Mother. Psychiatrist. Author.
"Let our time together be a place of refuge."
Picture this as a virtual version of a lazy Sunday morning – your favorite cup of coffee and the perfect pair of pajamas – Comfortable, reassuring and safe.
Hello and Welcome! I am a psychiatrist, mother, and author, narrative medicine scholar, and mindfulness practitioner, currently living in Orange County, California. I am originally of Indian descent, but was raised in Chicago before moving to the West Coast.
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I am a mother to two beautiful young children who light up my world. Parenting is one of the craziest, hardest, scariest – and most beautiful journeys I have ever experienced. It is one of the topics I like to write most about, because it is such an important part of my life.
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In my free time, I am student of yoga, meditation, and long distance running; all of which release stress, and free me to engage with my body and heart. Despite the longevity of my personal practices, I consider myself to be a continuous student when it comes to opening my body, mind and heart.
Mindfulness Practitioner.
Wellness Director.
Mental Health Activist.
Writing has been a passion and dream of mine since probably the age of twelve or thirteen years old – Only in recent years have I embraced my identity as a writer. My latest book, SALVE: Words for the Journey, is a collection of late night words scribbled in a journal, that became poems and personal experiences from my introspective passage of going inward, and opening my heart.
In addition to my book, I am an avid blogger, who has been featured in the Huffington Post, NBC News, MindBodyGreen, Tiny Buddha, Bustle, and more.
In terms of my professional life, I trained at Northwestern University, University of Illinois and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and spent much of my early years as a General and Addiction psychiatrist pursuing a successful private practice in Newport Beach.
In later years, I have had the honor to assist in creating a physician well-being community for the UC Irvine Pediatrics Residency, and the doctors at City of Hope Cancer Hospital, where I support the mental and emotional wellbeing of residents and attending physicians – who then go on to provide life sustaining care to so many.
In 2018, I co-founded both The Mental Health Collective, a Newport Beach based treatment center that redefines the treatment of those facing mental health challenges, and InWord, a reflective writing company that integrates meditation and creativity in the form of books, journals, workshops, and retreats.
"Whether through writing or psychiatry, my all-encompassing intention is to share ideas of mental health, mindfulness and compassion--built from my personal practice, motherhood, and clinical experience."
Monisha Vasa, M.D.