Dr Yashoda Manickchund’s work with Doctors Without Borders took her to Pakistan, Libya and Ethiopia.
Now, she is exploring the spiritual traditions of the communities she once cared for.
“I recently went on a spiritual deep dive in the places I visited and was shocked by some of the powerful and energetic spaces I visited,” she said.
Manickchund, 43, established Yashoda Yatra in 2025 after stepping away from paediatric surgery.
The business offers energy medicine consultations, spiritual guidance and research collaborations.
“I grew up with the teachings of Service to Humanity [Seva] as the central purpose of life.
"My father was a doctor and had already decided that I was going to be a surgeon when I was two years old.
"Maybe he wrote it in the stars.”
Manickchund studied medicine at the University of Cape Town and completed her postgraduate training at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
She holds a fellowship of the College of Paediatric Surgeons and a master’s in medicine.
She joined Doctors Without Borders after seeing the devastation caused by the Haiti earthquake in 2010.
On her return, she entered paediatric surgery, working as a qualified surgeon for nine years until 2025.
Repeated burnout led her to reconsider her work.
“In order to heal myself, I turned inward and followed my intuition, connecting more to my spiritual side.
"I spent time in nature, which was imperative in coming back to myself,” she said.
At her farm in Gonubie, consultations begin with an interview about a client’s physical and emotional wellbeing, followed by Bio-Well scans and a discussion of the results.
Clients place their fingertips on a sensor. An electrical pulse produces a glow that a camera records and software converts into charts.
Manickchund then interprets these as readings of their energy and emotional state, providing a report.
She also offers what she calls terahertz frequency and meridian balancing, using a handheld device in treatments she says are intended to address energy imbalances.
Online spiritual guidance takes the form of one-to-one conversations about clients’ health, personal difficulties and sense of purpose.
Retreat organisers and other practitioners can also arrange scans before and after their sessions, which she uses to explore changes in the readings.
“If I both resonate with a modality and it satisfies my ability to explain it logically, I will try it on myself.
"Therefore, what I offer is the healing I have done on myself.”
She also grows organic vegetables, donating produce to Guardians of Hope and providing vegetables for communities through local partners.
“The business feeds into this project, which satisfies my humanitarian mission, and also hopefully inspires other businesses to do the same."