Toshie Okabe was born in Tokyo, where, at the age of four, she began classical ballet training. By adolescence she was experiencing chronic pain. Though pain is not an unusual problem for dancers, she became very curious about its cause. She was investigating different systems of body awareness and functioning when she encountered the Mitzvah Technique at a Tokyo workshop given by Amelia Itcush, a former dancer with the Toronto Dance Theatre. That same year, Toshie came to Canada to learn more. She continued to train with The National Ballet School of Canada and performed with Ballet Jorgen while she studied Mitzvah with both Itcush and M. Cohen-Nehemia. After a three year course, she was certified as a practitioner. Toshie works from her own studio teaching a wide variety of students in private lessons and has taught group classes at institutions such as George Brown College, Ryerson Polytechnical University and The University of Toronto. The body's ability to change and restore itself to balance still fills her with awe.