Today we’d like to introduce you to Prem Maurel.
Hi Prem, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
Hi! My name is Prem Maurel
I was born in Aix en Provence (Southern France) to an American mother from Palo Alto and a French Father. I came to California with my mother and brother when I was 7 and my father stayed in France where I would visit him during the summers, which allowed me to keep my French heritage. He had an adventure travel business that would take us around the world to do extreme sports such as glacier climbing, cave diving, race car driving, scuba diving, and basically any crazy thing you can imagine. It was also a singles club. Needless to say, it was a colorful childhood. I learned to play guitar, played all the sports, traveled the world with my brother and dad, and did more chores every week than I felt was reasonable at the time. It gave us tremendous work ethic. He is now an engineer and cargo ship captain, real estate investor, and trader. God bless my mom; she would be proud.
My amazing mother put my brother and me through private catholic high school, and my brother went to a Maritime Academy for college.
I got a singing and acting scholarship to California Lutheran University and majored in Political Science with an emphasis in Politics of the Pacific Rim. My international relationship professor selected me to go to Hong Kong Baptist University to represent our school in China and so there I learned about the history, current events, and politics of China and their neighbors. I wasn’t religious, but they gave me the most money for scholarships, so that’s where I went.
When I returned to America after my Junior College Year in Hong Kong, I was gifted a book by my angelic grandmother. It was called Autobiography of a Yogi. She had a whole library of spiritual books, and when I was 16 years old, she said pick any six books, and you can keep them. For some reason, I chose the autobiography. I read it when I returned from China in 3 days, and from that moment on, my life changed forever. It was a book written about Yoga by a master Yogi from India. He described impossible meetings of saints who could levitate, tame tigers with their fist or their inner peace, create perfume scents from the palm of their hands, bi-locate, read minds, and bless dedicated yoga students with enlightenment, and I wanted it. So, I did the natural thing and left my friends and family to move to the author, Paramahansa Yogananda’s ashram in San Diego, known as Hidden Valley Ashram. (Ashram means monastery in Sanskrit). My stepfather said it was a phase. I’m still meditating every day, getting happier and happier, and the phase hasn’t quite come to an end somehow. If the Kriya yoga meditation technique I learned from Yogananda didn’t work, perhaps I’d stop, but in 6 minutes, I can go from moody to happy, never-mind how I feel after an hour!
The day that I arrived at the ashram, it was September 11th, 2001. The day that the twin towers were hit. What a day to leave the world behind. I was fully intending to be a monk. But my amazing mother insisted that I pay my college bills first. I didn’t know what to do. I could either stay at the ashram and seek enlightenment or go get a job in the ‘real world”, pay my bills, and then apply for monastic life. I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving the ashram. After months of peaceful living as a humble gardener and meditating with these serene monks, going into the city and working some menial job seemed like hell. I wasn’t about to do that.
So, I got on my knees, and I prayed for help and clarity. And I got it. I heard my guru’s voice, who had passed in 1952, and in my mind, I heard him say: “Don’t worry about it.” It was clear, but I still worried about it. The next day I found a room for rent in a house that overlooked the ashram and the valley the it was in. It was an incredible view of the fields, gardens, coy ponds, temple, and forest. The owner of the house I was renting, Walter Cruttenden (owner of Ross and E-Trade), bought the property for people like me, who couldn’t become monks but still wanted to live and serve nearby. I showed my friend Sameer, an enthusiastic young Indian monastic applicant, the room I was going to rent while trying to pay off my bills. He miraculously suggested that I apply for the chef position at the ashram. Apparently, they were looking to hire a chef. That was news to me, and I could hardly believe it. I had just enough experience working in restaurants to apply. The truth is I knew how to make salads and sandwiches. I didn’t even know how to make rice. But I applied anyways. Failure was not an option.
Nothing was going to get between me and that chef position. Not even the tall Canadian chef who liked to practice kung fu on me and sharpen his knives in my face to intimidate me. He knew I wanted the position, and so did he. But he couldn’t have it because he was from Canada and he needed a work Visa, which he didn’t have. He also knew I wasn’t qualified, and he made sure that I knew that. One day he said I didn’t have what it took to be the chef at Hidden Valley ashram. I replied: “there’s not one cell in my body that thinks you’re right. I can do this right here, right now.” He said: “fine, go ahead.” And left me in the kitchen at 11 am, with 90 mins left to make lunch for 50 people. The kitchen was full of ingredients and no clear direction. I had never made a meal other than tacos or Spaghetti and tomato sauce for my family until that moment. I ended up making a 4-course Chinese lunch with fried rice, egg rolls, dipping sauce, Teriyaki Stir Fry, sweet and sour eggplant, and salad. My best friend came in after lunch and clapped. He said you graduated! Then 20 or so other people came in to complement the chef. My friend knew the challenge as he was standing next to me when the Canadian Chef dared me to make lunch on my own. I won. Or so I thought.
The angry chef came back at lunchtime and was furious that I hadn’t failed and even more angry that people were loving the meal. He said, “ok, fine: If you can make 3 successful lunches with a drink, and a desert, with no help, for the next 3 days, I’ll consider recommending you as chef for the ashram when I leave. He told the head monks about the challenge, and it was all eyes on me. During the next 3 days, I made 4 course Indian, French, and Mexican menus all with deserts and a drink such as lemonade or something similar. The main ashram administrator came in on the 3rd day and said: “well, you got the job. That was absolutely delicious!” as he wiped the enchilada sauce from his mouth. He didn’t even wait for the 4th challenge; he just gave me the job. I officially was hired on my birthday, January 23rd. I took it as a blessing from my guru Yogananda. It was a very special day, and it took everything I had, including the killing of my fear and inner weakness to get there. I was 21 years old, and I was also working 20 hours a week at Rite Aid during the night to start paying my college bills. Like I said, failure was not an option for me. I needed this job like I needed air, and I was grateful for the opportunity. It wasn’t going to slip through my hands.
What they didn’t know is that in the space of 3 months, I taught myself how to cook using our guru’s techniques of visualization, affirmations, and willpower. Every night before my evening meditations, I would choose several recipes for the next day’s meals. I memorized each step in the directions, closed my eyes, visualized each action, and affirmed success out loud, whispering, and mentally in order to program my conscious, subconscious, and superconscious minds, just like my yoga master taught us in his little book: Scientific Healing Affirmations. The same method can be used for physical, mental, emotional healing as well as financial success. Then I would affirm success again before my morning meditation. I was cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 50 men (there were no women in the yoga monastery), who had no sensual pleasure outlets. There was no tv, no alcohol, no sex, no drugs. Food was the only sense, please, and it had to be good. So, I mastered the top recipes from around the world. For example, I learned Lasagna, Pizza, Calzones, Eggplant Parmesan (Italy) Quiche, Crepes, Ratatouille (France), Yellow Curry, Fresh Rolls, Pineapple Fried Rice (Thailand), and so on and so forth for other countries like Greece, Japan, China, and of course the US.
During my time at the ashram, I also went to school to get my massage license on the weekends, thinking perhaps I would do that as a career. I learned Deep Tissue, Swedish, Neuro -Muscular Therapy, Relaxation Massage, Cranio-Sacral therapy, and Shiatsu. I was a lot of fun. However. I couldn’t shake the desire to be a professional musician and tour Yoga festivals while sharing Kirtan (devotional group mantras in sanksrit). When I wasn’t working, I would write songs, and record music, and sing devotional songs with the monks and devotees from all around the world whenever possible, sometimes several times a day. It was a blissful life of cooking, meditation, and chanting to the divine. The goal of kirtan is to open the heart in devotion with beautiful melodies and to focus the mind with simple and powerful Sanskrit mantras in a call-and-response approach to music. As the chanting gets faster and faster, the heart and devotion open more and more into ecstasy, and then slower again to inspire longing for the Divine to enter our body-mind temples with spiritual light. A saint told me, if you can hear the Om, see the light, and go into bliss at will, you have become a saint. I’m still working on it.
After a decade of cooking and singing with the monks, I got the opportunity to go on a 4-month yoga festival tour and play all over the west coast. I had the time of my life. I wanted to do that forever. Unfortunately, the tour promoter never paid me, my truck got re-possessed and I had to start working as a chef again. So, I catered a couple movies: Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 and Maverik’s (a surf movie) along with some TV shows.
Then I got the opportunity to work at the Chopra Center, where I became qualified as one of their master healers. There, I learned the science Ayurvedic medicine by the famous Dr. Suhas as it pertains to physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. My job was to perform one of 11 ayurvedic modalities on patients throughout the day. They often were quite sick, dealing with cancer or loss of loved ones amongst other challenges. Each session was a sacred experience of healing and transformation. Every day people shed tears or had visions of their ancestors and guides during the sessions. I still use those techniques on private clients when I’m not cooking for people or playing music.
Since then, I created a private chef company that primarily focuses on making gourmet healthy meals to support people on their health journey.
I have also published 4 music albums under the artist’s name Prem Musik which can be heard on all major music streaming sites. I have released all kinds of music from flamenco, kirtan to reggae and acoustic guitar albums to help with relaxing, healing, and meditation.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
In 2004 I lost my mother to breast cancer. Our family had less than a year before she was gone. By the time we found out, she was already in stage 4. Every weekend, I would drive from the ashram to go see her and help out any way I could. And every weekend she lost more and more weight. She was not so much afraid of dying as she was afraid of suffering. Watching her slowly wither away and not being able to do anything about it was and still is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. They say time heals all, but losing your mother is not a wound that ever truly heals. I comfort myself by imagining that she is watching over me and proud to be my mother. I think about her all the time, especially when I’m working hard, as I know she is the one who instilled such a hard work ethic in me as well as the belief that I can do anything I set my mind to.
As you know, we’re big fans of Medi-Chef. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about the brand?
Losing my mother to cancer at the age of 25 inspired a very strong interest in food as medicine. Today I run a company called Medi Chef. I make gourmet healthy food to help people on their journey back to health.
I am an expert in healthy and delicious cuisine, making it a point to stay up to date with the latest health research and healthiest cooking techniques. I have cooked for clients with Alzheimer’s, Cancer, Candida, Cerebro-Vascular Disease, Diabetes, Depression, Obesity, and Sibo, so far with very successful results and great reviews.
I made it my mission to learn about the medicinal properties of foods and how they can help various ailments. I’ve created menus of all kinds including Cancer-fighting, oxidant menus, Ayurvedic, Raw Vegan, Vegan, Vegetarian, Plant Paradox (Lectin Free), Post-Partum, Keto, Paleo, Auto Immune Protocol menus, always Gluten free, and of course, always locally sourced and organic menus when possible.
I have also converted a 42-foot-long school bus/food truck, affectionately known as, The Big Tasty, that I use to put on catered concerts with my own music and produce events all around San Diego.
I also still see clients for massage, and I’ve even developed a 4-hour experience called the Whole Being Reset. It’s exactly what it sounds like, a session that considers a person’s physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health, during which I will pull from up to 24 healing modalities that I have learned since starting my holistic journey in 2001. The thing I hear most often is either it was the best massage they have ever had or that I have changed their life. I know it’s not me causing health and transformation in clients, but rather the grace that moves through from the act of being in tune and listening to spirit with a quiet mind.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
What I love the most about San Diego is the spiritual legacy and influence that my guru Paramahansa Yogananda left here, specifically in University Heights and in Encinitas, where there are two meditation centers.
He used to say that his temples and meditation gardens are like spiritual atom bombs, blessing the world. That even walking into the meditation gardens would burn karma.
What I dislike is the increase of bar life in downtown Encinitas, which competes with the spiritual aura of this rare town. I also don’t love the train horn that blasts through and disrupts the peaceful vibrations. I don’t understand why the train doesn’t honk in Solana beach or Cardiff but blasts its horn almost all the way through its passage through Leucadia and other parts of town.
In any case, it still feels like home, and I love it here.
Pricing:
- All-inclusive private chef services: Bronze Package: $1500/ week. 3 days of meals
- Silver Package: $2500/week. 5 days of meals
- Gold Package: $300/week. 7 days of meals
- Platinum Package: $5000/week. live in private chef service
- Whole Being Reset: $1000
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linkr.bio/premmaurel/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/premmaurel/
Image Credits
Matt Cole
