Certificates

• Somatic Coaching Certificate - Strozzi Institute

• Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy Certificate - Embody Labs

• Embodied Social Justice Certificate - Transformative Justice & Embody Labs

• Somatic Abolitionism Certificate - Education for Racial Justice (Resmaa Menakem)

• Ethnic Studies Certificate - San Francisco State University

Degrees

• B.S. Psychology - California Institute of Integral Studies

• M.A. Asian American Studies - San Francisco State University

Experiential

• Strozzi Institute Embodied Transformation

• Qi Gong with Dr. Kathy Yep

• Yoga

• Meditation

• Dance

• Mountain Biking

• No Big deal Sits with Rev. angel Kyodo williams

• The Embody Lab’s Healing the Self course

• The Embody Lab’s Racial Justice course

Readings

• Politics of Trauma by Staci Haines

• My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem

• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

• The Deepest Well by Nadine Burke Harris

• In an Unspoken Voice by Peter Levine

• Power, Resistance, and Liberation in Therapy with Survivors of Trauma by Taiwo Afuape

• Permission to Come Home by Jenny Wang

• Bone, Breath, & Gesture

• Body-Mind Psychotherapy by Susan Aposhyan

• Radical Healing by Rudolph Ballentine

• The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk

• Racial Melancholia, Racial Dissociation by Eng & Han

• Childhood Disrupted by Donna Jackson Nakazawa

• What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo

• Quaking in America by Resmaa Menakem

• Somatic Psychotherapy Toolbox by Manuela Mischke-Reeds

• Radical Healership by Laura Mae Northrup

• Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving by Pete Walker

My personal influences lineage (in no particular order)

Staci Haines, Susanna Barkataki, Neelam Pathikonda, Patrisse Cullors, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Resmaa Menakem, Isaac Prilleltensky, Paulo Freire, Audre Lorde, bell hooks, Daoism, Buddhism, Thi Bui, Fumiko Hayashida, Wesley Ueunten, Grace Yoo, Mai Nhung Le, Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales, Lilian Comas Diaz, Shawn Ginwright, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Nick Walker, Adeeba Deterville, Rev. angel Kyodo williams, Thích Nhất Hạnh, the psychological framework of radical healing, trauma-informed healing, my parents, my ancestors, my brother, my friends

Webinars

• Academy of Therapy Wisdom - Somatics, Social Justice, and Healing Trauma with Staci Haines

• Strozzi Institute - Expand Presence and Connection with LeAnn Mallorie

• The Embody Lab One-day Summit: Healing with Nature: Embodiment and Ecopsychology

Courses

• Somatic Awareness and Well Being at San Francisco State University

• Traditional Chinese Medicine Fundamentals at San Francisco State University

Tech Experience

I constantly lean on the leadership and facilitation experience I gained while working as an engineering manager and management consultant in the tech industry. There I focused on building equitable policies, processes, and systems.

When I was younger, and still sometimes now, I wouldn’t let myself cry because I was afraid that if I started, I would never stop. How could I do what I needed to do to escape the circumstances that were making me cry if I couldn’t stop crying?

As a child of financially poor Chinese and Taiwanese immigrant small business owners, growing up in a predominantly white middle class suburb of Washington, my family and I were subjected to racism, classism, ableism, imperialism, white supremacy, misogyny and fatphobia every day. By the time I was 18, I had chronic back and neck pain, unpredictable hives, digestive issues that made it painful to eat, and “random” bouts of sobbing. I now realize my body was protesting, but I had to keep pushing forward. I disconnected from my body by numbing myself out and constantly dissociating. I felt that I could not survive if I was constantly feeling into the suffering, grief, and despair I was experiencing.

I continued this way all the way into early adulthood where I worked in tech as a software engineer, manager, and management consultant. After reaching financial security, my protesting body finally gave me a firm no. My body was done living this way. This manifested as intense nerve and muscle pain, narcolepsy, more severe allergic hive reactions, the inability to drink water comfortably, panic attacks, severe depression, and memory problems. I eventually was diagnosed with multiple chronic health conditions that would eventually disable me. My body and the systems I was living within did not allow me to continue working.

I was forced to reflect on how I wanted and needed to spend my days. This is when I quit tech and started following my passions. I returned to college to finish my Bachelor’s in Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), got a Master’s in Asian American Studies and a certificate in Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University’s College of Ethnic Studies. (Fun and sad fact: this is the only College of Ethnic Studies in the US.) I deep dove into decolonized forms of healing, which led me to somatics. I completed a somatics coaching program through the Strozzi Institute and started practicing with Generative Somatics practitioners.

I articulated my organizing commitments and shortly thereafter created Bao Bao Somatics.

My experiences to date shape the equity lens that I hold today and my passion for experiencing moments of liberation from internalized oppression. I care about supporting others as they reckon with systemic injustices and explore easeful ways of being that are in alignment with their values. This can look a number of ways.

Perhaps this means becoming an activist and trying to change the systems in the industries that you're in.

Perhaps this means changing yourself so that it is easier to tolerate living in oppressive systems.

Perhaps this means divesting from harmful systems and imagining new systems that truly take care of you.

Perhaps this is not as simple as changing a career. Maybe this just means brainstorming in community to get a better idea of what actually drives you and what you want to do with your life. Maybe it’s talk storying, building community, and being seen by someone with shared experiences to you,

Whatever the case, I would be honored to hold space for your embodied emergence.

• We all “do” somatics already.

• Our somas are capable, wise, and generous. They center our well-being and can guide us towards a life worth being alive for.

• There is nothing wrong with our somas or any of the protective mechanisms that they have learned over time. Oppressive patterning in our society and culture are at fault. Our culture and systems disable us, often rendering us unable to live lives worth living due to laws, barriers, unnecessary obstacles, greed, and power struggles.

• Our somas are the key to embodied agency and choice. When we are in communication with our somas, we can make decisions that are in alignment with our values, even under pressure.

• We don’t practice somatics to feel better; we practice somatics to become more tolerant of whatever is already here.

• We all have the capacity to embody transformation.

I am a commitment to:

• Breaking oppressive patterns in the BIPOC community before they reach generation alpha and beta

• Witnessing BIPOC children of immigrants, refugees, and undocumented people experience moments of liberation from internalized oppression.

• Rebuilding trust with myself

• Following my body’s lead and timeline with ease

• Un-forboding my joy

• Being with myself

• Nurturing adults so they can nurture others

In creating Bao Bao Somatics, I articulated core philosophical principles that guide my work.

Learn more about Bao Bao Somatics’ Philosophy.