The Tea on Wellness

Laguna Beach’s Wellness Revolution: How Tea & Turmeric Became OC’s Healing Sanctuary

• Vidya

Share episode

Laguna Beach’s Wellness Revolution: How Tea & Turmeric Became OC’s Healing Sanctuary

What if a family kitchen full of chai, turmeric, and tradition could spark a wellness revolution in Orange County? In this debut episode, Vidya, co-founder of Tea & Turmeric, shares how her South Indian heritage, childhood rituals, and belief in food as medicine inspired her and her sister to create Laguna Beach’s trusted sanctuary for healing, flavor, and community.

You’ll hear how they brought ancient Ayurvedic wisdom into a modern, welcoming shop, and what to expect in future episodes.

🌿 Visit the shop: teaandturmeric.com
🌿 Follow us: @teanturmeric on Instagram & TikTok
🌿 Full transcript available in the episode notes below

If you’re in Orange County or curious about Ayurveda, holistic health, and natural remedies, this is your invitation to join the journey.

Next up: Episode 2 — Saffron’s Secret: How the World’s Most Precious Spice Can Transform Your Health

Stay Connected

Come visit us in Laguna Beach or explore our teas and spices online at teaandturmeric.com
Follow our journey on Instagram: @teanturmeric
Have a question or a story to share? Email Vidya and the team at hello@teaandturmeric.com

If this episode spoke to you, subscribing and leaving a review helps more people in Orange County and beyond find us — thank you for supporting our little wellness community.

Hello, and a truly warm welcome to the very first episode of The Tea on Wellness! I am so glad you're here. Ever wonder how a love for tea and spices can become, well, a living, breathing love note? That's our story, and I can't wait to share it with you.

I’m Vidya, your host and, yep, a co-founder of Tea & Turmeric. My mission? It's really to be your soulful guide to all things health and wellness. And honestly, this podcast? It's steeped in story, tradition, and transformation, just like a really good cup of tea.

I thought I’d start this journey by sharing ours, the story of how Tea & Turmeric came to be. Because this isn’t just a shop, it’s a living, breathing love note. To our ancestors. To each other. And to the healing power of spices, tea, and tradition.

So, I run this shop with my sister, Kavita. And honestly? She’s my bestie, my opposite, my total balance. While I’m the voice behind the podcast, Kavita? She is truly the heart behind the scenes. With her high-tech background, she's the brain behind our business, bringing all that structure and brilliance. That lets me be the intuitive healer and creative force. Together, we’re really the yin and yang of Tea & Turmeric. It’s a perfectly well-balanced blend, kinda like our favorite teas or spices, actually.

But our story, it doesn’t actually start here in California.

It truly begins in a small town in Eastern Canada where our grandparents, who had bravely immigrated from India, helped raise the three Reddy sisters.

Our house, though? It was always filled with the most incredible smells. I mean, chai brewing, mustard seeds popping in hot oil, and of course, haldi, you know, turmeric, sprinkled in just about everything. Our Amma Amma, that's the Telugu word for grandmother, from the south of India where our family's from, she had this magical way of using spices & teas to soothe, to nourish, to heal whatever was ailing us. 

Honestly, one of our most treasured memories is just coming home from school to that steaming hot cup of chai and those delicious homemade snacks. That small moment? It meant everything. The comfort of that warm cup. The sheer care in her eyes. The gentle clink of steel plates on the table. For us, that was her way of saying, 'You’re home. You’re safe. You’re loved’.

And our mother, she still carries that same grace, that same wisdom. Teaching us, often without saying a single word, how food should truly be medicine. And how those simple rituals, like sharing a meal or having tea together, created such a beautiful rhythm in our home.

I often say that tea and spices are literally in our DNA. They aren’t just trends for us or something we picked up recently. They were deep teachings. Passed down with so much love and intention.

You know, I actually wanted to follow in the footsteps of our dad, who was a medical doctor. But he saw something different in me, something profound. He looked at me and said, “Vidya amma, you’re a healer, and not just a doctor.” And those words, they really just stuck with me, they echoed in my heart.

So, I went on to study naturopathic health in Canada. And you know, I just kept listening to my dad’s quiet whisper and then I decided, I traveled all the way to India to really immerse myself. I studied yoga, meditation, Ayurveda, and honestly, sooo much more. I learned how to truly listen to the body. How to connect with its innate wisdom. And how to create harmony using the simplest of ingredients: things like breath, natural herbs, pure intention, the power of presence, and those quiet moments of self-connection.

And speaking of nourishing, I also want to mention something that’s a huge part of my life and our shop: my absolute true passion for cooking! In my mind, I’m a master chef, the next Padma Lakshmi and I absolutely love spending time in the kitchen. It’s a place where I find so much joy and creativity, and it’s also why I teach cooking classes for our store. For me, food is such a powerful way to connect, to heal, and of course, to express love, and you bet, I'll definitely be sharing some of my favorite cooking tips and tricks in future episodes.

And in all of that, Tea & Turmeric was quietly being born. It wasn’t just a business idea, you know. Something we put on a spreadsheet. It was a calling. A deep-seated desire to express immense gratitude for everything that was taught to us. A profound way of preserving and sharing our rich heritage. A way of bringing everything we love, tradition, wellness, flavor, healing, all into one beautiful place.

In 2021, Kavita and I finally opened Tea & Turmeric in Laguna Beach, California. Yes, it’s a shop, but it’s so much more than that, it’s a sanctuary. A place where people walk in and they genuinely feel something. A place where every shelf is filled with stories. Every tea blend. Every spice jar. It all comes from that same pure intention, to nourish and to heal.

We hand-blend many of our products in small batches, and we pick every single ingredient with so much care. And we absolutely love sharing what we know. A lot of what you see in the shop is super personal, like the unique blends we created, the family recipes we grew up with, and even little treasures from our teachers and gurus that you truly won’t find anywhere else. We really believe wellness should be easy to access, beautiful to experience, and deeply tied to culture and heartfelt care.

This podcast, it’s simply an extension of that same philosophy. On The Tea On wellness, you’ll hear solo episodes hosted by me. Each one is short, just about five to ten minutes, delivering snackable bites of info that are really focused on one topic or one healing idea. I’ll share health benefits, how to use it in your everyday life. We’ll also talk about amazing functional teas, powerful spice duos, mindful rituals, ancestral wisdom, and simple yet profound ways to live in deeper harmony with your body and mind & soul. And yes, of course, you can expect some wonderful cooking tips and ideas for infusing more flavor and wellness into your kitchen.

Some episodes will feel like a cozy chat, just us talking. And others might be more like a gentle lesson or a guided practice. But every single episode will be grounded in real-life wellness, the kind that starts right there in your kitchen and naturally ripples out into every part of your life.

So, whether you’re sipping your morning chai, cooking dinner, or just taking a quiet moment for yourself, I invite you to join me. We’re so honored to share our roots, our rituals, and our recipes with you. This is The Tea On Wellness. And I’m Vidya. Here to help you live well, feel better, and return to what’s always been true. From our family to yours, welcome. Let’s steep into something beautiful together.