New York City Passage to India

By Shari Mycek

There’s no way she’s sixty-five. Pratima Raichur, a Bombay native turned New Yorker, looks in her forties “at most. Her skin is flawless; her eyes radiate harmony and grace. Thirty years ago, Pratima (a doctor of naturopathy) introduced the concept of Ayurvedic skincare to the U.S. Her book, Absolute Beauty: Radiant Skin and Inner Harmony Through The Ancient Secrets of Ayurveda, has been translated into five languages.

Inside her tiny, three-treatment room day spa in Manhattan, Pratima sees a steady stream of clients. While some come solely for her authentic Ayurvedic offerings like decadent scalp treatments, others seek help for acne, psoriasis, and anorexia. All find balance in Pratima’s Ayurvedic philosophy.‚ ‚

Traced back to India more than 5,000 years ago, Ayurveda contends that every individual is born with a dominant dosha. Vatas are typically restless, with thin-frames, dry skin, and fine pores; Pittas are more ambitious, medium sized, with sensitive skin, and reddish tones; while Kaphas are calm, larger framed individuals with soft skin and large pores.

Ayurveda defines health as balance, says Pratima, whose own journey into Ayurvedic healing began in India when she was only thirteen-years-old. Her neighbor, a famous Ayurvedic physician often called on her to help him with various remedies. Because I was a girl, he wanted me to learn about the skin and he’d make me write formulations “I still have that book, says Pratima.

First-timers to the spa begin with a one-hour dosha consultation with Pratima who then prescribes a personalized regimen of diet/nutrition, exercise, Ayurveda treatments, and general lifestyle practices. Pratima reads the dosha simply by looking at her client’s face and skin. Skin problems are not problems of the skin at all, but signals of specific imbalances deep within the body and mind, says Pratima. The skin speaks in Ëœangry’ rashes (pitta); Ëœweeping’ eczema (kapha), Ëœworry’ lines (vata).

Pratima is now taking her spa-goers on yet another inward journey.‚ Last fall, she brought thousands of India’s sacred Rudrasksa beads (dried fruit that has a scent similar to sandlewood) to her spa. Her Rudrasksa bead-meditation room is the only one of its kind outside India.

As you lie, fully clothed, on a massage bed, thousands of the dark beads dangle snake-like overhead. Collec- tively, the beads create a powerful magnetic field that works to balance your own magnetic energy. I wanted to go one step further, and without any external touch, enable people to relax by themselves, go into a deeper state of consciousness. The Rudrasksa bead room Ëœexperience’ is different for everyone.

Pratima chants softly, drapes additional strands of beads across my head, shoulder, chest, stomach, and then quietly exits. As the chanting continues (via audiotape), my head and shoulders throb. My body feels leaden and it is difficult to raise my arms or legs. In time though, I feel lighter and see swirls of puple. But all too soon, the chanting stops; the color fades. I cannot believe I’ve been in this meditative state for one full hour. Or that Pratima Raichur is sixty-five.