[ep 092] Dr. Thara Vayali on collective liberation, evolving women’s healthcare & holistic wellbeing

Thara Vayali is a naturopathic doctor, public speaker and educator blazing new trails when it comes to women’s wellbeing and improving a broken healthcare system. And she’s paving it not only with innovation but with intuition and compassion, too.

She is profoundly connected to herself, her body, and elements of nature—foundational as cofounder & chief medical officer at Hey Freya, a brand with a mission to reimagine women’s wellness by radically shifting how women show up in the world and care for themselves. Her decades-long work focuses on the intersectionality of women’s health, society, medical research, and the environment.

She grew up in a small, predominantly Irish-Catholic town in Newfoundland, Canada, as a first-generation North American in her family. It was an intense navigation of her personal identity in the world, feeling disconnected from South India where her father and mother had come from. Becoming a naturopathic doctor was a winding path, but also a calling—she was always interested in the human body and moved toward a nutrition degree. Thara worked in the community, educating kids (through play) about nutrition throughout Vancouver. 

But there was a systemic approach missing for her, and so she decided to pursue a master’s degree in environmental education to draw the connection between what we eat and where it comes from. Her thesis on how embodied yoga practice can teach connection to land—much better than words and didactic learning—won the Governor General’s Gold Medal award. She eventually applied to naturopathic medical school, and her purpose solidified even further. 

A number of years later, the stars and shared purpose aligned at a femtech conference, where she met Cecilia Tse and Helkin Berg, who became her cofounders in Hey Freya a few months later. 

In this episode, we explore how her connection to nature and the elements impact her approach to healthcare; what collective liberation means to her; shifting the broader healthcare system by creating spaces and resources to care for women; the life force of adrenals and their importance to women’s health; how her cofounders Cecilia & Helkin have been mirrors for her; what she would say to her teenage self; and much more.

[TIMESTAMPS]

00:00 Introduction and childhood in Newfoundland
03:09 Navigating identity as a first-generation immigrant
06:01 The influence of parents and cultural background
10:07 The deep connection to nature and the elements
32:15 Co-founder alignment
34:19 Hay Freya's mission: Reimagining women's wellness
45:40 The shift in the medical establishment
50:30 Exploring the concept of life force
59:39 Empowering women for societal change
01:01:24 Thara's legacy: Patience and determination

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