About

Annie was born in Vancouver, BC to immigrant parents from Shanghai, China. She grew up in a dysfunctional environment that felt like a constant warzone. Cultural expectations and family trauma caused her to look outside of herself for safety— never feeling at home in her body. As a result, she started looking for opportunities to connect with nature, self and community and found therapeutic benefits of certain environments.

After the passing of her mother and the abandonment by her father, she used work to avoid grief. This led her to go on stage in Milan, Italy for an International Sustainable Food Systems Conference, to study Landscape Architecture at Harvard University and to present her thesis to the Council of the Haida Nation. These life-changing experiences not only helped initiate her individual healing but to challenge collective narratives.

Her healing came from finding her voice and self. By putting herself first she realized the importance of being in environments that brought joy, safety and support. After working at a handful of top Architecture, Urban Design & Landscape offices— Annie shifted her focus to teaching and creating healing spaces through integrated design and retreats. Her journey back to her-self started with making time for creative expression, movement, somatic therapy and being in beautiful spaces. Worry and anxiety was slowly replaced with inner peace.

Annie now works as a Speaker, Educator & Integrated Environmental Designer. Her research on visualizing psycho-cultural spaces supports both social & environmental resilience. Specifically, her projects work from the inside out, connecting mental health to environment and culture. She is tremendously grateful to her community for supporting her endeavors with Eudaemonia Network and Eutierra Inc.

Images shot by Francisco Hidalgo Leana