About Dr. Kamala-Devi Sivasankaran, ND
As a Naturopathic Doctor (ND), it’s a privilege to support patients in finding balance, gaining vitality, and experiencing overall well-being. I am deeply committed to creating a healing environment that embodies safety, compassion, respect, and empowerment for my patients.
Core Principles
- Safe Space: I foster an environment free from judgment, where you can openly share your health concerns, fears, and goals.
- Compassion: Your health journey is unique, and it’s important to me to show up with empathy and understanding of your experiences, in order to tailor treatments to your individual needs. Research shows that empathy from healthcare providers is associated with lower anxiety, reduced pain, increased patient satisfaction, improved treatment adherence, and even better overall health outcomes.
- Respect: Throughout my practice, I strive to respect patient insights, values and cultural backgrounds. Shared traditions such as food and eating together not only foster connection, they shape our health beliefs and practices as well.
- Empowerment: Knowledge is empowering. By providing knowledge, guidance, and personalized strategies, I help individuals become active participants in their well-being journey.
With a background in biology and health sciences, I value the integration of both traditional and western conventional approaches to medicine, and recommend naturopathic treatments that can work alongside any conventional treatments you may be taking. As part of your comprehensive health assessment, I may recommend specific functional diagnostic tests to identify root causes and rule out other possible concerns. Treatment plans and preventative recommendations may include modalities such as acupuncture, botanical medicine, specific nutrition guidelines, natural supplements, lifestyle adjustments, hydrotherapy, counseling and more.
Special Interests
As a naturopathic doctor, I truly enjoy working with patients of any age to address a broad range of health concerns using holistic and evidence-based approaches. In my practice, I relish the art of connecting the dots. Naturopathic medicine allows me to piece together the intricate puzzle of each patient’s health. By identifying root causes, we can prioritize treatment areas while embracing a holistic approach. The beauty lies in this ripple effect: when we enhance one aspect of health, it positively influences others, creating a harmonious balance.
Anxiety and Sleep Concerns:
As someone who experiences anxiety and years of insomnia, I understand how significantly those issues can impact day-to-day life, and how it feels to “just want something that works”. Our bodies need proper rest and downtime – without them we can experience mood swings, carb cravings, indigestion, increased inflammation, issues with concentration and memory, and frequent or long-lasting colds & flus. Moreover, these symptoms can feed back into poor sleep and worsen anxiety, perpetuating a cycle that is challenging to get out of.
Children’s Health:
Children’s natural curiosity and resilience amazes me, and being able to support them with holistic approaches such as herbal remedies, mindful breathing, or otherwise, is truly rewarding. Treating children also involves educating caregivers and parents, and this in turn empowers entire families to prioritize their health. As a naturopath and mother (and a former child) I have a strong belief in nurturing children’s minds, bodies, and hearts to support them as they grow and learn to navigate the world. These are formative years where we have the opportunity to address and prevent health concerns early to promote optimal growth and development.
Outside the Office
Food, fitness and family are my other loves! At one time, as a personal trainer, you may have caught me walking to a client’s home with a kettlebell or BOSU ball in hand, but now fitness is more of a personal endeavour. Being a mother and partner is amazing, however it’s easy to get caught up in daily adult life; working out brings me to back to myself and just feels like home to me. It’s also an incredible reminder of how resilient and capable our bodies are, and can continue to be, so long as we make time and find ways to take care of them.
Growing up, when I would visit my grandparents, the first thing I’d do after saying hello was run to the kitchen and snack on whatever my grandmother had prepared. And wow, did she prepare – countless South African Indian dishes and bites, cakes, bars, and of course cookies. Now, I’m fortunate to pass on recipes to my own family, and have fun learning new ones together along the way. Do I eat gluten? Yes, because I practice everything in moderation, and I don’t believe that gluten-free butter croissants currently exist. Most of the time however, we do enjoy preparing and eating a variety of whole foods, and sharing the experience with our son.
As busy as work and home can life get, I do make time to enjoy fun and silly activities with my family. Most weeknights involve Lego battleship chases (which I’m not allowed to win) or floor is lava, and many, many books. In warmer months we also love checking out the sights in TO, heading to Ward’s Island and generally being in nature – camping, hiking, or strolling through Riverdale Farms.
Education and Professional Affiliations
- I received my Doctor of Naturopathy from the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine and completed my Honors Bachelor of Health Sciences under Western University (previously The University of Western Ontario) and the University of Hong Kong. I have obtained my Certified Strength Training and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS, inactive) certification through the National Strength Training and Conditioning Association, and have earned my kettlebell instructor certification through Agatsu Fitness.
- I am registered and licensed to practice under the governing body of the College of Naturopaths of Ontario since 2016, and am currently a member of the Ontario Association of Naturopathic Doctors and the Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors.
