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Wasfia Nazreen

@wasfianazreen

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|🇧🇩 K2 + 7Summits 🏔🐅🥀
@natgeo Adventurer + Explorer 👩🏽‍🚀
@natgeoexpeditions Expert 🛸
Retreats 🪄@highkarma 💠
May all beings be FREE 🌏

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From childhood abandonment to the world’s highest summits: How one woman’s journey redefines human potential.

This week on the podcast, I’m joined by Wasfia Nazreen (@wasfianazreen), the first Bengali and Bangladeshi to scale the Seven Summits and K2, and a mentee of the Dalai Lama. We discuss Wasfia’s extraordinary journey from trauma to becoming a symbol of empowerment for women globally.

We explore mountaineering as a catalyst for personal growth, with Wasfia revealing how conquering Earth's highest peaks reshaped her approach to life's challenges. She shares how her connection with the Dalai Lama has guided her spiritual journey and mountaineering perspective.

Wasfia offers insights on transforming obstacles into opportunities, sharing strategies for confronting fears, embracing uncertainty, and discovering purpose by pushing beyond perceived limits.

Episode 855.

✌🏼🌱 - Rich by @wasfianazreen

Entering summit of #K2 ~ 8,611 metres (28,251 ft) 22nd July 8:55AM 🙏🏾🏔🇧🇩 When the time comes for me to exit the planet, please rejoice in knowing I lived or aspired to live majority of my life free from society and other people’s judgement. I made my own rules. My mind is free. I live under no captivity. And I wish for each of you to live with the same FREEDOM ✊🏾 May all beings be free ❤️💫🕊

📸 by the badass Mingma Sherpa @sherpamingma.
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#deathzone #Bangladesh #karakoram #bangladeshi #bengali #pakistan #k2summit #natgeoexplorer #natgeo by @wasfianazreen

⚡️This is my marriage proposal #altitudeselfie taken after 4 back to back #expeditions (including 2 #Arctic ones!)💎Those who don’t know, in #SouthAsia proposals often come in a file, like in a bio data format (like how you’d apply for a job) including mugshots of the guy that rarely matches his present state and other unnecessary details of the family... Post #Everest when my family was being approached by suitors- I made my counter bio data file with many backup #mugshots 💁🏾‍♀️this one works every time👌🏾🥱 to send them away 🤣😂🙏🏾
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#flashbackfriday #fridaymood #sevensummits #7summits #bangladesh #mountains #fitness #adventure #journey #fbf #natgeoadventure #bangladeshi #lifeisacomedy #natgeo #southasian #natgeoexplorer #liveyourlife #auntyproblems by @wasfianazreen

Broad Peak 2022

Climbing alongside @nimsdai was more than just a journey, it was a lesson in life.
Those mornings felt peaceful 3–4 hours from Camp 2 to Camp 3, walking with hope. But mountains don’t follow our plans. The weather turned, and we had to descend.

Later, we moved to K2 and under his leadership, we stood on the summit. 100% success. That moment still feels unreal.

Life is just like the mountains unpredictable, powerful, and beyond our control. We all walk our own path, our own destiny.

Dai was always the one who made the call. Because of him, so many climbers reached their summits not just on mountains, but in life.

Today, the mountains feel quieter… and so does the world.

Climbing is never about perfect plans. It’s about mindset.
Never say you can’t because the mountains only listen to those who believe.

Love you Dai 🤙❤️🤙

#broadpeak #k2 #nimsdai #mountainlifestyle #yaksfilms by @wasfianazreen

#NationalGeographic Museum of Exploration (MOE) opens to the public on 06.26.2026 showcasing the works of over 6000 explorers from around the 🌎. Honored to have been part of the exclusive unveiling last week, and to be part of the #NatGeo permanent collection now 🥰🙏🏽⚡️My #ExplorersFestival week turned on its axis from the morning of day two when the news of my soul dad’s sudden passing arrived like a storm on summit day. I could barely hold it together, still, I was able to show up for the launch in utter shock~ grief and gratitude climbing together. In that collection now stands the first #Bangladesh #K2 triumph and a toast to the indigenous communities whose strength carried me up every mountain. To my friends and colleagues who held my rope last week, in the midst of such a busy week and to Nat Geo Society @natgeosociety for a decade+ of believing in unseen paths~ my gratitude runs as deep as the mountains that raised me ❤️‍🔥🙏🏽🇧🇩 Thank you 🤗 Proud to be part of this community of some of the baddest changemakers from around the world! Make sure to stop by @natgeomuseum in your next trip to DC! 💛 by @wasfianazreen

💔 We didn’t always agree, Nims knew that better than anyone. I never sugarcoated, never gave him bs, and somehow that’s exactly what he respected. He used to say, when I was being harshly direct, “I appreciate people who are upfront than stab me later from the back, love…” and called me Sis (& treated like one) through all of it. That never changed. And neither will my respect for what he was~ a superhuman of the mighty Himalayas, Karakoram and other big mountains, who took #Nepal to the world stage to a height no one ever has… He stood up against decades of Western domination & discrimination faced by Sherpa, POC & Nepali climbers and high-altitude workers, and many other things… On #BroadPeak and #K2, I got to experience up close what the rest of the world only ever saw from a distance. On our most dramatic, traumatizing descent of K2, Nims personally shielded me from falling rocks with his own body🛡️(I’d already been hit on my helmet 🪖) In nerve-wrecking conditions, giant boulders came rolling down, tied to the same rope behind me, he’d shout with everything in his lungs~ “Wasfia, riiiight!” “Wasfia, leeeeeft!” and I’d jump exactly where he’d shout to, without looking back, letting the rocks pass without harm to the other side. Meaning if I fell, I’d take him too, and that was the level/leap of trust 😭 When I was reaching the summit, i heard someone shouting at the top of his lungs “I’m effing proud of you, effing proud!!!” I knew it was Nims and I looked up, and ofcourse he was waiting at the edge shouting in joy for my country 🇧🇩 All of this, guiding, managing so many, he did without supplementary oxygen (Swipe 👈🏾 to read…)

🤳🏽 from Camp 3, K2, with Falchan Kangri/Broad Peak (K3) summit behind us

#nimsdai #nirmalpurja

There is no other beast quite like him, and I doubt there ever will be. Ironically, he went out on #BroadPeak (K3) the same slopes we once shared a rope on, the same mountain & around the same spot we had the wisdom to turn back from, four years ago. Over the last couple of years I saw major change in him, he became more aware of the many facades of fame’s glory, knew who his enemies were and super apologetic for any behaviors he by @wasfianazreen

💔 Not an obituary, he is very much still here. My heart is breaking, and I can’t imagine what our Kundun, HH the Dalai Lama, is going through 🥀 I prayed into the night after a very long shattering day, and just before I woke, I heard Bob’s signature squeaky voice calling “Wasfiiiiya…” I looked ahead and couldn’t find him… “wasFiaaaa” then turned behind me, and there he was, laughing and rolling, fully “Tenzin Bob.” No words passed between us; the laughter was the dialogue, eyes locked in bliss, until I woke. He is resting in the vajra field of pure clear light, as also confirmed by several high Lamas 🙇🏾‍♀️💠🙏🏽 I woke with bliss first, then the avalanches of sadness 🌊 We talked about death all the time. Bob stood by me throughout my brother’s illness, until his passing last year… the only time I left the hospital during those months, was to see Bob at Uma’s, where he’d recharge me, connect me to alternative medicine specialists around the globe, make me rejuvinating tea, and send me back to hospital with more books and recordings on dying 😆 He was there too when my biological father passed in 2021, which I had to navigate from afar during Covid. For both, Bob performed the full bardo rituals 🙏🏽📿 He has left this world willingly taking all the obstacles with him 💔⚡️🪽Holding everyone who had the privilege of knowing Professor Robert Thurman @bob__thurman in the same dream-blissful mandala ✨ Giants like him never fade. So shocked still, but this I know: I’ll always remain your “only Bangla daughter” and you will always remain my most loving American Baba 😭 Thank you isn’t enough, Tenzin Bob 💎 I’ll miss you, my friend, soul father, confidant and teacher 🪽 Journey well, we are all gathering here into the bardo with you 🙏🏽🧿📿⚔️🌹 by @wasfianazreen

#OfficeView 💎 Sending the clearest sky and highest vibrations to start your week 👊🏽🏔️🪁
(this is still the “view” when am stuck in LA traffic! 🚙💨)

🌞☁️ @highkarma

#mondaymorning #beyul #khumbu #mountains #chomolungma #everest by @wasfianazreen

Landing in #LosAngeles, heart skyward towards the #Bodhisattvas of the skies 🔥🦅 The work #CalFire firefighters, pilots, and everyone behind the scenes do is nothing short of sacred~ Highest/deepest respect! 🫡 They let me play with their birdies, including the latest fleet of Hueys and Hawks… still SO high!!! ❤️ Thank you Jason Thrasher, Clifton Cates, everyone at @calfire HQ, and Jai Dev for the high times~ grateful beyond words. Forever enlisting myself as a devoted sky volunteer here 🙋🏾‍♀️

📸: Last selfie from the cockpit for the aunty (and enablers) who told me I’d never be able to fly a plane, let alone Helis 😉 Hey aunty, meet the #BlackHawks and Hueys, lol 🚁 (she has my Cessna + R22 videos + selfies but I like to rub it in till my last breath, in exchange for the years of trauma she produced + so the next couple of generations never have to/are healed 🤗)

Fly HIGH 🙌🏾

#livingthedream by @wasfianazreen

Happy February 🤸🏾‍♀️ This has been more than two years in the making and am so honored to be part of this inspiring line-up.🔥 Abbu, my father passed away half way across the world, literally the day before one of our scheduled shoots. Needless to say, productions of this level involves so many people and so much planning, research and coordination. I am deeply grateful to everyone at Apple for being so considerate and going all out to still include my story by cancelling and rearranging EVERYTHING for when I was done grieving.🫶🏾 Ironically one of the stories I share is centered around Abbu. I was planning to get him an Apple watch so he would walk on his pandemic rooftop in #Bangladesh but alas he left too soon. So you all please go out there and listen for him 🤎🙏🏾🥲

Feel free to tag us using #timetowalk 🚶🏾‍♀️⌚️📱Available with Apple Fitness+ on Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV.

📸 + 🎥: Wasfia Nazreen + Apple Inc. + Bang Bang Studios @bang_bang_studios

#fitness #meditation #mountains #traumahealing #fitnessmotivation #walking #nepal #mindfulness #himalayas #everest #applewatchultra #SouthAsia #fitnessplus #climbing #mountains #bengali #tibet #dalailama #amplifymelanatedvoices #mountaineering #fitfam #trainingday #venicebeach #hiphop #dirtysouth #tupac #drdre #goldsgym #losangeleswalks by @wasfianazreen

🐲 An exchange between Shannon Lee @therealshannonlee and previous #Kwoon participant Micah Armand Harris @mr.micaharmand, where Shannon addresses some of the processes of her father, the legendary Bruce Lee @brucelee in the path of self-actualization 🧿🙏🏽💗

KWOON by HIGH KARMA returns this November 💠
🥋A Two-Day Journey with Shannon Lee & Wasfia Nazreen

📍 KINN, 150 Horizon Ave, Venice, CA 90291
📅 November 7 & 8, 2025
🎟️ Tickets are required, limited seating, register early — link in bio 🪭

Details 🔗: highkarmajourneys.org/kwoon

🐉 Kwoon — a Chinese word for “training hall” or “dojo”— is Shannon’s signature practice: a journey inward toward personal liberation and aliveness. Working individually, in pairs, and as a group, you will engage in practices that teach you how to observe yourself, stay present, and flow.

🎥: Thank you Jai @jaidev for capturing these intimate moments 🧡

#shannonlee #highkarma #wasfianazreen #womenowned #bipoc #aapi #mindtraining by @wasfianazreen

Greetings from #K2 basecamp 😇🙏🏾❤️ Behind me the King of Mountains, the great father that is Chogori, aka K2. We reached here on 26th June crossing so many obstacles & delays but all is great now. There is no network up here - i am using a satellite to make update. Next update will take awhile too 🙂

Upon arrival here, we had a beautiful short puja (prayer ritual) Sherpa way and there were so many auspicious signs. In so many ways, it feels like I have been here before 🥰

From the time of my last post, we crossed through several landslides, our car from Skardu to Ashkoli, and then to Jhola (the first part before the actual trek to K2 basecamp starts) almost fell twice in the river 😂 Thanks to the mad maneuvering of our driver Ali bhai we reached Jhola safely in the midst of rain and infinite crossings across mud-filled terrains. Got very lucky because there are several teams after us, waiting to come from Skardu road but couldn’t cause the road was broken. Then the trek from Jhola to Paiyu, Paiyu to Urdukas, and Goro 2 was one of the most physically demanding ones. In the midst of it all, I had a bad diarrhea spell but it passed. I see it as further purification before attempting the big father mountain that is Chhogori, aka K2. Mentally, spiritually and physically I am in super spirits. We have already done several acclimatization hike and now we ready for our first rotation on the #mountains taking opportunity of the good weather window. I will have to post all photos after expeditions as data is limited. Am sending each of you so much love from the lap of the mighty K2 & Broad Peak 😘 This heart is SO full 🙌🏾❤️🙏🏾🌹

📸: by Stefi Troguet @etroguet 💋 by @wasfianazreen