Dr. Pratima Raichur is a pioneer of Ayurvedic skincare based in New York City. She has helped men, women and children throughout her 40-year career as an Ayurvedic doctor and aesthetician. She is the author of the best-selling book Absolute Beauty, as well as founder of PRATIMA skincare and the PRATIMA Ayurvedic Skincare Spa Clinic in New York City’s SoHo district. She lectures internationally and has been featured in Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, SELF, and InStyle Magazine.
“My husband received a job practicing medicine in New York. And I remember thinking it would be a real challenge bringing my own Ayurvedic practices here. The expression, ‘if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere’ was an inspiration at the time because I thought, ‘I like challenges!’ But what ended up happening was both beautiful and miraculous – I ended up in one of the most open-minded cities in the world. People came to me from word-of-mouth recommendations wanting to hear about this thing called ‘Ayurveda’ and were very open to new ideas and new concepts. And that is how my business grew, very organically. It actually turned out to be easier in New York than I think it would have been in any other national or international city….
“First off, I have my parents to thank for pointing me in the right direction. My family vacations often involved spending the week on a small Caribbean island, eating nothing but raw foods and watermelon. My father was (and still is) a part-time practitioner of Natural Hygiene – concerned with proper food combining, acid & alkaline and the consumption of mainly raw fruits, vegetables, nuts seeds and sprouts. And then there is the other 50 weeks of the year when he practices the Standard American Diet. And so it goes, the ideal vs. the reality. But if I’ve learned anything from my own study and practice of Macrobiotics, it’s that there is not one clear path; there is not one “right way”, no “ideal diet”. Everything changes. Always.