Levitating Monkey: What lead you to combine your expertise in Neurology with your proficiency in Ayurvedic wellness programs to develop tailored health plans for your clients?

Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary:  I became a patient and once I was on the other side of the stethoscope, my willingness to embrace alternative medical practices completely changed. I developed migraine headaches and I couldn’t get them under control using a western medical approach, even though I was a neurologist. I went to an Ayurvedic practitioner and it not only relieved me of my headaches, but it completely changed the way I saw neurological conditions, by helping me to understand the undeniable connection between the mind and the gut.

Levitating Monkey: As a pioneer in the field of Integrative Medicine who has developed a powerful system to manage chronic neurological disorders—such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and migraine headaches—can you share some of the fundamental changes in diet, behavior you recommend to your patients that we could all benefit from to de-stress?

Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary: The most important thing I teach my patients is to work on their digestive health. Without digestive health, you can’t build health anywhere else in the body. There are several things that can impact digestive health and it’s important to look at the unique issues facing each person, whether due to eating too much processed food or just being under too much stress, that are destroying an individual’s digestive health. There isn’t a cookie cutter answer for health, but in my book, The Prime, I outline the most important fundamental steps to take to create a strong, healthy gut, and in turn, create a strong, healthy body and mind.

Levitating Monkey: Can you tell us about the work you are leading at New Practices?

Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary: At New Practices, we are working with some of the leaders in the medical field, using comprehensive approaches to create programs to combat some of the most devastating diseases facing our nation, such as Alzheimer’s Disease and Diabetes. The programs are not focused on just taking a pill, but rather at analyzing an individual’s unique biochemistry and lifestyle habits that have lead to any one condition. It’s a marriage of the best that modern science has to offer, as well as the most enduring wisdom from ancient medical traditions. This is the most revolutionary approach to medicine, which has never been witnessed before and it represents the birth of an entirely new way to approach both disease and longevity.

Levitating Monkey: Can you talk about your Ayruvedic training in Maharishi Ayurveda? How does that differ from other training programs, in so far as its emphasis on the role of stress in causing chronic disease?

Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary: Maharishi Ayurveda emphasizes what modern medicine is also now only beginning to research and prove—stress has an enormous impact on disease. Managing stress through meditation is a critical component to keeping the body and mind healthy. That is why meditation is one of the steps in the program outlined in The Prime. Without a regular stress reduction technique in your life, it has simply become impossible to counteract the negative impact that our modern world is having on us.

Levitating Monkey: I read that you learned Transcendental Meditation at the age of nine, how did that impact your childhood, how you processed challenging situations, dealt with everyday stresses?

Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary: Learning meditation at 9 years of age changed the course of my life. I felt protected from so many of the negative influences that children are bombarded with nowadays. I was able to focus on fulfilling my life’s purpose because I had this very simple technique that allowed me to decompress twice a day. Stress changes your perception of yourself and the world in a very negative way. Meditation brings you back to who you really are and reminds you of the beauty present in the world.

Levitating Monkey: Talk to us about your book, The Prime and what lead you to write it.

Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary: Following my own experience with migraine headaches and the relief I got from my headaches through Ayurveda, I felt I could no longer practice neurology the same way. So I began to incorporate Ayurveda into my medical practice. Once I started asking my patients to change the foods they were eating, I saw how much trouble they were having breaking out of their dietary habits. So I started to really study why it was so hard for people to change they way they were eating. I created a program to help rewire their brains and gut so they could easily change to healthier eating habits for the sake of preventing and reversing neurological disorders. Much to my surprise, people also began to lose weight spontaneously. Through the process, I realized that there are biochemical obstacles to change as a result of our modern diet of processed and artificial foods, but Ayurveda had solutions to help break these cycles of food addictions. The Prime is about “priming” your body for change first so that weight loss, increased energy, mental clarity, and reversal of disease happen spontaneously.

Levitating Monkey: Can you provide a bit of a deeper dive into the 4 Stages of the Prime?

Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary: In Stage 4 of The Prime, I introduce the habits that people naturally begin to crave once they’ve shifted their biochemistry in the first 3 stages. Meditation happens to be one of those habits, but there are several others that are fundamental recommendations in Ayurveda. Often times, Ayurvedic practitioners begin with these recommendations in stage 4, but what I’ve found is that if you shift the biochemistry first you’ll naturally begin to crave these habits so stage 4 is where I recommend that people introduce new behaviors. It’s different from how most physicians and books talk about change. I don’t ask people to change their behaviors first—I reserve that for the end. I work on changing their biochemistry first.

Levitating Monkey: Can you share with our readers a bit more about The Prime Club, your 16-week coaching program and its benefits to your patients.

Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary: I had to retire from seeing patients last June as my responsibilities as the Chief Medical Officer in New Practices increased and I no longer could juggle the demands of both an executive position and a physician. After writing The Prime, I realized one of the most powerful aspects of the program outlined in the book is the loving, compassionate support that we provided our patients in my medical practice. The Prime Club recreates that environment that helps people to shift their lives. It’s essentially a tribe for those looking for a place where they can be held in a space of love, as they shift who they are from within. The Prime Club offers group coaching sessions where people come together in that spirit of empowerment and respect for one another. Prime Club members also get additional videos with me offering content that goes beyond the book. Members also get Q&A sessions with me so I can help further refine their experiences as they go through the program. It is my way to continue to stay connected to those who who want more guidance and want to be a part of a tribe of like-minded people.

Levitating Monkey: As women age, what are your top 3 recommendations to staying youthful inside and out?

Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary:

1. Do abhyanga (self oil massage) as often as you can.

2. Rest during your menstrual cycle.

3. Meditate regularly! Women are the cornerstones of society—when we don’t take care of our bodies and minds, the very fabric of society begins to fall apart.

Levitating Monkey: What is your favorite fat-fighting remedy to jumpstart metabolism as we go into Spring?

Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary: Guggul. It is the unsung hero of weight loss and supercharging your metabolism. Stage 3 in The Prime was designed to enhance the miraculous impact that guggul has on the body and spring is the ideal season to take advantage of this.

Levitating Monkey: This last question is one we ask all our Experts to respond to, as it’s our way of providing a bit of uniformity to all our interviews. If you could impart three key life lessons to others on their (spiritual) path, what would they be and why?

Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary:

1. Just because you’re on the spiritual path don’t expect that your life will be “easier.” It will be richer and ultimately more peaceful, but it doesn’t mean it will be easier. Embrace the challenges as nothing less than the hand of God molding you into the person you are meant to become.

2. Don’t ever get too comfortable with the spiritual progress you’ve made. As soon as you start congratulating yourself too much on how “advanced” you are, life has a way of serving you a giant slice of humility.

3. You can’t judge spirituality and what qualifies as a spiritual path from the outside. You can meet someone who lives in an ashram and yet just pines away for the material life, as well as, meet someone who outwardly looks like they are completely engulfed in the material world, yet their mind is saturated with the Divine. In our modern world in particular, yogis seem to be hidden in all walks of life and I’m continually in awe of the “hidden saints” that pop up in the most unexpected places.

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About Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary:

Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary’s combined expertise in both modern neurology and the ancient science of health known as Ayurveda has uniquely positioned her as an expert able to pull from the broadest possible base to treat her clients. She is passionate about raising awareness for the need of a paradigm shift in contemporary medicine that focuses on patient empowerment and a health-based (rather than disease-based) medical system. Dr. Chaudhary is a regular guest on the Dr. Oz show, where her teachings about Ayurvedic medicine have been applauded by a national audience.

Dr. Chaudhary was the Director of Wellspring Health in Scripps Memorial Hospital for ten years, and remains a pioneer in the field of Integrative Medicine. Dr. Chaudhary has successfully developed a powerful system to manage chronic neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and migraine headaches, by incorporating fundamental changes in diet, behavior, and stress, in addition to the standard allopathic approach to these issues. This program has been so successful that many patients now use it not just for neurological issues but also for a wider range of health concerns, including weight issues and chronic disease.

Dr. Chaudhary now serves as the Chief Medical Officer for New Practices, Inc. where she is changing allopathic medical practices into healing centers using compassion-based health coaching, meditation, and integrative medicine to combat chronic diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, obesity, coronary heart disease, addictions, and more. She also oversees ongoing research in management and reversal of chronic disease through lifestyle intervention. Dr. Chaudhary is creating a new model for healthcare that is based on teaching patients the principles of health and personal transformation in an environment of compassion, empowering them to live in a way that promotes maximum healing and vitality.

Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary is also a neuroscientist. She has participated in over twenty clinical research studies in the areas of multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, and diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Her research includes groundbreaking work in stem cell therapies for diabetic peripheral neuropathy and drug development for the treatment of ALS. To learn more, visit Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary’s website.