Hi-

Celebrating kindred spirits.

I love travel, yoga, meditation, novels, serene spaces—and a good cup of tea.

I’m into Ultimate frisbee, and I enjoy watching basketball and soccer.

Mornings usually start with yoga, and I love teaching it too. We could practice together. Take joy in cooking. And when I’m not on the move, my couch is open.

Family from India, born in the Netherlands, raised in the U.S. by Indian parents, and trained as a pediatrician and internal medicine doctor. After my medical training, I felt drawn to holistic healing, which led me to California, yoga, and founding a mindfulness community. I now practice and teach Ayurveda, lead seasonal cleanses, and offer wellness counseling.

Sweet on bonfires on the beach, forest hikes, river-rafting, backpacking, and vibrant conversations with curious, wholehearted people. I ooh and aah over herbal elixirs—think hibiscus frescas or mint spritzers, not booze. Open to both the confidence and the shyness necessary and natural to getting to know new people.

May we meet on the journey,. 🙏🏼

Sumati (aka Shakthi)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Connection. Adventure. Fun. Giving. Receiving.

Stories.

Friends to experience new foods, art. Enjoying together.

Interests

• yoga
• meditation
• vipassana
• astanga yoga
• yoga and meditation

Music, Movies, and Books

Aukai, Porangui, Natalie Merchant, Miles Davis, Cat Stevens, Emory Hall, Ayla Nereo, Didacte. Dirtwire, MC Yogi. Beats Antique, Mozart. Rakesh Chaurasia. Ravi Shankar. Zakir Hussein. Lalgudi. Shashank. Native American chants. Segovia. Pavarotti.

Current read: There are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak
…. works which helped sculpt my internal axes: Fried Green Tomotoes, The Overstory, The English Patient, The Dutch House. Skinny Legs and All. Celestine Prophesy. Rumi. Gibran. Richard Bach. Mary Oliver. Deepak Chopra. Malcolm Gladwell. Barbara Kingsolver. The Red Tent. Les Miserables (the book,) Power of Now, poetry of Dylan Thomas, Ken Wilber

Shawshank Redemption, The Celestine Prophesy, (the movie )Three Identical Strangers. The Dark Crystal. Steel Magnolias. When Harry Met Sally. Star Wars. Musical Cats.

In addition, let's sing and dance and storytell (our own voices our own bodies real time rather than only passively listening or watching things) in circles around the fire. And be outdoors together and feel the support of nature to our songs and dances.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Microlighted over the Zambezi River.
River rafting in Africa and North Carolina
Backpacking in the Sierras.
Snorkeling in the West Indies
Silent retreats]

Aspirations: scuba. greater backpacking adventures.

Teach, Learn, Share

Yoga, Meditation, Dance, Book Club, Healthy Cooking, Vegetarian Lifestyle (but totally fine with your eating meat around me if you like.)

What I Can Share with Hosts

Cooking, Keeping the place neat, Gardening

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominica, England, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Zambia

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Netherlands, United States