065: [FEMININE FLOW] Ayurveda, Nutrition, & Yoga Nidra for Women's Health with Nimisha Gandhi

Today we're diving into female health x Ayurveda, functional nutrition, hormone balancing with food, and the incredible research behind Yoga Nidra.

My guest for the podcast this week is Nimisha Gandhi, a nutritionist, researcher, educator, community-builder, and devoted mother. With a background in functional medicine nutrition, Ayurvedic counseling, and Yoga Nidra/meditation teaching, Nimisha's journey from tech founder to wellness advocate is fueled by a passion for preventative healthcare. Through her practice, Moon Cycle Nutrition, Nimisha blends functional medicine nutrition with Ayurvedic principles to craft personalized plans for reproductive and gut health. Her research-based work and insightful teachings inspire wellness seekers globally through workshops, webinars, and speaking engagements.

 Other topics:

• Nutrition & Ayurdeva
• Hormonal health from Ayurveda's perspective
• The intersection of Western Medicine and Ayurveda
• The research behind Yoga Nidra and it's impact on our hormones
• The spiritual aspect of our cycle 
• The different types of Doshas 

Nimisha's Bio:

Nutritionist, researcher, educator, community-builder, and mother, Nimisha Gandhi is well-known for her work and life passion for preventative healthcare.
 
Nimisha is a functional medicine nutritionist, Ayurvedic counselor, Yoga Nidra/meditation teacher, and former tech founder. She holds a B.S. in pre-med Psychobiology from UCLA and has years of additional education in her field.
 
In Nimisha’s private practice, Moon Cycle Nutrition, she specializes in reproductive and gut health with an emphasis on the mind, body, and soul. Nimisha combines functional medicine nutrition with ancient Ayurvedic principles to help her clients find deeply personalized eating and lifestyle plans.
 
Her clients learn to awaken their untapped healer and empower themselves about their own health journey. She also uses the innate wisdom of changing hormones and cycles of nature to help her clients flow with their body. Moon Cycle Nutrition is a conscious evolution practice that draws on deep inner inquiry, food as medicine, meditation, sleep, rituals, lab work, movement, and insight that she has picked up along the journey.
 
Nimisha serves as a board member of several health and wellness companies and organizations, including FemTech Collective, Womco, and Conscious Kitchen. She speaks regularly at conferences, retreats, and private events. You can also find Nimisha teaching workshops, webinars, and classes in-person and virtually. Her work is research-based, intuitive, and from the soul.

To connect with Nimisha:
 
IG:  mooncyclenutrition
LI: Nimisha Gandhi

Yoni Health and Wellness Guide

www.mooncyclenutrition.com

Chapters

• 0:02 Exploring Holistic Health Paths
• 11:17 Understanding Ayurveda and the Doshas
• 26:45 Ayurveda and Hormonal Health Perspective
• 35:39 The Gut-Brain Connection and Hormonal Health
• 44:41 The Power of Yoga Nidra
• 54:03 Podcast Thank You and Discount Offer

Transcript

Kasia: 0:02

Hello and welcome to the Other Way, a lifestyle podcast exploring uncommon, unconventional or otherwise alternative approaches to life, business and health. I'm your host, Kasia. I'm the founder of Inflow, a woman's wellness brand that designs intentional products to help women reconnect to their unique cyclical rhythm and find a balance between being and doing. This podcast is an extension of my mission within Flow. Here we provide intentional interviews with inspiring humans, trailblazers, researchers, spiritual teachers and more on the journey of doing things the Other Way. I'm so excited to welcome my next guest, Nimisha Gandhi. Namisha is a functional medicine nutritionist, ayurveda counselor, yoga nidra meditation teacher and a former tech founder. She holds a BS in pre-med psychobiology from UCLA and has years of additional education in her field. She has a private practice moon cycle nutrition, where she specializes in reproductive and gut health, with an emphasis on the mind, body and soul.

Kasia: 1:19

And today we are getting into all of it. We're talking about Namisha's journey from pre-med at UCLA to switching into nutrition and Ayurveda. For all my listeners out there who are challenging themselves, we're feeling their hearts called towards following something they're passionate about. Her story is going to be so inspiring because she really went against the grain of what was expected of her to go down this path. We covered Ayurveda, what it is, the doshas and also how Ayurveda looks at female hormonal health. So for those of you out there who are familiar with Ayurveda, this is going to be a great deep dive that goes into how Ayurveda relates to female reproductive issues as well.

Kasia: 2:05

We talked about the importance of the gut when it comes to female hormonal imbalances, the gut-brain connection, tying it back to PMS symptoms, pmdd and other conditions, and then we also dove into a pretty surprising topic, which is yoga-nedra. I don't know if anyone out there is even familiar with what yoga-nedra is. We're definitely going to dive into it. It's a type of meditation. But what was really fascinating was Namisha shared some pretty incredible research around yoga-nedra's effect on conditions like amenorrhea, pcos, ptsd and other conditions and disorders. So much more in this juicy episode, so much more to come, and I swear as I was wrapping this up, namisha and I both reflected how we felt like we touched so much, but there's just so much more we could get into. Namisha has such an incredible wealth of knowledge on so many topics around both the clinical side of reproductive and hormonal health for women, but also the spiritual side, and I just cannot wait to share this incredible woman with you all. Without further ado, let's welcome her and jump on in. Namisha. Welcome to the podcast.

Nimisha Gandhi: 3:26

Thank you for having me. It was so fun meeting you and making this happen.

Kasia: 3:31

I know it's been a long time coming, all the way since December. I love it, but I feel like, in a way, it's almost better because I've gotten a chance to follow your content. I've really gotten a bunch of questions all lined up, so this is going to be great. So, before we jump in, one of the things I love to ask every single guest is what are three words that you would use to describe yourself?

Nimisha Gandhi: 3:55

I would say mysterious, fun and curious.

Kasia: 4:03

Oh, mysterious. I truly think that's the first time I've ever heard that. How does that show up for you? I'm curious.

Nimisha Gandhi: 4:11

You know it showed up in so many ways in my life. So when I was younger and even just now, I've been a little. I'm an introvert, extrovert. So it takes me a minute to really open up. And I've been told so many times when people meet me it's like oh, you've been really, you were really mysterious until I like I found a subject to talk about and then I like opened up and I've kind of carried that vibration with me a little bit. It makes things interesting and fun.

Kasia: 4:43

Oh, my God, you know what's so funny. I actually agree with that. Like when we met in person, I remember you came up to me and you were like you had this very like confident energy about you, but you didn't give away too much, you know. But I wouldn't have guessed like the yeah, the introvert, extrovert I could totally see that kind of mixed in with that mysterious vibe. I love it. You're like the first person who's used that word and it's so on point, perfect, okay, cool. So I think that gives everyone a little bit of a vibe for who they're listening to.

Kasia: 5:15

And, in addition to being mysterious and all those other words that you just mentioned, you're also a certified nutritionist from Bowen College of Nutrition in Berkeley, which is like one of the leading institutes on nutrition. For those of you out there who are listening to this, it's like the foremost place to study nutrition, because I know a bit about it. You're an Ayurveda counselor and a yoga need your teacher. Can you share a bit with us about your story? What inspired you to kind of dive into this path of nutrition? Ayurveda, yoga, yeah.

Nimisha Gandhi: 5:47

I'd love to. So I always thought I was going to be a medical doctor. It was kind of an expectation in my family and I went to UCLA, studied pre-med psychobiology, did all the things to get to med school and somewhere along the way I just started listening more and more to my body, started listening to alternative viewpoints just kind of around me and my environment. And my grandparents had also got sick at that time and they were going through the medical system where they were just like in and out of hospitals and the treatment just didn't feel right with me and they weren't seeing the whole picture. They weren't I in so many ways I felt like they weren't seeing the human. They were only seeing medical diagnoses and pain management. And so I really started exploring like is medical school cut out for me? Is this what I want in my future? And as soon as I started questioning that, I learned about an Ayurvedic school nearby my campus at UCLA and I, you know I'm Indian.

Nimisha Gandhi: 7:06

I grew up with Ayurveda infused in my life. There was never anything formal saying we're doing this because it's Ayurvedic. It was just. It's a way of life for many, many South Asian people, many Indian people, because it's just embedded in the culture and so it felt familiar and I was like I felt really curious. But I probably read, like I went to the website and there was an immediate yes for me and so I started going to this Ayurvedic school on the weekends while I was finishing up my undergraduate degree at UCLA.

Nimisha Gandhi: 7:41

And then, once you get started on this path of alternative or holistic health, it just opens you up to so many other ways of thinking, other certifications that you want, to other types of practitioners. So after that I actually but this was 20 years ago and I didn't know many people who are studying Ayurveda or even desired Ayurveda in their lives, and I didn't know how to put myself out there. So I stayed with the conventional a little bit. I worked in clinical research. I still stayed in that realm a little bit. Then I moved back up to the Bay Area and one thing led to another. I ended up going to Bowman College for nutrition. Then I studied functional nutrition and all these other things that came along with it, and that's how I really got started. But it was really fueled by a passion from what I saw was happening, from personal experience in medical care.

Kasia: 8:41

Oh, that's so resonates incredibly deeply, not just the kind of feeling of you know, perhaps there could be a different way to provide care for a lot of especially chronic conditions, because acute is a completely different story. Right, Like you break your ankle, it's very obvious that if you need surgery, you get surgery, but when it comes to a lot of chronic conditions, the Western system really does tend to break people down into chunks, and so it makes a lot of sense. Well, actually to me it's like it doesn't make sense to me why people don't see that. But I mean, I think it's so incredible that, although you went on this like very traditionally successful path to UCLA, you were like on the pre-med track. You followed your heart and pivoted.

Kasia: 9:29

And I want to actually hone in on that for a second, because there are a lot of my listeners that I know are going through some big life changes and it can be scary to go off of what's like the traditional successful path and do something different. When you did this, ahead of the curve kind of like 20 years ago, Ayurveda was not really a thing, Like we weren't talking about it the way we are now. So I'm curious like what was that transition point for you and what really kept you going, Because you kind of it sounds like had to go back to your family and be like you know I'm actually going to do something different.

Nimisha Gandhi: 10:02

Yes, with my family. They still thought I would eventually go to med school or get some sort of graduate degree and I had just, I think I enrolled in this school without telling anyone really. I just was like I'm doing this and you know, this was 20 years ago, I don't remember the final details, but that's just how it was. It was like and my parents actually seem pretty proud they were like, oh, you're tapping back into the culture and this seems really interesting. My grandmother was delighted, you know, and she's like, oh, this is something that she felt like she could connect with. But they always thought that I would go on and still pursue medical school or some sort of other, you know, like pharmacy or something. It just never really happened. That's not. You know, once I immersed myself in the way of Ayurveda, I just couldn't go back to traditional schooling. I just couldn't go back to the traditional framework of how, of health systems so powerful.

Kasia: 11:09

I love that Like dip your feet in, you don't have to necessarily tell everyone you're completely changing your life and then just see what happens. So kind of. In that whole vein, what is Ayurveda for people who don't know, who are not familiar with it? What exactly is it?

Nimisha Gandhi: 11:24

Yeah, ayurveda, which means the knowledge of life or science of life. When you break up Ayurveda, it's a Sanskrit word originating in India, like 5,000 years ago. It is based upon the understanding that nature, including humans, are made up of five elements, which are ether, air, fire, water and earth. And, according to Ayurveda, health is not just the absence of disease, but the alignment of the mind, body and nature. So it's a whole body type of medicine, and each combination of an element makes up a person's personality, type, their unique makeup, and that's resonant of all living things. And so Ayurveda is really a life science. It's kind of a blueprint on how to live your life in the most balanced and harmonious way.

Kasia: 12:20

That is so beautiful. So Ayurveda would consider something like anxiety as a type of, perhaps, imbalance.

Nimisha Gandhi: 12:31

Yes. So let's step back. Actually, in Ayurveda there's a key component called doshas, and so doshas is your energetic blueprint, it's what's determined at consumption and it basically tells you what your you know kind of predicts what your personality would be like, what your temperament, what's going to keep you healthy and what might kind of throw you off and may cause disease in your body. And, of course, as you grow as a person, your doshas also grows. And so there are three main types vata, pitah and kafa. Vata is made up mostly of the air and ether element. Pitahs are made up of, like the, fire and water, and kafa is made up of water and earth. And everyone has a combination of these elements of vata, pitah, kafa, and that's what makes you so unique. So for me, I'm mostly vata. I would say, you know, like 60% I'm vata or maybe even 55% I'm vata. Then I'm like maybe 35% have pitah, the remaining I'm kafa. You know, I have very little kafa in me and this kind of just determines what I'm really prone to and it does play out. And so when we talk about elements like anxiety, we also look at which element in the body is being disturbed that's causing that anxiety and how do we bring that back into balance?

Nimisha Gandhi: 14:02

And anxiety is multifaceted, right? There can be so many reasons for anxiety. It can be something that's going on in the mind, but it could be something that's going on in the heart, and or it could be something that's going on in the womb, you know. And so where is that anxiety coming from? Where is that root imbalance? And then your doshia type. Their doshia types are more prone to anxiety. So vata people are highly prone to anxiety because they have a lot of ether and air in them. So they have all this like movement and energy. And anxiety is really pent up energy that hasn't been moved out of the body, or sometimes pent up emotions. And kafa people rarely get anxious, or you know, if they get anxious, I mean something's really wrong. It's hard to move, it's hard to disturb them. You know.

Kasia: 14:56

yeah, that is such a good kind of breakdown of also looking at how anxiety can be viewed differently between the different doshias. Let's dive a little bit deeper into each of the doshias. Can you walk us through, for each of the vata pitta kafa doshias, what are some of the qualities associated with them?

Nimisha Gandhi: 15:18

I like to give a visual. So I visualize vatas as hummingbirds. Hummingbirds are small, they're tiny but they're mighty and they're always up in the air. They're fluttering right and they're very unique. They have this long beak and they're very colorful. Actually, if you look at a hummingbird's wings, when it's all spread out, they're very colorful. And that's exactly how I describe a vata person. Just physically. Vatas are either really tall and lanky or they're short and petite. They're like extremes.

Nimisha Gandhi: 15:58

I think like vatas are people with extremes. They're the artists, they're the creators, the creative writers. You know they're the healers also in our society. They just have an artistic way about them and everything that they do. They're a little eccentric also and they're variable. So they change like the wind. They change. They can be hot and cold at the same time, they can like two opposing things at the same time and it seems like their minds are always in many places at once. But they are also very kind and sweet and they have this way about them and that's how I see them, as you know, and it's easy for vata people to get carried away Again, like if you think about the wind. They just kind of get carried away. They get excited by an idea and they'll be all in, and sometimes it may not be something that they truly desire.

Nimisha Gandhi: 17:00

And then the pitas. Again I like to say the pitas are the lions in our society. They are what in Western psychology we say type A personalities. But it's not really that they're type A, that they just they do better with predictability. They do better when they're on time, because when they're not on time, it causes them lots of internal frustration. It causes them, it causes an imbalance in them, and so they need organization. They're the, they're the leaders in our society, and very specific type of leaders, more like the CEOs of companies, they are the ones who lead our country or government. Those are more pitas types. They're pitas types.

Nimisha Gandhi: 17:47

Like a lion can get angry really fast, really irritated as well, but they're also lovers in a way where, you know, like passionate lovers, they just they're, you know they're really about the passion, the hot fire in them and their digestion is really strong, and but they are also the type that can get upset if they get they, they, they. They're not meant to fast, you know, because they, you know, their digestion is so strong that they need to eat constantly, or just at least on time, and then we have our beautiful kafas. And kafas, I say, are like the elephants in our world. They're very sturdy and it takes a lot to move them, you know, unlike the vatas that were like a little little burst of air and they're just off right. But the kafas need more cajoling to move. They, they're just sturdy, or their feet are planted in the ground and they are the nurses and the teachers and the caregivers in our society, natural nurturers. Kafas are beautiful in features they're. They have big eyes, luscious hair. Their skin is usually really smooth and clear as well.

Kasia: 19:10

Those are such good visuals that you brought out. I love the animal references. I'm curious how much of you know when we think about a lot of doshas. I feel like a lot of the literature out there speaks to how somebody's body frame might be like, but it sounds like there's a lot of these emotional kind of behavioral characteristics that are playing quite a huge role, like when I think about people in my life. Like I think about my husband, very tall and lanky, but as you're describing the kafa type, I'm like oh, he's kind of like a kafa, like a kafa vata maybe. Even so, I'm curious, like how much does the physical body affect our doshas versus our personality, or is it really like a blend of everything? I truly think it's a blend of everything.

Nimisha Gandhi: 19:58

Our physical energetics definitely will play a role in our you know, just our digestion and our moods in a way, because our gut health is related to our brain health or our mood as well. But in Ayurveda it's not just you can be a complete kafa body type but have a 100% vata mindset you know, so, yeah, so, and you know, and that's the thing about like, no one's a 100% one dosha, You're always a combination of a dosha.

Kasia: 20:35

Yeah, and does that shift over time? I know you mentioned that a lot of it is designated at birth or at conception even, but over the course of your life can you adjust your dosha, yeah?

Nimisha Gandhi: 20:50

So the dosha that you're born with is called your prakriti, and that is a dosha that you want to maintain throughout your life because that is, you know, you are born with a genetic blueprint. Unless you have surgery or something, you can't really change that. And if you try to change that, it's like you're trying to change the course of a river. When you change the course of the river, you change everything else. Right, you change the environment, the fauna, flora, everything around you, and that is what happens in your body when you try to change it. So let's say, a kafa body type who is a little bit rounder, a little bit sturdier in build. But you know, our society really idolizes a vata body type, like super skinny and tall and lanky. And if you're a kafa it's trying so hard to be a vata. Sure, the kafa may diet and do all these things and lose 30 pounds and, you know, be skinny. But then now this kafa is depressed, has all these anxiety, has all of these other mental health issues as well as physical health issues. Now, all of a sudden they might have aches and pains in their body, or heart palpitations, or maybe so many different things. So, no. So the short answer is no, the biological blueprint of yours should not change over the course of time.

Nimisha Gandhi: 22:23

There are influences. So our childhood is heavily influenced by the kafa. Our childhood is a period of growth, so a lot of kids have more kafa in them. You know, a lot of kids have asthma and then they grow out of it or they always have running nose and they're just going through this. A lot of the bone and body and the mucus changes. Then you get into your middle life.

Nimisha Gandhi: 22:50

Midlife, let's say mid-20s to mid-age. That's your high pit time in life. That's where you're, you know, career driven and so. And then in your later lives is your vatha age, where you're like older, your skin is more frail, your skin is just your drier and then you're just different. And so these influences you. The period in your life influences you. The environment, the seasons, like even the seasons, have a dosha. So right now we're in winter, almost getting to spring, we're leaving vatha, getting kind of into the kafa season, where it's going to be more wet and snow is melting and things are warming up a little bit, and so those are all things that influence you too and can change. But if you go so far away from the biological blueprint that you were born with, you were inviting disease into your body.

Kasia: 23:47

Absolutely. I love that example of the extreme dieting because I can think, you know, I think I'm more predominantly actually hit to vatha, but I remember in my younger ages like really going against that, like extreme pitta digestion and hunger and like trying to shift that with like extreme fasting and like the effects that that would have on my body and my energy levels. It just like completely changed my personality and brought out actually like a lot of anxiety and also like a lot of hangry anger for sure. Hey, ladies Kasia here. Sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to take a moment to double tap on what Namisha talks about when she discusses the spiritual significance of connecting to your cycle. I absolutely love that Namisha brought this up. This is definitely a topic I have several other episodes on, and for me, viewing my cycle as a means to deeper connection with my intuition, with my spiritual self, really became a transformative part of my practice, and the ebbs and flows of the changes that I was experiencing throughout the month to be my guide helped me, harness and heighten my intuition, and this translated to all other aspects of my life as well. This is also part of the reason why, in the planner that my team and I have designed in flow, which is a cyclical planner for women, and it is designed to help women align their schedule with the state of their hormones. It is why, in this planner, we included not just the traditional scheduling tactics and tools, but we also included journaling prompts for the different phases of your cycle, especially in the luteal phase. I found that in the luteal phase, which is the last part of your cycle, right before your period, a lot of different parts would come up Imposter parts, doubtful parts, angry parts, and in the past, those are parts that I would have resisted and fought against and that would have resulted in me acting out of alignment with myself. And so, by bringing some of these into the planner, the planner becomes more than just the planner. It becomes a tool that can help you become mindfully aware of where you are in your cycle, yes, and make adjustments, but also it can be a reminder to bring mindfulness and to bring compassion into every aspect of your life, regardless of the things that are coming up, and that is such a powerful personal spiritual guide for me I have found, and for a lot of the women who use this planner. Now, if this sounds like something you'd be interested in. Please check out inflowplannercom to learn more. And for all my podcast listeners, I'd love to offer code podcast 10 for 10% off any purchase.

Kasia: 26:45

Now back to the episode. So I want to shift gears actually to talk about hormonal issues and how they perhaps relate to Ayurveda and also nutrition. I'm curious, since you have this background actually you also have the yoga knee your background you can kind of like zoom out and see it from like really like mind, body, spirit, all of it connected from physical movement point of view, what we consume point of view. From like a philosophy point of view, it's quite beautiful. How does Ayurveda perhaps view hormonal health, kind of fertility, menstrual conditions? What is the perspective there?

Nimisha Gandhi: 27:30

Ayurveda and Eastern medicine in general is so beautiful when it comes to women's health? Because women's health is actually revered. The menstrual cycle in Ayurveda is revered, it's honored, it's taken into account of a woman's health. And there are lots of studies in India that are done on women and on menstruation and in fact are in different hormonal cycles, phases of a woman's life, whereas, like in Western medicine, women weren't even required to be in clinical studies until 1993. And so there's like a very different and I think that absolutely insane. So you know, that's why, like when they like came out with all these medications, women, they never studied women and so women would have poor outcomes and things.

Nimisha Gandhi: 28:29

But in Ayurveda, I think why, even in modern medicine, in India, even in China, like in all over Asia, why women, there are so many more studies on women's health, is because it originates from Ayurveda's lens, where the menstrual cycle is revered, it's seen as really important in a part of health and it Ayurveda uses the menstrual cycle as a view into the person's physical and mental well-being also. So it's not just like an add-on, it's an integrated part of it, and it was only a couple of years ago that American College of Obstructs and Gynecology recognized the menstrual cycle as the fifth vital sign, which means that your doctor should ask you about your periods to understand what's going on in your overall health. Then, when there are imbalances, doctors are looking at. Ayurvedic doctors and practitioners are actually asking key questions like understanding your DOSHA type and then understanding what imbalances are happening in your body that might be shifting to cause hormonal health issues.

Kasia: 29:40

Can we walk through maybe an example, because you have somebody come in and you can either use me or somebody similar. Hypothetically they're coming in and ayurvedic doctor is evaluating their DOSHA type and then how do some of the symptoms relate to that? If you can walk through a sample condition around, how it might be viewed and potentially, then what would, at a high level, the approach be in terms of treating some of that?

Nimisha Gandhi: 30:08

Yeah, with every imbalance let's say, heavy bleeding, with heavy bleeding an ayurvedic practitioner is going to try to understand okay, are you? Let's say you're a heavy bleeder and you're a pizza type. That makes sense because bleeding is associated with pizza and the heaviness of it, the flow of it. And then they're going to ask questions like do you also have burning or itching with that bleed? Then that's definitely an indication of something that's going on with pizza. Or do you have dryness but heavy bleeding? That could be leaning more towards a Vata imbalance with the pizza imbalance.

Nimisha Gandhi: 30:54

It really does try to be very specific and pinpointed as well. This is where I like the blend of modern medicine and also ayurveda. Because I've worked in clinical research and things. I think it is really important to have a blend. If you have heavy bleeding, there's also looking at okay, is there an iron deficiency? Then how can we correct that to help you make you feel better? But also addressing more of okay. If there is too much fire in your body, how can we look at nutrition and reduce the heat that's coming in from your food or your lifestyle, like your heavy bleeding, but maybe always on the run, always in the go, or always in combat mode or something. All of those things can be contributing to that heavy bleeding. So how do we address heavy bleeding? By looking at other root causes. So good.

Kasia: 31:58

I love that. I love that you're able to view things from both that clinical Western lens around any deficiencies that can be tested for, and then trying to heal that by balancing it out. It sounds like that is so powerful, so powerful yeah.

Nimisha Gandhi: 32:17

I just want to also add heavy bleeding. There's so many causes too. I'm not trying to minimize it. You just stop eating spicy foods and you'll stop heavy bleeding, because there could be something like fibroids that could be causing it, or cysts or just something else physiologically and I read it goes into that too, really deeply as well. They'll do a physical examination, such also, to figure it out. But there's a spiritual and holistic component. You're just not someone with fibroids, you're someone with a history of this and you're someone who has. You're prone to this tendency because of your genetic type. So powerful.

Kasia: 33:06

It makes me think about. Over the summer I actually so I have endometriosis. I've talked about this pretty openly on this podcast and over the summer I went to a yoga retreat not yoga retreat, meditation retreat. It was at a Zen monastery, it was Tosahara in Big Sur, and it was incredible. I mean a whole week of sleeping enough, eating really non-processed foods and really lowering my stress levels, like we were meditating for several hours a day. And that week, the week that I got back, I started my cycle and I had no symptoms, no cramps, nothing. And I'm talking like I am somebody who is doubled over in cramps, like the day one, day two requires like non-stop motrin to like keep me alive and a heating pad, and I barely had any symptoms. And so it's just so wild to think about how, for example, maybe the chronic inflammation that is persistent in my body can have an effect on those symptoms. And so how much lifestyle can really make a difference in like balancing things out as well?

Nimisha Gandhi: 34:17

Yes, yeah, and with Indo I've worked with so many people that have been able to put their symptoms in like remission almost. You know there are different degrees and levels of endometriosis but really starting at the basic for so many people, like removing the environmental inflammatory substances that make your body just inflamed right, there's sometimes, like you know, like OK, you have Indo, but what can you control around you so you don't become inflamed further?

Kasia: 34:51

Ah, so powerful. So you work with a lot of women who have hormonal imbalances. I know that that is an area you specialize in, so I would love to walk through some of the conditions that you see in your clinic virtual clinic, real life clinic, wherever and just really, if you could walk us through. Obviously every case is different, but, like, what are some of the highlights of things you might want to call out in terms of you know, for endometriosis? It's like how can we lower inflammation? Would be like one of the starting points. Give us like a couple of bullets for some of the conditions that you see. Like what are some of the routes maybe you take from an investigatory place, like I would test for this, or I would start to look at you know, how can we lower inflammation? Or do x, y and z?

Nimisha Gandhi: 35:38

Yeah. So one thing, one of the first things I learned in Ayurveda and did for myself was like fill out a like a 10 page questionnaire about my own health, and that really stuck with me because there were questions. It's like, how is this even related to why I'm here? You know, like I'm here, let's say, for endow, how is like my digestion related, or how is like what I did in my childhood related to this and that had made and that was a core part of my studies in Ayurveda. So I created my own intake form and I always joke with my clients like I know it's long, it's like 10 pages long, 10 pages.

Kasia: 36:23

Oh my god, wait, wait, hold on. Yeah, I want to hear what's on some of those pages.

Nimisha Gandhi: 36:28

Yeah, yeah, I, you know, I start slow and subtle and then I get into it. But I have several questions on just bowel movements and I'll explain why soon but also things like what you know if they've traveled and they got sick or they just had food poisoning throughout their life. I ask about their skin, hair really in death and how it's changed, and then I think I just have several pages asking questions about their hormones and periods, like you know, what color is it? It doesn't smell. Do you have PMS? Water retention? I have all the questions in there, and so and this really helps me to understand I also learn a lot just by talking to the person.

Nimisha Gandhi: 37:17

Obviously, but when you're sitting down quietly and filling out this form, you might think of things that you don't always think of to say to your practitioner in person. Right, and so that's another reason behind this form. And then so many times people come to me for hormonal health, but that's not where my mind really actually goes. And so in Ayurveda, all disease and health begins in the gut, and we have this concept called acne, like your digestive fire, or you just have this fire burning low in your belly, and this fire is really what determines your vital life force in a way. So if your fire is burning kind of low and I see this a lot with new mothers, I see this a lot with women working in corporate America and just hustling fire is really low, that means your energy is really low also and you're just burnt out, like literally burnt out. And if your fire is too high, you're also like really hot, you're overheated, you're it's almost like you have too much testosterone in your body, like you're just yeah, and then you're prone to like heartburn and indigestion and diarrhea and bleeding too much. That's because you just have too much energy and heat in your body. But when your digestion, your acne, your fire is just perfect, you feel balanced. You're like you're able to wake up in the morning, not even need a cup of coffee, you're able to go through the day and you're mostly at peace with yourself and just how you are functioning. And so we are in.

Nimisha Gandhi: 39:01

Our goal in Ayurveda is always to keep this acne optimal, and so when I talk to a person who's coming in, I'm really thinking about their gut health and I wanna know all about their digestion. I wanna know what they're eating, how they're processing that food in their body, how long does it take them to assimilate it, nutrients you're absorbing, because that's telling me everything else, and like with endometriosis, pcos, when you're coming off at birth control, all of these things, your gut has been altered in some ways and in some ways it could be your gut that's causing these other imbalances as well, and there are lots of studies now showing how the gut there's a gut and brain connection and that's one of my specialties actually the gut microbiome and I really. So that's where I really start and we start working on healing the gut, improving your digestion, because once you start there, everything else starts to fall into place.

Kasia: 40:03

So powerful, so powerful. I'm curious also, when you talk about that gut and brain connection, do you see with your clients some of that? I guess in all cases it has to happen, since the gut and the brain are connected. But like do you see that also affecting mental health and like the state of you know whether we're feeling anxious or depressed, like I'm thinking also like PMDD, which is like one of the symptoms that a lot of women have with like really extreme PMS that affects their mental health in like a depressive way.

Nimisha Gandhi: 40:34

Yes, so in our gut we actually also produce and metabolize hormones like progesterone, estrogen, testosterone. So if our gut is not also optimal, that means we're not making optimal levels of these important hormones or we're not also getting rid of them from our body in optimal ways. So a classic example estrogen. Our body pumps out a certain amount of estrogen, depending on the day of our cycle. Then it circulates throughout our body to do its work, goes through our liver and supposed to be metabolized through our liver, and then all that excess estrogen, the byproduct of estrogen, is supposed to go into our gut and then we're supposed to poop it out. But let's say, if you're constipated or you don't have optimal digestion or a way to eliminate, now that estrogen that was supposed to be eliminated from your body is going to be recycled in your body and then your body's still gonna pump out what it's supposed to pump out the next day, not knowing that there's extra estrogen rolling around in your body. And so now you can.

Nimisha Gandhi: 41:45

If that goes on for too long, you can have excess estrogen in your body and then if you have too much estrogen in comparison to all the other hormones, it can cause other health issues right, the tender breast, the soreness, a lot of mood issues as well. If you don't have a like, progesterone is like almost like kind of like a love hormone. It helps you feel calmer, it eases anxiety, it eases a lot of other things that we experience irritability, and if so, if we have too much estrogen and not enough progesterone, we're going to feel irritated and sad and upset because there's not a balance here. So that is one way how the gut affects our mood. But then, yeah, we also need to look in, like do a blood test and figure out where our hormonal imbalance is with PMDD, which I also suffered for a little bit and I didn't realize, like I just thought it was going crazy, until I realized that now this is PMDD.

Nimisha Gandhi: 42:49

And one thing that really helped with that was working on more of the spiritual side of my menstrual cycle. And you know, I know on your podcast you've talked about like the four phases of the cycle and what that means, like in Ayurveda. That is where I learned about the four phases of the cycle and how there's such a big spiritual aspect to connecting with your cycle. They think that really helps. But then addressing that, like I did have low progesterone for a little bit. I did have high testosterone for a little bit, and so I was, you know. Over the course of six months I was able to balance it out, but first I had to recognize that that was what was happening.

Kasia: 43:30

I love that you mentioned the spiritual aspect. I feel like for a lot of women I mean just all of us living in this society, where every Monday is supposed to be the same, it doesn't matter if it's like the dead of winter or if you're starting your period or if you're ending, you know, kind of like in the middle and it's ovulation, like the expectation is that you have the same amount of energy. You wake up same time, drink that coffee and go, and so it can just be so difficult to tap into any other rhythm, like your body's infradient rhythm or the rhythms of nature. It's wild to me, absolutely wild. So, okay, I need to make sure we make time for this before I could keep going down this rabbit line.

Kasia: 44:13

I have so many questions for you, but I wanna talk about yoga nitra, because when we were prepping for this interview, you sent me some links and shared some really fascinating research, which was the effect that yoga nitra has on hormonal health. Can you dive a bit into that and share with us, like what has been coming out of the woodwork, and like what are some of the benefits? Well, first of all, what is yoga nitra and then what are some of the benefits. Let's start with what it is.

Nimisha Gandhi: 44:41

The yoga nitra is a form of meditation and it has a beautiful origin story. So yoga nitra, when we think of yoga, we think of asanas and like the physical postures, but yoga is really just to be one with yourself, to yoke right, and so yoga and nitra in Sanskrit means sleep, but it's so it's kind of translated like the yoga sleep, but it's not truly sleep, it's the meditative sleep. It's that when you're, you're tapping it into meditation, this form of meditation, so you're tapping into your higher self, and it's done in this beautiful way and Spiritually. It said that all of creation actually came from from yoga nidra. So Lord Vishnu, who's a Hindu deity or from the Vedas, he was Taking a nap and his wife, his lovely wife, goddess sir, goddess Lakshmi, she's massaging his feet and she's whispering things to him, and what she was whispering was yoga nidra, the script, like these really powerful words. So he fell into this State in his brain and he dreamt of life as we know it. He dreamt up the cosmos, the universe, and that is where all creation came from. So in so many ways, yoga nidra came before yoga, it came before anything else, and I love that story because when you actually do yoga nidra, it does feel like you're traveling through the cosmos. Sometimes it just feels like a journey.

Nimisha Gandhi: 46:24

And I've been a practitioner since 2017 and what you do in yoga nidra is really cool. All you do is lay down. All you do is lay down. You know meditation can be hard for so many people because you have to like stay seated and silent. But you're laying down this entire time and you create this beautiful yoga nidra nest where it's like cozy up with blankets and pillows and cushions and Eye pillows and you're very comfortable, so you're not worrying about your body and the the teacher, the guide, guides you through body relaxation in a way that you're also tapping into your beta brain waves, then your alpha and then your theta, and when you're in your theta, you're in this creative conscious state. So you're it's like. It's like you're asleep, but you're awake still. Like you, you're still very cognizant, like you hear every word I'm telling you, but you're just like kind of asleep, like you don't know really where you're are and if you go, really is that like a Hypnosis of some kind?

Nimisha Gandhi: 47:28

Yeah, it's almost like a hypnosis, but I'm not. Yeah, we're not really hypnotizing you, it's just. It's just the way the meditation goes and it's something I tell people. You have to try it to know it. You know, I thought there's no adequate way to describe it, but you and so yoga nidra, what you do is it's you relax your entire body and you know, when you're relaxing your entire body, you produce cortisol. You, you know, reset, you start resetting your nervous system, you tap into your biggest nerve. So there's all these beautiful thing that's already happening in your body.

Nimisha Gandhi: 48:05

And clinically, therapists use a form of yoga nidra to actually help their patients overcome PTSD and Really severe trauma. So it's been, it's being used in by Therapists also in their offices and then in India, of course, they've done tons of studies on the practice of yoga nidra and it how it affects the menstrual health cycle, like PCOS, a menorrhea. So just doing yoga nidra for six weeks in a row Can help you rebalance your hormones, can help you. You know, if you have absent periods, it can start helping you bring it back. Once thing, one thing that's really powerful we don't talk about enough when we talk about menstrual health is actually insulin resistance and how having you know, dysregulated blood sugar, blood glucose levels can actually impact your, your period. You know it can impact, especially as you get into perimenopause and menopause or if you have PCOS.

Nimisha Gandhi: 49:12

And so a really incredible powerful study did when, like, they had patients just taking metformin, which is a diabetes medication, and then they had people Taking metformin and doing yoga nidra for six weeks and at the end of the six weeks the people who did yoga nidra were able to completely get off of metformin. And so it's just so powerful, like the impact of meditating and the specific form of Meditation. And there's a script and everyone I mean there I say a script, like it's like I make up the meditation and then I read it or I have it memorized by now. But it's different and I always tailor it to my clients. So I teach twice weekly at a local yoga studio, but when I have private clients, I'm able to take in their health history and then I'll, you know, I'll spend like, if it's womb health, I'll spend so much time on that area. We're visualizing healing there.

Kasia: 50:14

We're talking about tapping into your intuition and coming home to yourself and listen to that voice in your room, and so it's so beautiful, like what yoga nidra can do that is so powerful, because so much of when we operate from day to day is really subconscious right, and it sounds like when you're in that Yoga nidra state there's an opportunity to really reprogram or Change some of those belief systems kind of some of the feelings associated with those thoughts, because you're going to such a Deeper level.

Nimisha Gandhi: 50:53

It's almost like who would you be and who are you, if you were not burdened by the body, you know when, when it's just your mind and your heart and this like Feeling of this, like this year's, a spacious, expansive being that's not you know, burdened by like what your hands and legs are doing, what your lower back is doing.

Kasia: 51:15

I Love that. It also makes me. I have this visual in my mind of thinking about having, like a glass filled with water and if, every single day, you just like empty a quarter of that glass and then fill it up like another, like I guess like Two-quarters full again, and it like keeps overflowing. That's kind of the state from which we're operating, from Every day when we're stressed, when we're overworking, when we're overdoing. Versus emptying that glass entirely which you know, I've, I've experienced Yogan need you before. It just puts you in this state of such deep relaxation. I can see why it's known for resetting the nervous system. It's so powerful. I love that. I love that.

Kasia: 52:02

Namisha, I could speak with you for hours. There's so many things I haven't asked that I would love to dive into. We're just gonna have to grab coffee and make it happen, so I could at least ask one-on-one. But I know people are gonna want to know where to find you. Can you please share with our audience and I'll hyperlink everything below where can people find you? What do you have coming up? Anything you want to share?

Nimisha Gandhi: 52:25

Yeah, so I work with people in person and virtually so I can work I you know I have a ton of clients in New York and the East Coast as well, and so my website is moon cycle nutrition comm. I'm pretty active on my Instagram, which is also at moon cycle nutrition, and I have a lot of in-person offerings and occasionally virtual offerings too. So I have a monthly moon cycle circle where I meet with, I curate a beautiful evening of women and we talk about All of all of these things and we add in a little ritual, a little bit of magic and just fun. And you know, when women get together it's just magical. And so I have monthly that. I have a monthly yoga Needress sound bath that I also do at a local yoga studio.

Nimisha Gandhi: 53:20

I have an upcoming women's retreat. I Leave retreats, I teach at retreat. So the best way to really follow all of that is actually to just sign up for my newsletter and you would be on the polls for that. I just released my yoni health and wellness guide and we didn't really get into yoni health in the other podcast, but yoni is the Sun's Great Word for the womb. It's much deeper than that and you'll see it in my guide, but it's also tied to menstrual health, so you can find all of that through the links I just mentioned.

Kasia: 53:55

Check it out below, y'all. Thank you so much, namisha. This was such a joy.

Nimisha Gandhi: 54:00

Thank you so much for having me. This was such a fun conversation.

Kasia: 54:03

Thanks everyone for tuning in. See you next week. Thank you so much for tuning into the other way. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a five-star review. It really helps the podcast grow and I'm ever so grateful. If you want to stay connected, you can find information on how in our show notes. And finally, if you're curious about in flow and want free resources Around cyclical living or moon cycles, check out infloplannercom. And, of course, for all my listeners, you can use the code Podcast 10 and that's all. Lowercase podcast 10 for 10% off any purchase. All right, that's all for today. See you next time.