Verma Soria Zapanta (she/her) is an educator, holistic wellness practitioner, and mental health program consultant based in Yelamu – unceded Ramaytush Ohlone territory (San Francisco, CA) – of Visayan descent from Leyte and Cebu. A proud San Franciscan, she is grateful to continue to serve the communities that raised her. As a cultural worker, Verma blends art, ancestral knowledge, and activism. She founded Hilot With Verma, a practice centering hilot – an indigenous Filipino healing modality combining bodywork, energy healing, and plant medicine – which she studied through medicine keepers and elders throughout the Philippine archipelago and diaspora. Her work also includes hosting Ginhawa Marketplace, a platform for diasporic Filipina/o/x healers and artists.
Verma serves as the Program Coordinator for the Filipino Mental Health Initiative San Francisco in the South of Market, where she develops culturally-rooted mental health programs. Her photography and installations explore themes of diaspora, decolonization, and collective healing, notably contributing to the Kapwa Rising mural project in SOMA Pilipinas. A bridge between traditions and contemporary struggles, Zapanta’s practice is guided by the belief that “healing our ancestral lineages is a collective journey.”
