Eri's Story:
When I was little, I was shy and thrived on being “sad”. I used to wake up and go “what can I be sad about today?” How insane is that? I allowed myself to be in the effect of the Japanese culture, which is heavily ladened with "form, structure and significance". I grew up very confused and decided that it was easier to hide behind a façade than to show up as myself. I constantly changed myself to "force myself to become someone," in order to try to please everyone. By the end of the day, I was exhausted from doing that. I was not "me." I did not know who I was.
After ACCESS, I now know that I do not have to "try to become someone." It is wonderful just "to be" and "be me." How does it get any better than that?
About Eri:
I was born in Tokyo as an only child. I attended a Buddhist kindergarten and a Roman Catholic girls’ school for 8 years. I came to Canberra with my mother when I was 14 years old, 9 months after my father passed away. I went to a local public co-ed high school, where I met students from many different countries – migrants and diplomats’ kids. I studied Mandarin and Computer Studies at university, where I met my ex-husband, who was Japanese. I had 2 girls. I got separated after 13 years of marriage and later got divorced. After being on my own (with my girls) for about 7 years, I met Andrew.
I had always been interested in "alternative" therapies since I was about 14 years old – around the time I arrived in Australia. I suffered from headaches a lot since I was about 10. I used to take headache tablets a lot. One day, I realized that the tablets could be harmful to the body if taken in excess. Ever since then, I had been interested in "alternative therapies," healing and spirituality. I kept searching for something and not finding "the answer." I now live "in the question." What else is possible?










