I’m an illustrator who somehow fell in love with Ayurveda.

Art has always been my thing. I’ve spent more than twenty years as a professional illustrator, making pictures, telling stories, and paying very close attention to the world around me.

Ayurveda came along quietly.

I first encountered it 17 years ago during a yoga teacher training, and something about it felt immediately familiar. The idea that we are part of nature, not separate from it. That our bodies have rhythms. That everything changes. That health is less about controlling the body and more about learning how to listen to it and work with it.

I remember thinking: how have I never known this?

So I kept following the thread.

I read. I experimented. Eventually I enrolled in Ayurveda school. And somewhere in the middle of all that learning, Ayurveda stopped being something I was simply fascinated by and became something I experienced very personally.

I developed painful arthritis in my hands and feet—enough that it interfered with my illustration work and daily life. Working with an Ayurvedic doctor through that experience changed my understanding of what it means to be well.

Slowly, my body changed. The pain subsided. My digestion improved. I slept better. My mind became clearer. Today I live without arthritis pain or medication, and with a much deeper understanding of my own body and what it needs.

I wanted to know more.

I completed my training as an Ayurvedic Health Counselor at Kerala Ayurveda Academy and am now continuing into practitioner-level clinical study, deepening my understanding of disease and how Ayurveda approaches its care.

The more I learn, the more I understand why one of my teachers says, “Ayurveda is an ocean.” There is always another layer. Another connection. Another reminder of how extraordinarily intelligent the body is—and how much there still is to learn.

What I have learned is how to listen.

Ayurveda has taught me a way of looking closely—at the body, at the patterns, at the whole person. My training gives me a framework for what I see; curiosity keeps me looking when the answer isn’t obvious.

That feels like a pretty good way to practice.

I still make pictures. I still love art. But these days, Ayurveda has a place alongside it—a different kind of creative work, and one that feels deeply meaningful to me.

These days, I feel very lucky to sit with people, hear their stories, look closely, and help them find a way toward greater health and ease.

And I’m still following the thread.