Rev. Dr. Lori A. Parker

Zen Name: Kozei Zen Ni (Star Shining In The Sky).

         Dr. Parker began practicing mindfulness at the Zen Temple in Long Beach, California in the early 1980’s. In June, 1992, she was ordained as a Zen Buddhist Priest, by the late Rev. Dr. Soyu Matsuoka, Soto Sect Division of Zen Buddhism. Dr. Matusoka gave her the Zen Name of Kozei Zen Ni which he translated during her ordination ceremony as “Star Shining In The Sky.”

          She was also simultaneously pursuing her rank in the martial art of Aikido. She received her 1st Degree Black Belt in 1985. In 1990, with the encouragement of her teacher, Rev. Dr. Wayne Tourda, she founded her own private school, Mumonkan-Do Aikido of California. In 1991, she received her 2nd Degree Black Belt.  And early in 2002, she authored a book titled, In Search of Harmony.

          At the same time, she was pursuing her academic degrees. In 1985, she received her undergraduate degree in Political Science, Magna Cum Laude, from University of California, Irvine. In 1993, she received her Ph.D. in Political Science, from University of California. Her doctoral dissertation was on the history of civic education in the United States. The dissertation was an historical analysis of how successful we have been in our attempt to educate a diverse population to live harmoniously in a society.

          Her destiny, she believed, was playing out.  She believed she was doing exactly as the universe had intended.  She was earning her living in a way that she found satisfying and rewarding and she was living, to the best of her ability, a very principled and unselfish life.  It was dedicated to her students – to their well being and to their spiritual development.  But the universe seemed to have something different in mind.  Suddenly, without warning, Dr. Parker developed a whole range of symptoms – a range of symptoms that could not be explained by Western Medicine. 

          Armed with the mindfulness skills and the samurai spirit that she had developed in her Zen and Aikido training, she began a relentless search for answers. This ultimately yielded two possible explanations for the bizarre symptoms. One explanation was physiological – the other metaphysical.

          Her relentless search for answers led her to study two western healing modalities: The Feldenkrais Method^® and Somatic Experiencing^®.  She chose these two in particular because they were both body-based healing modalities which have “mindfulness practices” at their core.  In the process of studying these two modalities, Dr. Parker learned that it was unresolved physiological shock trauma that had caused many of her symptoms.

          As a child, she was struck by a car, as a pedestrian.  Later on, she sustained two severe head injuries.  It was these physiologically shocking events (which remained unresolved in her nervous system) that were, as it turned out, responsible for many of her symptoms. 

          In the Pali Canon (the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist Tradition, the Buddha talks of the "Four Establishments of Mindfulness."  The first of the “Four Establishments,” is mindfulness of the body.  The second  is “mindfulness of feelings.”  The third is mindfulness of what The Buddha called “mind.”  The fourth is mindfulness of what the Buddha called “phenomena.”

         The Feldenkrais Method focuses on being “mindful” of our body sensations and our body’s movements.  The Somatic Experiencing Method focuses on mindfulness of sensations; images (which includes information from the five senses); behavior (i.e., movement); affect (emotions and the sensations of emotions); and meaning (i.e., our thoughts).  

          For Dr. Parker then, these two modalities, The Feldenkrias Method and Somatic Experiencing, are simply structured “mindfulness practices.” They may have been developed by western scientist, but in essence, their origins lie in the spiritual traditions of the east (regardless of whether their founders realized that or not).

          That is why she so she passionately pursued both of these healing modalities.  Dr. Parker became a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner as well as a Certified Somatic Experiencing Practitioner.”  She uses both of these methods, as well as her original training, as she works with people who desire improved health . . . physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually and as she works with people who aspire to become more mindful . . . more self-aware, . . . more conscious.