About Rupinder Kaur
Hello, I am Captain Rupinder Kaur (ex-Indian Army), a practicing Naturopath with a Diploma in Naturopathy and Yoga (NDDY-certified) from Gandhi Smarak Samiti (one of the oldest, nationally registered organisations in India to teach Naturopathy).
My own journey into naturopathy, the difference it made in my life and the limitations I faced in trying to access it in urban areas / India’s cities, are what made me set up Your Urban Naturopath.
My aspiration/goal is to help individuals reverse chronic & lifestyle disease, avoid invasive procedures and live a medicine-free, healthy life. For those who want to stay healthy, naturally and holistically, I teach them to use ‘food as medicine’, make lifestyle changes, prioritise movement and connect with themselves.
The Early Years
I grew up playing sports in Army Cantonments across small towns of India. Both my parents were in the Army. My mother was a doctor and my father rose to be a general.
I was a sickly child and by the time I reached adolescence, I was the frustrating combination of bad health and superior sporting talent. I loved to be outdoors, but allergies, poor immunity and an early onset of asthma & anaemia were my constant companions.
Between the two parents: mother who was a paediatrician and a father who just didn’t believe in taking pills, life was a roller coaster. Mum would put me on anti-allergens and antibiotics and father, who had discovered naturopathy by then, took me to naturopathy centres for enemas.
Because of my health and my parents’ interest in the subject, health, or the elusive search for it, was a forever reality.
Their combined influence also guided my initial professional choices. I studied Clinical Psychology till master’s and then spent 6.5 years serving in the Indian Army.
My mother had got her medical education in the 1950s and joined the Indian Army as India went to war with China in 1962. Because of her rigorous education and her specialisation, medical histories were always thoroughly taken, physical checkups studiously done, symptoms carefully observed, very few tests and medicines prescribed, and a non-aggressive mode of treatment followed.
All these skills she graciously taught me as I started to practice naturopathy. She continues to be my sounding board.
But it is my father who introduced me to naturopathy early on in life. We were always visiting or being visited by Naturopaths & Vaids (traditional medicine men). I take after my father more, both in personality and temperament, so it is no surprise that I found alignment in Naturopathy.
Over the years, my physically strenuous Army career and love for adventure and sports gave me enough broken bones, accidents, short hospital stays and physical exhaustion. In all this, health sometimes bloomed and then plunged. But my reluctance towards taking pills remained. Because of my exposure to naturopathy, I would experiment with raw food, fasting, cold baths. I treated most bouts of sickness in my 20s & 30s with a little mandatory medication, enough rest and good nourishment through food, sunlight & clean air.
Spinal Tuberculosis & The Blow of Surgery
At 28, I was diagnosed with Tuberculosis (TB) of the spine. The disease was advanced and my C5 vertebra was almost non-existent. Immediately, the surgery was done — to remove the infected vertebra, put a titanium plate in its place, and remove bone from my hip to give it support. TB drugs were prescribed for 9 months along with painkillers and I was sent home to lie flat for 3 months.
Recovery was slow & painful. Excruciating nerve pain in shoulders and new, post-surgery knee pain made movement painful. Dosage of painkillers were increased and anti-anxiety pills added whenever I complained. My liver was already, by then, reeling under the strain of so much medication.
Two months post-surgery, I decided to take charge of my health. I started with gentle pranayama twice a day. Then I began to walk around the house. My knee pain was excruciating, so I started going for acupressure. One month later, movement became better. Urine patches on my neck and hip wounds reduced scarring to a minimum.
Three months later, I started yoga and 9 months later, I checked into a Naturopathy facility for to get a complete detox. Why? While the medication had cured me of TB, it had weakened my liver.
How Naturopathy Became My Health Philosophy
At 40, I noticed my body & mind change more dramatically. I weighed 70 kgs (13 kgs more than now), had excruciatingly painful periods, was anaemic and looked 10 years older than my age. My mind felt anxious and restless.
Energy & vitality had taken a beating and fatigue was a constant. All forms of exercise now left me depleted & tired. The frequent work-related travel and erratic eating were not helping.
As had happened over the years, naturopathy came to my rescue. But this time around, I decided to plunge full-time into it and see if it was possible to live by its principles in my urban surroundings.
In June 2018, I enrolled for my 3.5-year Diploma in Naturopathy & Yoga Sciences (NDDY) and simultaneously did other short courses. A 3-month Raw Diet course under Dr. Brij Bhusan Goel ( a naturopath living on raw food since 40 years), one-month yoga foundation course from Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga, internship at Bapu Naturopathy Centre, Jaipur.
Everything I learned, I first applied on myself. This helped convince that reversal was possible!
Specialising in Mono Diets
It was January 2022, when my closest friend of 20 years, called that night. She had been diagnosed with cancer of the thyroid, which had invaded her lymph nodes, and a surgery was to be scheduled as soon as next week.
Surgeries bother me, mainly because I strongly believe no organ in the human body is extra or 100% replaceable. My own experience with surgery had made me cautious.
I wanted my friend to try other options before going under the knife.
I was also researching mono-diets at that time (a treatment modality of using one food item for a prolonged period, helping the body get rid of all its accumulated toxins). It had been used in cancer and more serious diseases before.
I dialled my known naturopaths to trace a living teacher who would work with cancer and mono diets. It was then that the name of Dr Goindi popped back in my head.
My faint memory of visiting the Chandigarh Naturopathy centre almost 20 years ago surfaced. And I remembered a Sikh gentleman making everyone eat apples! I had looked for him many times in the past, had been wrongly informed of his passing. But this time I found him very much alive at 92 and treating patients from home!
My friend chose to go ahead with her surgery. She didn’t want to wait, and didn’t have enough belief in Naturopathy by then. But her phone call that night made me discover my guide.
From Jan 2022, when I first dialled Dr Goindi, a teacher -student relationship started which continued till his passing away in October 2023. From 1-hour long daily phone conversations (COVID restrictions) to frequent meetings at Chandigarh, to being an apprentice on his cases, I could not be more grateful. He wasn’t just my naturopathy guide; he was a man of character and a truly benign presence.
The last case I worked on with him was on reversing an early-stage cancer. The Client has penned down her story that you can read here:
Cancer Scare to Healing: Naturopathy Reversed My Ovarian Cyst
My Guide:
Dr. Satyendra Singh Goindi
Background
Dr. Goindi was one of five siblings and had had a challenging early life. From falling into a 30-day coma at the age of 6 at the age of 6to having his wife nearly die at the age of 39, he had seen health at its ugliest. Yet, these challenges only deepened his connection to naturopathy—a system he often described as being learned from the “School of Life”.
Dr. Goindi’s passion for naturopathy intensified after marrying Gurkirpal Kaur in 1959. Gurkirpal had been born in Rawalpindi, but moved to Delhi in 1946 which led to severe health issues like allergies and joint pains. “When we got married, she was 27 and already ridden with allergies and chronic joint pain,” Dr. Goindi recalled.
A Turning Point: Healing Through Naturopathy
Their journey into naturopathy took a pivotal turn in 1959 when Gurkirpal was bedridden with severe rheumatoid arthritis. After conventional medicine offered no cure, they traveled to Hyderabad’s Nature Cure Hospital, where she underwent a 17-day lemon water fast, ultimately recovering from her joint issues.
Just three months later, she faced another health scare—this time with her lungs. Doctors suspected tuberculosis and gave her mere 4 days to live. “She chose to be treated at home rather than die in the hospital,” Dr. Goindi shared. He administered his first naturopathy treatment, putting her on an 80-day milk diet. Remarkably, her weight increased by 16 kg, and her health drastically improved.
Embracing Mono-Diets and Food as Medicine
Inspired by this experience, Gurkirpal became a firm believer in the healing power of food. She experimented with various mono-diets using oranges, muskmelons, snake gourd and fenugreek and cured herself of various ailments. Sometimes her weight dropped drastically but she always emerged healthier.
“Seeing her I learned to use mono-diets to treat other people. Personally, I was more interested in experimenting with eating grains in a way that would promote health.
Hence, I did a lot of experimentation with sprouts. Also, we had two small children, who needed to be fed and sprouted food worked wonders for them too!
“Naturopathy hence became our way of life”, said Dr. Goindi.
A Legacy of Service and Recognition
In 1988, both Dr. Goindi and his wife were awarded the Doctor of Naturopathy (ND) degree by the All-India Nature Cure Federation. Dr. Goindi also served as the Director of the Haryana/Punjab Gandhi Smarak Samiti from 1986 to 1998.
His journey brought him into contact with notable figures like Lal Bahadur Shastri and Ann Wigmore, known for the ‘wheatgrass cure’. “My time with Ann Wigmore, touring India and conducting workshops, was one of the highlights of my life,” he reminisced.
Dr. Goindi’s life is a testament to the healing power of naturopathy, driven by Gandhian principles and a deep commitment to holistic health.
Dr. SS Goindi passed away peacefully in his sleep on 26th October 2023 in Chandigarh.
About Naturopathy: In Theory
Toxic matter & Detoxification
Toxins or toxic matter is produced in our bodies constantly as natural by-product of metabolism, digestion and breathing. Think dead red & white blood cells, urea & uric acid after proteins digestion. Toxics are also produced when the air we breathe is polluted, leading to more carbon dioxide in the body. The body constantly tries to detoxify, i.e. remove these toxins through the 4 organs of elimination: colon, kidneys, skin and lungs. In woman, their menstrual cycle is the 5th passage of elimination. As long as these organs are healthy, or the amount of toxins are what they can optimally eliminate, the body functions well. But if there is more accumulation than elimination, the body starts getting more toxic. This accumulation is the genesis of all disease in naturopathy and always starts with the GUT.
Hence detoxification of the GUT, making the organs of eliminations optimal and stopping additional toxins form key principles of any naturopathy treatment.
Unity of disease
In pure naturopathy, there is very little focus on specialised diagnosis, because it believes that all disease arises from the accumulation of toxic matter in the body. (Allopathy tests, are however used as diagnostics.) Naturopathy merely classifies the extent of this accumulation
4.1 Acute disease: runny nose, vomiting, diarrhoea, fever are seen as the body’s attempt at self-detoxification or throwing out the over-accumulated toxins. These symptoms are called acute diseases, since they come on rather quickly and can be aggressive in nature. A naturopath allows for the body to eliminate and supports the organs of elimination during this phase. Naturopathy treatments such as Kunjal, Enemas, Sun baths are especially useful during this time. Food is kept at minimal and mostly in fluid form.
https://yoururbannaturopath.com/you-give-me-fever/
4.2 Chronic disease: Unfortunately, we have all now become accustomed to quickly suppress the symptoms above by taking pills. Habitual and continuous suppression of acute diseases results in hardening of these accumulation, which then starts settling in and around organs. Over time, it moves from organs to systems: the circulatory, digestive, neurological.
4.3 Destructive disease: Where the disease starts attacking, eating or destroying parts of one’s own body. In modern parlance: all auto-immune, cancer, every form of tuberculosis, would fall in this bucket.
Theory of 5 elements
Naturopathy or nature cure or the science of hygiene is based on the theory of the 5 elements: Space or ether, Air, Fire, Water and Earth. Every living thing in nature (human beings, plants, animals) are a combination of elements. Humans have all 5, birds have 3. Naturopathy believes that since our body is made of these 5 elements, a dis-balance in any of these is what disturbs our equilibrium and prolonged disturbances become diseases. To prevent or cure disease therefore, equilibrium must be restored and that can be done by using these very elements as treatment modalities.
Space: Fasting, sleeping under and staring at the sky.
Air: Ealy morning walks, pranayama/breathing practices, ventilations in living areas.
Fire: Sun related treatment. Chromo/colour therapy: sun charged oil or water in different coloured bottles, green leaf sun baths
Water: All baths; hydro baths (spinal, Steam, foot, hip);
Earth: Mud packs, pits and baths. Most treatment through Food is considered part of earth elements.
Vital Energy
What the Chinese call ‘chi’, Yoga calls ‘prana’, Egyptian called ‘Ka’, the naturopaths call vital energy. It’s the body’s innate energy or life force that is constantly at work. An allopath’s view of bodily energy is like a ‘coal engine’: you keep adding coal (food) and you will get heat and energy. The naturopath views the body more like an electric engine. The current or power that enables bodily functions (especially the autonomic system) flows along the nerves like some kind of electricity. The more blocks this electricity will encounter in its path (toxic matter) the lower its output or lower the vitality.
Hence, a naturopath’s job is to remove the blocks in the way of this vital energy and increase the power of this energy. This vital energy acts like the ‘doctor within’. When adequately restored, it can heal the body from within.
Fasting and cold water applications is what restores this energy the most.
About Naturopathy: In practice
Food as Medicine
It was Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, who declared “let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.”
Naturopathy is built on this principle. Long before there were nutritionist or dieticians, there were naturopaths using food to heal the human body.
“Food is naturopathy is what can be eaten in large quantities, fills the stomach, i.e. alleviates hunger.”
In our naturopathy practice large quantities of plant-based raw food: fruits, vegetables, juices are extensively used in the initial weeks. This is followed by lightly steamed vegetable and sprouts. Lastly and if needed, grains or nuts get used. These are soaked for prolonged periods and mildly cooked. All form of cooking is oil-free and salt free.
Completely Drugless
This is also how naturopathy differs from Ayurveda which also recommends some dietary changes, but they treat through medicines (though of a herbal origins and not synthetic) At the Urban Naturopath, we use NO supplements or herbal medicines, retaining the truly ‘drugless’ tenets of pure naturopathy.
Lifestyle Focus
The small, regular habits that form a part of our daily routines have a significant impact on our health. A naturopath is more a guide or a coach gently egging you on to make those small modifications or build those small habits that can have lasting impact. Some examples include:
1. Drinking adequate water within 30 minutes of waking up
2. Having a regular yoga or walk or exercise routine
3. Finishing eating 2-3 hrs before sleep
4. Sleeping between 9:30-11PM
