Juhi Singh on How Acupuncture Saved Her Life

These days, it’s increasingly difficult to imagine a world without medical technologies. Vaccines, X-ray scanners, even the humble tablet of Advil—these modern advents have become so intertwined with our notions of health and wellness that it’s uncommon to even think twice about them. But in Asia, practitioners of alternative medicine have been utilizing Eastern healing techniques for centuries upon centuries, prioritizing holistic and natural approaches before resorting to the use of chemicals.

Juhi Singh, a medical specialist who focuses on practicing at the intersection of Eastern and Western medicine, is at the forefront of the burgeoning movement that advocates for holistic healing. Finding the sweet spot between technological innovations and traditional, cultural practices, Singh is introducing an Eastern host of treatments and techniques that could potentially heal and protect the body in a gentler way. 

L’Officiel USA had the opportunity to chat with Singh, and hear how Eastern medicine has truly changed her life. Read on to see how she built her unique practice, how she views the human body, and how fell in love with the art of healing. 

Your space is all about the mind, body, and soul. Tell me a little bit about what goes down at your space

My practice is an epicenter for holistic healing. What makes our practice special? The more than 25 years of collective experience amongst my colleagues and our mutual desire and foremost intention to heal. I have hand-selected the best practitioners—those proven to have an outstanding attunement to both ancient technique and contemporary medical practice in order to provide our patients with a combination of acupuncture, Ayurvedic medicine, Chinese herbal medicine, Reiki, and Yoga therapy.

When a new patient arrives, I guide him or her through a careful process of assessment in order to diagnose the harm and its causes to the body, mind, and heart of the patient. Next, I devise a personal protocol of therapies guiding the patient on a journey to improvement. What happens in this process, is a powerful transference of the tools gathered by healers across cultures in order to improve the patient’s life. Central to the practice is the heart of the practitioner.

I’ve always been interested in Himalayan Salt Rooms. What are the benefits of spending time inside these spaces?

You are definitely not alone! Salt therapy practices can be found around the globe. Throughout time, we have concluded the following to be true of using salt for daily healing:

The salty atmosphere supplies negatively-charged ions that kill harmful bacteria in the respiratory and circulatory systems. The salt-air reduces mucus and toxins in your body when you breathe it. Additionally, being in an environment highly concentrated in salt decreases inflammation within the body as well as along the skin. The salt room treatment has been applied as a cure for asthma, allergies, bronchitis, COPD, eczema, and psoriasis. Experience shows us that beyond the physical benefits, salt improves our mood by reducing stress and improving circulation through these same detoxifying qualities. Just as salt helps to circulate and replenish the ocean with its resources, salt has the same rejuvenating effect on us.

People have been raving about your acupuncture practice. In such a crowded space, what makes your practice stand out? What makes it unique?

My team. All of us are thoughtful and genuine practitioners driven by our careers and findings in medicine and by our own personal experiences in health to inspire humanity in healthcare. We have come together to one center to execute the perfect balance between what this busy world of doctors’ offices, pharmacies, and medical technology tells us, and what our own medical knowledge teaches us. We offer harmony to the individual by treating all aspects of the person in a single space with techniques cultivated from around the world. We don’t just provide a service, we empower each patient with the knowledge you need to heal at the elemental level and live your optimal life.

You had life-threatening complications with Crohn’s disease growing up. Tell me how acupuncture helped to really and truly save your life

At 16, I was diagnosed with Chron’s disease. We were living in the tri-state area and my parents and I spent three and a half years traveling from doctor to doctor and digging through the most well-reputed medical specialists in order to find a solution to my agonizing disease to no avail. By age 19, the doctors were signing me up for a colostomy as the last possible option. As a young adult, you can imagine how my life would have been physically and emotionally diverted by this drastic operation. My mother and I called my aunt who is also a doctor, she suggested that I try one more thing before the surgery. They shipped me back to India where I was under the care of Ayurvedic doctors and homeopathic healers for two and a half months. Following a regimen of acupuncture and a strict change in diet according to Ayurvedic diagnostics, my Chron’s disease went into remission after those 10 weeks and I’ve had very few and very manageable flare-ups in the 20 plus years since. I owe my life to acupuncture, I owe my life to my discovery in medicine, and my center is how I can pay back what I owe by offering what I experienced to anyone and everyone who needs healing and who demands options.

Is this what compelled you to venture from Western practices to Eastern practices?

This was not my first experience with Eastern medicine. I was born in India, had learned meditation and Yoga in a village there, and was exposed to Ayurvedic medicine throughout my childhood. Moving to the States, we believed we had access to the finest, state-of-the-art medical facilities and practices in our new home. I thought that I was moving forward by studying Western medicine and would never “look back”. I learned in my own battle with Chron’s disease and at the risk of my life, that there is no clear picture of what is going forward and what is going back, the only choice is between what works and what doesn’t. I didn’t leave Western medicine for Eastern medicine, I left behind the boundaries to find the cures.

Everyone throws the saying around of holistic living, but, in your eyes, what does it actually mean?!

For me, holistic living is caring for the whole person by looking beyond the words and the diagnoses. In order to create personalized care for all facets of one’s life, I want to look deeply at the lifestyle of the individual. I want to get down to the very fabric of your being. I need to know not just your symptoms but where you carry your stress, what you eat, do you get migraines…I need to know who you are to help you become who you want to be. In this way, I can help you to devise a structure for holistic living that will give you the wellness that you want in your life.

There have been some great advances towards combining the practices of holistic living with modern technology. An example of this can be found in the work of a company called Viome. Viome identifies microorganisms living in your gut to determine what foods will improve an individual’s unique digestive system and thus overall health. Companies like this make holistic living for individuals available on a greater scale by branching out from the one-size fits all approach. What may be considered healthy for one may not be healthy for another. My hope is to bring this kind of holistic living and healthcare to all and transform the way we look at medicine from a grassroots level.

The Juhi Center is located at 164 E. 61st St, New York, NY 10065. Open from Monday to Friday. (646) 649-4336. www.juhi.center.