“I looked within to address the thought patterns that were bringing these eruptions on my face. I added Louise Hay’s affirmation on acne to my daily list of affirmations. I did Abraham Hicks meditation on health more often than their other meditations. The acne still continued. I went to a couple of dermatologists. One gave a topical ointment that targeted the problem just externally and didn’t help me. The other dermatologist, one of the country’s leading doctors, prescribed medicine which had side effects that I didn’t want. Not to say that acne medication is not the right way. I did try Homeopathy, which had worked for me earlier in life with another health challenge but this time, it did not work. One day, I met a lady who told me about the wonderful nutritionist she goes to. She also told me that some 15-16 of her friends also go to this nutritionist and they all are very happy with her. Her nutritionist was Rachna Chhachhi.”

As a life coach who believes in an inside out approach to growth, when I started to introduce change in my own life, that’s exactly what I followed. And that meant introspecting, learning, introducing affirmations, meditation and yoga. Louise Hay’s book  – You can Heal your life which I picked up in 2002 helped me immensely in my own inner work. I thought I had healed but in 2010 (nearly three years ago), I started getting pretty stubborn acne. Thanks to the inner work which I had been doing, it was (and still is) easier to recognize something much earlier than when it becomes too huge to be taken care of. I immediately knew that there was more work to be done, something more to clear up within myself. This was another opportunity for me to practice what I preach. It reminded me of something that Louise Hay said when she discovered fear in her towards learning dance at the age of 80 (she is now 86 years). At that age, when she wanted to learn dancing, she found herself not going ahead readily for it. When she looked within, she found that the reason was that she feared that she might get scolded by her teacher if she made a mistake and this fear was making her stay away from learning dance even though she wanted to. Louise Hay, even with all her knowledge and life experiences found something to still work on within herself and she was wise enough to accept it and work on it. Now she learns to dance and quite enjoys her classes. Inner work is a conscious and consistent process, which one needs to do throughout life on an everyday basis. It’s never too late to learn something new, as Louise says.

I looked within to address the thought patterns that were bringing these eruptions on my face. I added Louise Hay’s affirmation on acne to my daily list of affirmations. I did Abraham Hicks meditation on health more often than their other meditations. The acne still continued. I went to a couple of dermatologists. One gave a topical ointment that targeted the problem just externally and didn’t help me. The other dermatologist, one of the country’s leading doctors, prescribed medicine which had side effects that I didn’t want. Not to say that acne medication is not the right way. Maybe it does work for some people who are either okay with or somewhere resign themselves to the side effects (and I respect their right to make a choice) but it was just something that I didn’t want to put in my system. I did try Homeopathy, which had worked for me earlier in life with another health challenge but this time, it did not work.

I realized that this was something on which I had to work holistically – on the physical as well as the emotional level. When I looked into my life, the only thing missing at that point was proper knowledge of nutrition. Though I had been following healthy eating habits my knowledge was limited to what I had read in books or health articles. There was no expert giving me customized advise. I also remembered reading Louise Hay’s advise that when one starts doing inner work on themselves, they should consult a nutritionist also. This would be a complete and holistic way of healing oneself. I felt that this was an opportunity for me to introduce a diet in my life that was meant for me. I spoke to a few nutritionists and what I realized that all the ones I spoke to were more for weight loss whereas I was looking at firstly treating my acne and secondly, introducing healthy eating habits which were appropriate for me/ meant for me considering my life, mind and body.

One day, I met a lady who told me about the wonderful nutritionist she goes to. She also told me that some fifteen – sixteen of her friends also go to this nutritionist and they all are very happy with her. Her nutritionist was Rachna Chhachhi. Getting a client testimonial prompted me to immediately go on Rachna’s website and when I read about how she had cured herself of Rheumatoid Arthritis, I knew this was the universe helping me in what I was asking – “Ask and it is given”. I felt that since she had battled her own health issue, she would be able to understand where I was coming from. I felt that she would understand that I was not asking for “weight loss” (though I know that for some people that is an issue with which they need help and they must seek it if they want to but weight loss was not a challenge for me) but for healthy eating habits which would not only treat my acne but serve as a general principle which I could follow for life as far as my nutrition goes.

When I met Rachna, I felt comfortable enough to share whatever she asked me in the initial session. Her relaxed demeanour, insightful questions and knowledge & belief in nutrition made me feel that I would get the help I was asking for at that point. Looking at my test results and my acne, she felt that I would take three months to heal but with her diet plan, I was so pleased to see that within a month, 90 % of my acne was gone and within the second month of following her diet, my skin cleared up completely. We again did the tests and most of the parameters, which were high before starting her diet had come into the normal range and the ones that had not were on their way into the normal range. Many years after I started with Rachna, my test results are still all in the normal range. Her diet plan included what to eat, at what time, portion size, pranayams, walk, adequate sleep and diet supplements like Vitamin E, Omega 3 fatty acids, Vitamin D etc. I also continued my inner work (affirmations, meditation, positive thoughts etc.) and yoga just like earlier.

I found Rachna to be a good listener and very open in her outlook. This made me very comfortable with her.

I do get one odd pimple once in a while now but as Rachna told me that I need to cleanse my system every day which I do follow, the pimple heals within a day or two (in the phase that they had come used to take three weeks to heal). In addition to the fact that the number has reduced dramatically, the pimple is just said half a millimetre in diameter at its best…just like a tiny speck. So now the acne is infrequent and insignificant in number as well as the size and therefore, it’s pretty ignorable and doesn’t bother me. I quite agree with Rachna when she emphasizes cleansing on an everyday basis and I feel this includes our diet, exercise and positive thoughts – mental as well as physical cleansing. It may sound like a lot of effort to some. It does require consistent and conscious effort in the initial days for it to soon become a way of life. I feel that the benefits far outweigh the initial days wherein it may seem like an effort.

I believe that we are all a journey in progress and it’s important to cleanse our mind, body and soul on a daily basis.  Rachna’s nutritional advice has helped in this and I can’t thank her enough.

Based on my experience with her, I feel that Rachna is an amazing Nutritional therapist. Her knowledge of her field, relaxed and easy demeanour, helpful attitude is a boon for people looking for a nutritional plan that matches what they are looking for.

– Sonal Kalra, Life Coach