We are delighted to offer this series of monthly conversations with pioneers serving the Common Good and actively sowing seeds of a better world at every opportunity.
We find ourselves in a period of transition between two Ages when old structures and beliefs are dying and new ones are emerging. Sometimes it is difficult to see the hope-filled shoots of new possibilities amid the disarray of a society in upheaval.
The intent behind this new series is more than just naming projects around the planet that are giving birth to hope – its deeper purpose is to create a portal through which the presence of Fiery Hope can enter and ignite the heart of our humanity. It is an invitation for us to act as true Gaians and be active agents of Hope wherever and whenever we find ourselves – encouraging us to step up and offer our unique gifts in response to the call of the Soul and the urgent need of the times.
Our guests for the November 14th Signs of Hope broadcast are Rita Marie Johnson (Founding Director of Rasur Foundation International) and Yumi Kikuchi (Connection Practice Master Trainer/ NVC Practitioner). Michael Lindfield hosted the session on behalf of Meditation Mount.
Duration: 59:34 Minutes
Rita Marie Johnson
Founder – Rasur Foundation International
Rita Marie Johnson, currently serves as Founding Director of Rasur Foundation International, a nonprofit that is turning generational pain into generational peace through the Connection Practice.
Rita Marie and her trainers worldwide, help adults and children resolve turmoil using the Connection Practice. Rita Marie created this wellness habit, which she taught at the United Nations University for Peace, a graduate school for international leaders, and implemented in the Costa Rican public school system.
Now the Connection Practice is empowering more students faster through champions of youth around the world. They become certified to teach the Connection Practice (CP) and then teach it to the young people they serve.
The Connection Practice (CP) combines empathy and insight and is taught using magnetic or digital CP Boards and biofeedback. It won the Ashoka Changemakers Innovation Award chosen from 79 projects in 32 countries. Endorsed by President Oscar Arias, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and Eileen Rockefeller, co-founder of CASEL, the leading organization for social-emotional learning in the US, the CP excels in creating connection with self and others.
Johnson’s book, Completely Connected, is an Amazon bestseller and won a Nautilus Award in the Psychology Category. Over 100,000 adults and children in the US, Costa Rica, Japan and other countries have learned the Connection Practice.
In addition to presentations in the USA, Canada, Europe and Central America, Rita Marie has been a keynote speaker at a Rotary International Peace Conference, a Peace Alliance Conference in Washington DC., a Summit of Ministries and Departments for Peace in Costa Rica and throughout Japan.
Yumi Kikuchi
Director of International Outreach – Rasur Foundation International
Yumi Kikuchi: Born and raised in Tokyo, Connection Practice Master Trainer/ NVC Practitioner (share in Japanese and English)/ Japanese Published Author & Translator of more than dozen books and films.
Yumi moved to Hawaii with her family in March 2011 after The East Japan Great Earthquake. She learned the Connection Practice from Rita Marie Johnson in Costa Rica in 2007 and 2009, then became certified trainer in 2014. She is the 1st Japanese Certified Trainer who have been teaching the practice in Japan and Hawaii since 2014 with her husband Gen Morita.
Sharing NVC and Connection Practice has given her such a hope when she sees amazing transformations that happened in her courses. If humans have skills of communication and connection through NVC and Connection Practice, she believes that it is possible to create more peaceful and sustainable world that works for all.
She is also a health consultant, practicing a traditional Japanese medicine, Kai-Igaku. She looks and moves like a young woman, keeping herself fit by practicing the Japanese medicine.
Yumi has written and translated more than dozen books in Japanese. She is married to Gen Morita and they have two children together. She also has another two children from her first marriage.
Michael Lindfield
Board President – Meditation Groups Inc.
Michael is a highly regarded consultant and coach helping unleash the creativity of the human spirit to meet the needs of our times and the call of the future. He learned his craft from a range of experiences that include: a 14-year residency as a gardener and as Director of Education at the Findhorn Community in Scotland; small-scale organic farming in western Sweden; conducting seminars and presenting at conferences around the world on the theme of ‘transforming self and society’ and as a senior organization development consultant with The Boeing Company from 1989-2005.