Undergraduate student Rudy Richter
Rudy Richter is a professional tennis player from Guatemala with a world ranking of 1293. Although several US universities offered him scholarships to play Division I college tennis on their team, Rudy wasn’t inspired by the majors they offered and came to MIU instead.
Rudy wanted to study Ayurveda and was also excited about MIU’s organic vegetarian cafeteria. He played tennis all around the world and at age 16 began to experience digestive problems and food sensitivities. His doctors weren’t able to offer any solutions, so he turned to natural medicine and Ayurveda. He became a vegetarian and incorporated Ayurvedic practices and yoga asanas into his routine, which made a difference in his athletic performance.
With tennis partner Tyler Cleveland
Rudy is now doing a double major in physiology and health and Maharishi Vedic Science℠. “Ayurveda and sports are my two passions,” he said. “After I graduate, I want to play professional tennis again, and after that I would like to implement Maharishi AyurVeda with athletes and help them the way it helped me.”
“It was a pleasure to have Rudy in my Maharishi AyurVeda Self-Pulse Reading for Good Health course,” said Professor Liis Mattik. “He is a bright, intelligent student who welcomes challenges and meets them well.”
When he came to MIU Rudy didn’t expect to find a challenging tennis partner, but he met his match in Maharishi School alumnus Tyler Cleveland, one of the greatest players in the history of the University of Iowa. Now they are training together with the goal of entering regional tournaments that can eventually lead them to the US Open.
Rudy has also noticed the effect of the Transcendental Meditation® technique on his game. “You can effortlessly notice more things that happen on the court,” he said. “You see things as if the world slows down – you are in the flow, so you notice more of what your opponent is doing.”
