About

I remember my first exposure to natural medicines as a child when my mother created a hot dough infused with turmeric to put on a sore ankle. To my surprise, spices from my mom’s kitchen, used to cook Indian food on a daily basis, had healing properties for common ailments! This realization started a lifelong fascination with healing and medicine. Feeling a deep connection to women’s health and female empowerment based on my domestic violence work and exposure to the Women’s Clinic at UC Berkeley, I started my career as a nurse-midwife. My first position was in inner-city Los Angeles working with pregnant women, and I realized that providing holistic primary and OBGYN care was essential to a healthy pregnancy and postpartum period. After completing a Post-Master’s in Family Practice, I fell in love with family practice and my goal became to help and empower women, their families, and communities. After working in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, I missed home and moved back to the Bay Area in 2004 to be closer to my parents. In the last 25 years, I have worked in a variety of settings with diverse populations, always dedicated to promoting integrative techniques including the use of wholesome diet, movement, herbal medicines, and supplements to enhance health. On a personal note, I suffered through PCOS, infertility, and weight issues with little help from conventional medicine, which influenced my decision to become an expert in integrative health care based on the functional medicine model. I know what it is like to be a mother and wife with a busy career and I want to support other women in their aspirations to become their best self. A life-long learner, I graduated from UCSF's nursing doctoral program in 2019 to refine my skills as a leader and educator, and finished programs in functional medicine, sexual medicine, and natural fertility in 2021. I am thrilled to create Lotus Integrative Health & Nursing to continue my work in integrative health to serve women and their families. I love my profession, but the heart of my life is my family. My two children are 19 and 14, and my husband and I are busy working parents like many others!  Our third child is our Havanese puppy, Nico who we spoil!  I'm on my own healing journey and I've learned the hard way that self-care is vital. The pandemic was a great motivator and I now have a daily meditation and beginning yoga practice. I do weight training and walking for exercise daily. I'm a pretty good cook and love to travel. We recently traveled to New Zealand and Australia to see penguins, koalas, and kangaroos! A Cal graduate, I can talk about my Berkeley days forever. Go Bears!