Hi! I’m Dr. Sonal Saraswat Gupta

The same things that worked so well to get us all through our training requirements - ignoring all our basic needs - are some of the very habits and teachings that harm us in the longer run.  

“Take care of the patient, don’t sleep. Take care of the patient, don’t eat. Take care of the patient, don’t go to the bathroom right now.”  

We literally survived by ignoring any and all healthy basic self care habits. And we were rewarded for it. Great job, you got through this rotation. Sleeping so little or having to drink so much coffee was romanticized.  

How messed up is the training in medicine? Or motherhood? Or womanhood in general when you are told to minimize your needs and place those of others above yours, routinely? 

My brother felt he did not have a choice when administration told him there were no locum MDs available, that the 3 of 6 physicians on the team of nocturnists that retired would not be replaced. That the census was doubled, that the shift would be longer, and the vacation would be hard to grant with less people to fill the gaps.  

I wish he had instead been taught in training that he matters more than anything, that his health comes first.  

That is part of my mission now, to share this message pro bono with as many residency programs and physicians in training that I can after losing my brother - so more understand that we always have a choice, and we can always walk away.  And sometimes that is exactly what is necessary.  

No matter how irreplaceable we would like to feel, we will all eventually be replaced.  Don’t confuse your role with your patients with your duty to yourself and to your family. 

What I learned doing a small practice cardioprevention approach was that any conversation in the exam room paled in comparison to the teachings being soaked up when teaching hands on, in person, and in an intimate group of like-minded and motivated people.  We hosted: 

• Plant-based picnics where patients shared their favorite recipes and brought samples to share

• Herb-propagation parties where patients left excited to make their own herby salad dressings with their new free garden plants propagated from mine

• Demonstrations and tastings of how to add more omega 3s with chia seeds and hemp hearts and walnuts to your overnight oats

• Book clubs where we learned about so much including the power of gratitude on your health and cortisol levels through books like The Rabbit Effect by Kelli Harding, MD MPH

The patients who showed up again and again were the ones that had the most impact on their labs, their risk factors, and their overall health.  

This led me to the idea to host plant-based cooking events with an Indian-inspired theme and shared meals with those participants. They were intended to be two hours but lasted five hours due to the camaraderie and genuine interest of the group and community that was created in the kitchen.  

I find that bonding intensifies over breaking bread but perhaps even more so after making that bread together.  

What I know is that I am more flexible, more open to trying new things and exploring new avenues of thought when I travel. I don’t mind the discomfort of learning something new or growing in some way so much. In fact, I tend to seek it out on vacation because we usually do a local vegetarian cooking class, some local cultural skills (whether flamenco dancing or Japanese calligraphy), and explore nature.  

When I’m home, I tend to avoid traffic and crowds, avoid parking fees that are expensive, and avoid most unnecessary discomforts that I can. But have you noticed that our brain approaches these similar situations very differently when we are out of our known element or “in vacation mode” in a new area?  

I find that when I am getting too comfortable, it’s because I am not pushing myself, not growing myself, not reaching for further knowledge or skills. My goal is to always maintain a bit of the good kind of discomfort (reading a new philosophy book that challenges my preconceptions, have to learn the choreography of a new song, introducing new words in a different language especially for travel, seeking out education on olive oil when I’m in literally the best region for olive oil in the world). 

When I am not leading retreats or coaching, I am living my own Ideal Day right here in Nashville with my husband and two daughters whom I adore.

On any given day, you can find me:

• In Nature: daily hiking at Radnor Lake, or gardening with an audiobook playing in my ear as I tackle the weeds

• At the Lathe: turning fallen trees into beautiful, functional wooden bowls (you can explore my woodturning journey on Instagram @goldenturns)

• Crafting & Arts: practicing pyrography on my bowls, or doing mehndi (henna) on hands

• Dancing: While my formal training is in Bharatanatyam (Indian classical), I love Bollywood, Zumba, and hip-hop. If the music is thumping, I will dance with you—even if I don’t understand the words!