“I often like to say, Ayurveda is the complete user manual of the game of life, where all guidelines and resources to live a wholesome life reaching one’s full potentials, can be found” In honor of Ayurveda Day 2021 (coming this Tuesday, 11/2), today’s woman dreamer, Pratibha Shah, an internationally renowned expert in the field shares how she discovered her passion for Ayurveda, one of the world's oldest holistic (“whole-body”) healing systems. A vast and exciting field, Pratibha shares how she is bringing ayurvedic practice outside of India, and her perspectives on how we can incorporate Ayurveda into our daily lives, particularly in food, sleep, and our discipline. A must-read piece for Ayurveda Day 2021!

1. Please tell us about your journey into Ayurveda. What inspired you to pursue this career path?

It is quite a story. In fact, I started believing in destiny after this. It all started with my oldest brother’s wedding in Kolkata, in 1982. He was a newly minted Air Force Officer, and this was his first posting. The whole family traveled by train from Bengaluru, for the wedding, and so did my favorite uncle from Nagpur. Now it is important to note two things – I have always been unconventional in my thinking and being the only sister to four older brothers, I was used to speaking my mind. So, when my uncle asked me how I was doing, I did not hesitate to tell him that I did not like the new school where I had just completed Grade 11. He said come to Nagpur, it has some really good schools. And just like that I said yes, my parents said yes, and believe it or not, I did not return to Bengaluru with my family. Instead with whatever clothes and things I had, I travelled to Nagpur with my uncle. He got me enrolled in a very good college and I started enjoying my Grade 12 learning experience. I excelled in science, math track and we started talking about what I would do after finishing 12th grade. Those days women architects were on the rise. It seemed natural to purse that and join the other engineers in the household. All was looking good, with my Grade 12 scores sufficiently above the previous years’ cut off for the prestigious Regional Engineering Colleges (REC) in that area. 

Right around that time my Nagpur uncle’s son’s marriage was scheduled in New Delhi. I was left behind, so as to not miss the expected interview call from the REC colleges. Now I knew that my parents’ train would be crossing Nagpur (from Bengaluru) in three days. Being alone and to myself, I soon graduated from ‘I should not be going’ to ‘I will come back quickly after attending the wedding. It is highly unlikely that the interview call will come in this period’. Remember I was just 17 at that time.  As this idea grew in my head, I was more and more convinced it would be ok. So, I picked up my cycle, raced to the station and bought a ticket to New Delhi, knowing I could board the train and find my parents easily, as bogies are connected. And I did exactly that. I will spare you the details of my dad’s shock and what followed. But let us put it this way, the interview call did come while I was away. Long story short, dad took me back to Bengaluru and we explored Mysore engineering colleges, but Architecture seats were full, and admission to all other colleges closed by that time.

Now my dad had always wanted me to become a doctor or teacher. At this point even MBBS admissions were closed. Then suddenly one day he came home and said ‘There is an Ayurveda college in the main city area. Would you consider joining that instead of taking a gap year.’ I said ‘Ok, it can’t hurt to check it out’. I went, got selected and in my first year itself, I got so intrigued and fascinated with Ayurveda that I decided this is what I wanted to pursue in my life. This in brief is how Ayurveda found me, through a series of fateful decisions and incidents!

2. What have you have done to propagate Ayurveda outside of India?

While doing my MD from the National Institute of Ayurveda, Jaipur, I took a UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) National Exam and was fortunate to be one of the 12 selected from all over India. I subsequently joined CGHS as a First Class Gazetted Officer, even before completing my MD. When I left India to come to the US in 2004, I was serving as a Chief Medical Officer, in what is now AYUSH Ministry.

After coming here, I was a on a dependent visa for a short while. Then I resigned from AYUSH, gave my GRE and got admission in MPH International Health, at BU School of Public Health. By that time, I had started consulting for free and giving small talks here and there about Ayurveda. All through my MPH program, I centered almost all my projects and assignments on/around Ayurveda, including my culminating White Paper. All my faculty and fellow students had no choice but to get introduced to this new (to them) system of health and well-being! 

Upon completing MPH, I was immediately invited to join an Integrative practice. In 2015, I moved to a new integrative practice. All this while my public speaking engagements were increasing. I was going everywhere as Ayurveda, not me myself. Somewhere along the line, I founded two 501c3 non-profits, one is National and the other is now International. I also became a senior faculty at two leading Ayurveda schools. I have also been involved in many local as well as International Ayurveda projects, including being part of a 6-member team that Initiated World Ayurveda Day in 2018. One big milestone has been to get Ayurveda Day Proclamation every year for the past three years, from two local city Mayors. As of today, I consult, teach, preach, live, and breathe Ayurveda. Ayurveda is not just my profession, it is my passion and my very life. 

3. Can you tell us briefly what the Ayurvedic approach to health is?

Ayurveda, which is one of the world’s most ancient continuously practiced system of health and life, has the most beautiful and complete definition of health, that includes mental, emotional and social well-being in addition to physical health. If I could define Ayurveda in 3 words, it would be – Prevention (tools for primary prevention from diseases), Promotion (building upon the baseline of health and well-being) and Personalization (of health and well-being protocols and therapeutic protocols). In my opinion, Ayurveda is one of the most complete systems of health and well-being. And as I often like to say, Ayurveda is the complete user manual of the game of life, where all guidelines and resources to live a wholesome life reaching one’s full potentials, can be found.

4. How does Ayurveda look at food and nutrition?

As per Ayurvedic principles, food is that which should nourish us and equally importantly, do us no harm. Ayurvedic approach to Dietetics is quite vast and scientific. A few key Ayurvedic guidelines for optimal nutrition would be to eat food that is – fresh, real, clean-sourced, whole, seasonal, preferably local, UNALTERED and aligned with one’s unique body type.

5. Please share a few easy and effective tips from Ayurveda perspective for general health and well-being.

The three pillars of health as stated in Ayurveda are – Food, Sleep and Discipline. If one can pay attention to these three, one can go through life with optimal health and well-being. This dictum could not be more true and relevant in current times. Additionally, pay attention to your metabolism – appetite, digestion, assimilation as well as elimination. Ayurveda has emphatically stated that most diseases arise from breakdown of gut health. It is fascinating to see modern medical science discovering the same.

6. What is your long-term professional dream?

I have been fortunate to be doing what I absolutely love, most of my life. I would like to continue to be able to spread the joy of healing through Ayurveda with as many in the world as I can. It is my dream to see more client-centric Integrative models of care and a shift to health and wellness in our healthcare, rather than just a disease care model. Something that I do want to accomplish soon, is to start writing simple and easy handbooks on Ayurveda for the common people. Hoping to accomplish that before or by 2025.

Thank you Pratibha for sharing your story with us. We are excited to have you

Bio: Pratibha Shah, BAMS, MD (Ayurveda), MPH, is an internationally renowned Ayurveda expert. Intensely trained in Traditional Health Sciences as well as Public Health, Pratibha Shah distils Eastern wisdom with an understanding of Western principles, for the best care of her clients. A strong sense of compassion and empathy, intent listening skills, in-depth thorough assessments and well contemplated individualized Master Wellness plans are a hallmark of her 30+ years of practice. Client-centric Compassionate Care defines her best. Her pioneering initiatives in the field of Ayurveda, have brought her to attention at the White House, the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as the Consulate General of India, NYC. For her work, she was nominated in the Top 20 Women of the Year, for the year 2014. In 2019, she was featured in an international documentary on Ayurveda. She is the Founder, President of two non-profits and CEO of My Ayurved LLC. In 2019, she launched her own high end organic herbal product line by the name of Swa Stha.She currently practices in the Greater Boston area but has clientele throughout the world.

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