In this YouTube interview, Ayurveda health coach Salila Sukumaran speaks with longtime fundraiser Aruna Isola about Aruna's recent Panchakarma retreat in India. Aruna explains her background, recent health challenges—including a diabetes diagnosis, gut disturbances, anxiety attacks, and severe headaches—and her desire for a comprehensive detox and mental‑body rejuvenation. She describes how she researched Ayurvedic centers, discovered Salila’s article offering a free consultation, and trusted Salila’s personalized matching service to select an authentic, high‑quality Panchakarma center that fit her private, one‑on‑one care preferences. Post‑retreat, Aruna reports significant improvements: better blood‑sugar control, resolved gut issues, elimination of anxiety attacks and headaches, and a restored, balanced emotional state. She praises Salila’s intuitive, client‑focused approach, noting the coach’s ongoing support before, during, and after the treatment, and recommends others seek Salila’s guidance when looking for Panchakarma. The conversation underscores the holistic nature of Panchakarma, the challenges of finding trustworthy centers, and the value of individualized, empathetic matchmaking.
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Hi everybody, welcome! We have Aruna with us who just come back from a panchakarma in India. So Aruna, please tell the world who you are and what you do.
My name is Aruna Isola. I am actually a fundraiser for the last 24 years. I work in the charitable sector for causes I really believe in.
I must say, Aruna, you're looking gorgeous from the time we met to who you are right now. There's a big change. Your skin tone has changed and your demeanor has changed a lot. Changes have happened to you. So I help people find authentic panchakarma centers in India. I'm keyed into them, and as an Ayurveda health coach, I refer wonderful people like you out to panchakarma centers. What led you to this Panchakarma journey?
I've always believed in Ayurveda. I felt like it was very elusive and hard to find, and it was always like I didn't know how to go about it, but I've always believed in it being Indian. I've done Panchakarma once a long time ago. I had an okay experience. I knew it could have been better. I've been going through some grieving process. I'm a big believer that Panchakarma is a mind and body holistic approach to medicine. I didn't want to take allopathy medicine around this. I started to take hold of my health with good diet and exercise and weight loss, but I wanted to just do a rejuvenation of my entire system. And I really strongly felt like I needed a complete detoxification just to jumpstart my healthcare regime. So there's a little bit of both, actually.
Yeah, the pandemic was hard on so many of us. Would you be able to share a little bit more about what you were facing? Versus what you noticed as a difference post-Panchakarma?
Sure. I was recently diagnosed with diabetes. It's going to be a year this month. So I immediately started really, really controlling carbs, exercising every day. I started losing weight, but I was also put on a drug that gave me— and I wasn't accustomed to that. I've always had good gut health, and I felt like being on medication for the first time really messed up my system. You know, so that was one reason. And I know Panchakarma is pretty good with gut health, sort of addressing the gut health actually begins to start treating everything else, right? There's a domino effect there. So that was one thing. And of course, it's been completely taken care of after Panchakarma, completely taken care of. I was getting anxiety and also severe headaches. I still get that. So I was getting anxiety attacks and really, really bad cluster headaches. And I don't know what the cause of that was. Both are gone. Both are completely gone. And generally, mentally, I feel really, really good. I'm starting to go back to the kind of person I used to be a long time ago, where I'm excited about my future and happy and positive. I still struggle with a little bit of anxiety, but I have not had anxiety attacks per se, which was like really, really, really huge for me. It's like my range of emotions are normalized as opposed to just operating in fight and flight. And so you don't react bad to anything bad or good to anything anything good. You just want to get through the day kind of approach in life. And I feel much healthier in that regard too.
That is beautiful. It's not like our challenges stop or that life becomes easy. It's just that we develop the ability to reach into our own toolkit and find resources to deal with life and to feel like we are winning at life. Is that where you are at right now?
I believe so.
Amazing.
You know, it's very hard to explain, but I think if I were to do Papanatama 5, 6 years a year ago, I probably would have just gone for gut health, not knowing that we can all use a little bit of a recharge of our mental health because life is hard, right? So in a way, I came at a really good time where I was able to observe the difference in pre- and post-Panchakarma.
Amazing. You reached out to me and you sought my help in finding a center for yourself. How did you find me?
Oh yeah, you know, I was just reading and reading and reading. So I have a bit of an obsessive personality. When I want to do something, I just go down rabbit hole. I was on every single website. I was only in India for a short time and I felt like I needed a vacation. I believe that there were a few places opening up that were like a little bit of a luxury vacation, but also like with a really good quality panchakarma treatment. And I was looking and looking for that. And I found this article that was written by this woman, Salila Sukumaran Sukumaran, and if you're going to be looking for an Ayurvedic center, look out for these 10 things. So I'm like, okay, well, I've probably read it all, but let me look at this one. And I found it interesting. I read right to the end. I'm like, this is good, but I still haven't found a place. And then all of a sudden I was surprised to see you said that if you want a consultation, let me know. And I thought, okay, well, you know what? I've been spending about 3 months on this. I might as well just pay to get a consultation. And then I found out the consultation was free. I'm like, okay, I just want to know what the catch is. I've just been wasting my time till 2 in the morning on Saturday night. When I explained to you what I was looking for, what I was looking for. You were aware of what I was looking for more in terms of the type of place. And I found one place that was very, very expensive. What I loved about our conversation was that you said, "I have another place like better, and it's not as expensive as the one you're considering," which I thought was really great, you know. I'm so glad that your approach was like really to help me as opposed to, "Let me send her over to sort of like A-lister's place," because in hindsight, site, I would not have wanted to be there. I would not have wanted to be there. I didn't want to go to a place— personally, that was just me— I didn't want to go to a place with a lot of people. I didn't want to go to a place that was like full of like really wealthy people. I didn't want a place with an attitude. I felt like I probably wouldn't have got the kind of care I needed. You know, I'm a very private person, and I knew I was only going to be able to open up in a very tailored, one-on-one type of place, and you suggested this place, and I came across it. But when you look at all these options, you just don't know, right? You just don't know. I've traveled a lot. When you look at hotels, you're expecting it to be good, but probably not as good as the pictures type of thing. But when you committed to spending not only like 2 full weeks, but spending a pretty large amount of money, but most importantly handing over your mental and physical health and putting it in somebody else's hands. So that's a lot of commitment to make. And I was just really not sure about this place that I saw. It was not on my shortlist. When you recommended it and I looked at it, I have to go by your suggestion because I didn't know any better because they all start looking the same. And so I ended up going, and I will tell you, I will never go anywhere else. I know that you picked the best place for me. I know so many family members who are going there. I have friends who called me and asked me, where was that place again that you went to. You recommend it because you really heard me, you really heard my needs, and it was perfect for what I was looking for. It may be expensive for some people, it may not be fancy enough for other people. It was, was the best choice, and I would not have been able to find it without your help.
Thank you so much for validating that. I have developed a sixth sense about people and what they're looking for, and so far God has been very kind. Yeah, whoever comes seeking, I match them and it turns out perfect. Even if it doesn't, I'm able to quickly problem to solve and help them transition to a new place where they will be happier. I do this because I come from a background of Ayurveda, and I want Panchakarma to have everybody raving about it instead of people coming back home and writing these awful articles like, "I've ended up somewhere, it was so bad, I was scammed." This is my service to everyone who comes to me.
Oh, you definitely have an intuition and a really, really great skill set and a sixth sense about what people need. Because like I said, you never recommended this place to anybody before. And I had a conversation with you and what took me 3 months to not find, you hit the nail on the head. I was so impressed.
Thank you so much. Would you recommend that people reach out to me if they're looking for a Panchakarma therapist?
Absolutely. Absolutely. I wouldn't go without having a conversation with you. I'll just leave by saying thank you. It may not be the best place for somebody else, you know?
Yes. Each individual is unique. Their personality is unique. The physician they work with is unique. There could be clashes, there could be synergies. All that comes through only when we have good informational interviews with the person who is seeking the Panchakarma and the person who is offering the Panchakarma. So thank you so much, Aruna.
I also want to say something else. You know, it's like after I said, okay, well, let me do it, you were really good about being that middleman for me to connect with Ji. You were always there in case that there was like a hiccup or there's a problem or something. And until I went there, I had to really trust you. I still went there thinking, I don't know what I'm getting into. I'm trusting that it's a good thing. And you were like there throughout until I got there. I really appreciated that. You said, I'll be there even while you're there. I'll be there in case you need anything. And that gave me the confidence to go into the unknown. I don't think I would've gone if I didn't have that level of white glove treatment until you walk into the place, right? And even right there.
Such a pleasure. Thank you so much for offering us your time and your thoughts about this. We wish you the best.
Namaste. Namaste. Thank you so much, Salila Sukumaran. And I'll have people call you.
