Na Pua ‘Olohe

March Newsletter

Last year was a year of gentle and not-so-gentle changes in this world and in many of our lives. We begin this new year with some thoughts on achieving in a new way. In many cases old structures and ways of doing things have crumbled. Ideas for a new way of doing things seem in order rather that restoring old, nonfunctioning systems. I offer to you a challenge offered to me 21 years ago by my teacher, Abraham Kawai‘i.

As I sat in dazed wonderment after my first workshop at Koke‘e on Kauai, he passed by me and looking into the distance asked a deceptively innocent question:

“What are you thinking about?”

I should have known better than to answer a Kahuna’s question.

I said something about having a dream of someday living in Hawaii.

This is the answer I got:    “Bring your ideas to life!” he said in a voice of command.

Our ideas exist in a space with other ideas: changing, moving randomly as they bump into one another. They share a space with social, economic, psychological and political forces.

All of this influences the success or failure of our ideas to manifest and become fruitful. But we can also supply another force with which to move our ideas.

Manifestation of an ideas requires mana, or life force. We can capture this energy if we see opposition to our ideas as a source of energy. This opposition allows us to recommit to ourselves again and again.

You cannot make an idea happen without mana, so these frictions we come up against in our lives become a source of mana.

The other side to this friction is Aloha, and the mana of Aloha. You cannot have Aloha unless you give Aloha. You cannot give Aloha unless you do Aloha. You cannot do Aloha unless you be Aloha. You cannot be Aloha unless your thoughts are filled with, preceded and followed by Aloha.

This Aloha, this love, is a powerful force. It feels much better than conflict, fear, or rational reason. Persons loving each other make junk ideas work. Persons loving an idea make a junk idea work. Persons filled with anger, envy and righteous indignation make brilliant ideas fail.

Most of the time, love is not considered by the individual to be a practical principle to settle disputes. It is a force that is not included in strategic planning.

Love is only occasionally mentioned as a vital component of success. Imagine what love, manifested as a force and directed towards a goal could achieve: never to be tired, always to be eager for the next, never clinging to a past idea of how to hang on to an idea of a person or failed attempt.

If you can imagine it, it is. Remember that an idea is a force existing in a space and sharing that space with other forces within you.

Feed your idea. Life is not a problem to be resolved, but a reality to be experienced. Loyalty to yourself is the true love for yourself. When we find it most challenging to be Aloha its is most necessary to BE Aloha.

And with that he proposed that I become his student and take over his business matters. It has not been as easy or as difficult as one might think. When we find it most challenging to Be Aloha, it is most necessary to do so.

It is a sweet and rewarding way to live life, because at least there is one person at least to Aloha: you. The face in the mirror.

Ho’okahi Tamara wishing you much Aloha!

Posted by NaPuaOlohe on March 4th, 2010 filed in News

September Newsletter

In writing this news letter I would like to update you on our activities and also give you some food for thought. Decisions - life changing decisions - seemed to be the theme this year.

What to do? What not to do? What is right for me???

So I offer this up as intellectual stimulus and perhaps inspiration.

YES AND NO ARE EQUAL

They both bring freedom. Freedom from ambiguity, guessing, and waiting. To say unequivocally yes or no means you have taken on the responsibility and power of making a move. Both yes and no create motion, and once you are moving it becomes really easy to access whether you are moving in the direction you want to or not.

External interruptions and changing your mind signals that there is no driver: the vehicle is being jerked around. Most, in the name of compromise, eat up this confusion and no one ends up really getting exactly what they want. This confusion leads to low level of achievement and satisfaction and often leads to what we call stress or burn out.

So what to do?

One of the most valuable tools we have is communication: how we frame statements regardless of their content so that they have upward movement and expansive energy. Statements can be made so that they acknowledge others, suggest a win/win solution and at the same time are clear as to what you want.

It does not matter whether these are statements to your own mind or statements said verbalized to another person, another being, or the universe. You do not need to know details of how this will be achieved. Erase the idea “this is not possible in my reality.” By moving with an idea or a direction, other elements come into play. Elements that assist in the achievement of what you have declared in initial statement appear in your life and your environment the moment you make a move - any move.

When one makes expanded, compassionate statements, they open the doors of possibility not only for themselves but for the listener as well. With a modicum of respect for the other, all will gain excitement in looking for a possible solution. There is nothing so rewarding as cooperating on an “impossible” situation and coming up with solutions.

Everyone wants to be a winner.

Ambiguity stands in the way of one of the greatest truths: if we have clarity and compassion anything is possible and everything is possible. That is the true spirit of a team and a family and it is the true nature of the spirit of aloha.

This year so far has been a year of great motion and fullness at Na Pua ‘Olohe. Our workshops continue with a great deal of interest in I Nana®, a method of hot stone work. It is very rewarding to see how quickly students step into the state of sensitivity and awareness that is necessary for this work. In the Kahuna tradition you must be impeccable in doing this type of work. The group in March and April, especially, had a very good time practicing on each other. And so far the students have all stepped up to the challenge of this training.

In June there was a wonderful visit to Byron Bay.

Having landed in Sydney the night of the light show on the Opera House, I could ask for no more. But more good stuff came my way. The courses that were taught were Kahuna Bodywork and Personal Development. Ross and Daniele of Bien Etre organized the courses which were held at Ansara, their home. We had an awesome team of blokes cooking breakfast and dinner, alternating with us “laydies” taking our turn as well. As usual, Mradula held down the fort in the dessert department and was the soul and heart of the kitchen.

Of course this time, and high time too, she was kicked out of the kitchen and sent to the classroom. I think she appreciated it. This time I actually had a couple of days to touring -and enjoyed visiting some of the older towns in that part of Australia. Met some wonderful new new students there.

It seemed as well that the “oldies” that came for that course really moved far forward. As always giving Geomancy suggestions in Australia is very exciting. The land there is still so alive and in the constant flux of the dream- amazing things show themselves every time. So our evenings were spent making adjustments to students homes. Then back to Hawaii where Ed Stumpf and Nanako brought in a group of students who are doing a graded series of courses: a fast-track to learning Kahuna Bodywork.

This was a most wonderful group. We worked at amazing speed & achievements were extraordinary – VERY LITTLE SLEEP, as usual. We also had a LOT of fun,

They all got their assignments of what they needed to put into practice to achieve the next.

A lovely group of people who will be coming back for more food, tears, fun and photo opportunities!!!! And the next time some more singing too!

In August we had returning students who went as far back as 1992- it was an intense workshop where lots of things were worked out.

The next group of ladies had the experience of working things out in their sleep and on the beach. Two very different energies.

All this sandwiched in between family visits!

And who said this was going to be a slow year??

I am looking forward to seeing what the rest of the year will bring.

Remember everything is possible if you give the Universe a chance

Ho‘okahi

Posted by NaPuaOlohe on September 17th, 2009 filed in News

May Newsletter

We are fresh off the wings of a most successful course in Hawaii. The workshops, which were to have taken place in Munich and Herford, were rerouted at the last moment to the beautiful island of Oahu.

It was a perfect example of the Kahuna Principle of changing directions in flight.

Change in flight is a the principle that is so wonderfully visible in nature.

When a bird is in flight it makes adjustments to weather conditions and air flows. There is no thought of resisting such elemental forces. There is only moving towards one’s goal by flying over, under, through, or around whatever is in the way of reaching one’s goals.

In our life this principle, if applied, often brings new and wonderful additions to the original idea of the goal.

The students that gathered here last month had specific topics they wanted to learn about. Usually in a short, two-week course it seems as though there is never enough time to cover more than one or two topics. This group, because of their sudden change in plans, was energized and open to any possibility.

Time stretched and slowed, becoming elastic. All manner of subjects had the time and space to manifest.
I wish to acknowledge the students’ dedication to themselves.

As exemplified by this course, more often than not once we set out to a goal, the road might twist and turn, there might be detours, but that is exactly what this voyage called life is about.

When we simply move without trying to control and regulate our path the Universe will always bring us to the next unimaginable spot of learning and insight.

We have created a big plus without any attempt to do anything in particular.

I am looking forward to our May course – it seems the more the world is stirred up by the many changes we are experiencing, the more wealth arises from the depths of our being.

To paraphrase William Shakespeare, whose birthday occurred during the workshop:

To be or not to be is not the question.

What IS has always and will always be the answer.

Aloha,
Ho‘okahi

Posted by NaPuaOlohe on May 7th, 2009 filed in News