A few days ago, I was fortunate enough to work on a Hawaiian Kupuna (elder). She was a small woman with magical eyes and a powerful presence. My sense was that she was deeply grounded in the wisdom of the land and the ancients.
Part way through the bodywork, the room grew very ‘quiet’. The music was still playing. Outside the leaves and wind chimes were still blowing in the breeze. But inside, my attention seemed suddenly ‘refined’. I was just ‘here’, and then ‘here’ and then ‘here’. Each breath, undulation, of my arm, temperature in my skin and feeling in my feet with each step, landing together in a continuous, combined Presence.
When this of nature alignment happens, there is nothing more to do. It’s as if the portal of ‘allowing’ has been opened and I can fall into it’s embrace. From the outside, it probably looked as if nothing had changed, but inside, the dance of movement, breath, sensation and rhythm had begun an endless expansion. It feels like the opposite of ‘working’, but rather like a joyful receiving of this precious ‘space of existence’ that Kahu speaks about:
The Kahuna understanding is that, our ‘Space of Existence’ is a magnitude that is our closest, most loyal, most loving friend that we have. It is all that we can think about or wish for; all that we see with our eyes and our minds, all that we can hear, listen and react to; all that we can smell and breathe of the fragrances in life, enjoyable or not, all that we can ever eat, consume, or speak of, all our thoughts, enjoyable or not, every longing and desire, grief and sadness, all that has been listened to, and brings all of this song and motion, all that you can see, and react to, enjoyable or not; every heartbeat, every longing, every desire, every heartbreak, every spark of joy and happiness; everything you can touch and feel, walk to, come from, or stand upon, high above and far below, in between and all around, every moment of your life”. —Kahu Abraham Kawai’i
Our ‘Space of Existence’ is always alive in us. In our modern world, we have learned that there are ‘much more important’ concerns, and so we take our powerful attention away from most of the ways that Life is speaking, calling to us, offering an opening to a potential fueled by Spirit.
When I find myself Present in this Space, there is an effortlessness, a joy and an excitement as I feel myself hovering at the brink of the Mystery. Each time, it is a space which emerges for the very first time. It is familiar and completely new at the same time. As I dive into each precious moment, discovering the vastness of what is here, the edges of time seem to lose their legitimacy. The Infinite breaks free from the concepts I have been taught and I am moving, breathing, feeling in Forever.
As the session continued, a memory flashed through from many years ago, when I had attended the Taro Festival on Kaua’i. I was perusing the educational and food booths when a group of people, dressed in traditional clothing appeared on the grass and seemed to be floating across the field. I learned later that it was a ceremony depicting a reenactment of The Royal Court of The Hawaiian Kingdom. I was dumbfounded as I watched them glide over the field. Their bodies seemed to emit a soft glow, and their legs were moving in a walking motion, but it was as if their feet weren’t touching the ground. My mind was on overdrive trying to figure out how, but nothing I observed could explain it. Perhaps it was an energy that surrounded them, the way they were breathing or simply their Presence. I had no idea, but the vision remains a mysterious and indelible memory.
This memory of the Royal Court floating effortlessly across an uneven field flooded me strongly for a moment and then disappeared. A little while later, I found myself at the Kupunas’ feet and found myself captivated by the softness in the soles of her feet. Although she was a slight woman, her feet were plump and puffy like the feet of an infant.
I thought afterwards that this woman must spend her days walking on clouds of softness. It was a definite possibility that her love, respect and care for the ‘aina (land) was expressed by the Life in her feet.
And then I remembered my vision of the Royal Court. Could it be that they were not actually floating, but touching the Earth with utter softness, care and Grace? Could it be that there was such a complete resonance between the humans and the land that there didn’t appear to be any separation?
The session has stayed with me for days. I am allowing my self to be more ‘in my feet’ as I step — noticing where my attention is, feeling the quality of this meeting. I realize that the quality of my motion reverberates back to me, up through my feet, into my legs and body. I am in conversation with the Earth the same way I am in conversation with anyone. The tone of my offering is answered in kind.
What a special honor it is to work with Kupuna, especially those who walk in Beauty.