CulturallyOurs Sachiko Eubanks Japanese immigrant and yoga teacher

Sachiko leans into her Japanese culture of harmony

12.04.18
CulturallyOurs Sachiko Eubanks Japanese immigrant and yoga teacher

Harmony balances all the different element in our lives and is something I always aspire to achieve.

These are the words of Sachiko Eubanks, a native of Japan. We were thrilled to have her on the show.

Sachiko is originally from Japan and migrated here to the States in the late 80s. She is now the founder and executive director of Whole Life Whole Yoga, a NFP that aims to empower individuals through the power of yoga, with a focus on inclusive, accessible and adaptive yoga for people with special needs in Geneva, Illinois.  

Sachiko describes her life growing up in Japan, and her excitement at coming to the United States to study, where the emphasis on individuality impacted her. Ultimately, she ended up marrying and making the U.S. her home – but it is clear that she carries an important cultural influence from Japan with her always – and that is her love of harmony. 

CulturallyOurs_Local Japanese Temple Shrine in Kobe Japan Sachiko Eubanks

We were fascinated to learn how Sachiko has nurtured both individuality and community-directed harmony throughout her life. On the one hand, Sachiko fell in love with photography, through which she developed and expresses her individual voice. Her photography portrays her attention for details that subtly community the story in images!

On the other hand, Sachiko has sought to recreate harmony and focus on community in her life in the US. Sachiko also studies Japanese tea ceremony and the art of Ikebana– both of which are quintessentially Japanese. In addition, her love of yoga – originally from India, of course – is one way she has incorporated the search for harmony in her life.

She wanted to extend the balance that yoga brings to people’s lives, so she was inspired to make it available to people who could not traditionally access yoga, from seniors to people with special needs and cancer survivors – including people in the community in the practice she loves.

Sachiko is such an inspiration and we invite you to pull up a chair, turn up the volume and lean in for a listen to our conversation on this episode of CulturallyOurs.

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