Zabie Yamasaki, M.Ed.

she/her

Zabie Yamasaki received her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Social Behavior and Education at the University of California, Irvine. She completed her graduate work in Higher Education Administration and Student Affairs at The George Washington University. Zabie received her 200-hour yoga teacher training certificate in 2011 and has been teaching trauma-informed yoga to sexual assault survivors for the past decade, She is the Program Director of Trauma Informed Programs at UCLA where she provides mental health training, alternative healing programs, and supports a number of resilience-wide initiatives on campus. She is the Founder of Transcending Sexual Trauma through Yoga, an organization with the mission of empowering survivors to heal through the practice of yoga. Her work has been highlighted on CNN, NBC News, and the Huffington Post.

Favorite self-care practices include: resourcing herself through integrating mindful moments throughout her day, playing with her son who is a toddler and taking in his beautiful laugh, practicing yoga both on and off the mat to support her healing journey, enjoying an amazing cup of coffee, writing through the lens of unapologetic vulnerability, and surrounding herself with an incredible support system.

How would you define resilience:

This is such a fragile topic that requires extra intentionality for each and every person depending on their lived experience and their circumstance. On any given day, I could never possibly know the complexity of what someone is carrying and the physical and emotional energy they might be bringing with them to their yoga mat. What I can do is create a safe container to explore all of those feelings and emotions and to affirm everything they might be feeling. To remind them that they are seen and that they are loved. There is such power in that. It takes such courage to own our stories and trust in ourselves when healing from trauma. Like anything else, it is a practice and not a linear one. My hope is to create a safe and sacred space for survivors to begin this journey of returning to themselves and finding safety and trust within- and reminding them that there is no timeline. Trauma healing is so often a balance of holding joy and grief at the same time. When we can can learn to honor the ebbs and flows, it can bring us closer to honoring our authentic truth and our resilience.

What does wellness mean to you:

Our ability to tap into the various dimensions of ourselves and make hard choices about how we can live our lives in manageable and sustainable ways where there is space, flow, and joy as opposed to overwhelm.