SWIHA Blog

Sole to Soul: How Saori Mayumi is Using Toe Reading to Transform Lives in Japan

Posted by Tim Barber on 2/2/18 1:29 PM

When the student is ready… a book may just jump off the shelf and change her view on the world! 

That’s exactly what happened for Saori Mayumi— one of the most successful Toe Readers and Toe Reading Teachers in Japan. Toe Reading wasn’t something Saori was looking for at all; in fact, as is often the case when the Universe has unexpected plans for you, Toe Reading seemed to find her!

Saori-Toe-Reading-SWIHA-GreatGraduate1.jpg

Saori was at a bookstore when she just happened to see a copy of KC Miller’s Toe Reading – Are You Walking Your Destined Path? that had been translated in to Japanese. Remembering the moment when she first picked up the book, Saori says, “I didn’t mean to read it, yet it was there, right in front of my eyes! There was also a leaflet announcing that KC was going to have a special seminar in Japan. I read the book and went to see her at the seminar. There was no doubt in my mind that Toe Reading would be a big part of my destiny!”

Observing the Sole, Healing the Soul

Although Saori was not familiar with Toe Reading before that fateful day in the bookstore, she had been aware of the power of intention and of the healing arts from a young age. When she was a child, her mother was diagnosed with cancer and given two years to live by her doctor— and only that long IF she went through the pain and emotional trauma of undergoing chemotherapy and having her leg amputated. Her mother rejected that advice because she simply didn’t believe it. She lived the life she wanted to live as fully and lovingly as possible, and instead of accepting the two-year death sentence handed down to her by allopathic medicine, she continued to live another 30 years! This not only inspired Saori, it inspired her father as well, who was a successful pediatrician in Japan.  

Saori-Toe-Reading-SWIHA-GreatGraduate2.jpgSaori recalls, “After witnessing my mother’s healing miracle, my father began to believe in the power of the body to heal itself. He rarely treated his patients with prescriptions to deal with the symptoms of ‘disEASE.’ Rather, he helped his patients, from children to adults, by examining their emotions, thoughts, lifestyle, and relationships– many of whom had been diagnosed with cancer and other ‘incurable’ diseases. My father treated their underlying issues, understanding that it was often an emotional or soul-level healing that was needed!”  

Years later, Saori experienced a broken heart that temporarily left her in a state of despair and hopelessness. Luckily, she discovered reflexology and began to learn about the connection between the body and emotions. Although the situation had been difficult to process at the time, she now remembers with excitement how working on the soles of her feet helped heal her broken heart and soul! With a huge smile, Saori shares, “Reflexology helped me to feel better myself. I fell in love with my physical sole and my true SOUL!”

Understanding the Chapters of Our Soles

The connection of sole and soul is what Toe Reading is all about. Toe Reading, as taught by KC Miller, is the metaphysical understanding that the direction and formation of the toes are the physical printout of the path a person’s life has taken. The toes are one of bodies’ depositories for stories and emotions. The energy and emotion that a person experiences during a dramatic, emotional, stressful, or painful event gets stored in the body’s tissues and changes the shape of the toe structure and tissue. A Toe Reader is someone who honors the stories stored in the toes and has been professionally prepared to help unlock the storyline that have molded the physical toes and guarded a person’s heart-space.

Saori-Toe-Reading-SWIHA-GreatGraduate3.jpgIf you were to think of the body as a book about a person’s life, the toes could be considered specific chapters about each part of that life. Phrased in another way, each toe is a chapter representing the various “elements” of your life. The ten toes represent the ten chapters. The five toes on the left side record the “internal stories,” and the five toes on the right record the “external stories.” The chapters have a “never-ending story” component to them because the stories of life change— and so do the toes! When a new thought or belief is chosen, a new chapter will form to replace the old story— meaning that, yes, toes change as the story changes. Toe Reading honors the never-ending story.

Putting this in her own words, Saori says, “Before I took SWIHA’s Toe Reading program, I only understood the body on a physical level (the visible world). After going through the classes, I have learned to also understand the feeling level, the thought level, and the soul level (the invisible world).”

Saying YES to life!

Saori-Toe-Reading-SWIHA-GreatGraduate4-c.jpgLearning the art of Toe Reading has been as transformational for Saori as it has been for her many clients who she worked with since meeting KC in Japan. “It deepened my level of communication with people, and my ability to help people understand themselves and others,” she exclaims. “It helped me to gain confidence in myself and to claim the title of healer and teacher.”

Inspired by the amazing things she has seen arise out of Toe Reading—and encouraged by KC—Saori has begun to teach Toe Reading. At present, she has 130 students from all over Japan that she is teaching the transformational and healing techniques of Toe Reading/Soul Coaching to.

Some of the most powerful phrases Saori teaches her students are those from her teachers—KC Miller and her Hypnotherapy teacher, Linda Bennet“I see you,” and “That’s a thought!” “They really work for my students,” Saori says. “So many people suffer because they believe other people know more than them or have all of the answers. Those words help people feel validated and seen, and they give them courage.”

One of Saori’s Toe Reading mentors is Cheryl Speen, a Master Toe Reader and the lead Toe Reading Teacher at SWIHA. Cheryl taught Saori: “Never give up on anybody. Just focus on what people are experiencing. It doesn’t matter if what they are saying is true or not; that’s not for us to judge. What is important is what and how they feel. Just help them say ‘YES’ to their lives.” With deep admiration, Saori affirms, “My teachers taught me to not judge anything a person says and to hold the space needed for them to speak their truth.”

Planting Seeds of Joy

Saori-Toe-Reading-SWIHA-GreatGraduate5.jpgSaori Mayumi lives in Mitaka, a community located in the western portion of the Tokyo metropolis. There, she has a healing studio where she serves clients and holds Toe Reading seminars. The name of her business is “Happy Seeds 4 You,” which is named for her personal mission to plant within others “Happy Seeds” of joy and healing!

Most recently Saori was invited to make a presentation to a group of executives at a highly respected Japanese corporation. Imagine facilitating a Toe Reading session for a group of Japanese businessmen who want to better understand each other!

In April 2018, KC Miller and Mihoko Knight—the woman who translated KC’s Toe Reading book into Japanese—will travel to be Saori’s guest in Tokyo and Kyoto as they train seven new Toe Reader Teachers and offer a public seminar for those interested in understanding the message held in the book of your toes.

Together, Saori and her contemporaries are helping people all across the world accept themselves and change their relationship to their personal stories and traumas. Thank you, Saori, for your incredible work—from our soul to yours!

Become a Toe Reader!

Topics: Toe Reading, Reflexology, cancer, soul coaching, National Toe Reading Month, Japan, Toe Reader

About the Author Tim Barber

Tim Barber is a Licensed Massage Therapist, Hypnotherapist, and Yoga Teacher. A graduate of the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA) and Spirit of Yoga (SOY), Tim is always looking for new ways to connect with and facilitate healing for his clients. Gratefully serving as the Blog Coordinator for SWIHA, Tim would love to hear your stories of learning, inspiration and success. Email him at TimB@swiha.edu

Tim Barber

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