Reconnecting Through Movement, Coaching, and Non-Attachment with Kenta Thomas Naoi
J.R. Yonocruz reunites with high school friend Kenta Thomas Naoi, now Denmark-based, to reflect on their dance-era origins and Kenta’s journey from design school to New York entrepreneurship, burnout, and a shift into integrative business coaching. Kenta shares an origin story of losing mobility from transverse myelitis, how movement and storytelling shaped his work, and his current projects Studio Rana and Movement Design Research. They discuss joyful movement, critical thinking, and lessons on non-attachment, expectations, and giving grace.
02:35 High School Dance Memories
06:37 From Design to Europe
11:11 Not With That Attitude
15:02 Coaching and Self-Trust
18:04 Personality Types and Perception
28:37 Mobility Loss and Healing Through Movement
32:10 Connecting the Dots to New York
37:19 Scrappy Survival Jobs
44:27 Agency Growth and Burnout
49:38 Coaching Business Model
55:39 Non-Attachment Lessons
59:06 Joyful Movement Practice
01:03:19 Finding Dance Joy Again
01:08:16 Host Journey and Coaching
01:12:13 Loneliness and Ambition
01:16:38 Integrating Work and Passion
01:18:17 Five to Ten Year Vision
01:22:22 Rapid Fire Begins
01:26:57 Non Attachment and Identity
01:35:18 Critical Thinking and Nuance
01:39:53 Gratitude and Wrap Up
Guest bio:
Kenta is a multi-modal creative-researcher, integrative business coach, designer, inbodied-inquiry practitioner and facilitator, bog-person, and level 4 animist druid world builder. His work often centers the body as location for insight, play, and possibilities for more loving futures. He runs 'movement-design-research', a project in making and moving sustainably, he also runs studio-rana, a movement studio, with his wife, and he talks to cats.
- Instagram: @kentathomas / https://www.instagram.com/kentathomas
- Website: https://kentathomasnaoi.com/
Links/resources:
- #54: Way Liu - Dancer to DJ, Navigating Sobriety, Chronic Back Pain, and Finding Creative Outlets
- Awareness by Anthony de Mello (book summary)
- Built to Move by Kelly & Juliet Starrett (book summary)
- Love and Rage by Lama Rod Owens (Amazon - affiliate link)
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One Thousand Gurus Podcast:
Everyone has a compelling story to tell with insights we can all be inspired by. J.R. Yonocruz is a self-improvement blogger, relationship coach, and serial hobbyist with a passion for learning. He interviews unique guests from various fields to distill the strategies, habits, and mindsets we can use in our own lives. Each “guru” has a chance to give the audience a peek into a new world.
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- 🔗 All links & socials: https://bio.site/onethousandgurus
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- 📚 Learning guides: https://stan.store/marloyonocruz