Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kyoko Kato. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Kyoko, appreciate you joining us today. Can you share an anecdote or story from your schooling/training that you feel illustrates what the overall experience was like?

I attended the Classical Chinese Medicine (CCM) program at National University of Natural Medicine (NUNM). The uniqueness of the program is that they teach/transmit Chinese Medicine in the classical ways.

For example, 3 years of weekly Qigong training and 9 weekends of retreats were part of the program as a lineage transmission as well as the self-cultivation.

It was frustrating at the beginning because they didn’t tell us much about why we are doing this or what are the outcomes. So the only thing I could do was to trust my teachers because I could sense those teachers are somewhat different from other people. I sensed they are very grounded and quietly powerful. So I practiced qigong almost everyday for five years, and it literally changed me inside out and upside down.

After I finished the CCM program, I realized this way, teaching through actions, is actually the classical way of teaching/learning. It is like a baby learns their mother language naturally from their environment. It takes longer than “teaching,” but with the classical way, teaching/learning occurs from inside so that knowledge sinks into our bones. I feel I am a part of Classical Chinese Medicine itself now.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Kyoko Kato. I am a healing practitioner & a licensed acupuncturist.
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Growing up in modern Japanese society, I didn’t learn almost anything about traditional Japanese culture. Perhaps, in order to reconnect with my roots, it was needed for me to leave my country and see it from a distance. What is the actual Japanese culture? What is old and what is new? What needs to be changed and what needs to be protected? Who am I? … Exploring those questions, my healing and spiritual journey began here in the US.

This journey let me meet countless beautiful teachers and friends. My beloved spiritual teacher Liv Mokai Wheeler, the Kontomble diviner, taught me how to be in love with life here and now, and she is continuously teaching me how to be authentic to my soul. Tatjana Karajanov, Voice healer/Psychologist/Homeopath, keeps healing my voice and teaching me how to sing with joy and share my voice with confidence. While I was studying Classic Chinese Medicine at National University of Natural Medicine, I met many talented scalars and doctors. They taught me not only technical stuff such as Qi gong, Herbal medicine, and Acupuncture, but also how to be a professional practitioner while being a vulnerable human. It was precious to relearn my own culture (Asian culture) from the western fresh point of views as well.

It is almost funny to say but I am learning how to be an authentic Japanese person far away from my country. Now I can see the beauties of Japanese culture, my ancestors, the lineages that I belong to, and I love being Japanese as well as being me. It is profoundly relieving to love my own roots freely.

As a healer, healing to me is to remember who we truly are and enjoy life fully from the place of acceptance and abundance. May we keep healing!

If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?

Absolutely! If I could go back, I would be a healer way earlier than I actually did.
I was dreaming to become a healer when I was a teenager, but I didn’t believe the call or I didn’t know how to listen to my heart at that time.

I had 10+ years of detour, but because of the sideways, I am confident to say that I am on my path now. I love my profession so much! Healing, both my own and my practice, can infinitely evolve because it is a part of the natural and universal phenomena. There is no end in this path, and it is amazing that I can keep learning and having fun with my profession until my last breath if I wish so.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

The biggest thing that I needed to unlearn is the culture I grew up with. Japan is known as one of the most collective cultures in the world. I didn’t know what it meant, and how it affected my life.

I immigrated to the US without almost any cultural preparation. When we go to a cold place, we wear a warm jacket. It’s like that. When we encounter another culture, we need a proper jacket which keeps us comfortable in the environment. I came to the US with my Japanese jacket which didn’t always protect me in the same way I was in Japan.

For example, when something wrong happens, l was taught to apologize first from my childhood. And here in the US, I was taught to not apologize and find a positive perspective. Both teachings have cultural context and wisdom. When both sides make apologies, it works. When both sides do not apologize, it settles in the midpoint. But when one side is apologizing with Japanese context, and the other side is not apologizing with American context, it doesn’t go well. I made myself uncomfortable so many times with cultural differences not only about apology but also with countless situations.

What I meant by unlearning Japanese culture is that my culture is not only the culture of the world. There are countless cultures, and I cannot expect that a person in front of me knows my culture in the same way I do, especially in the United States. This unlearning gives me so many more chances to learn about other cultures, religions, genders, and so on. These days I feel much more integrated between two cultures. I belong to a Japanese community here, and I am more comfortable working with Americans or people from other cultures. My goal right now is to keep refining my own culture, and knowing others’ cultures with curiosities.

Contact Info:

• Website: hataraku.co
• Instagram: @hataraku_healing_art

Image Credits
Dave Spangenburg (Two pictures with white/pink clothes) Zero PDX (The last picture with many people)