Women In Wellness: Manisha Mittal On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Practicing gratitude: Being thankful for what we have is a powerful way to balance emotional and mental health. Practice thanking someone everyday of your life, volunteer to help someone in need.
As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Manisha Mittal.
Dr. Manisha Mittal is an integrative rheumatologist and ayurvedic practitioner. She founded Moksha Holistic Center to empower and educate people to connect with the soul and enliven healing. She is the creator of Golden Ice-spice turmeric ice cream, featured on TV and wholefoods magazine. Dr. Mittal cohosts a wellness segment at the Central Valley Today show, has been featured by David Lynch foundation podcast on connecting Mind, Body & Soul.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?
I was a talkative and compassionate girl who loved nature and science. I liked playing Sherlock Holmes and solving puzzles and mysteries. I was always inspired by great leaders and scientists who wanted to bring positive change in the world.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?
I was seeing a patient who had osteoarthritis, she had been taking anti-inflammatory medications with side effects. She was looking for natural solutions to manage her symptoms. When I shared about Turmeric- bright orange-yellow spice known for its anti-inflammatory benefits. She inspired me to start wellness classes educating people on holistic care. That was tipping point for me to carve out time to start a Wellness center. After one of my turmeric education classes, my patients inspired me to develop a palatable way to take turmeric. I collaborated with local dairy farmers to start Golden Ice-spice turmeric ice-cream. I listened to my patients and felt they are looking for alternatives to pharmaceuticals.
Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I assumed that everybody knows what they are doing and have their facts right. It turned out not true, most of the time to run a successful practice you want to set protocols in place and make sure everybody understands their expectations. They also need frequent reminders and dedicated team for running smooth operations.
Let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?
As an integrative rheumatologist I understand firsthand, the significance of food and exercise for health. Most people assume this requires spending a lot of money. For empowering the community, I founded Moksha Holistic Center where I conduct wellness workshops on cooking, health benefits of spices and connecting with your local farming community. I hold joy of medicine workshops for physicians to prevent burnout and stress.
Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.
- Diet: With proper diet medicine is of no need, without proper diet medicine is of no use. It is best to eat in moderation according to your constitution. Eat local, seasonal, and fresh foods. You should cook most of your meals. This allows you to have better connection with food.
- Exercise: To be healthy you should exercise regularly low to moderate intensity aerobic exercise is good for most people. You don’t need intense competitive workouts to be healthy. A 30 min walk daily in nature is very beneficial. Key is to feel more energy after exercise not fatigued.
- Meditation: Connecting with yourself is a rejuvenating practice. If you are new to meditation, it does not have to be fancy, you just need to sit relaxed and close your eyes for a few minutes daily. Morning and evening times are best to do this.
- Body massage: before bathing use warm herbarized oil such as coconut oil, sesame oil, almond oil, or avocado oil for a head-to-toe massage. It is not only nourishing and soothing to your skin but supports gentle detox.
- Practicing gratitude: Being thankful for what we have is a powerful way to balance emotional and mental health. Practice thanking someone everyday of your life, volunteer to help someone in need.
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
Meditation is the number one thing that will benefit the entire world. It is an effortless and simple way to connect with yourself. It calms down sympathetic system and improves health and wellbeing. You feel more connected to mother nature and your community. It brings on a sense of unity in diversity.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
We all have a journey to take and a purpose in life. Finding that purpose can unlock the key to happiness. It is the experience that matters not the destination. I don’t think what works for someone will have similar result for another. Connect with yourself to know who you are and let that inner silence guide you.
Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?
Things are more connected than we think.
How we feel affects how we see the world. A balanced outlook and mental health are much needed to appreciate the beauty in nature. When there is more anxiety and stress in the community it is difficult to appreciate aspects of sustainability, climate change and veganism.
What is the best way our readers can follow you online?
https://www.facebook.com/manishamittalmd/
moksha holistic center youtube
Thank you for these fantastic insights!
Women In Wellness: Manisha Mittal On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.