About The Raj
The Ideal Destination for Your Life-Changing Wellness Retreat
For over 30 years, The Raj Ayurveda Retreat has been recognized as one of America’s leading Ayurveda health centers. By welcoming only a limited number of guests at a time, we provide deeply personalized Ayurvedic treatments, attentive care, and a truly restorative healing experience.
Purpose-built to offer authentic Panchakarma treatments outside India, The Raj is set across 100 peaceful acres in Iowa. Our serene wellness retreat features comfortable accommodations, dedicated treatment spaces, and tranquil natural surroundings designed to support rejuvenation, balance, and long-term wellbeing.
Detoxify & Renew
Restore Balance Naturally
Heal From
the Root
Rejuvenate Mind & Body
The History of Ayurveda
In the early 1980s, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of the Transcendental Meditation® program, led a global effort to restore the authenticity, integrity, and full scope of Ayurveda through collaboration with respected vaidyas and Sanskrit scholars.
This restored body of knowledge became known as Maharishi Ayurveda™, reviving authentic Panchakarma therapies, classical herbal formulations, and prevention-focused healing principles rooted in Ayurveda’s original Sanskrit texts and traditions for modern clinical application worldwide.
- Ayurveda is recognized by the World Health Organization as the world’s oldest continuously practiced system of medicine
- Focuses on natural, prevention-oriented healthcare without harmful side effects
- Traditional Ayurvedic knowledge declined during British rule in India
- Maharishi collaborated with multi-generational Ayurvedic physicians and Sanskrit experts
- Original Ayurvedic texts were preserved in Sanskrit for over 6,000 years
- Restoration included authentic Panchakarma purification therapies
- Emphasizes addressing the root cause of chronic disorders
- Supports long-term vitality through lifestyle, balance, and holistic healing
- Re-established Ayurveda as a teachable and clinically applicable system worldwide
The Founders
Candace and Rogers Badgett
Co-Founders & Owners
For more than three decades, Candace and Rogers Badgett have been dedicated to sharing the healing knowledge of authentic Maharishi Ayurveda. In 1991, they founded The Raj in Fairfield, Iowa — a 36,000-square-foot health campus designed to offer traditional Ayurvedic purification, rejuvenation, and personalized wellness care.
Through their leadership, The Raj has become a pioneering center for Ayurveda in North America, known for preserving the depth, purity, and individualized approach of this ancient system of natural health. Their work continues through The Raj and through their broader service within the Transcendental Meditation organization.
Our Team of Experts
Mark Toomey, PhD
Vaidya/Ayurvedic Doctor
Over the last 30 years, Mark Toomey has worked with the world’s top experts in Maharishi Ayurveda in India, Australia, and the United States. In 2005, Mark became the Director of Maharishi Ayurveda at The Raj where he is available for consultations, works with visiting Ayurvedic experts from India, and oversees The Raj’s Panchakarma programs.
Mark has a BA from University of New England, Diploma of Ayurveda Consulting from Maharishi Vedic College, BA, MS in Maharishi Ayurveda and PhD in Physiology from Maharishi International University where he studied and did clinical training in Maharishi Ayurveda and NIH funded research at the Center for Natural Medicine and Prevention
Mark’s experience and expertise in Ayurvedic Pulse Assessment is foundational for developing an effective prevention or treatment program. In this, Ayurveda presages the trend toward “personalized medicine” now emerging within conventional medicine. The principle is that the diet, herbal supplements, lifestyle or treatment plan that is beneficial for one individual may different from those that will be beneficial for another individual—depending upon a person’s specific mind/body balance or state of imbalance.
Manohar Palakurthi, BAMS, PhD
Vaidya/Ayurvedic Doctor
Manohar Palakurthi, BAMS, is an Ayurveda physician (vaidya) and a teacher and expert in the Maharishi Ayurveda and Maharishi Nadi Vigyan (Pulse Assessment). Manohar trained with three of the worlds top experts in Maharishi Ayurveda; Balaraj Maharishi,(world renowned herbalist), BD Triguna (worlds renowned pulse diagnosis expert), and VM Dwivedi (Vice chancellor of University of Jam Nagar). He has also worked closely with Asta Vaidyas and their traditional practices (Keraleeya Panchakarma).
Vaidya Manohar was instumental in establishing Panchakarma centers in USA, Europe and South East Asia . He practices as an Ayurveda clinical consultant, teacher, and course developer for health professionals and modern physicians. He has presented seminars and lectures on Maharishi Ayurveda all over the world. He has trained in Maharishi Aroma Therapy (France), and Ayurveda Ophthalmology (Kerala). He was one of the principal developers of the Maharishi Ayurveda Mother Baby program. Currently he serves as Professor of clinical Medicine at MUM and teaches MS MD Integrated health science in AUIS Caribbean.
Vaidya Manohar serves as Ayurveda products technical consultant and product development research for Maharishi Ayurveda Institutes in India, Netherlands, United States, Japan, and Italy. He is a Professor of clinical medicine (Ayurveda) physiology and health and curriculum developer for Ayurveda courses at the Maharishi University of Management. In 2015 he received the Dhanvantari award by MERU Netherlands.
Manohar graduated from Nagarjuna University in India AP,(1978 -83)At the heart of The Raj programs are the profound Ayurvedic purification treatments that once helped maintain long life for the royal families of India.
Shankari Wegman, PhD
Vaidya/Ayurvedic Doctor
Sankari has been a part of The Raj team of experts since 2003. Her extensive knowledge and experience in Ayurvedic Pulse Assessment provides a base for offering a personalalized wellness routine that encompasses Ayurvedic treatments, herbal supplements, diet and lifestyle recommendations.
Sankari has a life-long interest in empowering people to live their optimal health. Sankari has three Bachelor’s Degrees: Biology-PreMedical and Women’s Studies, Philosophy with a focus on Bioethics, and Maharishi Ayurveda. She has a Master’s Degree in Physiology and is currently pursuing a PhD in Maharishi Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine. Shankari has been a teacher of the Transcendental Meditation program for 18 years. She is on the Board of Trustees at the Maharishi School, an innovative Preschool-12 that combines preparatory academics and self-development. She gives lectures on Ayurveda at universities and high schools throughout the country.
Robert Schneider, MD, FACC
Medical Director
Dr. Robert Schneider is the medical director of the Raj Ayurvedic treatment programs. He is an internationally recognized physician-scientist-educator and leader in the field of integrative medicine. In addition, Dr. Schneider is Dean of the College of Integrative Medicine and Director of the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa.
Beginning in 1984, Dr. Schneider was one of the first physicians in the United States to practice, teach and research Maharishi Ayurveda, the modern reformulation of the ancient health science of Ayurveda. Over the past 30 years, Dr. Schneider had directed or co-directed more than $25 million in grant support from the US National Institutes of Health and other government agencies for clinical research on integrative, mind-body approaches to cardiovascular disease and aging. The results of these studies have been published in 150 peer-reviewed publications, including those of the American Heart Association, American Medical Association and featured in more than 1,000 television, radio, magazine, and newspaper reports, including ABC’s 20/20, CNN Headline News, the Discovery Channel,the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, Wall Street Journal, and Time magazine.
Based on his groundbreaking clinical and research experience with Maharishi AyurVeda, he authored the popular book: TOTAL HEART HEALTH: How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease with the Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health. His second book, entitled SUPER AGING: Modern Medical Science Discovers Secrets of Ancient Ayurveda for Longevity, Health and Happiness is in progress.
Dr. Schneider has been a consultant to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Presidential Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine and the US Congress’ Prevention Coalition. Dr. Schneider is a frequent lecturer at academic medical centers, professional societies and public forums on four continents.
Dr. Schneider received his MD from Rutgers University Medical School and did his postgraduate training in internal medicine and hypertension at the University of Michigan Medical School. In 2005, he was elected as a fellow of the American College of Cardiology. He is a specialist in preventive medicine.