Mayuka Yamazaki -- Letting Flowers Lead & Emptying Our Minds: An Ikebana Workshop

Awakin Call

*** This will be an interactive workshop that is two hours, not the customary 90 minutes. See the description below for more details. To Mayuka Yamazaki, a high-level business executive who sits on the boards of three Japanese public companies, ikebana -- the ancient Japanese art of floral creations -- is not just about arranging flowers. It is about attuning to the wisdom and beauty of nature to become more whole. A master of the art form, she launched an initiative in 2017 called IKERU to bring the wisdom of ikebana into business and leadership development. Previously, Mayuka was Assistant Director of Harvard Business School Japan Research Center, where she co-authored over 30 HBS cases related to Japan, and also worked as a management consultant at McKinsey. Mayuka was an Awakin Call guest in January, 2023.** We are delighted to share that this Spring she will be offering a special Wildflower Ikebana workshop to the Awakin Calls community! The two-hour workshop will include a presentation on what ikebana is, as well as a brief demonstration by Mayuka. Participants will then be invited to take a 15-minute walk outside, attuning to Nature in whatever forms it is present in their environment, and discerning to the best of their abilities which flowers, twigs, branches or leaves would like to be brought back home to "play." If you live in an area where it would be hard to do this real-time, you are welcome to do your Nature walk earlier and have your selections already on hand. Participants will then create their own Ikebana-inspired arrangement, keeping some of the core principles in mind. There will also be opportunity to share the creations with workshop participants, as well as reflections and learnings from the experience with the circle. Says Mayuka: "I love the concept of letting flowers lead. In order for us to let flowers lead, we have to calm ourselves and empty our mind. Otherwise, we cannot hear, listen to the voice of the flowers. And if you can listen to the voice of flowers, you just know where you should put your flowers. You just know it. Your body spontaneously starts moving. It's beyond our head, and I really love that... It's not like you have to empty your mind and then you can listen to the flowers. If you try to listen to the voice of flowers, you naturally start emptying your mind. For me, ikebana is a practice of the mind." Please join us in learning from and practicing with this gentle artist and changemaker! **Note: Prior to the workshop, you may be interested in viewing or reviewing the transcript of Mayuka's Awakin Call earlier this year. Please also note that the workshop will be two hours, rather than the customary 90 minutes.