Gretchen Miura: Legend of Dragons

What happens when you follow Dragons?

We’ll find out what brought Gretchen to Dairyuji Temple, which means ‘Big Dragon’ Temple in Akita in the North West of Japan’s largest Island Honshu. Also Fleabag was not the only one who found a hot priest!

This Legend, it’s just two intelligent, educated and sensible women leaning into the sacred, the magical and the full spectrum of humanity, nature, generations, deep connection, magic, mystery, and sanctity of life.

We take a trip through ancestral lines to the women who reinvented radically over the years both deliberately and in response to tragedy and loss. We honour our lineage and our ancestors and the surprises and wisdom that are brought to us, through them, even from beyond the grave.

You see, Grethen and I have an intimate relationship with death, bereavement, mourning and grieving. In our work running a grief circle together we are in constant relationship with so many people that our beautiful Circle brings to us. We hold their spirits and the people who live without them. And we hold ourselves and our own grief together.

In this conversation, where we build on the conversation between Gretchen and I back in Season 3 Episode 1, we speak with great love and joy about Gretchen’s path from Suburbia, to the wilds of the US, then the ‘doorway to Asia’. And Zen Buddhism.

And all the way, intuition is in play, the ancestors are looking at her and guiding her; her adoring grandmas and their experiences and how that cycles down into her relationships with her children and parents. We find such wisdom in their stories, and her stories as we follow Gretchen’s path and Legend through the ages. And it is all ages.

Did you know that people carry unbelievable tragedies and pain around with them all the time and still show up to life? I’m in awe of her and all of us. Of our stories.

I’m pretty impressed that I can remember and quote from the full Catholic Mass, having left the church 30 years ago (you can take the girl out of the Catholic church…) yet that gave both Gretchen and I, a matrix upon which to build our spirit and our systems of support, community, ritual and mindfulness.

Gretchen first appeared in Season 3 Episode 1 and you can also hear us talk about Lighthouse Circle, our work around grief support on YouTube here.

There’s so much magic, tenderness, reverence and intimacy in this episode and I hope you can access just a touch of it.

Let it be huge…

In this Podcast you will learn:

What happens when you ‘follow the dragon’, and reinvent yourself over and over
The wisdom of generations and the renaissance of the family women
Reinventing through painful or unwelcome experiences and how joy can sit alongside devastation
Being scared and brave and following your intuition
NEWSFLASH - your parents are human beings. They are people. Find out what made Gretchen describe her Mum as a ‘newborn child’ following a life-changing surprise

If you enjoyed this episode and it inspired you in some way, we’d love to hear about it and know your biggest takeaway. Head over to Apple Podcasts to leave a review and we’d love it if you would come and say hi over on @sarahfuruyacreative on Instagram and Facebook

Gretchen bio

Gretchen lives in Japan with her family where they run DAIRYUJI Zen temple. Making grief support and mindfulness accessible for everyone to nurture well-being and a sense of belonging is her life's work. She studied with David Kessler to become a grief educator and under Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield to gain her mindfulness meditation teachers certificate. She loves leading workshops, classes and retreats. Her brother Chris died when she was five years old which deeply influenced her views on death and grief, ultimately guiding her to this calling. Drawing on many years of exploration, learning and unlearning, she is passionate about bringing elements of ritual, spirituality, creativity and mindfulness to create a supportive atmosphere at Lighthouse Circle.

Links

Connect with Gretchen

Legend of Healing Podcast Episode

Dairyuji Temple Instagram

Dairyuji temple in Oga Akita

Online Shop: Sorabento

Learn more about Lighthouse

https://www.sarahfuruya.com/grief-support

Lighthouse Circle 2024 Sign up

Connect with Sarah

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sarah-furuya-creative

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahfuruyacreative/