Awakening Through Ayurveda
My Personal Reflections
As I enter the fall season this year, I find myself reflecting—as these seasonal transitions often invite us to do. I am especially looking forward to the release of my first book, Awakened Sleep, which I co-authored with my dear friend and Ayurvedic mentor, Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar. This is something the “old me” would never have anticipated. For much of my life, I never considered myself a writer, nor did I imagine that my voice would one day reach beyond the walls of a clinic to readers across the world.
When I began my journey into Ayurveda, I believed I knew exactly who I was. I was a Western-trained physician, grounded in science, logic, and evidence. I was an intellectual, a problem solver, and someone who thrived in the structured, and private, environment of clinical practice. And yet, I also sensed there was more to me than the labels I had given myself. The truth is that letting go of past conditioning and the rigid identities we build is essential if we are to grow. That lesson unfolded for me in ways I could never have predicted—and it began a process of awakening that continues to this day.
At the time, I had already been practicing primary care medicine for over a decade. I loved the intimate, one-on-one connection of the exam room—listening to a patient’s story, sifting through the details, and finding a path forward together. Public speaking, on the other hand, was something I avoided at all costs. In college, I went out of my way to sidestep any speech courses, meeting that requirement in other ways. Writing creatively was no different; I convinced myself that words were not my strength. My place, I thought, was in the clinic, helping people directly and privately—not on a stage or behind a pen.
So when the opportunity arose to work at the Chopra Center’s Mind-Body Medical Group doing Ayurvedic consultations, I imagined I would be doing much the same as before—guiding people privately toward an Ayurvedic lifestyle within the four walls of an office. What I could not have imagined was how profoundly this experience would shift not only my career, but my sense of self. It was the beginning of awakening a new dimension of who I was, one I hadn’t yet discovered.
A Push From My Mentors
I still remember vividly one of my earliest experiences at the Chopra Center. My mentor, Dr. David Simon, who co-founded the Center with Dr. Deepak Chopra, told me one day that I was needed to teach at the Perfect Health retreat. I froze. My immediate thought was: “I can’t speak in front of people.” Public speaking was something I had always avoided, and now here I was being asked to step directly into it. But Dr. Simon’s quiet confidence in me was steady, and it pushed me to say yes when my instinct was to run.
At that time, I was already reflecting on the principles in Deepak’s Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. One of the laws—the Law of Detachment—became my anchor. It teaches: “In detachment lies the wisdom of uncertainty, and in the wisdom of uncertainty lies the freedom from our past, which is the prison of past conditioning”. These words helped me see that stepping into the unknown was actually an opportunity to awaken parts of myself I had long kept dormant.
The first time I taught a group, I remember my inner critic whispering, “You don’t know enough” and “You aren’t a good speaker.” But as I began to share, something grounded me: I was teaching Ayurveda, something I was passionate about. I was offering tools that could help people heal, guiding them toward practices that had transformed my own life. That sense of purpose carried me through the fear. Watching David and Deepak share their passion for these timeless teachings in an accessible way showed me a new way to help people. Over time, the doubt softened, and, to my surprise, speaking became something I looked forward to. What once felt impossible grew into one of my greatest joys—sharing the timeless wisdom of Ayurveda with audiences across the world.
Discovering a Voice Through Writing
Another defining moment came not in front of a crowd, but in the quiet of an office. I had created a journaling handout for retreat participants, and Dr. Simon asked me to read it aloud to him. My instinctive reaction was dread. Read my writing—out loud—to someone I admired? But I did it. He listened carefully, offering small edits and gentle guidance. And then he said the words I never expected to hear: “You’re a good writer.”
It felt as though a veil had lifted, revealing a new part of me. I had never identified myself as a writer, telling myself I simply wasn’t built for it. Yet here was a mentor I deeply respected affirming something I had denied. That moment cracked open a new possibility. Perhaps I was not only a physician and speaker, but also someone who could write.
A Book I Never Imagined
As I write this now, I am less than a month away from the release of my first book, Awakened Sleep. If you had told me years ago that I would author a book, I would have laughed. And yet, here I am. What makes this moment even more meaningful is that I co-authored the book with my good friend and mentor, Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar, who has been a steady guide, helping me explore the richness and depth of Ayurvedic teachings. His own books have carried the wisdom of Ayurveda across the globe, and were an inspiration along my writing journey.
The book itself was born from a conversation with Deepak. We had been discussing the pillars of health—nutrition, movement, sleep, emotional well-being—and how Ayurveda has long described sleep as a biological necessity. It was Deepak who urged us to write a book that focused specifically on the Ayurvedic perspective on sleep as a doorway to health and wellbeing. By helping people establish natural, restorative sleep we could invite people into the larger world of Ayurveda and its potential to awaken human consciousness. I couldn’t say no to that.
The writing process was more than an academic exercise; it was a process of self-discovery. I had to find the discipline to put words on a page, the humility to revise them, and the courage to share them. I had to let of of perfectionism and obsessing over which studies to share. And when I found myself thinking, “Will people in the medical profession take you seriously?”, I reminded myself of the Law of Detachment: let go and surrender. Stepping into the fear may, in fact, be the very thing that allows you to create more healing in the world.
The Jewels on the Other Side of Fear
Looking back, I see how fear so often masquerades as truth. Fear whispers: “You’re not a speaker. You’re not a writer. Stay in your lane.” But fear is rarely the end of the story. Fear is the closed door that hides jewels on the other side. Each time I’ve found the courage to turn the handle—to step into public speaking, to share my writing, to co-author a book—I’ve discovered the excitement that life can bring when stepping into uncertainty. Each of these experiences has been an awakening, reminding me that growth and freedom live on the other side of fear.
Ayurveda has been the catalyst for this unfolding. It has taught me that healing is not only about the physical body but also about the mind, and most importantly, spirit. To truly be free and enjoy all that life has to offer us, we must be willing to shed the beliefs and conditioning that keep us in a limited version of ourselves. It’s about stepping into the unknown with openness and awakening to our full potential. This doesn’t refer to the outcome of what we do, but the potential we have to continue to grow and evolve. That’s the true jewel.
A Journey Still Unfolding
Finding a passion like Ayurveda has allowed me to step into spaces I once avoided. Whether in a clinic, on a stage, or through the pages of a book, my intention remains the same: to share these teachings in ways that help people reclaim their wholeness. Ayurveda is not only a system of caring for the body—it is a philosophy of life. It teaches us to honor nature’s rhythms, to cultivate balance, and to recognize that we are more than the roles we play or the identities we cling to.
When I first entered this journey, I thought Ayurveda would simply complement my medical practice. What I discovered is that it transformed not only how I cared for patients, but how I saw myself. It invited me to let go of the prison of conditioning and to embrace the freedom of uncertainty. It encouraged me to see that stepping into new roles—as a teacher, a speaker, a writer—was not about abandoning who I was, but about becoming more fully who I am. This is the essence of awakening: to see ourselves clearly and step into our wholeness.
Today, when I stand before an audience or put words on a page, I do so with gratitude—for my mentors, for the wisdom of Ayurveda, and for the courage that comes from detachment. My journey is far from over. There are still fears to face, still closed doors to open. But I trust that each step into uncertainty holds new jewels waiting to be discovered.
An Invitation to You
As I reflect on my own path, I realize that each of us carries doors of fear—those places where we hesitate, convinced that stepping through is not meant for us. Ayurveda has shown me that these moments of hesitation are invitations, not barriers. They are opportunities to pause, breathe, and choose differently. Whether it is in your health, your work, your relationships, or your creative expression, the wisdom of Ayurveda reminds us that healing and growth emerge when we honor our full potential as humans, not just our limitations.
So I invite you to reflect: What doors in your own life remain closed out of fear or conditioning? What possibilities await if you allow yourself to step into uncertainty with trust? The path may feel unfamiliar, but as I have discovered, it is often in the unknown that we find our greatest freedom, our deepest healing. Every step forward is an awakening.