From Hawaii, with Aloha

Alright here comes another (much-needed) update and a little more insight into life at Kalani. 

So Tuesday morning started off with Osho Meditation. The form of Osho meditation we practiced involves moving through the seven chakras while focusing on colors and using loud breathing. It was an extremely intense and new experience; emotionally draining but somehow satisfying and relieving at the same time. There's an Osho Meditation workshop this next Tuesday that I'm thinking of participating in because I responded so quickly and viscerally to the technique we manifested this past Tuesday.  Later that day I did a Vinyasa Yoga class. This is a more typical yoga class that involves the breath synchronizing with yoga poses. The teacher was extremely nurturing and soft which didn't inhibit his ability to guide us effectively through the vinyasas. So far I've connected with this practice the most because the class retains a flow. 

Weds morning was work time! My alarm clock broke in the middle of the night (humidity?) luckily I only woke up five minutes late but I flew out of my tent into the kitchen with a close call. The morning shifts is wonderful because once you're done you have the whole day for classes and relaxation! When we get there we usually do prep work - cutting up stuff for the fruit bar and anything that's going to be in a hot dish. Then there's a deep clean, break, and once we get back assembling everything. The morning usually has a calm efficient energy in the kitchen, while PM has a bit more outgoing playful energy. After work I headed to Kehena Beach with some friends to test out the waters and lay out on the beach. The beach (as most beaches on the Puna side) is known for being dangerous because of a strong undercurrent but once you get out the water totally supports you and I felt very safe - something that was quite therapeutic for me considering I get nervous when I can't touch the ocean floor. When we came back I decided to go to Yojana yoga. I'm not exactly sure the history behind it but it's a slower pace than vinyasa with a bit more inversions, balance poses, and alternative poses (or at least this one). I surprised myself by being able to accomplish one of the advanced balancing poses (called Bird of Paradise- look it up!). That night there was Open MIC - anyone can share almost anything and they did! There was Ukelele, an Irish song, a showtune, a salsa dancer, poetry... it was so heart warming to see people open up and share some of themselves! My friend Hanna (I know hah!) and I plan to make a short dance for the next one, so I'm really  looking forward to that.

Alright so Thursday! Did some Yin Yoga (slow, seated stretching positions) with Kathy Elder - whose energy I don't really jive with so much so that class kind of affirmed that I would look to other classes for some of that Yin prana :) (using my new vocab). Thursday was a day full of misses - missed my watsu session by one minute! missed the Huna healing circle! But I was still able to make it to Vinyasa yoga which always feels great and put some life into my day. 

Friday consisted of morning work (made it on time!), going to the beach (the waves were rocky that day - my anxiety kicked in a bit), intuitive yoga, and a sense of something missing. First with intuitive yoga - I think the most 'chill' class one could imagine. It was a lose guidance through yoga poses that you could chose to follow or not. We were encouraged to follow our inner teacher and move within the poses to get the feeling and stretch we felt was most intuitive. At some points during the class I got bored because of the slow pace but at the end I went into a state of deep deep relaxation. It leveled my energy and brought me into a really beautiful calm space. Nighttime is a strange time for me here. After my routine at home (either going out with friends or doing something like a game or a movie with family) I feel strange having nothing to do here. I'm sure there is partying but I don't intend to seek that out so this space is for me. I don't really feel like going into my damp tent and neither to sit in front of a screen…I think I may try to spend this time journaling about my time here and my days.

And last but certainly not least is wonderful Saturday! On Saturdays there is a market in Seaview (the closest town) which I didn't go to but intend to soon - lots of local crafts, bodywork tables, jewelry, good food/smoothies. What I did do is spend a chunk of my morning at the art shed! I covered the formerly hula girl adorned journal Kalani gave me with layers of off-white fabric. It was relaxing and felt good to be creative and have a project. Towards the end I started to work on a collage on a large piece of wood with pictures from a 70s National Geographic and a surfing magazine. This was followed by a PM shift in the kitchen which was special because last night started off the Puna Food Weekend here (there is definitely a more descriptive title that they use), so most of the dinner was local and of course that much more scrumptious - cream of watercress soup, wild rice with carrots and macadamia nuts, seared local caught ahi with mushroom and ginger cream sauce, wing beans, and a mozzarella, tomato, bread salad with a lilok'oi (passion fruit) cake for dessert. It was absolutely delicious and all the flavors works together in mouth-watering harmony. 

And that brings us to this morning. I woke up in a good mindset and hopefully it will continue throughout the day. I plan so spend some time in the art shed this morning and then head to Ecstatic dance. 

Next blog post I'm going to try to give you guys a little bit more about my personal journey and some more juice about the Kalani experience. Forgive the lateness of the post - there's so much to do here the computer isn't as attractive as it used to be!

Much love and aloha spirit from Hawaii!