Becoming an Ayurvedic doctor felt instinctive, not chosen.
Today, her work is guided by one belief: healing begins when we listen to the body and trust its intelligence. Read Dr. Poojitha’s journey.
Read time : 5 min
For many practitioners, Ayurveda is something they arrive at after years of searching. For Dr. Poojitha, it was simply how life always was.
Growing up, healthcare in her home meant Ayurvedic remedies first. Allopathy was there, yes, but only when it was truly unavoidable. Over time, Ayurveda stopped being a “choice” altogether. It became her baseline. Her understanding of what healing even looked like.
So when it came time to choose a career, there wasn’t much deliberation.
“For me, a doctor meant an Ayurvedic doctor,” she says, almost matter-of-factly.
Even when people questioned her decision, she struggled to explain it logically. How do you justify something that feels instinctive? The pull towards Ayurveda wasn’t loud or dramatic, it was steady, intuitive, and unwavering.
Learning Never Really Stops
Dr. Poojitha completed her BAMS from Bengaluru and has been practicing for about four years now. But her education didn’t pause at graduation.
She has worked as a general practitioner, served as an RD consultant, practiced offline, and today, she balances patient care alongside her post-graduation. Her days move fluidly between college, hospital duties, and consultations. Under the guidance of her gurus, she handles cases independently, planning treatments, observing outcomes, then refining her approach through discussion and supervision.
Despite the long hours, she doesn’t describe her work as draining.
“Because I love what I do,” she says, “it never really feels like work.”
Sleep, Stress, and Modern Imbalance
A large part of her clinical work revolves around sleep disorders and pain management. And when asked why sleep issues have become so common, her answer is simple. Stress. Lifestyle.
Night shifts. Screens glowing late into the night. Irregular routines. Minds that never quite switch off. Natural rhythms have quietly unraveled. She’s seen how even small changes, like reducing screen exposure at night - can bring visible relief for some patients.
And for those who can’t follow an ideal Dinacharya because of night shifts or demanding schedules, she doesn’t force rigidity. Instead, she adapts Ayurveda to real life. Lost sleep is compensated for during the day. Rest is prioritized wherever possible. Vata is gently supported through practices like Abhyanga, nourishing foods, and whatever stability the routine can realistically allow.
Her message is honest, not preachy: compromises may work for now, but in the long run, the body cannot thrive without proper rest.
Ayurveda, Time, and Expectations
Dr. Poojitha often meets patients who come after years of allopathic treatment, managing symptoms without resolution. Many expect dramatic changes within weeks of starting Ayurveda. She gently reframes this expectation.
“If someone has taken allopathic medicines for seven or eight years,” she explains, “expecting Ayurveda to undo everything in one month is not fair.”
That said, she does not label Ayurveda as slow. In fact, she believes that when viewed through the lens of root-cause correction, Ayurveda can be faster, because it aims for lasting change rather than temporary relief.
A Case That Stayed With Her
Early in her clinical journey, during her UG days and internship, she treated a patient struggling with long-standing heavy menstrual bleeding.
Under guidance, she planned a Panchakarma-based treatment. Within a week, the patient experienced nearly 60-70% relief. Pad usage reduced drastically.
Later, the patient messaged her saying, “This feels like magic.”
That moment stayed with her, not as proof of her own skill, but as quiet confirmation of Ayurveda’s depth when applied thoughtfully.
Panchakarma as a reset
For chronic and long-standing conditions, Dr. Poojitha strongly advocates Panchakarma.
She explains it as a set of five detoxification therapies - Vamana, Virechana, Basti, Rakta Mokshana, and Shirovirechana. Chosen based on the individual’s constitution and imbalance.
The goal isn’t just symptom relief. It’s purification. Clearing accumulated toxins. Creating a clean internal environment so the body can actually respond to treatment and lifestyle changes. Even healthy individuals, she notes, can benefit when it’s done appropriately.
Consistency, Faith, and Awareness
When patients compare their progress with others. Wondering why someone else healed faster. Dr. Poojitha brings the focus back to individuality.
Bodies respond differently. Just like foods do. The same medicine will never act the same way for everyone.
Consistency, she says, is non-negotiable. Missed doses and irregular intake directly affect outcomes. Awareness matters too - noticing changes, communicating honestly, and understanding that healing unfolds over time.
And then there’s faith.
“The mind is everything,” she says. Stress alone can create disease. Belief in the body’s ability to heal supports recovery more than people realize.
Nutrition Beyond Trends
Trained in Ahara Chikitsa, Dr. Poojitha approaches modern diet trends with caution.
She often addresses misconceptions around dairy and PCOS. Dairy, she explains, isn’t inherently harmful. Quality is what matters. Adulterated milk creates problems. Clean, well-sourced milk - organic or A2, can be nourishing, depending on one’s Prakriti.
Her focus always returns to Agni. No matter how nutritious a food or supplement is, if digestion is weak, nourishment never truly reaches the tissues.
She also cautions against blindly following health trends, like consuming honey with warm water or adding millets without proper soaking and fat balance. Ayurveda, she reminds us, looks at how something is consumed, not just what is consumed.
Caring for the Healer
Supporting patients through pain and chronic illness can take a toll. Dr. Poojitha acknowledges this openly. To protect her own mental space, she practices journaling and gratitude, and returns to meditation whenever possible. Having struggled with consistency herself, she understands her patients’ challenges more deeply.
This self-awareness allows her to offer realistic, compassionate guidance, not perfection.
Beyond the Clinic
Outside her professional role, Dr. Poojitha is a nature lover, a reader, and a seeker. She enjoys fiction, spends time outdoors, and has recently begun reading the Upanishads and the Vedas. For her, studying classical texts no longer feels separate from life, it has become part of how she understands the world.
When asked to leave readers with a thought, she reflects not on a quote, but on a truth she has come to believe deeply: the power of the mind in healing is far greater than we acknowledge.
For Dr. Poojitha, Ayurveda is not about controlling the body, it is about listening to it, supporting it, and trusting its intelligence.
