoms which makes it clear to the homeopath that the remedy is correct and is working). Begabati starts with a low potency (mild) dose of the remedy and gradually increases it in order to avoid an aggravation.

Empowering you to notice what’s working: She establishes benchmarks at the first appointment which will help you as well as her to notice whether the remedy is working.

Make friends with your remedy: Many homeopaths refuse to tell their clients the name of the remedy they are taking; Begabati finds that telling her clients about their remedy helps them to feel more involved in the process.

No need to avoid anything: Most homeopaths ask their patients to avoid coffee, mint, and possibly other factors such as dental work, electric blankets, and a long list of foods and bodycare products with aromatic oils. Begabati does not find these avoidances necessary with her system of daily dosing of the remedy.

Ideal for hypersensitives: People who are extremely sensitive to environmental influences) are ideal candidates for homeopathy (because they feel the remedy working so clearly and so quickly) – except that they tend to suffer more than anyone else from the high potencies used by many homeopaths. Begabati adjusts the strength of the remedy to the sensitivity of her clients, using extremely gentle potencies for hypersensitives, so that even people who may have suffered from previous homeopathic treatment are often able to benefit from homeopathy with Begabati.

Keep up your other healthcare practices: Some homeopaths ask their clients to stop taking vitamins and herbs, and to stop other modalities they may be using like acupuncture or chiropractic. Begabati encourages her clients to continue doing anything that they feel is helping, except not to start anything new at the same time as the remedy in order to assess the remedy clearly.

Learn about supplements and healing modalities: Based on more than fifteen years of running a health food store, Begabati is knowledgeable about supplements and other modalities to recommend when she realizes that homeopathy cannot do everything for a client. She will empower you by sharing her unusual scope of information with you.

Supporting your personal growth or spiritual practice: Begabati supports her clients in whatever spiritual practice or personal growth work they are involved in, believing – as her spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy would often say – that there are many paths to enlightenment. She often frames her discussion of her clients’ remedies in the larger picture of how homeopathy can support their life lessons and fulfilling their purpose on earth.