Tokyo Mindfulness Newsletter #20
Yamanishi retreat, guided meditation, and why mindfulness isn't enough
Hey it’s Misha from Tokyo Mindfulness. Today I’m feeling gratitude and a sense of lightness after our 4-day retreat last weekend in Nagano. We had a tight-knit group of 8 share the space for meditation, yoga, hiking, deep reflection and relaxation in nature.
For this retreat, I tried a few new techniques like “stepping inside the circle,” and mixed in some Jungian-inspired meditations. The first day things were slow to come together, but by the second day the group had really opened up. Each retreat is different and beautiful in its own way! I wrote more thoughts on it here.
Our last retreat for the year will be Dec 14th in Yamanashi, capped at 8 people. This will be at a Nichiren Buddhist temple about 3 hours from Shinjuku by bus. I will guide the foundations of mindfulness & compassion over a span of 6 sessions. Hiking + onsen + digital detox too, of course. Check out more events below :)
📅 Upcoming events
Just a few more events scheduled for the year. We might have one more half-day retreat, TBD.
Thursday mindfulness session @ Brighton studio, Dec 5th at 630pm-830pm
Daytime mindfulness session @ Brighton studio, Dec 11th 2-4pm
Thursday mindfulness session @ Brighton studio, Dec 12th, 7-pm
Weekend Meditation retreat @ Yamanashi Kakurinbo, Dec 14th-15th
🧘 Guided Meditation
In this 12-minute guided meditation, I invite you to try a little experiment: view all of your incoming thoughts as equally irrelevant. It doesn’t matter how interesting or important the thought seems — we simply let them be there and don’t pay them any more or less attention. It can feel really freeing when we choose to let go of the content of thoughts and see thinking as simply a process created by our brains.
“The mind produces thoughts like the saliva glands produce saliva.” — Buddhist teaching
💡 Therapy resources
The most powerful techniques I have used to heal my trauma (PTSD and insecure attachment) have been Somatic Experiencing, IFS, and Loving-Kindness (metta) meditation. I’m sharing a few resources below:
Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy can be very useful for trauma. You can find a IFS trained therapist online here and filter by Japan as the country: https://ifs-institute.com/practitioners
Somatic Experiencing: one of the best tools for working through trauma in the body. Developed by Peter Levine. There are several practitioners in Japan. You can search by prefecture and city here.
Metta meditation. You can learn metta through videos online or coming to an event. Check out this free PDF w/ detailed guidance on how to practice this method.
What I’ve been reading
No Bad Parts by David Schwartz. This book is a great for anyone that is feeling stuck and conflicted. It is a primer to Internal Family Systems, or IFS, and has plenty of guided exercises you can do on your own.
🎧 Podcasts I loved
The Emerald Podcast was introduced to me by a friend and I’ve been loving it so far. It’s very well-produced and combines myth, spirituality, and narrative to create a powerful experience. This episode talks about the rise of Mindfulness Inc. and how the way we typically practice (alone, with an app at home) is far-removed from the beauty, community and mythology that spiritual traditions offer. If you’re looking to spice up your mindfulness practice, give this a listen.
📜 Quotes I’m pondering
“Healing doesn’t mean the damage never existed. It means the damage no longer controls our lives.”
— Richard Schwartz
Thanks for reading and hope to see you at the next event! 💛😊
👉 Work with Misha 1-1
I offer 1-1 coaching and work with people on getting unstuck, deepening their presence, and support on the spiritual/healing journey. If you're interested in exploring, please send me a message and we can chat.