INSPIRING STORIES

Many have asked us how the idea for The Holistic Panda came to be. For us, it started with our personal self-healing journeys in coming into acceptance of who we are, what we truly want in life, and abandoning the glorification of "work hard and climb the corporate ladder," a practical ethos instilled by our Asian parents but led us to extreme burnouts. While trying to find coaches and healers who helped us invoke internal and external shifts and transformation, we experienced firsthand the challenges in finding providers who understood, or at the very least, respected our cultural values and heritage, which shaped who we are and our beliefs. So, when Bored in Vancouver invited me to write an article about the importance of cultural competency in healthcare, and why we need to provide diverse care to the large Asian population in B.C., I was thrilled to share my struggle with mental health and the mission behind The Holistic Panda. 

In this week’s inspiring story, we interviewed Ayurveda and Goal-based Life Coach Sanika Bhurke. Sanika is an engineer by training and is originally from India (she did a stint in San Francisco before moving to Vancouver). We talked about how a stressful work environment led to her career transition to become a holistic coach and how Ayurveda has helped her become more mindful in her wellness journey. Through her journey, she developed faith in the Universe and trust in herself. She shared her advice on making big life transitions, including making career pivots and the importance of representation in the workplace.

Japanese-American singer-actress MASUMI's journey has been one marked by twists and turns, but she eventually landed where she needed to be. After a close friend's death, she abandoned her dreams of pursuing her singing/songwriting career to return to Tokyo, where she enrolled at the International Christian University. However, after witnessing the devasting 2011 Earthquake in Japan, she gained true clarity of her mind and heart and resumed her passion for music and performing. In this interview, MASUMI shares her inspiring journey of preserving despite life's challenges to stay true to her path, how she handles rejection in an industry known for its competitiveness, and how she manifested her lead role in Yakuza Princess. 

Canadian television personality and former co-host of etalk Tanya Kim joins us in sharing her inspiring (and non-linear) journey of pursuing her dreams in a competitive industry, her thoughts on Asian representation in Hollywood, and her words of encouragement (DO YOU, FOR YOU) to other Asian-Americans looking to pursue non-conventional career paths. 

In our latest inspiring story, we interviewed Clinical Psychologist Dr. Joseph Choy on the importance of practicing mindfulness, the power of our brains to establish new patterns of behavior, and the steps we can take to start normalizing mental health, especially in the Asian culture.