My First Teacher

I found my first teacher, ironically, a few months after I graduated college, while working as a fashion assistant at Mademoiselle Magazine.

I was in the office of one of the most uber-chic magazine editors I had ever encountered, and on her desk was a copy of the book Absolute Beauty: Radiant Skin and Inner Harmony Through the Ancient Secrets of Ayurveda. The book itself is beautiful and has such a distinct energy, even just by holding it. If you haven’t read it, please order it now, as it’s a must-have for every woman seeking peace, beauty, and harmony.  Just leave it on your nightstand and read any page you feel called to open. Every word is relevant and just like Ayurveda, completely timeless.  

This was back in 2000. The ancient science of Ayurveda, I thought. How does one create balance in a frenetic world? I was hooked immediately, and also perplexed on how to even go about achieving this. I was an ungrounded, trauma-filled-by-day, party-loving-by-night, sleep-deprived, anxiety-ridden 22-year-old. I hadn’t even discovered yoga yet. I drank iced coffee at 8pm before going out. And any time I broached the subject of spirituality, my friends—lovingly, but still—would laugh. So even though the book touched something in me, I eventually put it down for a couple of years…

Flash forward to 2013, and I was now helping that very teacher—the one I had seen on the cover of that book in 2000—share her gifts with the world and bring her wisdom to the natural beauty space, giving her the recognition she so deeply deserved as the true mother of natural and ageless beauty. I aimed to expand her business while modernizing Ayurveda, this amazing science that’s over 7,000 years old. There are so many ways to talk about Ayurveda but my favorite description: the study of oneself.  

Pratima was 74 when we met. How I love that woman. A mother in her own right to so many. You’d sit in her office, close the door, and she’d look at you—and without a single word, you’d just start crying. It was like she could see you. See your pain. Her soft eyes alone would begin to soothe whatever suffering you were carrying. We’d give her a word or topic to talk about, like love or consciousness, and she’d create the most incredible, profound sermon that somehow was exactly what you needed to hear in that moment.

You never really forget your first teacher. For me, it’s not just someone who teaches, it’s someone who realigns you with your path, your destiny. Who speaks to your soul even when you have no idea what your soul is trying to say. Back then, I couldn’t hear mine. But I could definitely feel it.

I remember organizing Pratima’s 75th birthday party in September of 2013, and the first guest I opened the door for was that same glamorous, chic European beauty editor, whose book on her desk years earlier, introduced me to wellness, balance, natural beauty and of course PRATIMA!

That night was the first time I truly believed in and understood synchronicity. It was an evening I will never, ever forget.