Colleen Soisson is an Ayurvedic Practitioner based in Carmel, California. She completed 3 years of formal training at Mount Madonna Insitute College of Ayurveda earning diplomas as an AHC (Ayurvedic Health Counselor) and CAP (Certified Ayurvedic Practitioner). Colleen is certified by the National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA).

I found Ayurveda on a long journey of trying to be HEALTHY. I was an athlete growing up so I had the basics down: eat your vegetables and exercise. Right?? Well that’s what I thought. So I ate veggie sandwiches and ran 5 miles a day and did sit ups until I was blue in the face. My skin ALWAYS broke out with acne and I fell asleep in school ALL the time. So I started drinking coffee at the age of 15 and I layered on the makeup daily. As I came into my 20’s, I found yoga and began the inward journey of conscious movement. The world of yoga eventually introduced me to the science of Ayurveda. The first thing I learned was that I’d been doing it ALL WRONG.

Running was maybe not the most optimal form of movement for my constitution and eating salads and cheesy veggie sandwiches wasn’t quite ideal for my digestion. I had become a vegetarian in my 20’s, and I thought for sure I was getting closer to being the optimal version of myself. Only I wasn’t.

My energy was super low and my skin was still broken out in acne.

I never would have imagined that my skin issues were actually a digestive issue because I never realized the two could be connected.  However, in Ayurvedic medicine, we trace everything back to the gut. Our body's ability to turn food into building materials and energy is pretty miraculous, but if there is a hiccup in the system, that’s when we will see signs and symptoms that may seem totally unrelated.

Ayurveda taught me about the qualities of the foods I needed to nourish myself with in order to get my body back in balance.

In this system of medicine, there is no ONE SIZE FITS ALL dietary plan to follow.  What is good for one person may not be good for the next person.   Ayurveda is an indiviualized approach to treating an imbalance that is based on the unique constitution of each person. In this oversaturated market of healthy fad diets and expert advice, it can be challenging to know what is best for YOU. There is SO much information out there and a lot of it seems to be contradictory, which can leave you frustrated and confused. That’s how I felt for a long, long time.

When I discovered Ayurveda, I found my balance. Let me help you find yours.