In this interview, Ayurveda health coach and Panchakarma trip expert Salila Sukumaran talks with client Celeste Saunders about Celeste’s severe chronic intestinal bleeding ulcer, which required 50 blood transfusions and left her unable to eat. After Salila booked Celeste into a Panchakarma retreat in India, Celeste underwent a comprehensive program of Ayurvedic massage, herbal medicines, and a detox‑focused diet. She describes a dramatic physical recovery—being able to eat normally, gaining the strength to become pregnant and give birth to a healthy baby—along with profound mental and spiritual shifts, such as reduced anxiety, a new relationship with yoga, and a sense of inner peace. Celeste credits Salila’s holistic support—pre‑trip counseling, meditation prompts, travel logistics, and ongoing encouragement—as essential to her healing. The conversation also highlights the contrast between conventional Western medical care and the personalized, nature‑based approach of Ayurveda, and ends with a strong call‑to‑action encouraging viewers to book a Panchakarma trip through Salila, emphasizing that the service adds no extra cost and can transform lives.
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When Celeste reached out to me a year and a half ago, she was exactly where you were— overwhelmed by all the information out there and not knowing who to trust. Because she put her faith in me and the process and booked the trip through me, which by the way comes at absolutely no cost to you, she was able to go from sick and afraid for her own health to now completely healed, a mother, and living her best life possible. Watch the interview to see how I was a critical part of helping Celeste achieve her dreams.
My name is Celeste Saunders. I am a mother of a 9-month-old baby. Um, I live in Los Angeles, What else?
Tell us.
And please go ahead. No, and yeah, what made you consider a Panchakarma?
So I was dealing with a severe chronic bleeding ulcer in the intestine. And I realized that I was going to the doctors getting a routine checkup. I had 50 blood transfusions by the time that I had reached out to you. But before that, really, if I'm really honest, I was sitting in front of someone who had also an ulcer and hearing the doctor explain to him how this could potentially help him., and he looked really relaxed. Um, to me, it brought up red flags because my doctor had told me also that this could potentially help me. But every time I would have a biopsy, I would go home sick, and then I would get worse, and I couldn't eat anymore. I was drinking water, anything that could be as plain as possible, um, and even then I would bleed. Right. I was from the toilet to the bed, and I felt like it was almost the end. That's where I was at.
But yeah, yeah, I remember you sharing how dizzy and scared you were for yourself and how painful it was to just go from day to day not knowing if there was hope. I remember your— our conversations. How are you feeling now? It's been almost a year and a half since the Panchakarma that you did. How are you feeling now?
So I do want to add, um, during this time I was dealing with a lot of anxiety, a lot of— I was in victim mode. I was angry, resentful. And throughout this whole thing, I, after going to Panchakarma, right, doing the Panchakarma, which is the massage, the herbal medicine, you know, specific diet for the time being there to detoxify, um, I, I'm feeling great. I mean, I'm here. Um, I, I'm— before, I literally wasn't living. Before, I was surviving. And now I'm able to— oh my God, I'm eating, first of all. Yes, I'm eating. I eat everything now. I don't think about measuring or what's it gonna be like or, you know, anything. I mean, It's almost unreal to say, you know, something that was done for a span of 2 years, which was the medical, you know, the way they treat patients here in the medical field here in LA versus what it was to be treated in Ayurveda was, I mean, I would do it all over again, which I really want to do it over again. Now that I'm better, I— there are really no words. The experience there was just— there's really no words other than amazing. It was more than amazing, really. Yeah, struggling to find a good word, but that's amazing.
You went from like a rice and a banana diet to now, a year and a half later, you're eating everything. That is amazing.
Yes.
I remember our conversations. You were scared to eat anything because it would trigger the bleeding and it would be worse. And you were literally like living on air and water and just very basic, minimal food.
Yeah.
Yes. Um, as you know that, you know, I am a yoga healer, an Ayurveda health coach, and I'm also your booking agent. I'm also your travel consultant. So when you book through me, you get the entire package, the entire experience of not just having your tickets booked, your stay booked, but also guidance throughout, through meditations, through encouragement, through staying in touch. To understanding what the physicians are telling you and how you should present yourself, questions to ask. What— how do you think my guidance made a difference to your experience?
From the beginning, from the first call, I remember I had just shared just simple things of, you know, what I was currently going through, and I remember you just, um, giving me advice, what would bring some healing for the moment. Meanwhile, I decided and finally, you know, getting to the retreat, and from that beginning, I really felt some kind of peace, and I really felt held. That's what it really is. Your words, the way you care for your clients. It's, it's just not a give and receive. It's the wholeheartedness of you, and I just want to say thank you for that. That was, that was, uh, oh my gosh, I would cry right now. Um, that was beautiful. Thank you so much for that, really.
Yeah, and we had many conversations before you got there, and you got there We had several beautiful meditation prompts, things like that. And you shared with me very interesting thing about a spiritual opening for you. You said that in your meditation, you saw your body as like a space suit. And you said, I'm not going to wear this sick suit anymore. I'm going to just discard it. This is not for me. That was one of the most beautiful meditation. Anybody had shared with me. So I want to acknowledge your own willingness to, and your trust in the path that I was leading you on. And this is something that I always highlight to potential clients, that if you trust the process, if you trust the person you are going along— I am your Sherpa, you are going to climb the Mount Everest, you need a capable Sherpa to go with you.
Yeah, and, and, you know, one of the things I want to add is, um, your honesty. That was really important. You know, I know at times I would struggle to ask the doctor, like, okay, well, I'm— I would feel more comfortable telling you what's happening sometimes, right? Not that they were bad, they were amazing actually, but it's just the, the, the, the the sisterhood, the motherly would kick in, I think, for you. And you're like, well, no, tell them, you know, you need this. And I was like, yeah, actually I do. Actually I do. And it was amazing to see how you would go that, you know, that far to make sure things were, you know, things were being put— what's the word? That things were going right, that I was as most comfortable as I could possibly be. And that really, I mean, in that moment I realized how important it is to not only just pick a healer because they said they're a healer, but someone who genuinely is there for your best interest. And that was all that I needed. And thank you. I think I'm going to say thank you a couple of times.
See, I think what happens is that when we go there, we are jet-lagged. The physicians are great. The therapists are great. But they speak a different language. Their way of looking at us, their perspective is slightly different. Whereas what gives us comfort, what soothes us, what makes our stay a little bit more better are certain other factors and things. And sometimes we hesitate because we don't want to offend anybody or we don't want to question someone's professional opinion. But when we get the assurance that no, no, it's perfectly all right to ask for that, and we are emboldened and we can go ahead and you know, ask for that little extra thing. And also, you know, when we are in a foreign country, we do tend to feel like a little bit like, okay, I've got to be at my best behavior, right? And so that kind of suppresses some of our natural instinct of wanting something. And the other thing is, you know, we worked so hard.
We've—
it's thousands of dollars, and it's our hard-earned time of vacation that we sometimes don't have. We only get one shot to get this right, right? So we might as well make the most of it. What is your, um, fondest memory of the Panchakarma?
There are so many. There are— I mean from just having a different experience at what it means to heal. Um, I had never put the spiritual and physical together in such a way where I understood why things happen the way they're happening. Um, one of the things that Dr. Devraj shared was his journey and how he was in the bed and he felt sick, but the best thing for him was to go in nature. And he would make me walk around and, you know, slowly and look at the plants and everything. And in the beginning I felt silly, but as the days came, you know, they, they went, I realized how our, our society is so fast-paced. We're always being triggered and things are always being thrown at us. We feel guilty for resting.
Yes.
Being one of the most important things we need. We're overworking bodies. For what? Right? We're working for what? And that was one of the biggest things that I learned there, that I definitely did feel guilty for, for slowing down, even when I was sick. I will share this. When I was leading to the end of going to, to the retreat, I was traveling to work from state to state. I went And then when my blood would go as low as 4.6, right, the regular is 12 for women, I would go get a blood transfusion and then go back to work 12 hours a day for 12 days. That in itself I knew was wrong, but at the same time I had a goal and I was gonna get that goal. You know, in the midst of the sickness. And I remember being there and being relaxed gave me anxiety. But simply because we're not— at least I'll speak for myself— I was not used to that. A lot of the times during meditations, I realized that here we use yoga just simply to exercise and look good. Outward, you know. But I learned, um, that yoga is to, you know, tap into yourself. Who are you? A lot of people know more about celebrities than they know about themselves. And so going here, I, I faced a lot of my truths by simply slowing down every day, being in nature, and This was just— that was an eye-opener.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. You will not believe the number of people who tell me that they have no idea what to do with themselves now that they are at the retreat. And then I have to tell them, begin going out, nature, just observing, just observing like moss growing on a coconut tree. Just look, observe this 2,000 different colors of green around you, you know.
Yes, yes, yeah, yeah.
What would you say to someone who is considering this trip and is wondering, should I reach out to Salila and get her help in booking this trip?
For one, you already know you should. You already know the answer. What's in the way is the fear of how am I going to make this happen, where am I going to get the money, or, you know, I don't have time. That's a lie. First of all, those are illusions. You know, you are— you searched and ended up at Salila Sukumaran's page for a reason. You've been looking for it. Now that the answer is in front of you, you either make a jump and see the difference afterwards and experience that, or lose an opportunity that will transform your entire life. Not only your mental, your physical, but the way you have connections with people, the way you go about, the way you look, the way you feel, every little aspect that you can think about. Interestingly enough, will somehow flourish. Yeah, even the mindset of scarcity that I don't have, that will change in itself. Yeah, make the jump. That's what I, I would say.
Celeste, may I mention here that when you reached out to me, I just had a very strong feeling that you were going to be a mother one day because of the process.
Wow. I want to say that before this, we had tried 7 years prior and nothing was happening. But clearly, I mean, I was sick, right? And 6 months after, I got pregnant after this, after trying so long. And I didn't realize— I, there's just so— I will say this because it's It's just so amazing. It really is. The fact that you get a detox through a massage— people do not realize, a lot of the majority— I'm not gonna say people because there is a— the majority of people, um, that don't realize how emotions get trapped in your body and how healing it is to get these massages, right? The specific they are very specific as to what each individual is eating, depending on the person's situation. Not like in the hospital where I was given the same, you know, pill, not knowing what it is, and they didn't even know what it was that they were giving me, right? And everything was through herbs and food. Um, and through all of this, I mean, There's just so much to say about it that is just so beautiful. Like, I could keep going on and on about this. It's amazing, amazing. It's years after— how many years has it been? And I— right, right, yeah. And I'm still, you know, shocked and grateful Yeah, yeah, it just snowballs from there.
That one decision just snowballs us into greater and greater growth. My first karma was in 2015, and I would say in the last 6-7 years I have lived far more richer than in the past 30 years of my life.
Yes, that—
wow.
Well, thank you. I'm excited for whoever decides to reach out for you. And for one thing, another thing, the resources that you have, that is amazing. You know, the way you were able to change my flight to another flight in a matter of a day or two, like, that was amazing itself as well. And so I'm, I'm excited for whoever decides to, to really reach out for you. Really.
Thank you so much, Celeste. Yeah, it's a try. No worries helping each other.
As a panchakarma trip expert, I have worked with hundreds of clients since 2015, and I have made a name for myself with the best providers of panchakarma in India and Bali.
Apart from that, I'm also a world's top 10 Ayurveda blogger.
I'm an Ayurveda health coach. I am a yoga healer, and I speak about health and wellness at Fortune 50 corporations in the San Francisco Bay Area. All of my expertise is available for you at no extra cost to you if you book a panchakarma trip through me. So you have nothing nothing to lose and only your best life, your best health to gain from this process. So reach out to me and let's start the process for you.
