MY STORY

Growing up “food as medicine” was the motto in our home. I’ve only known my Danish mother with the crippling pain and deformities that come with this disease her autoimmune Rheumatoid arthritis disease. My Father is South Asian, and with his insight on Ayurvedic healing, we took off to live at the Sivananda Ashram every summer. It was here that I witnessed the power of eating whole, unprocessed food, daily meditation, breathing and yoga, and time in connection with self, community, nature.

In my twenties, I worked in a corporate role as a makeup artist and sales and education executive for luxury cosmetics companies. As the story goes in the corporate world for many, I was living out of alignment and my health took a hit. I suffered from anxiety, I was peri-menopausal with a PCOS diagnosis, and debilitating heart palpitations that led to prescription medication and eventually two heart surgeries with multiple ablations. During the second heart surgery, doctors said there was a high risk of wearing a pacemaker for life if they did the procedure. In that moment, I realized I needed a change and that I was not going to live life being sick or living with a pacemaker. It was time to go back to my roots.

Inspired by my mother's health journey, I left the corporate world and returned to my roots at the ashram, becoming a yoga and meditation teacher, along with becoming a registered holistic nutritionist. Living at the ashram, I found solace in daily rituals based in Ayurvedic practices which helped me tune into what my mind/body needed to heal. I rediscovered the feeling of balance and coherence in my body which allowed deep healing to take place. I cultivated the environment within my body to heal and I wanted to share this with the world.

Soon after working with clients, I realized that merely prescribing diets was a superficial fix for the underlying biological issues causing them pain, suffering, trauma, and stress. Witnessing their emotional struggles, I became a Master NLP Practitioner. This allowed me to tackle the limiting thoughts and beliefs that were hindering their progress.

Through the integration of coaching with nutrition, along with healing ayurvedic rituals from the ashram,  my career evolved into educating clients about the necessity of integrative healthcare. Our mind, body and consciousness are interconnected, so we must address this in entirety for optimal wellness. This, I pray, is the future of medicine, combining Eastern and Western medicine.

After miscarrying twins, I was able to get pregnant and have two beautiful children, Elijah and India. Believing in myself and my body, you could say that I gained my personal power back, in awe of what our body’s are capable of and the Divine Intelligence within us.

Embracing the rising interest in gut health, I explored juicing my favorite PREbiotic root vegetable, jicama which was on my clients food protocols. The outcome? A juicy, slightly sweet, and incredibly nutritious concoction, rich in fiber, vitamin C, and antioxidants. Recognizing jicama's global reputation for its numerous health benefits, I ventured into creating three delightful sparkling water flavors of Xicama™ (hee-ca-mah). These flavors became an instant hit, setting sales records at Coachella 2019 and gaining shelf space in California's retailers.

I’m excited to share the story of our soil based on my journey with Xicama. The health of our soil is essential to our survival, so we can continue to harness food as medicine. Farmers are our first line of healthcare, cultivating nutrient-dense food for our future. I advocate for the synergy between personal and environmental health and our Farmer’s hold the wisdom required to save our food system. Nature heals. It’s time we connect with our roots and the knowledge from our ancestors to heal ourselves and our planet.