hi. i’m vina. She/They.
I am a neurodivergent Filipino-American parent raising two wonderful neurodivergent kids with my partner, Steve, on the traditional & stolen lands of the Suquamish people (a.k.a. Bainbridge Island, WA.) I am a first generation immigrant - I grew up in the Philippines and immigrated to the Pacific Northwest with my parents and siblings in my teen years.
I am currently in graduate school studying to become a Couples and Family Therapist. I trained as a parent coach with Jai Institute of Parenting. I am also a trained Blue Belt teacher in the Nia technique and took the Certificate in Somatic Embodiment with Linda Thai.
I facilitated my 15-year old teenager’s self-directed education (a.k.a. unschooling) from pre-school to middle school and she is now attending our local high school by choice. I am currently on an unschooling journey with my 8-year old.

Becoming a parent + unschooling my children are probably two of the most life-changing decisions I have made in my entire adult life. I grew up in a fundamentalist Christian home and was disconnected from my body since childhood. I didn’t want to parent my kids from a disembodied state and with power-over parenting strategies. I learned quickly from my children about their innate body wisdom. And this radical idea that they are people too, and deserve my respect and trust like adults do. I learned to trust myself and my body, especially after birthing these humans into the world, one at home. I learned to trust the Process, the Universe, God in a different way than I did growing up. I learned to really listen underneath the fear so I can come back to love, always. I learned to trust my kids. I consider embodied parenting & self-directed education as two of my main spiritual & embodiment practices. My kids have been some of my greatest teachers in life.
I consider myself an advocate for children. I believe that adults need to learn to listen to children, truly listen and get curious so we can understand them. And I believe that to do that, we have to practice embodiment, radical acceptance, connection & collaboration. I am a proponent of attachment science, nervous system science, emotional intelligence, neurodiversity, self-directed learning, somatic education and movement as medicine. I am an enthusiastic student of trauma-informed + inclusive + equity-centered + decolonized + feminist + anti-capitalist frameworks in my understanding of the social structures that shape & influence our parenting path. I believe we are all learning and have the capacity towards growth and transformation.
Other fun facts:
I love to dance! It’s my form of prayer & meditation.
I was a missionary in my young adult years and left the church after my first child was born. I turned to writing, movement, Tarot and my ancestral Animist practices after leaving.
I’m Aries Sun, Aquarius Moon and Libra Rising.
I’m a 2/4 Profile Mental Projector with 24/61 Channel in Human Design (all that means is that I am here to humbly guide.)
I like to dabble in all sorts of things: knitting, baking, kombucha-brewing, gardening, ukulele, jewelry making, web design, learning languages. Also, I love cats.
I’ve been living in a co-housing community since 2019.