Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Aha Wahine 2012 Inspiration! How are YOU represented in your home?

Wow... what an amazing weekend I just had with approximately 300 wahine at the first annual Aha Wahine held at Winward Community College. From new mother's to many great grandmothers, we all joined in to celebrate our Hawaiian culture and to inspire, as well as be inspired. Teach as well as learn. Renew heart felt connections as well as refresh our spirits within each other's mana. This aha was one to really help to expand our horizons of possibilities as not only wahine but as stewards of this land and it's people! I really took a lot home with me this past saturday, and mahalo all of those who made it possible for all those in attendance to really benefit from the ike (knowledge) and mana'o (stories) being preserved and passed down. 


In sitting within the circles of such amazing and talented wahine who are Doctors, Counselors, Teachers, Kumu Hula, Nutritionist, Kumu Oli, CPA's, Mothers, Daughters, Sisters, Grandmothers ... etc...etc...
I couldn't help but think...How are these women bringing that mana wahine (female power) back into their homes? 


Is your home a mirror of the culturally rich, beautiful, talented and powerful being that you are?

It's just a question... but one that made me excited to touch upon the possibilities of exploring our own inner health by examining our outer world. Considering that I am a lomi practitioner and have been practicing for the last 10 plus years I have had many blessings to be able to share and see many healthy transformations, including myself. So it peeks my interest to see how the health of our island homes and it's people can start by making small changes of health within in our sacred space... our hale. 
Like many others when I think of organizing a room, or cleaning up my personal space, clearing out the bills, and straightening out my book shelf that has become disorganized because of constant use... Well, I get overwhelmed! Sometimes I freeze! I don't know where to start. BUT... I do... I start...and little by little and with love and compassion and ho'omanawanui (practicing patience), I slowly see transformation and AHHHHHHhhhhhhhh.... I feel better. 
Well guess what? When I FEEL better, I do better! Taken from a quote from Oprah's life class, she says "When we KNOW better, we DO better". Well as Hawaiian women, we really tend to move from our Na'au and that means we instinctively move from a place of how we FEEL. So by doing the simplest thing as taking 10 minutes to reorganize our book shelf as a "jumping off point" it can make a world of difference in our mental well being, change the energy in our physical space, and uplift our spirits by simply smiling from a job that creates visual peace
So here are a few tips in helping you clean. 
  • Do cleaning tasks in small increments - Don't get overwhelmed! Even if it's just picking up all the laundry off the floor and putting it into a basket one morning. You can change the energy and flow of your room.
  • Clean with Lavender - Lavender oil is relatively inexpensive and can be purchased at a health food store, and possibly even Longs Drugs. Lavender is an anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-viral oil! I put in a couple of drops of oil in a large bucket of water and clean away... I even put it in my mop water! While cleaning, the scent is known to help to calm the nervous system as well as provide a fresh scent. (You can google other medicinal oils if you do not prefer lavender.) Best of all, cleaning with essential oils is way healthier for our keiki and everyone else in the home. As well as it's mana impacts our space energetically in a positive and soothing way, vs. a harsh chemical based solvent. 
  • Ask for Kokua!- If you find that it seems that the health and cleanliness of your home seems to only fall upon your shoulders... then ask for help! Empowering yourself to ask for help, not only helps your mental and emotional health, but is teaching others in your household to enjoy the benefits of a healthy hale! 
    • Make it a game or a reward. Plan to do something special on a Saturday or Sunday AFTER everyone pitches in and helps to to their part in cleaning up an area. You don't have to make it into a spring cleaning event if you schedule it in every month!
    • Get your family to take a moment to FEEL the energy before and after you have cleaned an area. Ask them if now that they have cleaned up their desk, do they feel more creative? Do they feel more playful? They might think your crazy, but they can't deny their na'au. 
  • "Pule, then Jump" - This is one of the wonderful sayings I walked away with this weekend. Aunty Ku Kahakalau was sharing on how she has made Oli and Pule a part of their every day practice within her Hawaiian home. And one story she shared was this little boy when he was about 5 years old new how to ride motorcycle and was fearless when it came to jumps and riding the course and was asked by a Makua how he did it. He said I just "Pule...then Jump!" This really impacted me, it is so simple to integrate our Hawaiian-ness into our everyday lives, yet we tend to over think everything.. and yet a child of 5 made Pule his number one priority and strength behind his motivation to "just jump" or "JUST DO IT". And just as Pule comes natural to all of us in one ritual or another and as the Dalai Lama puts it, "is a DAILY practice", so can bringing our awesomeness into our homes and creating and maintaing our ahu... our sacred space to create visual peace.
Love, 
Kamaile

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