It's Ritu Sandhi 🌷

Karen Burr posted a video yesterday asking functional medicine practitioners who are exploiting people with chronic disease using the phrases, “root cause” and “holistic health” to leave the Indy Holistic Living Community. Then, I read a post of a woman expressing her frustrations of spending thousands of dollars on tests and supplements while never actually getting to the “root cause.”In response, I’m sharing this video I recorded last spring. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit balancedalignment.substack.com

A message from my heart. Thank you for listening, I hope it inspires you. I mention a couple of links at the end of the video which I’ll share here:Nourished is our life giving food service providing wholesome nourishing offerings.Ayurveda Applied is our next workshop on September 26th. A great launch point for anyone seeking to prioritize their health and longevity, plus you can stay for brunch! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit balancedalignment.substack.com

This was recorded at the end of 2025 and after realizing I left the heater on I did some retakes but they just didn’t land the way this one did. Every podcast I’ve released has been single take no edits, and it seems we’re gonna keep up that trend for now. Enjoy :) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit balancedalignment.substack.com

Hey friends,Thought I’d share some quick tips on getting the most out of your spring season. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit balancedalignment.substack.com

Be bold and courageous my friends! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit balancedalignment.substack.com

Using honey in baking and cooking is a common health fad today and l want you to know the truth of using cooked honey. Plainly and simply, consuming cooked honey in any form according to Ayurveda is toxic to your health. I shared this with a friend a couple of weeks ago and today I saw him again and he wasn’t quite convinced. He asked me to prove to him that cooked honey is poisonous.It made me think. And then it made me realize it’d be fun and beneficial to share my response with everyone. Enjoy :) Here’s the article I reference in the episode: https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/is-cooking-honey-unhealthy/ Have you tried Nourished yet?It’s off the charts! 😋 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit balancedalignment.substack.com

We want competent holistic professionals who specialize in “living organisms.”Why read this?Because I wrote this for you. I shared this link with you because I care about your health and longevity. I read (and hear) over and over again, stories of people spending so much money on specialists and high tech treatments, only to end up where they started, and sometimes, even worse off. In this article, I aim to respectfully challenge what has become a normal view in healthcare (including holistic healthcare) because you may very well likely hold this view, and it may very well be working against you. The view is as follows:* You need a specialist.* High tech diagnostics are the best form of health analysis .The reality of blood workBlood work offers a painfully incomplete picture of your health. It does not reveal causation nor does it accurately reveal correlation between the differing aspects of your health. We’re all too familiar with this story… “Well Mrs. Jones, your blood tests came back normal,” to which she replies, “how can that be? I feel terrible.”You know that you don’t go to bed healthy and wake up with a disease. Imbalance is building in your body years before your A1C level actually qualifies you for diabetes (or even pre-diabetes) and the same is true with all the other diseases. Imbalance stacks up over many years and eventually manifests as a full scale disease.Ayurvedic methods of assessmentI share these because I want to offer you a window into the clinical sophistication of Ayurvedic medicine.Trividha Pariksha - 3 Point Examination* Darshana - observation* Sparshana - touch* Prashna - questioningAshtavidha Pariksha - 8 Point Examination* Nadi Pariksa - pulse assessment* Mala Pariksa - waste assessment* Mutra Pariksa - urine assessment* Jihva Pariksa - tongue assessment* Shabda Pariksa - voice/sound assessment* Sparsha Pariksa - visual assessment* Drik Pariksa - eye assessment* Akruit Pariksa - stature/gait/posture assessmentDashavidha Pariksha - 10 Point Examination* Prakruti - individualized constitution* Vikriti - variation from homeostasis* Sara - quality of tissues* Samhana - quality of build* Pramana - bodily measurements* Satmya - personalized habituation* Sattva - state of mind/mental strength* Ahara shakti - capacity of digestion* Vyayama shakti - capacity for physical strength/resilience* Vaya - ageWhy not a specialist?When you need your car fixed you see a mechanic, a “specialist” in cars. Thus it seems natural that if you have digestive discomfort you would see a gastroenterologist, “ a specialist” in digestion. While on the surface this seems logical, let us investigate further.The reality is that the expertise of our mechanic or “car specialist” is actually holistic. He understands cars as a whole. Alternators, batteries, cylinder block, pistons, crankshafts, timing belts, etc. He understands each part separately, and more importantly how all these parts are interconnected. A great mechanic is able to ascertain which parts are working, which are not, and thus which action to take to return the car to proper working order. Moreover a great mechanic can guide you correctly and prevent you from taking unnecessary non helpful actions.Now imagine you went to a mechanic that just had highly specialized knowledge of pistons. He knows more about pistons than any other mechanic, but then refers you elsewhere for anything else. Imagine if all mechanics were this way? How many specialists would you see before finding the right diagnosis and issue with your car? Sound familiar?? 😉As I’m sure you’ve put together by now, this is in fact our current medical paradigm. “Doctors” of different modalities and specialties, offer their expertise in hyper specialized areas of focus and refer out for anything else. Sadly, as it stands today and in a general sense, these specialized doctors have never learned the science of holistic health. They do not understand health, healing, nutrition, physiology, or disease in a comprehensive manner. Nutrition is not taught in medical schools. We all know this, but we keep going… How can you trust a medical professional who doesn’t even understand how your food affects your health?When it comes to health, we want our medical professionals to be equipped in the same manner as our mechanics. We want competent holistic professionals who specialize in “living organisms.” Just like our mechanics, we need people who ascertain what’s working, what’s not, and when & where to take action.To further dispel the notion that technological testing is the best form of diagnosis let us explore my last point. What exactly are blood tests and biomarkers supposed to tell us? They’re supposed to indicate our health right? Whether or not we’re healthy? Blood tests and biomarkers are just indicators of our natural health. But these tests are not required to ascertain the health of a person. You yourself can tell whether a person looks vibrant and healthy or sickly and weak. Let’s take anemia as an example.Modern medicine needs to run a blood test to find out if you’re anemic, but I don’t. And neither does a qualified Ayurvedic practitioner. A blood test isn’t required to see that a person is anemic. There are signs and symptoms both leading up to and in onset of anemia. According to Ayurveda, a person may appear thin, under nourished, with pale skin, lips, tongue, nails and a loss of natural skin glow. They may experience cold extremities, dryness, swelling, or headaches. They may also experience fatigue, heart palpitations, and feeling tired even after resting. Typically they experience poor digestion, absorption, indigestion, and loss of desire for eating. Mentally they may experience lack of motivation, difficulty concentrating, anxiety, and difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep.This is just a window into it, and all of this can be ascertained through the beautiful Ayurvedic methods of assessment listed above. No testing required and what’s more, Ayurveda is much better equipped to actually treat a person with anemia. Iron supplements and iron infusions, like most modern medical treatments, do not address the root cause of the issue.In conclusion, the reason a “living organism” specialist is ideal is because they can connect the dots across all aspects of your health. Like stars in the night sky; when enough dots have been connected the constellation of your health is illuminated. This constellation presents both your current health status and roadmap to restoring balance.In my practice, I leverage the beautiful Ayurvedic science of life to support and nourish your physiological star map which is the true underlying cause of all aspects of your health and imbalance.If you feel you’d like to learn what Ayurveda can do for you, I encourage you to visit our clinic page and schedule a consultation. It is after all, backed by a satisfaction guarantee.Be bold and courageous. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit balancedalignment.substack.com

Wowwwwwwww! After recording this I went ahead and asked chatgpt this: The natural flavor on the back of nutrition facts labels. What does that mean?🔍 What Are Natural Flavors?* Derived from plant or animal sources (e.g., fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, dairy, meat, or seafood).* Highly processed and chemically altered to enhance taste.* May include solvents, preservatives, and emulsifiers that aren’t required to be listed separately.* Can contain hundreds of chemical compounds under one single label.🚨 Important Things to Know:* "Natural" doesn’t mean healthy. It can be just as processed as artificial flavors.* Companies don’t have to disclose what’s inside. If you have allergies or dietary restrictions, this can be risky.* It can contain MSG, citric acid, or other additives that some people react to.Bottom line: If you want to avoid mystery ingredients, look for products that fully disclose their flavoring sources (like "vanilla extract" instead of "natural vanilla flavor"). This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit balancedalignment.substack.com

Hey Friends, A few quick tips to get your body ready to make the most of this beautiful spring season. Enjoy! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit balancedalignment.substack.com

I have long since felt that healers and healthcare practitioners of all kinds can empower their practice by learning the fundamental principles of Ayurveda. Why?Because Ayurveda is a true science by which I mean axiomatic in nature. Axiomatic means self evident, proven by reality itself. For example, gravity is axiomatic. There’s no debate about gravity, reality itself proves it so. Before humans discovered the equation to quantify it, gravity was present and true. Before they discovered the math to construct equations, math was true. Similarly, the laws of physics, calculus, and chemistry have all been true since the beginning of time. They are axiomatic, they are embedded as laws of this universe.Ayurvedic medical science reveals the axiomatic laws of biology. In the same way that physical objects are governed by laws of physics, our bodies, minds, and cells are governed by laws of biology. Over the past few years I’ve held such a strong desire for other healthcare providers to learn the fundamentals of Ayurveda. I wanted them to experience the empowerment and liberation I experienced. One day it occurred to me plain and simply, “Well then you have a responsibility to make that available to them.”This is the parallel experience which ignited my desire to offer this course. During my time studying with Dr. J and the Kerala Ayurveda Academy (which I absolutely loved) I noticed a theme shared by nearly all of my classmates. Questions like: “Are egg rolls ayurvedic?” and “What’s the best medicine for liver disease?” revealed that they lacked a very critical understanding of Ayurveda’s most basic principles. Yes, we went over them in class, but clearly, they had not fully landed. Towards the end of my education, many if not most of my colleagues could recite formulations and their applications to specific diseases better than I could, but their ability to assess, discern, and treat according to fundamental principles of Ayurveda was lacking.These principles are not pieces of information but rather seeds of knowledge. You can plant these seeds but you cannot rush their growth. And it is the fruit of these trees which bear revelation and insight. I was lucky enough to study Ayurveda intensely for 5 years before attending KAA. This enabled me to absorb the curriculum effectively. I feel most Ayurvedic students in the U.S. are not given the time, direction, and guidance to cultivate those initial and foundational seeds of knowledge. They are planted, but then student’s attention is redirected away those young sprouts necessary for building an embodied foundation of knowledge. It becomes information overload and at the end of the program, students don’t graduate feeling empowered to practice Ayurveda. If you relate to this, this course was made for you.Ayurvedic Medicine 101: Foundations of Practice is live 🥳 I encourage every Ayurveda enthusiast to start with this course before paying thousands of dollars to go to one of the big name schools. Set the foundation first. This course is $299 and the value is guaranteed. If you complete it and feel it wasn’t worth the money you’ll be refunded no questions asked. For my fellow healthcare providers out there, you’ll find that these principles don’t disrupt your practice, but rather empower it. You’ll learn how to distinguish a person’s energetic anatomy, why things you do work the way they work, and why other things don’t work. Why some things work for some people but not for others.Lastly, the 2025 live cohort will launch this fall! You need to have completed this first course in order to join the upcoming Part 2 Live Cohort this fall so if you’re feeling inspired, start it now! This will give you the opportunity to join us live (online) in the fall.Continue being bold and courageous my friends,Daryl Roberts This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit balancedalignment.substack.com