You're listening to Health Lifelines, a podcast
brought to you by the Lifeguard Approach, your
trusted source for insights, solutions, and training
that empower you to become a lifeguard for your
patient's health and wellbeing. Good morning,
listeners. This is Christu Ball with Health Lifelines
podcast, and I am so excited to introduce you
to Dr. Simi Chopra today. She has a very unique
path of how she moves patients from disease to
healing. And so I'm anxious primarily to just
give her the lead and let her talk this morning
about how that transformation happens. And so
welcome, Dr. Chopra. Thank you, Chris. It's a
pleasure being here. Great. So tell me a little
bit about where you're from. Sure. So I'm originally
from India, and I moved around 30 years back
to New York. So before I got into Ayurveda, I
was studying molecular biology and biostatistics.
It has been quite a journey for me to get into
Ayurveda because when I was in school, so in
India how it works is that after 12th grade you
give exams to get into medical schools. So I
got into Ayurveda in the medical system in India.
But I chose to follow this molecular biology
path. And then after I moved to the US, and when
my daughter was born and she was having some
little bit of problems, that is when I moved
back to learning Ayurveda. And then there was
no looking back. And there's a beautiful saying
which says that you don't choose Ayurveda, but
Ayurveda chooses you. So that has been very true
for me, because I kind of rejected it that time,
but it wasn't, I think, the right time for me
that time. So yeah, so since then, I've been
practicing in, since I finished my doctor program,
I've been practicing in New York City at Sid
Ayur, that's my company. And I've been trying
to help clients with chronic issues, allergies,
hormonal imbalance and name anything so it's
been quite a journey yes that's an interesting
journey and you must have been something was
kind of calling you or persistently bringing
this up in your your heart and your mind because
something must not have been working in what
you were trained to do is that a fair statement
to say in in the past Yes, I think you're right.
Though I must say that I was always in tune with
Ayurveda. So back in India also, I'll give you
a small story about me. I used to have severe
chronic like chronic sinusitis. So back when
I was studying in college and I was living on
antihistamines daily and it used to make me drowsy.
It was not conducive to study while being drowsy.
So finally I went to my hometown and the Vaidh,
we call them Vaidh in other Ayurvedic doctors
back in India. So he did a therapy which is called
Nasya for seven days. So where they put herbal
decoctions or herbal oils. In my case they put
Tulsi Swara. So basically it's Tulsi juice and
since then it's been like now what 35 40 years
or so and I've never touched food I've never
had sinus issues and it was severe it was really
chronic so I always was gay towards Ayurveda
since I was little I used to have chronic cough
again through Ayurveda it was fixed but But you
know how a molecular biology is also very interesting.
So it was very interesting. That time, it was
the hot topic. So I wanted to study that. And
it's actually nothing. You know how we say, whatever
you learn, you'll always use it sometime in your
life. So even now, I like to integrate both the
fields where I understand it from the the biochemical,
the molecular, the genetics, everything of that
particular problem. So it becomes a nice blend.
I love how you've blended those to the ancient
healing wisdom of Ayurveda and then the modern
science. Would you talk about your personal healing
journey from some things that you had to battle
And then embracing penchakarma. Can you tell
us about that as well? Sure. So yes, a few years
back, I was diagnosed with cancer. And so I did
an integrated approach where I got the cancer
removed, but I refused. I did not do the chemotherapy.
I just refused. I knew my body will not handle
it. So, and I've had so much faith in Ayurveda.
So I went ahead and did a Panchakarma, which
is a very intense detox. It's like five to six
weeks process where it's like a month where we
kind of prepare our body. And then where we increase,
we fix our digestion and majority of the time,
any health issue that happens is because we have
a weak digestive system, a weak digestive. We
call it fire. Agni we call it. Agni translates
into fire. So we have a weak digestion, which
leads to whatever we're eating, we don't digest
properly and it leads to We call it, which is
you can loosely say it's toxins. So when the
toxins build up, they can appear in the form
of a rash on your skin or maybe arthritis in
the joints or whatever the problem is. So for
me after that, I mean, I did take the tamoxifen,
which is like a chemo drug for just a month and
it gave me severe, severe problems. So I had
rashes like ulcers all over my body and I could
not. keep food inside me. So at that time I was
like, okay, enough is enough. I'm going to do
my panchkarma. So I prepared my body, increased
my digestion, removed the toxins. So that was
the preparing the body. And then it's like eight
days to 10 days, which is the actual panchkarma
where we intake medicated herbal ghee according
to your problem and then there's five you can
say therapies that is done to remove the toxins
out of the body so that he brings all the toxins
to your gut and then these five treatments depending
on again what is the problem, we remove the toxins,
either through purgation or either through medicated
NMRs or through MSs. So there are a lot of other
ways to do it. So that was, that's how I kind
of fixed my gut issues and rashes and all that
was going on. And they were there after, you
know, after because of the chemotherapy that
I had refused. So I had to take in, I had to
kind of blend I had to take in herbs and all
to compensate it. Is the pench karma, is it very
much associated with the gut microbiome that
we talk about today? OK. So microbiome, yes,
it is going to, because it resets your gut. Pench
karma, it resets your gut. So in that case, yes,
it is going to fix your microbiome. But I have
to say that Panchkarma, when people come to me
for my clients, I try to discourage them to do
it. Because it's, I said it's a six weeks thing,
but it's actually like a three months, you know,
before you have to be careful. After the Panchkarma,
you have to be very careful about the food, because
your gut has reset. So like, And then if you
immediately start eating any kind of food that,
you know, like pizza or some, or those kinds
of heavy food, it's going to be a problem. But
yes, to your question, it does build your microbiome.
And, but there are other very simple things that
a person can do to build a good microbiome. So
there's homemade buttermilk. If people can just
introduce that in their life. Once a day, usually
I try to tell my clients around a midday, around
10, 11 a .m. Just make a buttermilk, which is
the recipe is given on my website also, just
taking a one to two teaspoon of yogurt and one
glass of water and then just blend it, churn
it with salt and cumin powder and all. So that
brings, that helps your good bacteria too. become
more and balance your microbiome. Very, very
interesting. And I like that. It just seems so
much more natural than putting all those chemicals
and things that are not designed to heal us.
That's for sure. Totally. I mean, I even for
my children and my clients, I don't recommend
the probiotics that I've found on the, you know,
very over the counter. I just tell them to do
the buttermilk and that really helps and you,
you get so used to your body kind of craves it.
So I just had buttermilk before starting this.
So the ingredients into the buttermilk are on
your website. Yes. That would be, I will definitely
check that out. So tell me also, what we hear
so much today is about our fast -paced world
and where stress and burnout are everyday companions
with most of us. So how do you bring those Ayurvedic
principles into small sustainable shifts that
people can actually live by. Yeah. So in the
last few years, Ayurveda has become quite popular
in the West. And mainly I've seen people who
have the time are able to follow the Ayurvedic
principles very beautifully. You know, the main
principle is to have a rhythm. Follow the...
be in sync with nature. So follow the Ayurvedic
clock where you wake up at a certain time, eat
at a certain time. Your heaviest meal should
be at lunch, light food in the breakfast and
dinner and sleep for seven, eight hours, which
anyways, everyone says even the Western mainstream
medicine also says the same thing. But the problem
is for people who are busy, who are in the corporate
world, they are nonstop They are shuttling meetings
and they're traveling college students who have
a lot of projects to you. So for all these people,
it becomes very difficult for them to just to
tell them to follow the I already clock because
it's not going to work for them. If they have
three projects due the next day, they are going
to take it. They are going to sleep very late.
Maybe they are sleeping only for three, four
hours. So which becomes an issue. So what I suggest
to those people is they are So Ayurveda stands
on three pillars. One is food. Second is sleep.
So sleep is a must, but I tell them if they can,
if they can sleep between the hours of 10 PM
to 2 AM. That is the time when there's internal
repair happening, internal transformations is
the. Pitta time. It's the night Pitta time when
all the transformations, all the memories that
you have, it gets the junk is removed. So your
liver is detoxifying. So I tell them to wake
up early, at least get that four hours sleep
at least. So that is one. So that is the one
of the pillar. The second is food. So in food,
people are eager to add things, you know, add
some superfood, add lots of fermented foods and
all, but problem is one has to eat according
to what is imbalanced in them. So if there's
an imbalance of these, we call them doshas, it
can be, you can call them anything you want.
It's like, it's the principle behind it. If you
have a lot of heat in your body, so you should
be avoiding certain things. So I tell them rather
than add things, avoid, initially avoid a few
things according to what is imbalanced in you.
So for that, to find out what is imbalanced,
it's best to come to an Ayurvedic practitioner
so that they can tell you what is imbalanced
and what foods to avoid. So like, for example,
I'll give you five. So a person, let's say that
has a lot of heat in the body. So they might
have issues like acidity or rashes on the skin.
They're prone to all these things. So for them,
the best thing is to remove spicy food, sour
foods, fermented, very fermented foods. You know,
like these days, a lot of people are having too
much of kimchi. It is good, but in a small quantity.
So these kind of people, for them, the pitta
is imbalanced. Then they are few people who have
a prone to dryness or aches and pains. For them,
the water energy is imbalanced. So for them,
I'll tell them not to have cold, too much cold,
like cold water, ice cold water, raw salads,
smoothies, though, those two things I tell all
my clients not to have. So it's the for people
who are in a rush, at least if they can avoid
a few things, so that will start helping them.
their gut introduced, introduced digestivities
according to your imbalance again. So all these
things, even if they are in a, you know, they're
traveling or they are back to back meeting, they
can always grab digestive teas and sip on those
that will keep helping their gut. So that was
the second thing, which is the pillar of Ayurveda.
The third is it's called Brahmacharya. So the
literal translation is celibacy, but We are not
talking about just control over, you know, just
be celibate, but it's about control of the senses.
So here we, these days, you know, we are doing
too much excess of screen time. So excess of
the five senses, too much of misuse we are doing.
So if we are able to control those five senses,
if we are, and how can we do that? Because once
we control those senses, we are also working
on our mind. So if we see the senses are the
gateways to the mind. So sense organs, they are
the portal between the inner world and the outer
world. So we are seeing through our eyes, we
are smelling through our nose. All these five
senses, if we can just take care of them. So
people who are very busy to take control, I mean,
to calm their mind. It's very easy for us to
tell them, don't stress, but everyone is stressed
these days. For them to tell them, and how do
you deal with stress? To do meditation, to do
breathing exercises and all, but when a person
is so short of time and they are not able to
focus, meditation also doesn't happen for them.
So for them, I'm telling them to just take care
of their five senses. So there are these therapies
in Ayurveda where if for each senses, there are
different therapies. If we take care of those,
if we are able to do that, and one can do it
at home, and it takes just two minutes, and I'll
describe a few of them. Through that, you can
take care of your senses, which in turn takes
care of your mind. And there are studies which
have shown that whenever your, let's say your
sense of smell or sense of taste, which is affected
your they are more prone to dementia. So the
modern science has been studying that. And the
neurotransmitters are affected. So let's say,
when we just see food, for example, sometimes
even just the thought of food, our mouth starts
watering. And just tasting food, the memory starts
triggering. Sometimes it's associated with happy
memories, sometimes with sad memories. So just
by tasting food that can happen. So your memory
gets triggered. So the neurotransmitters are
released there. So it's nothing is like separate.
So there's a very simple therapy which these
days has become very popular called oil pulling.
We call it Gandusha. It's actually more like
holding the oil in your mouth. So after brushing
your teeth, just take sesame oil and hold it
in your mouth for two minutes. And then just
spit it out, preferably in a trash can so that
your drains don't clog. So what is that doing
is there are nerves and blood vessels in your
gums, in your mucous lining inside the mouth.
So through that, the herbs are going and removing
any... blockages or any inflammation and then
balancing the neurotransmitters. So the right
neurotransmitters like your dopamine, oxytocin,
all those will be released. So when you have
a happy mind, you are able to handle the stress.
So these are very small therapies for mouth.
this Gandhusha that I was talking about for nose
that there's Nasya, just two drops of, you can
just use sesame oil or ghee, just plain ghee
in each nostril. So all this, especially Nasya
is such a powerful therapy and people can do
it at home unless they are very congested. And
that helps balance the hormones. It helps. balance
the neurotransmitters. So there are these small,
small therapies which I tell my clients to do
who are very busy, who can't follow the Ayurvedic
clock and do the proper rhythm. So this is how
they can do these small changes in their life.
Do you talk about the Ayurvedic clock on your
website? Not on my website, I haven't. Actually,
there's a blog there, but on my YouTube, I have
a YouTube channel, as well as Instagram. And
in both of them, in YouTube, there's an elaborate
way I've explained Ayurveda clock, how it works.
So yeah, it's given there properly. Perfect.
I think that's really important. How do you determine
which of your five senses are out of balance.
Do you do medical testing? Do you do, do you
just look at the bot? Tell me about that. Sure.
Uh, I mean, I, there's no test as per safe for,
um, but just by questioning them, uh, questioning
them, analyzing them, feeling the pulse. So there
are different ways. how we can figure out what
is imbalanced in a person. And if people are
themselves complaining about some problems, just
stress, let's say they're just having too much
stress. So then these are some therapies which
they can just incorporate. So the testing is
not done like a hearing test or something, but
if by questioning, by analyzing, we are able
to figure that out. That's awesome. solutions,
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about how Ayurveda and what you do can benefit
children. You mentioned that you have children.
So I'm curious, you know, I and a lot of other
people are into the airway community and we're
trying to figure out how to help children. and
recognize the problems they're having in childhood
so that those problems don't follow them for
the rest of their life. Because they do follow
us for the rest of our lives if we don't help
children manage that at a young age. So tell
us about what you do with your children or with
children patients. I mean, sadly, when my children
were little, I was not following the Ayurvedic
particularly. So that's the reason I said when
my when my daughter was around 10 years old and
she was diagnosed with some major hormonal imbalance
and insulin resistance, which is why I got into
full into Ayurveda. But otherwise, for my grandchildren,
I guess I will be telling them what to do. proper
in an Ayurvedic way. So if we are able to introduce
the Ayurvedic principles from their childhood,
then it becomes very easy for them to handle
one's stress in their lives as they go into high
school, college, and then work. So it's a combination
of everything. So try to make them follow the
Ayurvedic clock. Try to help them just eat the
right food, because since the childhood, if we
are able to tell them not to, so a few things
which I tell everyone, and it also naturally
goes, applies to the children, not to drink ice
cold water, not to drink smoothies, not to have
raw salads, because all these things will slow
your metabolism. So if they are from day, from
beginning, they're able to, incorporate these
and then of course when if to eat according to
their doshas. So if initially it's also because
Ayurveda not only helps in you know managing
health problems but also in maintaining the health.
So for children we can start incorporating all
these principles so that they are able to maintain
the health. So these are small things, again,
everything what we can do for adults, we can
do for the children. Good. Tell me about also,
you mentioned several times not drinking cold
water. Tell me about that other than the only
thing I equate to is cold water can stimulate
the vagus nerve and cause some challenges for
some people. But what else happens when you drink
cold water? So if I just see from the Ayurvedic
lens, so when I keep on saying digestive fire,
right? That our digestive fire becomes slow.
So that is the Ayurvedic terminology. So what
cold water, if we just see the, what does cold
do? Anything cold constricts. Warm expands. So
we don't want any of our subtle channels or channels
to constrict. We want them to be free flowing.
So the warm water is one. It's going to do that
and no constriction. Second is our gut is it's
a warm climate inside. There's a warmth inside
your mucus lining. There's a just the word mucus.
There's a there's a what do you what is this?
alternative word for mucus. So I don't want to
say slimy, but everything there's nothing which
is if, if the mucus is not maintained, then it
becomes dry, right? So the cold is going to the,
the, the hot water, not hot water, like room
temperature water is going to maintain the mucus
lining. It's going to maintain the flow of the
intestine because there's a peristalsis happening.
So what we want to do is eat and drink warm,
warm. So, and especially for food, it's warm,
cooked food so that we can maintain the gut,
gut's lining, which is warm and the environment
inside is warm. And yeah, that is what, and the,
there has to be a nice airflow to it. That makes
a lot of sense, actually. Simi, tell us how Ayurveda
supports emotional balance. Okay, so Ayurveda
has, again, it's going to be a combination of
a few things. One is when your mind is strong,
you are able to handle the emotions of the life
that throws challenges at you. So when you wake
up in the morning, there's this A particular
time we call it Brahmahurat, which is at around
one and a half hours before sunrise. So that's
the time when, if you are able to do meditation
that time, even for like five, 10 minutes, that
brings the sattva in you. It calms your mind.
It builds your... In other words, you can say
that it builds your mental capability so that
you can handle the stresses of the day. So the
emotional overhaul that you experience throughout
the day or in life, you're able to handle much
better. So here it's going to be a combination
of meditation, pranayama, which is breathing
exercises we have. So when we have this strength
from inside, then we are able to handle the emotional
trauma that we experience and then there are
these therapies that we can incorporate into
it which is one is called shirodhara where we
pour um herbal oils on your forehead so this
is the shirodhara equipment that we use that
where around 40 minutes we pour herbal oils so
what it does it calms the brain so again the
herbs you know how when we do a massage we start
feeling very relaxed and be good so and there
are studies which show that the good hormones
the happy hormones are released when there's
a massage done properly so the same way when
this shirodhara is done it calms the mind. So
these three, four things one has to do. And then
there's Ayurvedic counseling, just like when
you go to a counselor, so where you have to,
you know, you can communicate with someone about
your trauma. So all these combinations help us
deal with the stresses of life and the trauma,
emotional trauma. Yeah. It's kind of mind, body,
spirit treated as a whole. Yes. Are you offering
a course or anything that our listeners could
check out and possibly engage into? Not as right
now. So maybe in a couple of months, but right
now I'm working on these YouTube very elaborate
videos. where just like the Ayurvedic clock is
mentioned properly, then all the five senses,
how to go about it, how to do these therapies.
So all those are given, which is kind of like
a mini course that they can do. They can watch
that. Oh, that is now is that on your YouTube
channel or on your website or on my YouTube channel.
Okay. What is your YouTube channel? Is it your
name? No, it's Sid Ayur, basically my company's
name, S -I -D -H -A -Y -U -R, Sid Ayur. Do you
have a clinic where you take care of people?
Yes. So my office is in Manhattan. So I see my
clients there for consultation, which is an hour
long. And then even the therapies that are I
do for them, depending on what they need. So
if it's stress management they come for, then
besides the consultation where I guide them with
the diet and lifestyle change, then I give them
the herbal protocol where it's catered to their
mind, but the gut is always involved, so the
gut is always there. some recommendations for
that. And then the therapies would include like
the Shirodhara. Then if people are coming for
pain management, again, the therapies are part
of it. It's like a whole package where there
are these Again, besides the diet, lifestyle
and herbs, these are external oil therapies where,
I don't know if you have seen these boluses we
make where it has either dry herbs in it or fresh
herbs. And then we dip them in either oil, herbal
oils or herbal decoctions. And then let's say
a person has a frozen shoulder. So they are these,
again, special herbs specific for that problem.
And then we'll... you know, we'll kind of massage
with that bolus and it opens the channels and
it removes the toxins. So it works beautifully
when they are taking in the, you know, they're
following the protocol as well as doing these
external therapies. So yes, I do all those therapies
as well as the consultation at my work at my
clinic. Terrific. There's a need nowadays for
what you do. So I want to thank you for being
here and sharing with not only what you do, but
who you decided to be for your patients and what
you're bringing to them. That is so, so important.
And I'd just like to give you one final little
invitation. What message of healing would you
like to send into my heart and the heart of our
listeners today? So not to fear health, empower
yourself just by following following Ayurveda,
Ayurvedic principles, Ayurvedic clock. So and
just be mindful of your body, your body is always
giving you signals. So what is balanced, what
is imbalanced, so be in tune with your body.
And there's nothing to fear. Yes, and listen.
We're sometimes not very good listeners during
stressful times, are we? Yes, totally. So if
you train yourself daily, then at the stressful
times, you'll be able to automatically know what's
happening. Perfect. Well, thank you so much.
This has been Health Lifelines with Dr. Simi
Chopra. And it's been a pleasure having you here.
And thank you for all you brought to us. And
I would encourage you all that are listening
to reach out to her, listen to her messages that
she has on her YouTube chat, and even connect
with her at her office and clinic in New York.
Thank you so much for being here. Thank you,
Chris. Thank you, Chris, for having me. It was
a pleasure. Thank you. That's it for today's
episode of Health Life Lines brought to you by
the Lifeguard Approach. I hope you found inspiration
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