Brad Willis (also known as Bhava Ram) (born August 27, 1949) is a former

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...

foreign correspondent, author, musician and teacher. As a journalist, Willis was the recipient of the

Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award The Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award honors excellence in broadcast and digital journalism in the public service and is considered one of the most prestigious awards in journalism. The awards were established in 1942 and administered ...

for his work from inside Afghanistan during the Soviet Occupation in 1986. Since retiring from journalism due to a broken back and failed surgery, Willis has focused on

Vedic upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

wisdom, teaching and writing about

ayurveda Ayurveda () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population repo ...

and

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

Early life

Willis was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, California, the youngest of three children. As a teenager coming of age in the 1960s, he was actively involved in the national protest movement against the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. From 1969-73, he attended

Humboldt State University California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt also known as Cal Poly Humboldt, Humboldt or Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California or California State Polytechnic Universi ...

Arcata Arcata (; Wiyot: ''Goudi’ni''; Yurok: ''Oket'oh'') is a city adjacent to the Arcata Bay (northern) portion of Humboldt Bay in Humboldt County, California, United States. At the 2020 census, Arcata's population was 18,857. Arcata was first ...

, California, earning a degree in English Literature and a Secondary Teaching Credential. Forsaking a planned career in academia, he left graduate school and joined KVIQ as a news reporter. Within two years, Willis was the news director, anchor and investigative reporter for KVIQ.

Broadcast career

Willis worked for KVIQ from 1973–76, earning several awards from the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

and

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...

for his investigative reporting. In 1976, he was recruited by

KCRA-TV KCRA-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Sacramento, California, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Hearst Television alongside Stockton, California, Stockton-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate KQCA (channel 58). Both stations ...

in Sacramento, California. After a brief stint as executive producer of KCRA's prime time news magazine show, ''Weeknight'', he became an award winning investigative reporter for the news division. In 1984 he was hired by WFAA-TV,

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, Texas and continued as an investigative journalist. During this time, he produced major investigative reports on corruption involving national politics and corporate business. His reports from Venezuela on a Texas oil executive wrongly imprisoned in an international oil scandal led to eventual freedom for the American. In 1986 Willis moved to

WBZ-TV WBZ-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent station WSBK-TV (channe ...

in Boston, Massachusetts, and continued his career as an investigative journalist. He launched WBZ's first foray into global news coverage with reports from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

during the Soviet occupation. His documentary covering his time with the

mujahideen ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term th ...

and in the massive refugee camps along the Afghan/Pakistani border earned him the Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award. On vacation afterwards, he fell from a ledge battening down storm windows in the tropics and fractured his lower spine. Despite constant pain, he continued working for seven more years. Willis subsequently reported on the struggle against

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

in Africa from

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

and

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

, the drug wars in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, the reopening of US/Vietnamese relations in

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

with Senators

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...

and

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

, and efforts to help the indigenous people of the Guatemalan highlands. In 1987, he was given the Gabriel Award for broadcast excellence with a positive and creative treatment of concerns to mankind for his work in

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

. In 1989 Willis began a career with NBC News as a foreign correspondent posted to the Miami Bureau and covering Latin and South America. His major areas of focus included El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Cuba and Colombia. In 1990 Willis was dispatched to the Middle East to cover the Persian Gulf War for NBC. He was on the front lines of

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

and Operation Provide Comfort. As the network Pool Reporter for the First Marines, he covered the Battle of Khafji and the

liberation of Kuwait The Liberation of Kuwait was a U.S.-led military operation to retake Kuwait from Iraq after the massive air campaign, between 24–28 February 1991. U.S. troops and the Coalition entered to find the Iraqis surrendering en masse; however, pocket ...

, reporting live from

Kuwait City Kuwait City ( ar, مدينة الكويت) is the capital and largest city of Kuwait. Located at the heart of the country on the south shore of Kuwait Bay on the Persian Gulf, it is the political, cultural and economical centre of the emirate, ...

with NBC New anchor Tom Brokaw. Willis then moved into northern Iraq to cover the Kurdish refugee crisis. In 1992, Willis was posted to Hong Kong as the NBC correspondent for covering Asia. He reported from China, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan and the Philippines.

Post-journalism career

In 1993, Willis suffered a severe break in his lower back from the injury seven years earlier. A fusion-laminectomy operation failed, left him deeply disabled and ended his career with NBC News. Several years later, Willis was diagnosed with

oropharyngeal cancer Oropharyngeal cancer (OPC), also known as oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) and tonsil cancer, is a disease in which abnormal cells with the potential to both grow locally and spread to other parts of the body are found in the oral ca ...

and given little chance of surviving the disease. Willis then stopped years of heavy medications and turned to the Vedas as an alternative to the Western medicine that was apparently failing him. He claims that two years of intense meditation,

pranayama Pranayama is the yogic practice of focusing on breath. In Sanskrit, '' prana'' means "vital life force", and ''yama'' means to gain control. In yoga, breath is associated with ''prana'', thus, pranayama is a means to elevate the '' prana'' ''sha ...

, fasting, veganism,

Shatkarma The shatkarmas (Sanskrit: षटकर्म ''ṣaṭkarma'', literally ''six actions''), also known as shatkriyas,Warrior Pose-How Yoga Literally Saved My Life
was published in May 2013. As Bhava Ram, Willis holds certification in Ayurveda from the Kerala Ayurveda Academy and is certified as an Advanced Yoga and Ayurveda Educator through the American Institute of Vedic Studies. Ram leads trainings and retreats in the U.S. and internationally, plus lectures and provides keynote speeches to medical schools, executive groups, and holistic health practitioners.

Publications

Books

* * *

Articles

* * *

CDs

* ''Flowing with Shiva'' * ''Meditation'' * ''Yoga Nidra (with Laura Plumb)'' * ''Gratitude Yoga Practice''

References

External links

Bhava Ram, website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Brad 1949 births Living people American yoga teachers American television reporters and correspondents Writers from Los Angeles NBC News people California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt alumni American war correspondents War correspondents of the Gulf War Journalists from California