phoenix medicine in the city of peace
Introduction
In October, I returned to Japan for the first time in six years — a land where spirit and precision, ancient roots and ultra-modern rhythms coexist in seamless dialogue. This visit was more than a teaching tour. It was a pilgrimage: a call to bring Movement Medicine to Hiroshima, a city that has transformed unimaginable devastation into a living symbol of peace. What unfolded there — through ceremony, community, and the fire of the Peace Flame itself — reminded me once again that peace is not an idea but a power. Phoenix Rising in Hiroshima is the story of that journey.
The Journey Begins
What a month it’s been. I’ve just returned from Japan — a country where the ancient and the modern dance together in exquisite harmony. Shrines honouring the spirits of the land hold a space of ancient quiet. The mountains rise straight from the sea, thick with forest, and those bullet trains — smooth, organised, and perfectly punctual — are a marvel of grace and precision. And those Japanese heated toilet seats - love them!
I’ve always loved Japanese food, and on my arrival, Megumi — the mother of Movement Medicine Japan — took me first to a beautiful shrine in Tokyo, and then to her home in Gunma. There, her friend, who had built their house by hand with her son, cooked us a marvellous traditional meal that felt like a blessing.
This journey took me from Saitama, where I taught Ecstasis, to a day with the NPO, Seven Generations — the Japanese branch of the Pachamama Alliance. Ecstasis was, well, ecstatic! And that day with 7 Generations was unforgettable. I worked first with their members, then gave an open talk (video coming in January), and finally, a two-hour Movement Medicine session that lifted the roof.
The following day we travelled to Hoshiyama — “Star Mountain” — sacred land cared for by a beautiful couple and home to our work for the day with the Human Potential Lab, an organisation bridging spiritual work and the business world. We danced under the night sky beside a strong fire, surrounded by wind and trees. Midway through, a beautifully purifying rain began began to fall — gentle but steady — and while my hosts dashed to protect my computer with a gazebo, I covered it with my jacket and kept going. The elements joined the dance, and it was exhilarating. I left inspired to bring more outdoor sessions to our own land.
The theme of that day was Building Bridges — exploring the creative tension between opposites to awaken the power of peace within. It was potent work. I’m deeply grateful to the Spirit of Hoshiyama, to the Human Potential Lab team, and to everyone who welcomed me and the work with such warmth.
The Flame and the City
Next, we visited a shrine where the Hiroshima Peace Flame has burned continuously for decades. The shrine is tended by devoted guardians, among them a remarkable 93-year-old woman whose chanting voice still echoes in me. After making our offerings at the small shrine where the flame lives, we shared tea and a lively conversation with the priest and local community. I treasure these cross-cultural dialogues — discovering both the threads we share and the differences that deepen respect.
From there, it was a three-hour drive to Hiroshima, where the Phoenix Rising workshop would begin the following afternoon.
When I said yes to this trip, I sensed it would be more than a teaching journey. The way the Hiroshima workshop came about was one of those unmistakable synchronicities that make the hand of the 'Great Choreographer' visible. In the summer of 2024, at Medicine Festival, I’d been invited by Nigel Shaw to drum in a Peace Flame ritual led by Hiroki Okano, and his wife, Junko. The ceremony was powerful. A week later, Megumi wrote to say she’d received a vision of me coming to Hiroshima to offer Phoenix Rising.
For those who know my work, you’ll know that bringing Movement Medicine — especially in ceremonial form — to places marked by collective trauma lies at the very heart of what I do. Arriving in Hiroshima was deeply moving. Once the site of one of humanity’s darkest acts, the city now stands as a living symbol of transformation and peace. My hotel was beside the Peace Park and memorial museum. My dreams that night were filled with light — not all of it easy to bear.
Phoenix Rising
The next morning, my only free one, I visited the museum. The experience was like being carried on a river of grief and horror. “The lucky ones were those who died instantly” — that phrase tells the story. Knowing we would soon hold ceremony on this land, I entered fully into that river.
The workshop itself went deep. Alongside the Japanese Movement Medicine community were ten dancers from China — so good that our work continues to grow through so many wonderful channels.
Phoenix Rising (which begins again online on November 11) is a guided journey into the embodied art of soul retrieval — a process of shifting the inner balance between ego and soul. We don’t seek to destroy the ego, only to understand its rightful place in a soul-led life. As always, the path led us towards ceremony, and I had promised that we would honour the land’s history.
Each night, I prayed for guidance. The night before the ceremony, it came in a dream. The mountains surrounding Hiroshima appeared as the city’s Wise Elders — vast presences who had witnessed all that had unfolded through time.
In Movement Medicine, the Wise Elder lives in the centre of the heart — the one who witnesses and loves us as we are, and who loves all that we may yet become. The mountains indicated that they wished to have their place in our ceremony. I was to invite half the dancers to embody their strength and steadfastness, while the others stepped courageously into the past to witness, grieve, and dance for what had happened here.
Dance as ritual is alchemy. It transforms the residue of the past into movement, breath, and possibility. Those Elder mountains held us in their embrace, allowing the work to unfold.
That created the space for the arrival of the Peace Flame itself. For twenty years, Hiroki Okano has carried it and its message around the world. The flame’s story — a true phoenix rising from destruction — is extraordinary. With Hiroki’s blessing, I’ve included his written account of its origins here.
When Hiroki and Junko brought the flame into the space, its energy was unmistakable — fierce, tender, alive. It carried the essence of transformation: revenge transmuted into peace, destruction reborn as regeneration.
In that sacred light, I felt the living presence of peace take root more deeply inside me — and I know I was not alone.
Peace is not passive. It is not the niceness that placates to avoid conflict. Peace is power. It is the long, embodied discipline of transforming what is at war within us — and in our relationships, the courage to take full responsibility for our part in any conflict. It is the daily practice of listening to the quiet flame of soul and following its call, no matter how the world tries to shape us otherwise.
For the past. For the present. For the future.
For all our relations.
Closing Reflection
As I return home, the spirit of Japan and the quiet resilience of those mountain guardians in Hiroshima still move through me. This journey reminded me that healing — whether personal or collective — is never about erasing what has happened, but transforming our relationship with it.
At the heart of Movement Medicine stands the Phoenix — the central medicine of rebirth and renewal. The Phoenix teaches us that from the ashes of what has been, new life can rise: wiser, humbler, and more aligned with soul. The Peace Flame in Hiroshima carries that same essence — a living reminder that what has been destroyed can be transformed through consciousness, courage, and love in action.
Wherever we are, each of us carries that same spark — a flame to tend within, and a promise to live by. May we rise, again and again, as instruments of peace.
Acknowledgements
My heartfelt thanks to Megumi, Aki, and Yoko for organising this tour; to Yumiko and Yuki, the other Japanese Movement Medicine teachers; and to Janelle, Samantha and Philippe for completing our team. What a journey!
