Vancouver, BC-based Vanessa Lefan Yuen (@van_lefan), is a performing artist, adventurer, holistic wellness counselor, life coach and digital nomad who grew up traveling with family and has traveled extensively on her own, sharing her experiences through her YouTube channel, blog and social media.

Born on a farm in Taiwan, she immigrated to British Colombia in 2006 with her family and spent most of her adolescence and young adulthood there with a tribe of beautiful people, community, and connection to the land. “Growing up, I remember my father teaching me about meditation, energy and also instilling in me important values about how to treat people with respect, kindness and giving with no expectations whenever possible,” she says.

Fluent in Chinese and English, Vanessa has a Life Coaching certificate and Wellness Counselor Diploma from Rhodes Wellness College in Vancouver, BC, and completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training. She has been singing and playing guitar and flute since childhood and is a professional performing artist. After experiencing icaros and sharing her own music in ayahuasca ceremony, she says, “I feel even more strongly connected to music as a medicine for myself personally, and also as a way to help others. I feel that it is my life’s work to be helping and inspiring others in any way that resonates. I do it for the love of the planet, Pachamama, for the life that lives here, for the collective consciousness.” 

She volunteers for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).

In partnership with Spirit Plant Medicine Conference, Vanessa was awarded a Cosmic Sister Emerging Voices Award (CS EVA). She will participate in the panel “Rising Voices: Women of Color in the Sacred Plant Community,” on the main stage. 

Rising Voices: Women of Color in the Sacred Plant Community

Women of Color’s voices are greatly underrepresented in the psychedelic plant community, despite their demonstrated talent for, connection to, and keen interest in these profound medicines. Cosmic Sister is proud to sponsor the panel discussion “Rising Voices: Women of Color in the Sacred Plant Community,” on the main stage. Women of the Psychedelic Renaissance grant recipient and main stage speaker The Dank Duchess will moderate the panel, which includes Cosmic Sister Emerging Voices recipients interdisciplinary artist and storyteller Tonye Aganaba, plant food alchemist and chef and yoga instructor Sarinda Hoilett, urban gardener and community artist Sabrina Pilet-Jones, and performing artist and adventurer Vanessa Yuen.