Roots Whole Health - Dr. Kiran Khaira

12/18/2025

On average, we spend about 90% of our lives indoors, which makes indoor air quality an important aspect of our wellbeing. Research from the US EPA shows that indoor air can be 5-10x more polluted than outdoor air, and in some cases, up to 100x times worse.

This is especially relevant in the winter months, when we tend to keep our windows closed and spend even more time indoors. With less fresh air circulating, airborne pollutants can build up more quickly.

Poor indoor air quality can contribute to fatigue, headaches, asthma, allergies, mood changes, respiratory irritation, and long-term health concerns.

Why is indoor air so polluted?
Couple of reasons:

1. We don’t open our windows and modern homes are tightly sealed for energy efficiency, which limits fresh air exchange.

2. Many household items release chemicals into the air, including furniture, carpeting, paint, cleaning products, and fragranced items.

What can we do about it?

• Open windows daily, even briefly, to bring in fresh air when conditions allow
• Reduce unnecessary sources of indoor pollution. Start with fragranced items such as candles, plug-ins, and room sprays. Replace conventional cleaning and laundry products with lower-toxicity alternatives (the Environmental Working Group’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning free database is great place to start to find lower-tox options)
• Minimize fragranced personal care products when possible (EWG Skin Deep database is great resource/guide)

BONUS ✨ Consider adding an air filter to frequently used spaces. Look for two key features: HEPA filtration, which captures fine particles like dust, pollen, and smoke; and activated carbon, which captures gases, odors and VOCs. Both together offer the most comprehensive support.

The winter season is an ideal time to reassess what’s in your indoor environment and make a few small, intentional changes. Even simple, no-cost/low-cost shifts can make a meaningful difference in the air you breathe at home.

12/04/2025

The winter solstice is just a couple of weeks away. The darkest day of the year invites a natural pause; a moment to slow down and reflect on what fills our cups and sustains us through the natural ebb and flow of the seasons. It can be a time to think about how we would like to spend our new few months wintering.

This winter season, I’m choosing to create more rest and spaciousness in my days by stepping back from some of the more intense rhythms I enjoy in more yang seasons. Instead of heavy workouts, I’m leaning into yoga and gentle walks, honoring earlier bedtimes, taking more phoneless days, spending meaningful time with loved ones, and leaving more open space in my schedule for just being.

How will you invite pause, rest, and ease into your days this winter? Where might you be able to slow down and allow for reflection, rejuvenation, and deep rest? How can you soften into your yin and nurture a deeper sense of grounding and reconnecting with your inner self? ❄️🕯️

10/22/2025

✨What is sacred in medicine?✨

In my early 20s, I spent 9 months studying religion and culture in India, China, Thailand, and Turkey. In a multitude of settings, I witnessed how humans draw lines between that which is sacred and that which is ordinary. When we make something sacred, we make it extraordinary, grant it more respect, make it more meaningful and give it more power.

I see these lines being drawn in medicine too. In natural and holistic spaces, we place many healing practices to be within the realm of the sacred: the intentional ingestion of a flower essence for deep emotional healing, the mindful ritual of preparing passionflower and skullcap tea before bed to help unwind our nervous system, the sanctuary of time and space we create for our morning meditation practice.

What if we extended that same reverence to all forms of medicine? To the sacred act of ingesting the statin that protects our blood vessels, the SSRI that brings us out of crisis, or the supplement that corrects a deficiency. What would happen if we made the act of taking these medicines sacred? To acknowledge just how powerful and life changing they are. What if we made the weekly chemotherapy hospital visit sacred? Offering a moment of reverence and awe for the powerful, life-saving IV bag as it is hung; a sacred medicine - the product of countless hours of research - that generations before us could not have imagined.

How beautiful it is that we live in a time when we can draw from medicines used for hundreds or even thousands of years, while also benefiting from innovations of modern science. The art is in knowing when to use which medicine — and remembering that the use of any medicine, when used appropriately, can be sacred.

07/07/2025

Our Summer Solstice Silent Meditation Retreat came to life in ways that exceeded our deepest hopes. I’m filled with immense gratitude for each human soul who shared in this sacred space, as well as for the land that held us, the fawn who passed by just before we entered the silence, the chorus of bullfrogs, the glow of fireflies, the black raspberries, birds, fish, chickens, and Tangie, the sweet orange cat — all of whom were a part of our magical, intentional, silent time together.

While and I poured our hearts into creating the container for this retreat, it was the presence, spirit, and openness of each participant that shaped it into the transformative experience it became. We’re so grateful to our friends and for their on-site support, and to for the love and nourishment she infused into every meal.

I also have deep gratitude for the innumerable teachers I have learned from, whose wisdom was woven into the retreat. Integrating the wisdom of plants, flower essences, nature cure, and science of forest bathing — medicines that are part of my clinical practice — into the retreat felt deeply meaningful, allowing me to bring some of the medicines I offer into this space of shared healing.

I know these are heavy times in the world. This retreat wasn’t about turning away from the world or escaping it, but about tending to our inner terrain, which can allow us to remain resilient, rested and connected. Containers like our silent solstice retreat are a kind of medicine, helping us gather the inner reserve, clarity and rest we need to keep showing up. Showing up for ourselves, each other, for the Earth, and for the more beautiful world we believe is possible.

Photos by our incredibly talented friend (also our pre retreat gatherings were held in her studio - swipe to last few photos to see it!)

05/06/2025

In the spring, nature produces edible greens full of minerals that help cleanse our systems from the heavier, denser foods consumed in winter. Two of my favorite spring plant allies are dandelions and violets, both of which are nutrient-rich, and deeply supportive to the body. You can easily add the leaves and flowers to spring dishes to nourish your body, connect with the land and align with the cycles of nature by eating seasonally.

Dandelion leaves are bitter, cooling and drying. Dandelions help to move stagnation and clear out the sluggishness of winter. The leaves have a diuretic effect that is nutritive, rather than depleting, as they contain high levels of minerals. While in the spring I will frequently add the leaves and petals to my salads (you can also add some leaves into your favorite pesto recipe), I also use the root in my practice. The root is liver supportive, clears heat, moves bile and stimulates digestion. It’s interesting that this often overlooked plant can help protect us from the very chemicals that are often sprayed on lawns to get rid of it (on that note, do NOT eat dandelions or violets from a lawn that has been sprayed or from the side of a road).

Violets are cooling, moistening, and gently supportive to the lymphatic and respiratory systems, and are sometimes used in herbal formulas for sore throats with chronically swollen lymph nodes. The leaves are rich in minerals and vitamins A and C. The spring leaves are the sweetest and in the summer they become tough and more bitter. Violets are a softening plant: they move the lymph, lower tension and help ease irritability. One of my mentors primarily uses violet energetically, as an EO, to support the 5th chakra to help speak one’s truth with humility and strength. I add a few leaves to spring salads (which have a high saponin content, making them taste a little “soapy,” so I don’t add a lot), or add a few leaves to other greens and sauté. I love to sprinkle the purple flowers on top of my spring meals.

**never consume wild plants if you are unsure how to ID them

04/29/2025

Meditation, unplugging from technology and being in nature are three of my personal favorite medicines. While I have participated in a few structured silent retreats in the past, ranging from 3-10 days, I regularly make time for the gifts of these medicines with solo trips into nature, where I let myself deeply rest, meditate, connect with nature, hear my inner voice, and give every cell in my body the chance to heal, away from the near-constant stimulation of technological devices. While it sounds like it could be simple and easy to disconnect in this way, the space that opens up during these silent, unplugged times in nature can often be deeply uncomfortable, challenging and can bring up things I may have been avoiding. In the silence, without distractions, I will come face to face with myself.

During our upcoming silent meditation retreat, participants will not be in solitude, but will be without technology, immersed in nature and will take a vow of silence for the duration of the retreat. To offer a safe and supportive container for this experience is something I have wanted to do for a long time.

Something that was really important to and I was that we create a scaffolding of foundational practices, support and community before the silent retreat. To build this, before the retreat, we’ll gather three times to prepare for the experience. During these pre-retreat gatherings, we will lay the groundwork for what to expect during the silent retreat, delve into some foundational meditation and mindfulness practices, explore plant allies that can support our process, build community and deepen our connection with nature.

If the experience calls to you at this time in your life, and you have any questions about our upcoming silent meditation retreat, please feel free to reach out. I'd be happy to answer any questions/chat further.

04/15/2025

In the world of environmental medicine, it is easy to get caught in spirals of overwhelm about the things we cannot control, or experience decision paralysis when we start deep diving into the many ways in which the items around us and things we consume may be impacting our health. Rather than overwhelm, how can we use information to empower us? Can we focus on the most accessible, easiest and lowest cost ways in which we can lower our toxin exposure, rather than spin out about things we are unable to control? Where can we make small changes that have a big impact?

In the spirit of spring and “spring cleaning”, below are 5 simple, easy and low cost, but high impact, ways to lower toxin exposures in your day to day life, to support your overall health:
1. Take your shoes off at home. Outdoor shoes track all kinds of unwanted things, including pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals from car exhausts and polycyclic hydrocarbons, which then become part of your house dust. Your house dust then gets breathed in/ingested by you, your kids and your pets.
2. Vacuum and wet mop regularly to remove house dust and all the health damaging things mentioned above, as well as the flame retardants from furniture and electronics, that it holds on to.
3. Throw out your artificially scented candles, plug-ins and air fresheners. These contain phthalates, which are known endocrine disruptors.
4. Opt for organic foods, when you can. Use the Environmental Working Group’s Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen lists, which rank conventionally grown produce based on measurable pesticide/fungicide residues, to help you determine when most important to choose organic and when choosing the conventional option is less likely to negatively impact health.
5. Use the EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning and Skin Deep databases to help you determine safer cleaning product and cosmetics options. You’re purchasing these items anway, so you may as well opt for the safer options (ie the ones without ingredients that can be carcinogenic, allergenic or endocrine disrupting). I often hear patients comment in surprise that the safer option was the same price or cheaper than whatever they had previously been using.

03/21/2025

03/14/2025

I have been seeing more and more strong opinions about medicine that are firmly rooted in a dualistic approach. A dualistic approach of either/or is not only unhelpful, but can be dangerous. Where can we step back and find nuance? The nuance that modern medicine and science has absolutely revolutionized human health AND that there is value in ancient/traditional therapies that have been around for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Both pharmaceuticals and natural therapies have their limits and the choice of when to lean into different approaches involves knowledge of effectiveness, risk and benefit of each approach.

In my practice, a non-dualistic approach is woven through every decision. I work in the expansive realm of “both/and” rather than the limiting space of “either/or”. The logic and rationality of modern medicine, science and research is just as important to me as the complexity and deep wisdom of traditional herbalism, energetic medicine, how we eat, how we move our bodies, consideration of environmental exposures, and nature cure. I have deep respect for modern medicine, without which I personally would not be alive today, AND realize that it does not have all the answers. But you know what, neither does the realm of natural medicine.

There is more than enough room for both paradigms. Just because natural medicine is deeply effective for many chronic conditions, don’t throw out the value of vaccinations and what they have done for public health or the need for pharmaceuticals in a multitude of situations. And just because you have seen the life changing power of pharmaceuticals, know that they’re not the answer to everything that ails us.

📷

01/17/2025

Homeopathy, one of my favorite healing modalities, is a system of healing which assists the body’s natural tendency to heal itself. Homeopathy is a whole-systems form of medicine that treats individuals, not diseases. The correctly prescribed homeopathic remedy should stimulate the body’s self-regulatory and defense mechanisms to bring an individual to a state of greater health and vitality. People often report “feeling more like themselves”, noticing improved mental-emotional health, having more energy and more resilience to stress. Also, their chronic health conditions should also lessen/resolve.

This week I talked to conventional providers about the safe and effective integration of homeopathy into primary care. One thing that I emphasize when talking about homeopathy is that it was never intended to be used alone, even by its founder, Samuel Hahnemann. Attention to the foundations of health and obstacles to cure must be given. I would also argue that homeopathy is best, and most safely, practiced by practitioners who are also clinically trained. The integration of advances in modern science, conventional medicine, herbs, nutrition and mind-body therapies with homeopathy makes for a powerful combination. In North America, naturopathic doctors are the only primary care trained physicians for whom homeopathy is part of their core curriculum. I’m so grateful for my training that, at its heart, integrates modern science and advances in conventional medicine with natural healing modalities that have been used for 100s, and in some cases 1000s, of years. Talking with conventionally trained physicians who are eager to deeply study homeopathy and integrate it into their practices makes me so excited for the expansion of this type of integrative care.

12/12/2024

10 years ago today I graduated from the National University of Natural Medicine (NUNM) with my degree in naturopathic medicine. I applied to NUNM during a time when I was deciding between pursuing a PhD in international public health ethics at Johns Hopkins or going back to Case Western to get a PhD in bioethics. I’d spent the last 3 years working in the field of bioethics at Hopkins, and the moral inquiries of bioethics will always be compelling to me. The decision really boiled down to head vs heart, and my heart told me loud and clear that I needed to move across the country to Portland, OR to study naturopathic medicine, a form of medicine I only discovered by accident while working with an acupuncturist in Baltimore. She connected me with a naturopathic doctor in her office, who was kind enough to meet with me for tea, and who described to me an integrative, holistic, science-based, root-cause form of medicine that I had never dreamed existed. I have always been interested in pursuing a healing vocation, but it was not until I heard about naturopathic medicine that I knew I had found my calling.

As I reflect back on my journey, I see that 4 years of ND school were just the beginning. Since then, it’s been a continuous journey of deepening into the medicine. All of my experiences since then, including a primary care focused residency at Bastyr, multiple continuing education conferences/seminars, herbal intensives, additional years of homeopathy training and everything that I have learned from working with thousands of patients, have sculpted the way I practice now, which is miles apart from how I practiced my first year out of school. I feel so different from the brand new baby-doc I was 10 years ago and I am so excited to dive even deeper into this powerful medicine over the next 10 years.

📷: ✨

12/09/2024

Fire cider

An immune and digestive tonic, the original fire cider recipe was created by herbalist Rosemary Gladstar. She included herbs to support immune function, clear sinus congestion and invigorate digestion. The recipe below has some additional ingredients, and that’s the beauty of fire cider - you can tailor it to your needs! Some people add cayenne peppers (I didn’t have any on hand, so I didn’t include it in my batch), elderberries (boil first), cinnamon and/or peppercorns. Also, some people opt to use powdered root, instead of fresh roots. Maybe you start with a basic fire cider recipe and then experiment with adding your own flare in the future ✨

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup grated ginger root
- 1/2 cup grated horseradish root
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh turmeric root
- 1 chopped small-medium onion
- 1 whole garlic bulb crushed and chopped
- 4 thick slices of lemon with the rind
- A few sprigs of fresh rosemary and thyme
- Unpasteurized apple cider vinegar
- ~1/4 cup local raw honey to taste

Prep all non-liquid ingredients and place into a quart sized glass jar. Pour apple cider vinegar over into the jar until all ingredients are fully covered. Cover with parchment paper and screw on lid (the parchment paper protects the lid from corroding from the vinegar). Give the jar a shake daily for 3-4 weeks. After 3-4 weeks strain into a colander, lined with cheesecloth, over a saucepan. Squeeze cheesecloth until all liquid has been removed into the saucepan. Add honey to taste. Pour into a new clean glass jar. Store liquid in a glass jar in the fridge.

You can take a tbsp daily throughout the winter. I like to take it before a meal and will increase the dose to 3-4 times a day if I’m starting to feel under the weather.