Blessing of the Honu

Today,  I got a chance to meet with Eternity.
We made it to a tiny beach early in the morning.   No one was there, and we were greeted by the sound of he waves, the myriad blue of the Pacific, and a gentle breeze.  The morning air was fresh, although it was already getting warm.

As I stepped on to the sand, making my way to a shady spot, I gasped, involuntarily.  There, to my left was huge creature of the sea, resting on the sand.  My breath knew it was there before my eyes had registered it.   A large sea turtle had made it's way to the shore.  I stopped in my tracks and knelt down a few feet away. It's presence touched some indescribably, ancient place in me.  Looking into it's eyes was like gazing into a universe — openings full of darkness, yet bursting, even glowing with Light.  I was met with pure Life, gazing back at me, from the depths of space. 

There was nothing to do but remain.  To sit in deep recognition.  I noticed that my breathing changed, and my thoughts had slowed. Nothing seemed important, because nothing else existed in that moment. I was lost in Life. Not what we normally consider to be 'life' — the running around, getting things done, working, fixing what breaks, making sure everyone else is O.K., but the Life underneath it all. The only Life that truly matters.

In this endless moment, the early morning sun touching the water, my skin, the honu's shell.....the sound of the waves, soft and strong, the gentle surging breeze filled with salt air, the feeling of soft damp grains in my feet, were all one shape / feeling / experience. Nothing could be separated,.  Everything seemed to meet in the touch of eyes. Creature to creature. Held in the expanse of Eternity.
 

Living Yoga

How often do you remember that you are a living Miracle? You were made from a spark of Life, igniting in union, triggering the mysterious process of becoming a tiny human. Your embryonic self absorbed and digested your mothers rhythms, blood, nutrients, emotions, breath, conscious and unconscious thoughts throughout your time in the womb. Even after your birth, as your cells continued to divide and specialize, you were somatically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually cradled and shaped by the adults and environment that raised you. Right now, below the level of your consciousness, trillions of intricate cellular processes are operating in perfect harmony to keep you alive. Your subconscious mind is continually tracking & automatically adjusting to 40 billion bits of information & experiences every moment, both inside and outside of your body.  

The identified ‘You’ that you know yourself to be could not possibly coordinate such a vast amount of information. Most of your existence is in the realm of the mysterious. You are indeed, a walking, breathing Miracle! .

Though most of our awareness seems to remain sourced in our conceptual mind, concerned with defining our world, the Great Mystery inside of us never stops being Alive. An infinite dance, beyond our imagination, is unfolding inside of us in every moment; we are constantly touching, and being touched by, the Sacred.

Although we have been deeply programmed to believe that the Divine is outside of us, Ancient Wisdom tells us that we are made of it. This means that wherever we are, and whatever we are doing, the Infinite inside of us is also there. What would our navigation be like if nothing in our experience was outside the Divine?

Most of us navigate life through a separation of the ‘Sacred’ and the ‘Ordinary’. We generally see things like worshiping in a church, communing in nature, or doing our Yoga practice to be ‘sacred’, while cleaning the bathroom, brushing our teeth or taking out the trash, remains in the realm of the mundane.  Do you notice that we seem to bring a heightened attention to what we consider ‘Sacred’, and a predictive, sometimes begrudging attitude towards the ‘ordinary’? It’s unlikely that we speak in hushed tones about what we’ve jotted down on our grocery list or who is dropping the kids to swimming.

In keeping with the deep programming we have received from our parents, teachers, religion and culture, we have used our powerful conceptual mind to create a world view where we choose what is Sacred, and the rest is either ‘less than’, or in some other category like ‘practical reality’.

Ancient Wisdom tells us that Life / Creation / Spirit permeates all being. In the light of this paradigm, everything is Sacred.

Some of you might be scratching your heads right now, wondering how your dirty dishes might be considered ‘Holy’. One answer lies in our preconceived definitions — the ways in which our minds have been separated to be pitted against ourselves and against each other. What if our notions of the Sacred have been fed to us, and include definitions that are seemingly out of our reach: pristine, devout, without ‘sin’, elevated, pure and most importantly:  ‘connected with God’. We have been taught, for millennia, that we need an intermediary to contact the Divine. We have been taught that we are unclean and not worthy of the purity of this connection.

What if just the opposite is true? What if the Sacred is operating in and through everything, including our own bodies, minds and emotions? What if everything is Sacred just because it exists?  How would this change our navigation and experience of life? We may find ourselves in a new matrix of understanding. In other words, Instead of ‘darkness’ and ‘light’, ‘sacred’ and ‘profane’, we could experience the energy of motion or stuckness, inspiration or lack of choice, expansion or contraction, stillness and flow.

Our attention to the Mystery in any experience, means that we are mostly attentive to what we don’t know.  Instead of approaching the world with our known conclusions, we become receptive to more of what is actually here. More of the Mystery of Life is able to reveal itself, and we find ourselves in a state of discovery. Indeed, we may find a whole new ways of perceiving.  We may discover the profound expansion of Aloha, which, in one definition, is “the acceptance of everything inside of us and compassion for all that exists.”  

To me, Living Yoga, the ability to meet Life off of the mat, is the embodiment of this deep Aloha.  What the world needs now is our commitment to discover our own grounded experience of the Sacred — Alive in us, and in all we touch.

~ Published in Living Aloha Magazine Fall 2017 in the column 'Life Meeting Life' by Jody Mountain ~

Dropping into Infinity

It's time to give up all teaching, all learning, all ideas about who you are and what should be, and just meet whatever is opening in you right now.  The feeling of your feet touching the floor, the velocity of the breath entering your nostrils, the temperature in your back and shoulders......all your sensations are here, now.

The simplicity of coming back to the most fundamental common denominator of who we are as human beings, can be a doorway into the purity of this moment.  It is an invitation to listen to bits of ourselves that we may have taken for granted, and in so doing, open the floodgates of permission, for all the other unmet bits to be heard and seen. 

99% of the Life that we experience with the full spectrum of our being, is unmet.  Most of our sensations, impressions, impulses — even the complex detail of any sight our eyes take in — cannot be percieved by our conscious mind.  We are unaware of most of the experience of our lives, yet we are eager to 'make sense' of the little we perceive.  As mental creatures, we are eager to capture, define and analyze our world.

In fact, we are more than our knowledge, personality, or conscious impressions.  But the vastness that flows through us cannot be captured by our minds.  We cannot 'harness' the power of the Divine in us, as many personal empowerment practices would have us do.  We can, however, allow our Tiny Minds to be harnessed by the Divine, The Great Mystery passing through us, animating every aspect of our Life Force, down to the sub-atomic levels and beyond.

Ancient Wisdom guides us into the practice of listening, and allowing what is already here to expand.  We can spend a great deal of energy trying to shape and control our lives, or we can place our attention on opening the vaults and dungeons where we have imprisoned the parts of our being deemed 'unacceptable'.   At the same time, we engage in the powerful work of freeing our 'Perceptive Field' from social, familial, religious and cultural doctrine — the embedded judgements and assumptions with which we take in our world.  As we become more committed to this practice, we may notice that there is a part of us that remains free of programming.  Below the 'static' of all the conscious and subconscious rules and regulations we have absorbed. lies and truths, hurts and resentments, is pure Life.  The Innocent Grace of Life that remains unaltered by knowledge or belief. 

In the mystery of Paradox, this place exists in an expanse which can hold every part of our being — even those that have been locked away.  We have the possibility to move into a new Paradigm.  The One Life that we are us is not divided into 'right' and 'wrong'. 

This path has nothing to do with knowledge or conceptual theoretical Spiritual Ideals.  It has everything to do with this moment.  You. Here. Now.....accessing more and more of the Infinite Life that breathes you.

At Creations Doorway

ANCIENT WISDOM IN OUR CELLS
 

One of the Original names of Ancient Lomi Lomi, is 'Ke Ala Hoku — Pathway to the Stars'. This sacred work guides us beyond our known perceptions, beyond the identity we hold in our daily life, and into the realm of 'The Infinite' living inside our very cells.  It guides us to the Source:  both the Source of our perceptions formed from the limiting ideas we've been taught, as well as the Source of Life Itself inside of us.  Although we can, indeed, never know the vastness of Creation, we can live at the meeting point of our own perceptions with The Great Mystery.

The person we know ourselves to be (our identity), is faced with finding new ground. Instead of being 'the knower' and the one in control, we awaken to the vaster reality that our knowing is a tiny speck in Creation.....even in the creation of our own bodies.  Coming to the meeting place of Spirit and Matter in our awareness allows us to both welcome all that we have experienced, and simultaneously surrender to a Wiser Force by which we are animated.  When we realize Life is Living us instead of the other way around, possibilities beyond our imagination begin to emerge.

WE CAN CHOOSE THE LIMITLESS IN ANY MOMENT!
 

As we originate our identity in Source, rather than in our personality, knowledge or belief systems, we become an instrument of Life.  Dedicating our lives to the highest kaona of Creation, we are declaring that Life Itself is our directive.  Since the only Life that's really Alive is happening right now, we are choosing our authority to be the present moment.  Our mind, belief systems and habits are all based in the past.  While they remain a part of our greater internal family, calling upon them to navigate our lives only reinforces old behaviors and leaves us with little choice but to repeat the old.  This can cause us to feel like we are going in circles, or reliving old patterns over and over again.

Navigating from the present moment puts us at the edge of the unknown, and therefore allows us infinite choice!  We might pause here to consider that each moment we encounter in our lives, has never happened before.  Our minds tend to categorize our experience, so that getting up in the morning seems pretty much the same every day. Going for a swim, instead of the vibrant reality that we have never been in this space and time before, can get put into a box in our head labeled 'Swimming'.  We end up living in a conceptualized reality, rather than an actual one.

ACTUAL REALITY IS BRIMMING WITH VIBRANCY
 

Choosing to open to the Living Present means that we face all that is arising inside of us, and outside of us, with a sense of curiosity. If we are here to discover what is actually here now, rather than 'capture' the 'idea' of the moment, we can come into touch with the pulsing vibrancy of endless possibility. The fastest way to touch the immediacy of the moment is to recognize what we are actually doing in any given moment.  So if, in fact, we are busy labeling, describing and categorizing each experience, the simple noticing of this activity will bring us closer to making new choices which will free us from the past.

WHERE ARE YOU SEEING FROM?
 

What we see, and how we experience life, comes directly from where we Source ourselves in the very act of seeing.  According to Ancient Wisdom, our experience of life is clearly a result of how we perceive ourselves, and therefore the world around us. It holds that though the Infinite resides in us in a most tangible way, we can choose to see through the tiny lenses that make up less than 1% of our being. Our pervasive paradigm of separation:  what is right and wrong, good and bad, forgivable and unforgivable, colors how we perceive — most dangerously applied to our own internal landscape.  Seeing though a fractured lens — that some of me is acceptable and some of me is not — creates a fractured view of the world.  Once we begin to act on this distorted view, our actions reinforce our beliefs, elicit similarly distorted responses, and we find ourselves living in a fractured world.

CHANGING OUR 'PERCEPTIVE FIELD'
 

I know from personal experience, that the possibility exists to live in expansive new realities, in the midst of daily life.  New doorways into Creation itself are opening each time we choose to listen to what is truly here now.

UNLIMITED LIFE AT OUR FINGERTIPS
 

The good news is that it is all up to us.  We are the one choosing to engage in an open attention, in a willingness to meet what has never been met before, in this vital moment.  We are, in every moment, choosing to live in the past, or to be surprised by the Living Present.  The opportunity to step through the threshold is always ours. Through Creations Doorway, unlimited Life awaits!

NOTE:  Engaging our cellular wisdom can be vital to this unfolding, as our bodies are always simply here, now!   Our new 8-Week Online Course:  The Body Consciousness Training, gives us experiential entryways to the infinite inside of our cells.

Nourishing Life

Ancient Wisdom guides us back to fundamental truths about who we are as human beings.  My fortunate encounters as a student of Hawaiian Kahuna Abraham Kawai’i, gave me new avenues through which to experience existence through the body.  These pre-historical indigenous teachings are based in the simplicity of Oneness.  In other words, ‘Everything is connected to everything else.’  When we apply this knowing to the human body, we may notice that nothing occurs in isolation.  While we may imagine that our emotions are somehow separate from our thoughts or spirit, they actually all occur in the same location. All of us is always here, now. The memories of our childhood don’t disappear when we go towork and our hopes and dreams are not erased when we’re at the dentist.  Moreover, our conscious experience of Life, and even our identity, are in deep synergy with the more expansive part of ourselves:  our cellular processes.  Although we may identify with who we ‘know ourselves to be’, we are, in reality, mostly Life Itself. 

When we consider just what has occurred in our bodies in the past 24 hours, without our conscious participation, we might realize that even our most brilliant thoughts are tiny in comparison.  Since yesterday, the Life of your body has shed and replaced approximately 1 million skin cells and your heart has pumped 2,000 gallons of blood through blood vesselswhich include 40 billion tiny capillaries. We have a brand new stomach lining every 4 days and our taste buds renew themselves every 7-10 days. Clearly, we being lived by a Wisdom that is beyond our comprehension.

This Ancient paradigm teaches that not only are we mostly Life, but that this Life inside of us is itself Alive with consciousness. While we are in this body, we cannot separate spirit and tissue, except in our imagination. 

Perceiving from this embodied place, nourishing ourselves with food can become a new adventure. In our current modern world, Food is often used to fill an emotional void, or supress difficult emotions, hence the popularity of 'comfort food'. How does our relationship to food change when we take into consideration this Great Mystery inside of us?  We must be willing to listen with new ears, without agenda or interpretation. Eating what we think is good for our bodies is not the same as paying attention, and letting our whole system be heard. The language of the body includes emotion, sensation, rhythm, texture, temperature, image and color. The practice of listening to the language of consciousness as it appears in the body can open new doorways of communication with Life Itself.

We humans are used to being ruled by the mind. If we can create a practice of holding open attention in the body, we can notice how we actually feel in the presence of certain foods, how the sight, smell, appearance, and taste impact our system, It can take a bit of practice to notice if we are actually feeling or making a mental assessment.  Most of us are deeply programmed to automatically base our perceptions on the thoughts and impressions of our conscious mind. Ancient Wisdom guides us back to the body.  Our cellular self does not think, it simply operates in a synergy of wholeness.  Our listening can become very simple as we align with the motion of this synergy. It can become very clear what foods result in vitality and well being, and which deplete us.

In my experience, I gradually began to feel what was only yummy to my tastebuds, and what was nourishing to my Life Force.  My awareness grew to notice when I was eating to stuff my emotions, and when it was actually more nourishing to skip a meal.  The proportions and quantities of what I ate changed, and cravings disappeared. 

What nourishes us at the level of Life Force, nourishes us in every part of our being:  the quality of our emotions, thoughts, relationships, self-worth, energy, awareness, connectivity and general health.

The Being of our Life Force, the Great Mystery inside our own bodies, becomes more available, the more it is recognized.  As we listen, we may find it is eager to communicate.  When we feed Life Itself, Life, in turn, feeds us with vitality, health and joy, increasing our potential to be of greater service to our loved ones, community, and world.  If we can make the shift out of the old paradigm of separation, we may experience more interconnectedness between what we had previously seen as our ‘Body’, ‘Mind’ and ‘Spirit’.  We may begin to experience our whole system in it’s natural state — as One.

Really, Truly & Deeply Shift Your Limiting Behaviors

Our limiting belief systems and behaviors often have a long history. We may have deeply embedded neural pathways that seem to keep us in a 'loop'—sometimes getting inspired, changing for a bit, and then falling 'off the wagon' when stress arises, or the inspiration wears off.

For years, I tried numerous times to lose weight, quit smoking, struggled with low self esteem and feeling like I didn’t ‘fit in’ anywhere.  I tried traditional therapy, affirmations and pretty much every ‘diet’ that came into my awareness, but nothing really ‘worked’, until I stumbled upon a Hawaiian Kahuna, who eventually became my teacher.  Kahu Abraham Kawai’i taught a form of Ancient Lomi Lomi (Hawaiian Massage), which was far more than bodywork.  His teachings facilitate a powerful re-calibration of our ‘Perceptive Field’—how we perceive ourselves and the world around us.

His wisdom, like many indigenous teachings, was founded on the idea that there is One stream of Life / Energy / Spirit that animates all things.  The same Life, in different forms, is both moving the stars and beating our heart.  Everything is connected to everything else.  Kahu offered physical, mental, emotional and spiritual exercises to bring us more into conscious Relationship with this pure Life. His trainings changed the way I see myself and the world around me. My perception, energy levels, health & priorities all changed for the better. Most importantly, my embedded behaviors began to dissolve!  I found myself approaching my everyday life from a totally different vantage point. Although I was doing the 'same things', I was having a totally different experience…….which meant I was living a totally different Life!  As I allowed myself to step out of my old assumptions, a powerful doorway opened which reconnected me with a Vibrant essence I didn’t know I had, and a growing sense of freedom from the past.

Looking to Ancient Indigenous Wisdom, we may find new perspectives which can help us in our growth and evolution!  As I learned from Kahu,’The Life Inside of us is Alive’. This is the foundation of this Ancient Indigenous Paradigm, and an opportunity to really, truly and deeply shift our limiting belief systems and behaviors.

Let yourself feel into these Ancient and Revolutionary ‘New Paradigm’ ideas to bring us back to Life.  Enjoy the Journey!

1.  Every Message in Our Body is About Healing
    Old Paradigm:  Ending Our Addictive Patterns.
 

Ancient Wisdom tells us that, not only is the life inside of us is alive, it is in constant communication with us. Busy with our mind's agenda, we are often not prepared to listen—especially when the message comes in the form of pain, sadness, fear, uncertainty, illness or old trauma. We have a tendency to want to escape into anything that will 'soften' our current experience. We want to get 'away' from ourselves just enough to avoid dealing with difficult thoughts, sensations, memories or emotions. These methods, no matter what they are, are usually toxic for us on some level. More importantly, they stifle communication from the Life in our bodies. The Life Force in us is always offering the truth. If something is hurting, it's asking for our attention. If our child had scraped her knee at the playground, would we shut the door on her and tell her to come back when she's not crying anymore? Of course not. Why then do we treat the living beings of our own trauma (large or small) this way? Ancient Wisdom guides us to bring these ‘inner children’ closer to us.  Hold them close, and let them speak, unwind, become free, in the safety of our deeper listening.

Notice what you use as an escape route from difficult moments or feelings: Cigarettes? Alcohol?  T.V.? Internet? Drugs? Sex? Food? Exercise? The first step in Listening more deeply to Life, is to recognize what we’re actually doing, without making it 'wrong'. The escape habits we have were formed for a reason, so we can honor them as valid. However, we can also decide that it's time to make a different choice. As we make the commitment to keep listening, we will get an opportunity to face parts of ourself that may have been banished from our world. As difficult as this seems, it has huge, lasting rewards. It's usually not as scary as it seems from the outside, but it does require a willingness to be fully honest, and to feel what we haven't allowed ourselves to feel in the past. Saying 'yes' to this process, in even the smallest way, can create a chain-reaction of healing, and move us towards ending the pattern of escape (which often manifests as addiction), forever!  

Every message in our body is a message of healing.......listen!

2. Feeding Life.
    Old Paradigm: Change Your Diet.
 

The human body is constantly in a state of regeneration. In the vicinity of 1.5 million of your skin cells have been shed and replaced since yesterday. (The details of our regenerative system have been explored in books like Quantum Healing by Deepak Chopra, which I highly recommend). As we eat, we are also affecting the Life Force energy, who's main purpose is to make sure we're having the best experience possible every day. Eating only to satisfy the taste buds or emotions feeds one or two aspects of ourselves. Eating to stay within a certain calorie count feeds another aspect. When we eat to feed our foundation—the Pure Regenerative Life inside of us—we make choices that ultimately benefit every aspect of our well-being. When we feed Life Itself, we unleash it’s vibrant energy in our system.  We become a Force of Nature.

As the Living Being inside of us more and more becomes our priority, we will naturally look at our decisions from a different vantage point. As we begin to make different choices, we may get to see and feel what lies underneath destructive or addictive eating habits. At first, we may feel 'deprived' on some level, but as we keep choosing to come from a place that honors the Life inside of us, our preferences, as well as taste buds, naturally change. We can begin by noticing our 'automatic' choices and how they feel in the body. Checking in with your state of being 20 minutes to 1.5 hours after eating will give you a clue if what you just ingested was enhancing your vitality or putting you to sleep. As we practice eating with this awareness, our 'food intuition' tends to become stronger. We may end up making significant changes in diet, and, guided by our Life Force, feel better, and better and better!

Feed the Living Being that you Are!

3. Move As One.
    Old Paradigm: Exercise More.
 

If we approach moving—any movement, including ‘exercise’—recognizing the foundation of Life in each cell, we can transform our awareness, strength, flexibility and general health.  We can begin by ‘Moving as one.  By this I mean approaching movement as if each cell were a 'person', and everyone was completing the movement together. This perspective automatically opens a subtle channel of listening in the body. I'm not really suggesting that we pay attention to each of our 10-100 trillion cells individually, but that we open an avenue of communication, so that we actually feel more of ourselves as we move. So often in exercise, we become goal oriented and make ourselves go through whatever stress or pain we need to, in order to achieve our goal. Many times we won't pay attention to a warning signal until we're injured. Moving as One will bring more awareness, decrease the possibility of injury and increase the benefit we receive from the movement. The simple intention to include our cellular beings in any movement will enervate parts of our body that may have been neglected.

Again, when we greet Life, Life greets us. If we elicit the cooperation of our cells, they will respond in kind. Don't we all respond much more positively to someone who knocks on our door and introduces themselves, than someone who bashes our door down? This principle is true throughout Life. Indigenous practice has us acknowledging, honoring Life, and asking permission for any way in which we want to interact. Adopting this way of relating to all living things can bring us experiences we might call Miracles, for the simple fact that it is beyond our understanding. Similarly, the Life in our body will perform Miracles of strength, vitality, health and well-being, if we approach it in full respect for the Conscious Life that it is.

Move as One Being!

4. Breathe.
    Old Paradigm: Breathe.
 

Breathing is our primary link to Life. We can last for quite a while without food, maybe a few days without water, but only minutes at the most without taking a breath. Breathing ignites the Life Force of the body, brings in new information and releases toxins. It is our most vital and urgent connection with Life.

Take a few breaths through the nose right now. How does that feel? Do you feel more relaxed perhaps? More awake? Hungry? Our authentic breath is often a doorway to our true state of being. It's amazing how much we hold our breath throughout the day, cutting ourselves off from our Life Force, our feelings, needs and our vital energy. We often hold our breath when we're thinking or concentrating. When we’re lost in our thoughts, we can almost forget we have a body. Try setting aside time each morning to just be still and breathe, and notice how this impacts your state of being throughout the day. Any breathing practice that you prefer will be a great start. One place to start is to adopt nasal breathing as much as you can. This is the way our ancestors breathed for optimum health! I'll offer you this one in stream of this Ancient Lineage. It’s very simple: Just close your eyes, breathe in a full and relaxed way, and let your mind be soft. As you breathe, see if you can listen to your breathing as if it were a creature. See if you can listen just with your sensations, and not with your mind. In other words, identification and analysis is not necessary. Feel the shape, movement, weight, rhythm & texture of your breath, as well as any part of your body, thought, image or emotion involved in this breathing. Keep relaxing any part of your body you notice beginning to tense up. Listen on more and more subtle levels, and notice if the breath or sensations change.  Listen like you were taking in a vibrant sunset, with no sense to be made of it, and no predictions of how it's going to look or feel a moment later. Start with 5 minutes and work your way up to 20! Breathing like this expands Life Force, unlocks stuck channels in the body and most importantly, introduces us to our Breath as a Being. Try this practice every day—even for a short amount of time—for one week, and notice what changes in your body and awareness.

Breathe!

5. Live in Wonder
    Old Paradigm: Practice Gratitude.
 

When we begin to experience everything around us and everything inside of us as Alive—really like our extended Family—we begin to move through the world with a sense of Discovery. We begin to notice rhythms, textures, tensions, colors, spaces and experiences that we may not have noticed before. The world of our awareness suddenly gets much bigger. As we Listen, instead of moving somewhat blindly in ways we 'already know', we will find ourselves inhabiting new landscapes. Jumping out of bed each morning, excited about what I might discover today, with these sensibilities, offers me a life of perpetual wonder. My priorities have changed from 'making sure everything is the way I want it so I can be happy', to listening to my body, emotions, circumstances and sensations, and meeting it all as fully as I can, without agenda. Life meeting Life in many different forms, has become the foundation of Living in Wonder. In this context 'Gratitude' is almost too small a word.  I am simultaneously Humbled, Awe-Struck, Enlivened and yes, Grateful for the opportunity to meet this moment in more and more fullness.

Living in Wonder feels like saying a huge 'Yes' to Life. Yes I'm willing to discover what I don't know. Yes, I'm willing to Listen. Yes, I'm as fully Here Now as I can be. Yes, I recognize Life as Alive in me and all around me. The magic that occurs in the midst of all this, is that Life says a huge 'Yes' right back.

Say Yes to Wonder!

 
Practice.
 

Even though science has broken us down to 'anatomy and physiology', we humans actually exist as a synergistic whole, both inside of us and as an integral part of the cosmos. The Ancients of Hawai’i and other indigenous cultures, recognized that changing or adjusting any aspect of our inter-connected Being, affects the whole. As we shift our attention towards the consciousness of Life, perhaps in some of the ways suggested above, we open the possibility of transformational change in seemingly unrelated areas of our life, body, perceptions and Spirit. Our evolution in turn touches all those we encounter. This Ancient Paradigm gives us the opportunity to transform on foundational levels, and step into a new way of being, benefitting all of humanity. Wishing you an ever expanding Life of Wonder.

Aloha!

Ancient Cellular Yoga

Though there are many aspects of, and definitions for Yoga, I have always loved the simplicity of the one most of my yoga teachers have offered:  a conscious union of body and mind, creating more harmony in our being.  When I became introduced to the work of Ancient Lomi Lomi (also known as Ke Ala Hoku — Pathway to the Stars), I was surprised to find that most of the work was not at all about bodywork, but about the awakening of our own cellular consciousness.  One method used to explore the Great Mystery inside of our bodies is called ‘Ho’omanamana’.  In the words of my teacher, Kahu Abraham Kawai’i, Ho’omanamana is “stretching as awareness of physical, psychological and energetic body and its' connection to breath.  Ho’omanamana is taking old, ancient or unused energies and converting them in to contributing functions.” 

As I dived into this powerful work, I came to view Ho’omanamana very much like a form of Ancient Yoga.  Consciously making gentle circular, or stretching movements throughout the joints, muscles, liquids and connective tissues of the body, I discovered an experience of deep interconnection between tissues, breath, awareness, emotions, memories, thoughts and expanded consciousness.  Beginning stages of Ho’omanamana allow us to begin to listen deeply to the many layers of our being by paying particular attention to breath and sensation as we move. 

As a dancer, used to pushing my body to (and past) its’ limits, I was fascinated by the gentleness of the practice and it’s encouragement to honor the early boundaries of my range of motion.  The slow movements felt deeply comfortable to me and I would wake up early to give myself plenty of time for the practice.  For over three years, I practiced Ho’omanamana for a minimum of 3 hours each morning.  To my surprise, I found it to be full of emotion.  Anger, sadness and fear would emerge unexpectedly as I moved towards different positions. I spent much of that time in tears, as layers of sadness, trapped in my tissues, came rising to the surface.  Most of the time, I had no idea why I was crying, but felt great relief emotionally as well as more and more freedom in my body.  After each session, I felt as if I had more ‘space’ to breathe, think, feel and move.   As it evolves, Ho’omanamana begins to include practices to develop strength, deeper flexibility and build Mana (life force energy). 

Like Yoga, this Ancient body of work approaches the moving body as a foundation for awareness to arise and for consciousness to flow more freely through all of us, structure included.   In the paradigm of Ancient Lomi Lomi, the body is recognized as a huge part of the subconscious mind, holding within it, every experience we were unable to ‘metabolize’ consciously.  As we are able to ‘let go’ and be guided by the wisdom of our sensations, we are shown various pathways, through the complexity of our being, which result in deep healing.  In this way, Ho’omanamana is like an ‘adaptogen’ — an herb which responds uniquely to each person’s particular needs.  One persons’ trajectory of healing from a car accident or a broken arm, will be very different from anothers’.  As we start listening on a cellular level, we realize that our own unique pathway of healing is already here, waiting for our open attention.  Our cellular consciousness knows how deeply to breathe,  which positions to hold, how quickly to move in any given moment, what emotions may need to be released,  what awarenesses need to be uncovered, etc. 

Listening and following, in this Ancient practice, gave me a potent and grounded pathway to access all aspects of my system, and promote a profound, and ever-deepening, sense of well-being.  I have found Ho’omanaamana to be, Like Yoga, a union of the vast dimensions of our being, allowing us to approach Life with more wholeness.  Mahalo to Kahu and all who came before him, for bringing this profound work to the modern world.

Published with Living Aloha Magazine, Maui, September 2016.

Heaven

Heaven is here
When I can see with a Clear Heart.
When I remember
my Breath.

Heaven is here
When Fear is my Friend
Instead of my Enemy.
When I recognize all enemies
As my own longing
For Wholeness.

Heaven is here
When I forget to remember
That I'm supposed to be
Someone.

Heaven is here
When I remember
That I am Life,
And that All Life
Is my Family.

Heaven is here
When my Family
Stands Together
As One Heart
One Song
One Motion.

Heaven is
Holding each other close
Half an Earth
Away,
Because
We cannot be apart.

As i open my eyes,
Heaven remembers Itself.
 

The Kaona of 'Ohana

There is a revolution going on — almost on every level — environmentally, socially, politically and, quite possibly, inside each of us. We are at the brink of the unknown. Crises of different natures may be happening on national, global and personal levels.

Some of us may be feeling pressure, a sense that we need to do something, or a desire to ‘escape.’ We may feel overwhelmed with circumstances or afraid for the future.

It’s a good time to remember that in the midst of this growing momentum, you can stop, take a breath, and remember that All of You is still here. In the paradigm of Ancient Lomi Lomi from pre-Polynesian Hawai’i, every moment of your life is part of your ‘Ohana, your family; and the energy – the mana – of each of these moments has gathered to make you who you are today.

In addition, your body is made up of around 100 trillion wise, conscious beings (or ‘cells,’ in modern terminology). You also share an energetic and, in some cases, genetic connection with all who have come before you – somewhere between 3 billion and 15 billion people!

Imagine, in the time it takes for that single breath, that you bring with you a Life Force energy, from many different sources, all culminating in you, to meet this moment. “How will this change anything?” you might ask. At first glance, it may not ‘change’ the outer circumstances, but it may change the quality of your perceptions.

As you meet the world with the energy, support, wisdom and embrace of your ‘Ohana, notice what happens. As you welcome your 'Ohana, it may not change what you’re looking at, but it will change where you are seeing from, revealing a different view or a greater spectrum...... and that could change everything!

 

Ancient Principles to Free Stuckness

Is there any aspect of your life that is in a 'holding pattern', anywhere you just can't seem to make the next step?  Do you come to the brink of 'moving on' and find yourself backing up.....with all the good reasons why moving forward is just not a good idea?   Are you aware of mental or emotional patterns that seem to rise over and over again, keeping you in the same responses to life?  I think at some point in our lives, we all have felt stuck.  From large decisions like changing jobs, or moving to another city, to small daily tasks like getting around to cleaning out your 'junk drawer', blockages can sometimes seem to run our lives. 

Ancient Wisdom gives us new perspectives on how to unlock the patterns that keep us stuck.

1. Listen with new ears

Instead of falling into the familiar pattern of condemning our blockage, lack of motivation or 'stuckness', pause and listen to what you're really feeling.  Go into slow motion inside and notice what else is there besides your repetitive thoughts.  Let your resistance unfold itself and really listen to the nature of it.  You may feel things like heaviness, fear, fatigue, overwhelm, sadness or ......?

2.  Welcome the Unknown

Whatever you discover, even if it's an unfamiliar or undefinable feeling, see if you can bring it closer to you.  In other words, treat it like a small child of yours that has something to say.  Let whatever is bubbling up inside of you speak and welcome whatever is expressed. 

3.  Don't Judge

See if you can accept whatever arises as valid.  So often we discount parts of ourselves, or judge them as 'bad', 'wrong', undesirable or unacceptable.   The truth is that all parts of you belong to you and deserve a voice.  Our frustration, anger, sadness and pain all have the right to be heard.  The magic of allowing them is we then diffuse their power.  A recurring pattern can be seen simply as a part of us that is rising again and again to be heard.   If we can embrace, instead of pushing them away or down, they will no longer keep demanding recognition, and we will be free of the pattern!

4.  Stay in the Present Moment

See if you can stay simply here, now.   In doing so, you'll let your mind take a break from all the reasons why you can't move forward.  You've likely been using your mind to solve this problem, and it hasn't worked, or there wouldn't be a recurring pattern.  This Ancient pathway is not for your mind.  Keep coming back to this moment and what you're feeling right now. I know this is often easier said than done, however there is a super simple and easy way to do it:  Keep your attention on your body.  As you feel your feelings, notice the sensation of your breathing, your feet against the floor, the air on your skin, the saliva in your mouth, the beating of your heart........ Anytime you want to drift into the past or the future, come back to your sensations.  Your body is always here now.

5. Envoke 'Natural Order'

In this Paradigm, everything inside of you is part of your family.  As you listen to each aspect (each 'child') arise in you, be aware of who is listening.  The One who can hear all the children and listen to their woes with full attention, is 'The Head of the Household'.  This being is the grounding of your internal family, and reflects the Natural Order of the Family.  In all of Life there is a foundational, organizing principle, of which we are all expressions.  inside of us, the Head of the Household serves as the organizing principle for all of our thoughts, emotions & actions.  In evoking Natural Order, you allow the Head of the Household to emerge, and thereby ensure that none of the 'children' have taken over the whole being.  When this happens, the rest of us becomes lost in one focus.   For example, if we allow the child Anger to take over, there is no other choice with which to respond, except Anger.  When the Head of the Household is in charge and Anger arises, it can be felt & honored within the context of the whole family.  In this way, we expand the choices of how to respond.

6. Move

Once you have allowed your feelings underneath the stuckness to speak, and you have welcomed them without judgement, make a decision to take at least One Step towards completing your goal. If it can't be done right now, give yourself a timeline.  After this process of bringing closer what seems to be holding to you back, you may notice more freedom as you begin to move forward.  Taking actual steps may very well become easier.

7.  Make a plan

If it's a more complex area, like moving to another city. or finding another job, map out a list of tasks that need to be done, set aside specific times, and put them in your calendar.  Even if it's only one....just do it.  A wise man once said to me:  "A little bit of something is better than a lot of nothing!"

8.  Celebrate!

No matter how small your steps, celebrate each one. Small steps add up.  They can lead to big steps, and even to quantum leaps.  Let yourself really feel what's true as you begin to move in places that have not been easy in the past.  Do your best to keep attention on the nature of your forward movement, as well what has actually been done.  Give yourself a pat on the back. Do a 'Happy Dance'!  You are coming into Harmony with more and more of your Infinite Self!

Finding a successful way to navigate our blockages helps us to discover and to keep unfolding our unique gifts.  There is some expression that each of us came to blossom into.....and keep blossoming!  I believe that each of our gifts is here to bring more beauty, compassion, healing and love to all the creatures of this Earth.  But it starts with us.  These gifts are pouring through us, exactly as we are.  These Ancient Principles give us ways to meet the reality of where we are now, and to uncover our gifts in the face of whatever is happening:  stuckness, fear, overwhelm, or tragedy.  Life can only get better as we are able to expand with whatever we meet.

Below, Jim Carrey offers inspiration on meeting our potential in his video Dream Up a Good Life.  May the Ancient Principles assist you on your way!  Enjoy!

Please feel free to post comments about how this article may have been helpful, or questions that it brings up in you!  To accelerate an embodied experience of coming back to your essential self, Register for one of our Residential Retreats held internationally.  See you somewhere in the world!

You Are the Pathway Home

As a species, we seem to have forgotten that we are made of Stars.  The brilliant minds at Physics Central have demonstrated that on a molecular and atomic level, 93% of the mass in our bodies is comprised of Stardust.  We embody the stars!  If we look into a kaona (level of perception or interpretation) of this amazing fact, we might note that the stars are the light of of the heavens.  Exploding Stars create unfathomable light, energy & the building blocks of entire worlds.  Nestled in the majority of our cellular structure lies a potential of Infinite Creation, Infinite Light.  This body — 'taken for granted' as a vehicle to move us around life — may in fact be a doorway to Creation itself inside of us.

Ancient Peoples knew of their intimate relationship to the Stars, often tracing their ancestral line to heavenly bodies.  The Ancient Hawaiians, Ancient Celts, and many other cultures, find their origins in the Pleiades or 'Seven Sisters' constellation.  In a very tangible way, we are descendants of the Stars, and therefore, directly related to every fellow human being, as well as every known life form on Earth.  The Life that moves us, moves every living thing,  Coming from this magnificent common ancestry, we are One family.

In each moment, we can choose to source ourselves in this expansive knowing instead of more narrow perspectives,  If I value my beliefs, religion or race above anything else, I can come into frequent conflict with those who are also limited to these priorities.  However when I value the foundation of connectivity, our collective ancestry, our commonality above all else, I will likely find more unity, harmony and expansiveness in my experience.  We can recognize that we are all connected at the Source.

.Ancient Wisdom gives us the tools to pay deeper attention to this kaona (level of perception).  As we listen, in an open attention, to the sensations, rhythms, textures and shapes of our own body, we open a pathway to the very same molecular and atomic elements within us that originated in the Stars.  We begin to access this ancient, common ancestry.  We begin to re-member our perceptions of ourselves:  the worlds within us and the worlds around us. 

Knowing our origins to be in the vast power and brilliance of exploding stars, we contain within us a deeper and higher potential than we might have ever imagined.  We can choose to align with this vast expanse, to see from this place, to honor each living being as our relative, to honor Life above all else. 

Tonight, before you go to sleep, remember that star stuff lives comprises most of you.....is alive in you.......and listen.

Awakening to Surrender

Photo:  Clarissa Koenig

What if
One day,
We wake up to realize
That we are not who we thought we were,
Nor who we wanted to be,
But who we are — unimaginable.

What if we wake to realize
That any definition of ourselves
Is limiting,
That we are made of The Limitless
The same Life we honor
In the Eagle, The Ocean, The Land
Is inside of us
Waiting
To be seen
To be heard
To inhabit us fully.

What if we could
Awaken
in Surrender To Life.

What if it didn't matter
Anymore
What I want,
But what Life wants
Through me?

 

The Ancient Origins of Lomi Lomi

Ancient Indigenous peoples lived as one with the land.  Their harmonious and synergistic relationship in nature was seamless.   Food, clothing, recreation, healing and spirituality was experienced within a harmonious whole.   What we perceive today as separate healing modalities:  Lomi Lomi Massage, La’au Lapa’au (Plant Medicine), Pule (prayer) and even Lua (Hawaiian Martial Art) were, in various forms, a part of daily life.  Growing up with the land, it was a natural learning to discover what parts of the ‘Ohana (family) could assist when faced with imbalance or illness. Since every form of Life was considered family by the Ancient Hawaiians, this would include the body, emotions, thoughts, spirit, plants, rocks, elements, motion, touch and attention.  In this way, plant remedies, healing touch, massage tools, and the energetics of attention was uncovered and nurtured.  According to the earliest records, everyone grew up absorbing aspects of healing from the land, elders, and their own experience.

Kahuna Lomi Lomi

Often families would gravitate towards specific conditions or techniques such as pregnancy & birthing, skeletal manipulation, muscular strains, sprains and bone setting.  Some traditions included cleansing sauna therapies, poultices, purging, prayer, topical or internal herbs, spiritual counseling, or ho’oponopono, in preparation, or as part of the healing session.

While everyday applications were part of the fabric of society, those who were chosen for in-depth study, or who mastered certain aspects of the healing arts, became Kahuna (experts in their field).  The Kahuna would embody a broader, deeper spectrum in their area of expertise.  They were connected with all aspects of the illness, remedy, environment and particular method needed for restoring balance in the whole person.  Kahuna Lomi Lomi specializing in the art of bone setting, for example, were often knowledgeable in ‘Lua’, the Hawaiian martial art — absorbing a relationship with the bones, joints and deeper body structures, both for battle and healing.

Kahuna Lomi Lomi specialized in a wide range of modalities, derived from the need for therapeutic application.  Their fields of knowledge were vast and results could be stunningly effective.  Lomi Lomi covered a wide range of ailments from digestive disorders, convulsions, fractures, chills, fever, swelling, to pain and poor eyesight.  The healing experts of Ancient Hawai’i offered methods and protocol too numerous to list here, applicable at every stage of Life, some even possessing the knowledge of how to bring a person back from the brink of death.

Ke Ala Hoku — Pathway to the Stars

While Lomi Lomi was practiced seamlessly with herbal medicine, in its even more ancient origins, it was also performed as a spiritual practice. 'Lomi Lomi Nui', ('The Great Massage'), was a rite of passage practiced exclusively in designated he’iau or temples for a minimum of 10 hours. This sacred form of bodywork comes primarily from the Spiritual traditions of the pre-Polynesian Hawaiians, who inhabited the islands for thousands of years. These mystical people held the belief that Spirit inhabits all kaona (levels) of matter, including the human body.

Kahuna practitioners would refine their ability to work with the various access points of energy, spirit, light and information in their own bodies, allowing a pathway of transformation to open. This was reflected in one of it’s original names:  ‘Ke Ala Hoku’ (Pathway to the Stars). In addition to its many therapeutic effects, this sacred rite was designed to bring initiates to an expanded experience of their place in the Universe, creating more possibility of living in the best possible alignment with themselves, their families, communities and environment.

Lost for hundreds of years, this profound work was revived by Kahuna Nui Abraham Kawai’i of Big Island and Kaua’i.  It was practiced and taught by at least one other Kahuna on the Big Island, only after all other Kahuna training had been completed.

Therapeutic Lomi Lomi Today

Though few true Kupuna (elders) with the old knowledge survive, some in the younger generations have preserved what they could of this ancient art. As a result, many versions of Lomi Lomi are now practiced throughout the islands and worldwide.  Most forms of Lomi Lomi, have been put in to two or three different ‘schools', distilled from the knowledge of hundreds of family lines. 

Lomi Lomi today is generally thought of as a soothing, flowing and relaxing massage, consisting of long, smooth strokes with the forearms and hands, and deeper work with the elbows or fingers.  Certain techniques will be applied for specific conditions such as the various stages of birth including pre-natal care, labor, childbirth, after birth and infant care. The surviving body of knowledge also includes common ailments such as sciatic pain, migraine headache, digestive disorders, and fractures among others.

A few forms of Lomi Lomi using the feet have also survived, imparting a different quality of energy and pressure for skeletal alignment, muscle and connective tissue tension. Some practitioners today, with additional training, also combine herbal medicine with the practice of Lomi Lomi.

Ke Ala Hoku Today

Ke Ala Hoku is probably the rarest surviving form of Lomi Lomi today.  While it maintains the essence of it’s ancient roots, sessions are typically 2 to 3 hours instead of 10.  Therapeutic Lomi Lomi techniques might be included, however these are applied with no intention to heal or fix.  Ke Ala Hoku creates a container allowing the Life Spirit Force in the cells of both giver and receiver, to be the healer.  This form is appropriate for those in emotional, mental, or physical transition — from jobs, relationships & deaths, among others -— and works with the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, ancestral, and energetic bodies in motions which inhabit the resonance of Life Itself.   The session is conducted to ancient chant as well as music from the recipient’s ancestral lineage.  Working with music, breath, movement and attention, this work becomes a vehicle for deep transformation on all levels of being.

Each type of Lomi Lomi, just like each individual technique, is appropriate depending on the need.

Mahalo Nui Loa

If we are lucky enough to live with the profoundly special Life which is Hawai’i, we will likely have a natural gratitude for the healing that it offers in so many ways.  Mahalo Nui Loa to the land, to the ancient cultures which came before us, the healing practitioners who awakened such potent knowledge and those who bring it into the present day.  We are blessed by all of you.
 

We Are Mauna Kea

The voices of our Indigenous brothers and sisters ring clear.  These are the voices which guide us to a remembrance of what is important, guide us back to Life.  As many of us drown ourselves in 'conceptual reality', we have become immersed in expectations, obligations, demands and desires.  Those who still remember what lies beneath it all — communion with Life Itself — cry out all over the world.  if we listen with open attention, and open hearts, we may recognize a resonance of truth.  We may be called to 'give up' what we thought was important, what we were taught was valuable, and feel our Original Nature once again.

As a native person, I feel the Earth, the Ocean, the Sun, the rocks and rivers as if they were alive with consciousness, because they are.  The Life in me and the Life in all are one and the same.  In placing itself at the pinnacle of evolution, modern man has shot himself in the foot.  In perceiving itself as the most advanced being on the evolutionary scale, the Western mind has developed a fatal case of 'entitlement'.   Throughout time, humankind has manipulated land, people and resources for it's own gain, because each conqueror thought that this was their due..  We have been lost in separation, and the momentum of that mana has catapulted us to the brink of the ultimate separation:  our own extinction as a species. 

As we re-member the Life in our bodies, the Life in the Land, the Stars, the Oceans we open the floodgates for Life to respond, to blossom, and maybe even to be healed.

We are Mauna Kea
We are Haleakala
We are the desert of Qumran
We are the Amazon
We are the River Lee
We are the Blue Mountains
We are the Arctic Sea
We are the Tundra
We are the shining Stars
.....and the Light in each other's eyes.
 

To join the alliance for the sacred mountain, Mauna A Wakea, on The Big Island of Hawai'i,
please visit:  Kahea

Mauna A Wākea — Sacred Mountain

The modern Western mind has stopped listening to Life.  We have insulated ourselves with walls of many dimensions:  including physical walls that separate us from the environment and mental walls that separate our ideas of who we are from the simple truth that we are Life Itself, in living, breathing Unity with all of Life.

Although our science, knowledge and philosophies may have a place, they are no substitute for Life.  When we are on our death bed, I doubt we will care about the knowledge we gained.  We will likely be more concerned that there is someone there to hold our hand, touch us with love, laugh and cry with us.

My Hawaiian teacher taught that Life, in all it's infinite forms, is to be met, recognized and honored.  In the ways of many Indigenous people, we respect the Life in all things.  Mauna Kea (Mauna A Wākea) on the Big Island of Hawai'i is such a Life Force, a Mountain sacred to the Hawaiian people. 

The Mountain has spoken.  The people are listening.  It is time for all of us to honor Life over economics, politics, power or ownership.   Add your voice to protect Mauna Kea from desecration:  Sign The Move-On.Org Petition.   Join the Facebook Page for Idle No More and look for the Facebook Page:  Stand for Mauna A Wakea.  

It's possible that many of us have separated ourselves from the Sacred inside of us..........and that Humanity may be on it's death bed.   We are being shown what is truly important by our Indigenous 'Ohana (family).  

Listen.