- 1) What do you like about Canada?
- 2) How did you come to live in Canada?
- 3) What did you gain from your ocean sailing experience?
- 4) What have you done in Canada so far?
- 5) What was the most difficult thing for you when you came to Canada? And what did you learn from it?
- 6) What do you do now？
- 7) What do you like to do?
- 8) Is there anything you would like to do in the future?
- 9) What is your belief or motto?
- Editor’s Comments
1) What do you like about Canada?
Diversity.
Things have changed a bit since the pandemic, but when I first came here,I liked the feeling that I was allowed to speak and be free as an individual.This diversity is similar to the balance in nature, allowing us to live in harmony with our surroundings as who we are.
I also like outdoor sports, so Vancouver’s proximity to both the ocean and the mountains was very appealing to me.
2) How did you come to live in Canada?
After graduating from the Early Childhood Education Program at a junior college in Japan, I wanted to see more of the outside world, so I came to Canada on a Student Visa.
During my one-year stay in Canada, I experienced values that differed from the values of Japan, and I felt that my world had expanded.
After returning to Japan and working as a trade clerk, I wanted to see the world, so I traveled around Europe, Central America, and Asia. After that, I met my now ex-husband in Japan and got married. We started a trading company together but we got divorced. I wanted to reset everything and take on a new challenge.
I went to New Zealand to join an ocean sailing crew and experience life at sea in the South Pacific islands.
After a year at sea in New Zealand and the South Pacific, I came to Canada on a Visitor Visa in 2008.
3) What did you gain from your ocean sailing experience?
I had traveled and lived on a yacht before, so I knew how wonderful life at sea could be. I also believe that the challenges of sailing in the South Pacific was what I needed to regain the confidence I had lost during my divorce and to move on to the next step.
It was a wonderful experience to meet people with different views and values that I could not have met on land.
”You get what you get、You got what you have.”
Once we are away from land, we have to deal with whatever happens during the voyage with only what we brought with us or use whatever is available. This was an experience that made me use my imagination and feel a kind of toughness that made me stronger.
In addition, the beauty and danger of nature and the precious experience of being at sea, led me to the realization that “people are part of nature.”
4) What have you done in Canada so far?
The first thing I did in Vancouver was to work as a nanny. Here, they call it Child Care Provider out of respect.
It was a very valuable and wonderful experience. and I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to experience working as a nanny for several families.
I graduated from the Early Childhood Education Department in Japan, and there is a service at **BCIT called ICEA (International Credential Evaluation Service)that will help you transfer your credits from Japan to here.
I was working as a nanny while I was completing the process of transferring my credits here.
After working as a nanny for about three years, I worked at a Montessori day care.
I enjoyed the wonderful educational stylr of** Montessori and the time I spent with the children, but the facilities in the group setting sometimes used bleach and other chemicals for hygiene reasons. I had been atopic since I was a child.due to using all the chemicals,and my skin started to fall apart. So, I left that job. I took a course at BCIT in the Office Administrator with technology program.
After volunteering at **Mosaic, a NPO organization, I began working for there.
I was in charge of the administration of a program called Hippy.
HIPPY stands for Home Instruction for parents of preschool youngsters.
We support families who have just arrived in Canada as immigrants, informing them about the education system and culture so that they can live smoothly in Canada.
At the same time, I enrolled in IHN (Institute of Holistic Nutrition) to heal my atopic and allergic condition naturally. In order to regain true health, I started withdrawal from-steroids.
Balancing my work at Mosaic and my studies at IHN was a challenge, but I think it was a great period for me to really focus on the holistic approach to my body. It was also a time when I felt that there is a deep connection between Body, Mind and Spirit.
As I was working on improving my diet and getting off steroids for my health, I saw and heard of family members who moved to Canada as immigrants suffering from health problems due to changes in their diets. I thought there was something I could do with the knowledge I was studying, so I organized a Workshop on Food to help people transition to a healthier diet.
After graduating from IHN, I used the knowledge and experience I gained to launch Taeko Yasui Holistic Health in 2018, and began offering coaching services from a holistic perspective.
**BCIT (International Credential Evaluation Service) is a service period that will transfer your Japanese Credit to Canada.
**Montessori education – An education that encourages spontaneous activities by understanding the child’s interests and developmental stage correctly, rather than trying to teach unilaterally based on the values of the adult (teacher). The child acquires various abilities while repeatedly engaging in activities of their own choosing until they are satisfied.
**MOSAIC- A non-profit organization that supports immigrant refugees
5) What was the most difficult thing for you when you came to Canada? And what did you learn from it?
Hmmm… I came to Canada knowing that it would be challenging, so I don’t think I’ve ever felt much hardship.
Maybe… Of course, I can’t speak English like a native speaker, but I think I have no choice but to keep learning. Other than that, I’ve been doing things with the spirit of “I’ll figure it out. I guess it’s because I’ve become tougher about many things from my voyages and past experiences. (laughs).
I’m a very curious person, so I try to think of every challenge as a good experience.
But if I had to say, it was the de-steroid period that took years. I have had atopic dermatitis since I was a child, and I used steroids as a treatment. However, I started de-steroid treatment because I wanted to truly regain my body’s natural healing power. In my case, I had been using medication to control my condition for many years, so it took a lot of energy and time to stop the medication and improve my condition while dealing with the itching and pain. I even became depressed at times.
Fortunately, there are many holistic wellness approaches in Vancouver. During this de-steroidization period, I met many people and learned about a world that I didn’t know existed, which broadened my horizons and made me realize that I am not alone. I also learned the importance of believing in myself.
This has helped me in my work as a holistic nutrition coach.
6) What do you do now？
I am preparing to start a business to deliver handmade sea salt made from seawater around Ishigaki Island in Okinawa, Japan to people who want to regain their health.
I’ve always been interested in salt. When I was ocean sailing, my skin felt better. and I felt that being near the ocean harmonized my body and made me feel better. That’s when I started to learn about the power of sea salt. I found out that seawater is full of minerals that are essential for life. and that Japanese people have been living by the power of the sea and sea salt since ancient times. I believe that consuming salt, which is rich in minerals and is carefully prepared using traditional methods, is essential for maintaining a balanced and strong body. Even today, we can buy natural salt and kettle-boiled salt at supermarkets. However, there are only a few good, carefully made salts.
This is the salt that I am in love with.
While traveling in Okinawa, I met a master of handmade salt production. When I started using his salt, I really felt my body getting healthier. This sea salt is made from the clear seawater of Okinawa in a flat kiln boiling using wood for three days. I really wanted to be a bridge by delivering the salt to those who needed it, so I kept coming back and eventually became an apprentice. (laughs).
Salt is a blessing from the sea. Seawater contains almost all of the minerals found in nature. Considering that humans are also a part of nature, salt in its natural state is gentle and healing to the human body.
I am pleased to announce that I will be selling full moon salt, which is made from seawater pumped on the day of the full moon. Moon and Gaia Wellness will sell it as “Full Moon Crystals” (crystallized salt) and “Full Moon Drops” (liquid salt before crystallization). It is the precious seawater that contains the minerals contained in salt and the rich energy of the full moon.
The salt is handmade and cannot be mass-produced. but I would like to deliver it to those who need it.
Contact：Moon and Gaia Wellness moonandgaia@gmail.com
7) What do you like to do?
Spending time in nature. I especially like to go into the ocean because it harmonizes my body and makes me feel comfortable.
Also growing vegetables, cooking, and eating them. When you eat what your body wants, most importantly, you feel good. ！！！！
8) Is there anything you would like to do in the future?
I myself would like to live in harmony with nature. I can always feel nature in my life and live close to it. I would like to live such a life.
I would also like to deliver Moon and Gaia Wellness’ full moon salt to those who need, and share the importance of mineral-rich natural salt through workshops. I would be very happy if people with atopic dermatitis or allergies could use it.
The other thing is that I haven’t decided how I’m going to transmit the information yet, but I want to share what I’ve experienced so far in order to help others.
However, this is a transitional period, and if something else comes up that I want to do in the future, I will go with the flow, not against it. (laughs)
9) What is your belief or motto?
The three C’s — Chance, Challenge and Change.
If something is difficult, it is a good chance and you should challenge it. If you do, you will change yourself. If you think about it that way, you will be able to look forward to many things.
And believe in yourself. Believe in yourself that you are absolutely fine. I think it’s important to have confidence in yourself. (laughs)
However, I hope I can keep a good balance and live in harmony with the environment around me.
Editor’s Comments
Me and Taeko are of the same generation, but Taeko has had so many experiences that it makes you wonder how many lives she has lived.
She studied abroad, got married, ran a trading company, got divorced, lived at sea as an ocean sailing crew member, came to Canada alone, worked in early childhood education with Montessori, went to Holistic Nutrition school, supported immigrant families, started a Holistic Nutritional Coaching company, and now has started a new business to bring mineral-rich Okinawan salt to people around the world.
“I’ve done a lot of things,” Taeko said happily, and I was attracted to her story. This interview with Taeko drew me in, and I listened to the sound of her words that came from her experience.
I felt that the more experiences I had, the more things were stripped away and only the things I really needed were left.
There is nothing wasted in what I have experienced. It’s all connected.Taeko has a background in running a trading company, so she is able to deliver her full moon salt to the world. She also studied early childhood education in Japan, so she was able to work at a Montessori kindergarten and become a child care provider. As a child care provider, she was able to observe the dietary habits of various families, which helped her as a holistic nutritionist and led to my own de-steroidization.
Taeko analyzes herself as a logical person by nature. She seems to have lived her life freely and to her heart’s content, but I feel that there is a logic to her life. The priority is to live comfortably rather than to live right. Even if you don’t have a plan, even if you can’t explain it logically, just go with your gut feeling, and if it’s going in the right direction, you’ll find that the support around you will mysteriously follow. I feel like she intuitively chooses to live that way.
If you think about it, maybe that’s how the world works. Nothing is complicated. Just like nature. Pure and simple. When you are in a situation where you feel like you can’t move forward, or you feel like you are in pain, maybe you are going against the flow. Maybe you’re off the path you should be on. That’s what I feel when I listen to Taeko.
Taeko has a well-balanced view of the world from both spiritual and theoretical perspectives. What kind of a bridge between Japan and Canada will she be in the future?
I’m looking forward to it. Ogojo Canada will continue to support her activities.
