Tokyo Mindfulness Newsletter #25
Hiking, waterfalls, eye gazing and more in May
Hey it’s Misha from Tokyo Mindfulness. 👋
I recently scoped out a gorgeous hiking spot in Akigawa Valley, just a couple hours west of Tokyo. I came across a friendly group of trail-runners and then made my way for a dip in a waterfall. Nobody else there! And actually, this is still technically Tokyo, which blows my mind.
I’ll be guiding a mindfulness hike here on May 18th — along with a few other events this coming month. Come join me!
📅 Upcoming Events
May 5th: Eye Contact Experiment 2pm-4pm at Yoyogi Hachiman Community Center (during golden week)
May 10th: Traditional Tea Ceremony + Guided Meditation w/ Marco
May 15th: Mindfulness Meditation at Daikanyama 7-9 PM w/ Misha
May 17th: Shake it Off! TRE with Akiko, 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM at Meguro Community Center
May 22nd-26th: Okinawa Meditation & Yoga Retreat (2 spots left)
🎧 Guided meditations
A couple weeks ago I hosted a workshop on building Secure Attachment called The Three Pillars of Secure Attachment. It’s based on the work of Dr. Dan Brown, who spent years studying how we can heal old attachment wounds and feel more safe, connected, and supported—both in relationships and in life.
If you’re new to attachment styles, I wrote a quick summary here, and you can also try out a short guided meditation below called Ideal Parent Imaging. It’s a powerful practice where you imagine the kind of support and attunement you might have needed as a kid—and start to give that to yourself now.
It’s one of the most healing tools I’ve found for rewiring the nervous system and learning how to really feel safe being you.
✍️ What I wrote recently
In the last couple of years I have been greatly influenced by teachers Jack Kornfield and Steve March. They helped me frame meditation in a healthier way, without emotional/spiritual bypassing. This has shifted how I both practice and also guide meditation.
🔥 Books I read
Mastering Meditation: Eight Steps From Beginner to Adept by Forrest Knutson
This one of the clearest and most practical guides I’ve read on how to go from basic meditation to expanded states of awareness. It lays out eight simple steps—starting with relaxing the body and breath, and moving toward bliss, expanded awareness, and eventually mastery. What I love is how it blends neuroscience with timeless teachings from the Bhagavad Gita and Yoga Sutras without getting too heady. It’s down-to-earth, easy to follow, and actually helps you feel what the ancient texts are pointing to.
He also has a YouTube channel you can check out below.
👀 Two spots left for Okinawa
We have a couple spots left for our meditation & yoga retreat May 22nd-26th! You can check out the details here. Drop me a message if you have any questions.
📜 Quotes I enjoyed
"The difference between becoming bitter and deepening in faith during times of challenge lies in our capacity to include the breakdown into our relationship with reality." - Daniel Thorson, Spirituality is Secure Attachment with Reality
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this, please like and share with a friend. ❤️🙏
Let’s connect!