By: Gavin Schweiger, Follow South Jersey Assistant Editor
Editors note: This article contains medical information and ideas but is not intended to be used as medical advice. Those concerned with their health should consult their physician.
VOORHEES, NJ – Going through medical school and being a practicing doctor never prepared Chhavi Kaushik Reila for her own lower back pain.
Doctors and her physical therapist couldn’t find a cause, and more importantly, they couldn’t find a solution.
Surgery and injections could have complications and there was no guarantee that it would improve her pain. Kaushik tried physical therapy with no luck.
“Honestly I felt very failure as a doctor,” Kaushik said. “If I am struggling here, think about someone who has zero medical knowledge. You know, think about people who are not from medical background. That broke my heart.”
With all traditional medicine either exhausted or too risky, there didn’t seem to be much Kaushik could do about her pain. That is, until one of her physical therapists told her to look toward more holistic approaches.
In her research, Kaushik found books by Dr. John E. Sarno, a late professor of rehabilitation at New York State University, who argued a lot of chronic pain comes from subconscious emotional problems. His methods were game-changing for Kaushik.
“My back pain, actually I completely healed it through these practices,” Kaushik said. “No physical therapy, no medication.”
With her experience, mind-body wellness is now Kaushik’s platform for her role as United States of America (USOA) Mrs. Camden County 2025. Her crown and sash are one of many hats she wears as a breast cancer radiologist and mother of two teens as well.
This is the second time Kaushik has been in a pageant, but unlike last time, where she did a different pageant “for fun,” she found that the glamour was only the tip of the iceberg.
“Pretty much everyone I met there was like a huge proponent of one of the causes which was close to their heart, which really, was very inspiring,” Kaushik said. “So, after the first pageant I got involved in, it wasn’t just like, you know, a fun time or a party weekend, it was much more than that.”
She enjoys the pageant space, seeing it as a “feather in my cap.” Though putting herself out into the world to be judged can be a lot of pressure, she enjoys the culture surrounding it and the ability to spread her message.
“As a woman, I would love to be confident, be groomed, you know, and pushing yourself out there,” Kaushik said. “I’m doing things which are out of my comfort zone. I never even thought I’ll be doing something like that a year back.”
The USOA Pageants are a series of beauty pageants focused on empowering women, and, according to their about page, “making them feel CONFIDENT and BEAUTIFUL inside and out!”
The pageants are separated into USOA Teen, Miss, Ms. and Mrs., with different age and marital status requirements for each. The USOA Mrs. pageant is available for women of age 18 or older, and legally married and living with their spouse for six months or longer, among other requirements.
Notably, these pageants are separate from the more recognized Miss America and Miss USA pageants.
Pageant queens apply and pay fees to compete, and then if accepted, USOA pageants give them a community title before competing for the state title, and ultimately a national title for the year.
“That’s what gave me a way to connect with my community,” Kaushik said. “I think people see me as someone confident to even accept a crown and a sash and walk. Even wearing a crown and a sash and walking out in public is not easy. I mean, they see me as someone who’s done something unusual and beyond her routine life. So, I think that came as a lot of inspiration to others.”
Mind-body healing won’t treat diseases like cancer that require medical intervention. However, Kaushik believes practicing it can help people ease their struggles, along with support from their friends and family.
“That’s what my goal is as a doctor, you know, to actually take the healing aspect beyond the hospitals within the community,” Kaushik said. “It can be a very one-on-one thing as well, you know, one person at a time. But if they have that strength and stamina and they trust themselves and they have someone telling them, ‘Your healing is in your hands,’ then I think the outcomes are much better.”
Kaushik uses her platform as USOA Mrs. Camden County to go to events, and posts on her Instagram account, @the_feeler_healer, to advocate for mind-body wellness. She uses the teachings and research of Sarno, Nicole Sachs, and others to spread the message.
A controversial figure in pain management, Sarno believed in and wrote books about what he called tension myositis syndrome (TMS), where unconscious emotional stress can cause real pain. His methods to healing involve getting physically active and acknowledging that though the pain is real, the body is actually safe.
He became famous and even revered through his books and methods, though some doctors are skeptical that TMS may be too simplified an answer for chronic pain.
For Kaushik, Sarno’s ideas of the mind and body link were what she felt cured her of her pain, especially since beforehand she went through the stresses of moving to the United States from India, starting a career and family, and losing her dad on top of it all.
“I was so surprised that chronic pain conditions and a lot of other chronic health conditions are actually a sign, could be a sign of burnout also. Like a physical, emotional and mental burnout. A sign of stress,” Kaushik said.
At the USOA New Jersey pageants on November 2, Kaushik earned “first runner up,” with the winner and USOA Mrs. New Jersey 2026, Kelsey Rosenberg, barely surpassing her by one point.
Kaushik was pleased to see Rosenberg win the title, calling her an “equally worthy candidate.”
“We had a really good friendship, and I followed her journey as well,” Kaushik said.
Kaushik hopes to be an inspiration to others with her messages, no matter if she’s part of a pageant.
“The cause is always more important than the crown,” Kaushik said. “It definitely will feel great and then definitely will give me a great platform to take this work further. But my work is not going to stop with or without the crown.”
Kaushik says she will still be USOA Mrs. Camden County until the end of the year. She plans to keep going into the community but also to spend time with her family for the holidays.
After this round of pageantry, Kaushik would like to collaborate with other doctors and therapists to keep sending the message of mind-body wellness and healing, and to give back to both her local and the wider community.
“I want to take this internationally. This is global. This is humanity. Everybody needs it. And I mean, it took me 45 years of life and 20 years of medical profession to come to this point,” Kaushik said. “I have to expedite this for others.”
For Kaushik, the message isn’t spreading one method or doctrine, but the idea that a large part of health is in people’s hands.
“There was not many things that changed outside. The people in my life were the same. My career is the same. My stressors are the same,” Kaushik said. “Nothing changed outside in my life, but I still feel a whole and a healed person. I think most of it came from my own inner work. And what I feel is the 50% of the life you live is your inner world and it’s very important to take care of it.”
- VIDEO: What’s Good in South Jersey? Earth Day in Salem
- CamCo Commissioners Announce Lineup for 2026 Summer Concert Series
- What’s Good in South Jersey? The Cubbyhole
Follow South Jersey provides local journalism which highlights our diverse communities; fosters transparency through robust, localized, and vital reporting that holds leaders and institutions accountable; addresses critical information needs; supports people in navigating civic life; and equips people with the information necessary to partake in effective community engagement. If there is a story or event you think we should cover, please send your tips to news@followsouthjersey.com with “NEWS” in the subject line.
