24/08/2026
🎧 Take a moment, put on your headphones, and join us for a fascinating journey into Japanese culture, ancient wisdom and Transactional Analysis.
In this special episode of the Transactional Analysis Podcast, hosts John Fleming and Matt Taylor are joined by Aya Konoike, an organisational development and DEI consultant based in Kamakura, Japan, and a Shugendo practitioner of over thirteen years.
Together, they introduce Contemplative TA — a somatic, experiential integration of Shugendo, Zen and Transactional Analysis. 🧘♀️🌱
Built from Aya’s own practice, Contemplative TA sets out to reconnect what modern, individualist life tends to split apart: mind from body, self from other, and people from the natural world. It is learned somatically rather than cognitively, through movement and ritual as much as reflection, and is grounded in a distinctly Japanese understanding of presence, nature and connection.
It’s a warm, wide-ranging and often moving conversation about what Transactional Analysis still has to offer in a fast-moving and increasingly commodifying world. 🌍✨
You’ll hear them explore:
🌱 Aya's own journey into discovering TA
🧘 Contemplative TA — a somatic, experiential integration of Shugendo, Zen and TA, built around the integrating Adult and negative capability
🤝 Presence as connection to your resources, and the Japanese idea of “ba”
⛰️ Shugendo, and Aya's own training and experience
🚶 Why “contemplative” doesn't necessarily mean “still”, and what that opens up
🌿 How Aya's view of nature differs from eco-TA — not using nature to grow ourselves, but remembering that we already belong to it
🌏 The distinction between “worldly” and “global”, inspired by Henry Mintzberg
✨ TA as a “catalyst” between the capitalist world and ancient wisdom
🎙️ Curious? Take a break, tune in and discover a different perspective on TA, connection and our place in the world.
🎧 Listen on all major podcast streaming platforms — wherever you get your podcasts!
