Mind Sattva: Practical Wisdom for Modern Life

About Mind Sattva: Practical Wisdom for Modern Life

Mind Sattva is a podcast about finding clarity and grounding in a noisy world. Hosted by Dr. Mitika Kanabar, a physician trained at Stanford with a background in addiction medicine, lifestyle medicine, and public health, the show blends ancient wisdom, modern understanding, and evidence-based perspectives to reflect on how we live, grow, lead, and connect. Each episode offers conversations or solo reflections shaped by professional insight, lived experience, and sometimes teachings rooted in Eastern philosophy. Whether exploring grief, perfectionism, identity, or resilience, Mind Sattva creates space to pause, ask deeper questions, and return to what steadies you. You can listen on your favorite podcast app or watch on YouTube: youtube.com/@MindSattva (https://www.youtube.com/@MindSattva) Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It does not provide medical, legal, financial, or professional advice. Always consult qualified professionals regarding your specific needs. Views expressed are personal and do not represent any institution. No guarantees or endorsements are implied. Listening constitutes your agreement to release the host, guests, and affiliates from liability.

Publisher

Dr. Mitika Kanabar

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

11 Jul 2025

Latest episode

24 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

22 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   24 Sept 2026

   From Hardship to the UN: One Man's Fight for Women's Health & Empowerment | Devendra Kumar

   What does it take to build a grassroots movement that reaches millions? How can one person's hardship become a force for women's empowerment and gender equality across three continents? In this episode, Dr. Mitika Kanabar, an international keynote speaker on mental wellness, digital well-being, and mindful living, sits down with Devendra Kumar, founder and chairman of the Ladli Foundation. A national award-winning nonprofit recognized by the United Nations with Special Consultative Status in ECOSOC, Ladli Foundation provides wraparound services for girls and women across India, the US, and South Africa. From growing up in one of India's most vulnerable communities to addressing the UN General Assembly on women's health priorities, Devendra shares how one person's mission became a movement reaching over 3 million lives. The conversation also explores how Vedanta philosophy, karma, and inner development connect to lasting social impact. ✨ What you'll learn: How the Ladli Foundation grew from a personal mission into a three-continent organization reaching over 3 million lives Why women's health must come first - before education, before skills, before anything else The wraparound approach to women's empowerment - health, education, skills, and social protection working together How AI-integrated smart wash infrastructure in girls' schools is changing attendance and health outcomes Speaking at the United Nations on women's health priorities and what that experience was really like Patriarchy and generational patterns - why changing mindset matters more than money How Vedanta philosophy, karma, and the Bhagavad Gita connect to real-world social impact The difference between individualism and individuality - and why it matters for social change Why prevention through mental clarity and ancient wisdom offers more sustainable solutions than short-term interventions Resources Mentioned: Ladli Foundation (India) Ladli Foundation USA United Nations ECOSOC - Commission on the Status of Women Bhagavad Gita & Vedanta Philosophy Connect with Ladli Foundation: YouTube: com/@ladlifoundation_official Instagram: @ladlifoundation_official Facebook: com/ladlifoundationofficial LinkedIn: com/company/ladlifoundationofficial Website: org 🔗 Listen on Podbean | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTubeFollow @MindSattva and @KanabarMD on Instagram

2. 

   22 Jul 2026

   A Nuclear Medicine Physician on Lifestyle Medicine, Cancer Prevention, and the Six Pillars of Health - Dr. Mythri Shankar

   Season 2 of Mind Sattva is here. And we're starting with a statistic that might change how you think about your health: only 5% of cancer is genetic. The rest is shaped by lifestyle and environment. Diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in her 50s, Dr. Mythri Shankar chose food over medication and brought her own HbA1c down. The protocol she built next is now helping her cancer patients address the other 95% through food, exercise, sleep, stress, and connection. Dr. Mythri Shankar is a nuclear medicine physician and integrative oncologist with 30 years of clinical experience across the US and India. A TEDx speaker and certified lifestyle medicine practitioner, she is the author of Ease and a co-author of How Healers Heal alongside Dr. Mitika Kanabar and 31 other women physicians. She leads the EASE Protocol and EASE Cancer, a 21-session program for cancer patients based on the American College of Lifestyle Medicine guidelines. In this conversation with Dr. Mitika Kanabar, Dr. Mythri shares the personal diabetes diagnosis that brought her into lifestyle medicine, the EASE Protocol she developed for preventing and reversing chronic disease, and a practical look at how food, exercise, sleep, stress, and connection are shaping how she practices, how she thinks about cancer recurrence, and how anyone in a caregiving role can stop burning themselves out trying to take care of everyone else. ✨ What you’ll learn: The lifestyle medicine paradigm shift -  why prevention became central to Dr. Mythri's practice after years of scanning and treating tumors The personal diabetes story that launched the EASE Protocol -  what Dr. Mythri saw when she turned over a bottle of metformin and read the side effects, and how she brought her hemoglobin A1c down through food alone How to actually adapt plant-forward eating to the Indian palate -  Malabar spinach instead of kale, moringa and amaranth instead of broccoli, and the sambar trick that hides greens in flavor so the whole family will eat them The “I will change my religion, but I cannot change my food habits” problem -  why food is the hardest behavior to shift, the colonial roots of ghee and oil as status symbols, and what actually moves a family toward change How the body remembers famine -  why generations of survival instincts may still be shaping your blood sugar today, and why what we choose at the table can carry forward into the next generation Ultra-processed food, the SOS formula (salt, oil, sugar), and the dopamine engineering behind why one bite leads to another -  plus where the food-addiction research actually is and where social-media misinformation has overcorrected Only 5% of cancer is genetic -  and the lifestyle and environmental factors that shape the other 95% Caregiver burnout, vicarious trauma, and the “fill your cup first” rule -  plus the How Healers Heal anthology Dr. Mythri co-authored with Dr. Mitika Kanabar and 31 other women physicians Resources Mentioned: Ease (book) by Dr. Mythri Shankar: https://www.amazon.in/dp/9393966001 How Healers Heal (anthology with Dr. Mitika Kanabar and 31 other women physicians): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GYZSF571 American College of Lifestyle Medicine: lifestylemedicine.org The Green Hub Foundation: https://www.facebook.com/thegreenhubTGFI Connect with Dr. Mythri Shankar: Nuclear Medicine Physician | Integrative Oncologist | Functional Medicine | Author of Ease | TEDx Speaker Website: https://drmythrishankarmd.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drmythrishankarmd LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmythrishankar/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wellthgreen Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thegreenhubTGFI 🔗 Listen on Podbean | Spotify | Apple PodcastsFollow @MindSattva and @KanabarMD on Instagram

3. 

   27 May 2026

   Forest Bathing, Cortisol, and NASDAQ: How a Space Strategist Rebuilt Her Life — and a Green Tech Company — by Letting Nature Lead — Sheryl Barbosa

   What if the most powerful tool for healing burnout is also the cheapest, most accessible, and most overlooked? What if your brain has a built-in off-switch — the default mode network — that activates when you simply sit near a tree? And what does it look like when one woman takes that lesson all the way from a hospital recovery to a seven-story image of herself on the NASDAQ tower in Times Square? Sheryl Barbosa is an environmental scientist, space strategist, keynote speaker, and founder of Sustain Cities Network, a green-tech platform built on a simple ecological insight: nature is an ecosystem where everything is connected, and our communities should be too. After two stress-driven cardiac arrests forced a complete rebuild of her life, nature became the medicine, the model, and ultimately the blueprint for the company she now leads. In this conversation with Dr. Mitika Kanabar, Sheryl walks through the science of how short time in nature lowers cortisol and rewires the brain, what forest bathing actually is and how to do it, and the through-line of trust, intentionality, and ecosystem thinking that connects her hospital bed to a green-tech directory now reaching small businesses, large companies, and cities across the U.S. ✨ What you’ll learn: The science of “10 minutes outside” — why even brief exposure to nature drops cortisol, lowers stress, rewires the brain, and activates the default mode network that the constant overthinking front of your brain is wired to override Why being near a tree, sitting in the sun, or feeling rain on your skin counts — even in urban areas where escaping into the woods isn’t an option, and why you don’t have to “try” for the benefits to land The slow untangle of recovery, told through the metaphor of balled-up Christmas lights — why healing from burnout doesn’t look like a leap of faith, and why intentionality grows in layers What forest bathing actually is, step by step — touching bark, watching light through leaves, locking memory through every sense (except taste, unless you’re sure of the berry), and how some practitioners weave in guided meditation Why Sheryl turned to nature without anyone prescribing it — the internal pull that came before the research, the doctors, and the social media algorithm caught up to what her body already knew How the symbiosis of bumblebees and flowers became the blueprint for Sustain Cities Network — connecting small businesses, large companies, cities, and people who want to buy green but can’t find each other Why small businesses (96–99% of all U.S. businesses) are the center of community and economy, and the searchable directory and back-end metrics platform Sheryl built to let everyone finally find each other The NASDAQ moment — seeing herself seven stories tall in Times Square through the NASDAQ Entrepreneurial Center, the validation of years of education work, and the motto that defines the company: “We make being green the easy choice” From hospital bed to NASDAQ tower — the through-line of trust, intentionality, and time spent in nature that connects an environmental scientist’s recovery to a green-tech platform on the national stage Resources Mentioned: Sustain Cities Network — sustaincities.org NASDAQ Entrepreneurial Center —nasdaqcenter.org Forest bathing (Shinrin-yoku) — the Japanese practice of intentional time among trees Connect with Sheryl Barbosa: Founder of Sustain Cities Network Email: Sheryl@sustaincities.org LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherylbarbosa/ 🔗 Listen on Podbean | Spotify | Apple PodcastsFollow @MindSattva and @KanabarMD on Instagram

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Apple Podcasts (US)

3.9 / 5

7 ratings

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