Dr. Farzam Afshar shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Hi Farzam, thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
I lose track of time when I am listening deeply and connecting patterns that the body has been trying to communicate for years.
Time fades when I am tracing the quiet links between symptoms, lifestyle, stress, nutrition, environment, and meaning. When a story starts to form. When fatigue is not just fatigue, or anxiety not just anxiety, but a signal shaped by physiology, habits, and lived experience. That process pulls me fully into the moment.
I also lose track of time when I am educating and empowering. Translating complex biology into something a person can understand and use. Helping someone see how small, consistent changes in sleep, nourishment, movement, and rhythm can shift their entire health trajectory. Coaching in that space feels less like instruction and more like partnership.
I find myself again when presence replaces urgency. When health becomes less about fixing and more about restoring balance and agency. Sitting with someone as they reconnect with their body, rebuild trust in their own signals, and move toward steadiness reminds me why I chose this path.
As a licensed Naturopathic Physician focused on consulting and coaching, I lose track of time when I am integrating science with lived reality. I find myself again when that integration helps someone feel grounded, capable, and whole.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am a Naturopathic Medical Doctor and the CEO of Sakura Natural Health, a natural health consulting, coaching, & supplement company that has been serving individuals and families since 2007.
My work focuses on helping people understand their health through a practical, grounded, and science-informed lens. At Sakura Natural Health, we specialize in personalized health consulting and coaching that looks at how daily habits, nutrition, stress, environment, and physiology shape long-term wellbeing. Rather than offering one-size-fits-all advice, we work closely with each client to build realistic, sustainable strategies that fit their life.
What makes Sakura Natural Health unique is our integrated approach. We develop and offer our own carefully selected supplement line, designed to support common health foundations such as stress resilience, cognitive support, digestion, sleep, and metabolic balance. We also provide high-quality air purifiers because environmental health matters just as much as what we eat or how we think. Clean air, clean inputs, and informed choices are part of the same conversation.
Our work is centered on education and empowerment. Health coaching here is not about quick fixes or trends. It is about teaching people how to listen to their bodies, understand signals early, and make consistent changes that compound over time. Since 2007, Sakura Natural Health has continued to evolve, but our core mission remains the same: to support mental, physical, and environmental wellbeing in a way that feels thoughtful, ethical, and accessible.
We are currently expanding our educational content and personalized wellness offerings, continuing to bridge traditional Naturopathic principles with modern lifestyle realities. Sakura Natural Health exists to help people build health that lasts, one informed decision at a time.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
A moment that truly shaped how I see the world was realizing how often people are taught to disconnect from their own bodies in the name of convenience, speed, or symptom control.
Early in my work as a Naturopathic Physician, I began noticing a pattern. Many people arrived not because they lacked information, but because they no longer trusted themselves. They had learned to override fatigue, dismiss stress, normalize poor sleep, and silence early warning signs until those signals became impossible to ignore. That disconnect was not accidental. It was cultural, environmental, and systemic.
What shaped me was witnessing how powerful it was when someone finally felt heard and understood without being rushed. When their story mattered. When we slowed down enough to connect stress with digestion, environment with mood, sleep with immunity, or air quality with cognition. In those moments, health stopped being abstract and became personal again.
That shift changed how I practice and how I see the world. I no longer view health as a collection of isolated problems to fix. I see it as a relationship people have with their bodies, their environment, and their daily choices. Once that relationship is restored, clarity follows.
That realization is what continues to guide my work at Sakura Natural Health. It is why we focus on consulting, coaching, education, and supportive tools like targeted supplements and air purification. Health improves when people are supported in understanding themselves, not just managing symptoms.
Do you remember a time someone truly listened to you?
Yes, I remember a time when someone truly listened to me, and it changed how I understood both health and care.
It was during a period when I was struggling with psoriasis and eczema that affected not only my skin, but my confidence and sense of ease in my own body. Alongside that came persistent anxiety and ongoing gut issues. Each concern felt intertwined, yet they were often treated as separate problems, which only added to the frustration.
The Naturopathic Physician I worked with did something simple, but rare. They listened without interrupting. They allowed space for the full story, not just the symptoms. They paid attention to how my skin flared during stress, how my digestion shifted with anxiety, and how those patterns fed into one another. For the first time, I felt understood as a whole person rather than a collection of diagnoses.
What stayed with me was how calmly everything was connected. The gut was not treated as an afterthought. Anxiety was not dismissed as secondary. Skin health was not isolated from internal balance. As my digestion improved, my anxiety softened. As my anxiety settled, my skin began to heal. That experience showed me how deeply connected the body truly is, and how powerful it is to be heard in that process.
That moment shaped how I now approach my work as a Naturopathic Medical Doctor focused on consulting and coaching. It taught me that listening is not passive. It is clinical. It is therapeutic. And it is often the starting point for real healing.
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? Is the public version of you the real you?
The public version of me is real, but it is not the whole story.
What people see publicly is the professional expression of who I am as a Naturopathic Physician and health consultant. It is the part shaped by responsibility, ethics, clarity, and care for others. That version speaks with intention and steadiness because people are trusting me with their health and their questions.
The fuller version of me exists in the quieter spaces. In reflection. In lived experience. In having navigated my own health challenges, uncertainty, and growth. Those experiences inform my work deeply, even if they are not always visible. They shape how I listen, how patient I am, and how seriously I take the connection between mind, body, and environment.
I do not see the public version as a mask. I see it as a distilled version. It is grounded, honest, and purposeful, but it carries the weight of professionalism. The private version carries vulnerability, curiosity, and ongoing learning.
Both are real. One serves the public. The other keeps me human.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. When do you feel most at peace?
I feel most at peace when life is simple, quiet, and aligned.
That peace shows up when I am fully present, not rushing or fixing, but observing and listening. When I am working with someone in a calm, unhurried way and we are connecting patterns rather than chasing symptoms. When the body makes sense and the next step feels clear.
I also feel peace in moments of stillness outside of work. Early mornings. Clean air. A steady rhythm to the day. Time to think, reflect, and breathe without urgency. Those moments reset my nervous system and remind me that health is as much about pace as it is about intention.
Ultimately, I feel most at peace when my values, my work, and my environment are in harmony. When I am supporting others while also respecting my own need for balance, clarity, and restoration.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.SakuraNaturalHealth.com
- Instagram: https://www.Instagram.com/SakuraNaturalHealth
- Linkedin: https://www.LinkedIn.com/SakuraNaturalHealth
- Facebook: https://www.Facebook.com/SakuraNaturalHealth
- Yelp: https://www.Yelp.com/SakuraNaturalHealth
