About Asami Sakura

Founder of KoKoRoBeing. A mindfulness instructor, counsellor and coach based in Australia. I have been living between Japan and Australia for 17 years. Since 2019, I have offered online sessions and courses, working with more than 750 participants in total. I am currently writing a book.

Where it began: my father

The starting point of my study of the mind is my father, who struggled with alcohol dependence. As a child, I was told that I was the reason he drank.

Even so, he had a kind side. Why had he become that way? I wanted to understand, so I became interested in the human mind and began studying hypnotherapy.

Looking back, I think alcohol was his “home for the mind.” Everyone around him kept saying “stop.” So did I. But maybe what he was really waiting for was someone to say, “I understand why you want to drink.”

From programmer to many different jobs

After university, I learned programming at a software company. I then worked in administration and accounting.

Since then, I have worked in many different roles.

• Programmer
• Quality control
• Administration and accounting
• Secretary
• Tax office
• Factory
• Journalist and writer
• Tour guide
• Nature photographer
• Counsellor

I worked hard and seriously in every job. At the same time, I always drew lines inside myself: “right or wrong,” “working hard or being lazy.” Inside the frame of “I have to fit in,” I think I felt stifled for a long time.

Leaving Japan: Canada, Okinawa, and then Australia

Over time, my wish to leave Japan grew stronger. After a year in Canada, I moved to Okinawa, and then made my home in Australia.

The students I met in Australia

In Australia, I also accompanied junior and senior high school students on short study-abroad trips from Japan. Each time, there was a student who had not been able to go into their classroom in Japan. In a place where they were not judged and were given time until they were ready, their eyes slowly began to shine. At the end of two weeks, they said goodbye to their host families in tears. They taught me that people need a “home for the mind.”

What I found between Japan and Australia

Moving between two cultures, Japan and Australia, the frames I had lived in slowly fell away. I don’t have to be perfect. It’s okay to waver. A way of living without borders, spending “now” lightly as I am.

Another turning point was photographing nature. Through the camera, I noticed changes in my own mind. From there, I went deeper into learning about the subconscious and somatic (body-based) approaches. Living overseas has also taught me that connection with people is not only about words.

What I value at KoKoRoBeing

• Being with you, rather than chasing results. I don’t brush things aside with quick advice. I stay quietly with what is happening now.
• No exaggeration, no pressure. I don’t promise dramatic effects or use words that make you anxious.
• It’s okay to waver. You don’t have to be perfect. Together, we keep practising coming back, even while wavering.

In sessions, I combine mindfulness with counselling, coaching, hypnotherapy and focusing, and go at each person’s own pace.

What I learned from my teachers

From Masaki Yoshida, president of the Mindfulness Meditation Association in Japan, I learned that the parts of myself I had rejected are also me, and that every emotion deserves to be cared for.

At Maji-bun Academy, led by Yasumasa Maeda, a former copy editor at the Asahi Shimbun, I spent a year learning how to structure writing. That is where I learned what it feels like to entrust a formless mind to words.

Qualifications

• Certified Instructor, Mindfulness Meditation Association (Japan) (currently in the advanced instructor course)
• Hypnotherapist
• Yin Yoga and pelvic alignment yoga instructor
• RYS200 yoga course completed
• Certified Humanitude supporter
• “Kokoro no Supporter” (mental health supporter), Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan
• Trauma-informed coordinator
• Happy Share ambassador

What I am working on now

• Individual sessions (online)
• KoKoRoBeing 3-Month Program (coming soon, in Japanese: a short audio message every morning, group sessions twice a month, individual counselling once a month)
• Writing a book
• In-person workshops when I am back in Japan (on request)

Sessions are mainly held in Japanese. If you would like a session in English, please email us first.

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