Education and Experience
Premal has been married for over 15 years and appreciates the support of a husband and many close friends who love Ayurveda and always push Premal towards her higher self. She also enjoys the loving warmth of her two golden retrievers, who also receive the benefits of Ayurveda. She splits her time between India and the US and offers private consultations.
Degrees and Professional Experience
- Board-certified in Family Practice
- Studied medicine at the University of Texas at San Antonio
- Residency training, Chief Resident—Waco Family Practice Program
- Acupuncture studies—Academy of Pain Research
- Residency training—the Ayurvedic Institute
- Faculty member—the Ayurvedic Institute
- Board member—NAMA (National Ayurvedic Medical Association)
- Facilitator—University of Arizona Integrative Medicine Fellowship
- Wellness Director—Banyan Botanicals
Publications
In addition to writing for Banyan Botanicals, Premal has written for mindbodygreen and authored a chapter on Ayurveda and women's health in Integrative Women's Health.
Premal's Point of View
How has Ayurveda changed your life?
Ayurveda is the lens through which I see the world—vata, pitta, kapha, sattva, rajas, and tamas. I have been blessed to have some amazing teachers, and am much more understanding of a world in which all the principles of Ayurveda dance. A “pitta'd or vata'd out” partner is much easier to handle when one has the principles of Ayurveda to lean on—a nice bowl of ice cream or a warm oil massage always does the trick!
When are you most likely to go out of balance and how do you bring yourself back in balance using Ayurveda?
My two dominant doshas are pitta and kapha, and those are the two most likely to go out of balance. For kapha season, when the weather is cold and wet, and my diet is heavy (like a cheesy pizza!), congestion and phlegmy wheezing show up with a vengeance—then I use pranayama, hot tea, pippali, and licorice tea to calm things down.
And if I have been out roaming around on an intensely sunny day (during the good 'ole Texas summer), and then I add spicy food to the mix, pitta is bound to get imbalanced—and I'll end up a little irritable and sharp, often with a good case of diarrhea; but it's nothing a little aloe vera, Sheetali Pranayama (Cooling Breath) or a refreshing glass of coconut water can't fix.
My first and favorite Banyan product is Mahanarayan Oil. It feels great almost anytime—stiff neck, after a workout, during meditation retreats, and even for a full body massage.
I also love Kitchari Spice Mix, as well as just plain kitchari—with cumin, salt, turmeric, and ghee—made runny and served hot!
