From Burnout to Balance
Nanako Aramaki
Sound Therapist & Coach
Nanako Aramaki is a sound therapist, wellness coach, and former COO of a marketing agency, as well as a professional flamenco dancer.
Her journey began after experiencing burnout at the height of her marketing career, when the success she had built was no longer sustainable. That turning point led her to sound therapy and nervous system work, which now sit at the heart of everything she does.
Born in Tokyo and raised in Canada, and shaped by over a decade across Europe and the UK, Nanako brings a global perspective to the corporate, creative, and wellness communities she serves. She is Japan's first corporate sound therapist, and is a certified Advanced Sound Therapist and Brain-Based Coach through the NeuroLeadership Institute.
After experiencing burnout and adjustment disorder first-hand, Nanako knew she had to change in order to work in a sustainable way. The transformation didn't happen overnight. It unfolded over months of reprogramming her mindset and focusing on her wellbeing.
She learned that you have to treat your health as strategy. You cannot passively regain your health. Especially as an over-achieving, recovering perfectionist.
In addition, she was startled to find that doctors only prescribe medication for mental health in Japan. No therapy or counselling is offered through the usual medical system. There is still a real stigma when it comes to mental health support and seeking help when it's needed in this country.
Nanako wants to give people real alternatives for regaining their wellbeing. And for her story to be proof that if you are facing something similar, change and healing are possible.
“My vision is simple yet ambitious: to reduce burnout in Japan and support a healthier, more sustainable way of working and living.”
Why Sound Therapy
During her career break, Nanako finally got rid of the noise that was stopping her from hearing her inner voice, the one saying, "Remember, you always wanted to become a therapist and help people?"
When Nanako attended her first sound bath, she knew it would be a great way to support people in Japan, where traditional Western approaches to therapy are not widely offered or accepted. With sound, you don't need to talk to anyone or reveal anything you don't want to. All you have to do is lie down and receive it.
Nanako's Approach to Sound
How Nanako performs her sound baths is shaped as much by her training as by her instinct.
From an early age, Nanako trained in classical ballet, and studied classical piano for ten years with the Royal Conservatory of Music, gaining an early, disciplined foundation in music theory and physical expression. Years later, her career as a professional flamenco dancer added another dimension: an understanding of rhythm, musicality in movement, and improvisation built through live performance.
These two threads, one structured and one through lived experience, now shape how she designs her sound journeys for her clients. It's not just the knowledge and technique of sound therapy that counts; knowing how certain tones, scales, pacing, and rhythm can shape the pulse of a room is equally important.
Why Coaching
Coaching complements sound therapy in a practical way that helps people embody the insights gained from their sessions. With sound alone, people are left to their own devices to integrate what they've experienced. Nanako wanted to be trained in the skills necessary to support her clients through that integration and embodiment process, applied to everyday life.
Nanako's Approach to Coaching
Trained at the NeuroLeadership Institute as a Brain-Based Coach, Nanako understands how to help her clients expand their thinking and build new habits through evidence-based approaches. The power of the brain and subconscious is also a huge interest of hers, closely tied to sound therapy's potential to access one's subconscious.
What makes Nanako an effective coach is her lived experience. Having burnt out more than once before finally recognising the pattern, and gone through adjustment disorder at her last post as COO, gives her first-hand perspective on what clients are going through, and on how easy it is to miss the warning signs until it's too late. A career spanning three continents, and fluency across multiple languages and cultures, means she has navigated more than her share of transformation herself.
She holds a safe space where clients feel they can trust, let go, heal, and work through whatever obstacle they're facing.
Bringing Wellbeing into the Workplace
Corporate Sound Baths
Leadership Wellbeing Programs
Retreats & Offsites
After launching Zensō, Nanako noticed that many of her clients experiencing burnout were going back to the same environment that had caused it in the first place. She realised that without systemic change, the epidemic wouldn't stop.
This is why Nanako also serves as Director of Wellbeing at Rocklit, where she designs and delivers leadership programs grounded in neuroscience, emotional intelligence, and Japanese cultural wisdom, supporting healthier teams from the nervous system up.