Hail to the Jewel In the Heart of the Lotus

Aloha everyone !

I can't believe that its Monday already and that I have now been at Kalani for 2 weeks !  My days have been really full . Full of activity, full of yoga, dance and laughter too !

On Saturday, May 26th, I did my first Wu Ji Zen Qi Gong class. It was pouring rain at 6:50 a.m.  and I just managed to get into class before the rain was coming down heavy in vertical sheets. Oh, how I love  the sound of the rain............

The Wu Ji Zen Gong class was led by Craig and Stevie , and we listened to a tape recording to follow along for the movements. It was most interesting indeed . The rain was coming down in beaded sheets , and the thick accented voice of a Chinese Man comes on  through the speakers, and the class begins. Sometimes, I followed Craig and Stevie but mostly I followed the verbal instructions that came over the speakers . heck, at times , I felt like I was in a Beijing park , doing Tai Chi with the masses . ( I did that last summer in Beijing .)  This isn't quite like Tai Chi , though , although there are some similar movements. We barely moved at all , and when we did, It was veeerrry slow , very controlled . It was a very cool morning and I felt so very warm. I was thinking , ' Hey, what's happening ? I'm barely moving , its cool outside , I'm feeling very comfortable but I am also starting to feel very warm . Why am I feeling warm ?  I'm friggin' barely moving !  Its not just my body feeling warm , but I could feel the space surrounding me feel very warm also . Like a very warm aura. My hands were also feeling warm , especially at the fingertips. What's up with that ????? '  I told Stevie about it afterwards and he smiled and said, " That was your chi . You have very powerful chi ! "   Wow !!!  It really was powerful . It was a good kinda warm. It was not the kind of warm that you feel like you are going to pass out , but it was the kind of warm that you feel when you are cold and have a nice hot water bottle on the cold parts , like your feet ! :) It was raining so hard throughout class and Stevie and Craig gave me a ride back to the lanai so that I could have a really quick breakfast and head back down to E-Max ( that's where most classes are held ) again for a 2 hour Restorative Yoga class . I know . I know. Its crazy. Doing classes almost back to back with half an hour in between. I love it though.

Well, the car that Stevie and Craig drove was a beat up VW . The re-vamped VW that has a vase in it for a flower , not the VW of long ago that you can push start if you need to. I said to Stevie and Criag , " With so many beautiful flowers all around us , don't you think you can put a real flower in the vase ? "  They both laughed . The inside of it was falling apart and duct taped and masking taped together . Everywhere.  Everywhere , there was duct tape and masking tape , even on the seats. There was no back seat and the inside door handles were literally semi-attached to the car with masking tape. I've ridden in some crazy rides , but this one has got to be the most interesting yet .

And yes, after a quick 15 minute breakfast, I dashed back down to E-Max ( about a 7- 10 minute walk  from my loft  and about a 10 - 15 min walk from the Lanai where breakfast is served )  for a 2 hour Restorative Yoga class.. It was one of the best yoga classes ever !  Right after yoga , I had half an hour to get back to my loft , showered , got changed,  and went for a very quick lunch and started my shift at Hale Aloha at noon.  I got off my shift at 7:30 and then went to an evening concert at E-Max at 8:00 p.m. for an intimate evening concert with Kainanai Kahaunaele . She truly is a Hawaiian songbird ! Kainanai is a multiple hanohano award winner. She had 2 musicians with her and one of them was an AMAZING  slack key guitarist . The other musician had a great falsetto voice . What a joy the evening was !  As you could see, I had a very full day on Saturday !

And then along comes Sunday, May 27th!  The day started off with breakfast, then off to Maku'u  Market from 8:30 to 11:00 . Maku'u Market is in Pahoa , about a 20 minute drive from Kalani . It was a lot of fun and I spent most of my time talking to the artisans there. I BOUGHT A SINGING BOWL !!!!!!!   It is very small , just the right size for my hands and is blue and gold. Around the bowl , are the sanskrit words which translates to " Hail to the Jewel in the Heart of the Lotus. "   My friend Beth , who was with me , said " You have to buy this bowl, Molly !  You really are the Jewel in the Heart of the Lotus ! The translation is you ! "  That was so sweet of her to say that . And as I played the bowl , it sang for me ...........The merchant gave me a choice of stone for free and I chose a white selenite shaped like a heart . I wanted to put the white heart  in the centre of the bowl when I wasn't playing it. The white heart was a symbol of purity for me. A pure heart .

And the rest of Sunday was busy too . My shift started at 12:00 so I had just enough time to get cleaned up and go for lunch before the shift started. Mid way through my shift , I went to bellydancing ! Loved it but unfortunately , the teacher was not good at shimmying so she did little of that. I LOVE TO SHIMMY !  Shimmying in bellydance is like a meditation for me. I could shimmy for a very long time . When I bellydance several years ago , I was know as the Shimmy Queen in my class. I can shimmy very fast for a long time . I love the 3/4 shimmy . That is super fast !

After my shift at 7:30 , I went to a special  movie presentation on ' Nona Beamer , A Legacy of Aloha . "
What an amazing woman Auntie Nona was ! I was thinking before I saw the movie ' hmmmmm , Beamer . Could she be related to Keola and Kapono Beamer who sang ' Seabreeze/Puamana .'  I love the song Seabreeze . It is so 70's !! Here's the link :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg1W4bUdW4A

The Hula class that I go to in Burnaby (  Halau Kiai O Ka Hula / Josie Debaat )  know how much I love this song , especially Sulay ! We performed this song last year in a Dance Festival.

Well, Nona Beamer is the Mom of Keola and Kapono Beamer !!!!!  How awesome is that ??????  !!!!!!!
Nona Beamer was a key player in bringing back the standing hula. I didn't know that the standing hula was banned until 1965 . Prior to that , if hula was allowed at all to be performed , it had to be sitting . It was quite the story, of the typical caucasian oppressors who take over land from the native people and destroyed culture and tradition . Nona Beamer truly was a remarkable woman , in many many ways . Nona, I would have loved to have met you ..................Mahalo for you purity of spirit and heart, and belief in your heritage and culture ! Because of you , hula survived .

So now, today is Monday, as I write this blog. Had meetings all morning and went to a Yin yoga class. had lunch and will be going to a Lauhala weaving class in a few minutes.  Then comes dinner and right after that will be Hawaiian Studies .......The day is full .  Its my day off today . Kalani has asked be to work in the kitchen tomorrow to make breakfast and lunch , as they are short staff. Generally though, I will be working mostly at Hale Aloha , scooping ice cream , tidying up the guest area, re-stocking food items, taking inventory , tidying up merchandise that is for sale ( gift shop ) and talk to the guests ! The ice cream will be the end of me, though ! :(  There are probably at least 50 different flavors ( and that is not including the sorbets and the frozen yogurts ) and part of my job is to taste test them so that if I am asked, I could tell people what I think  What an aweful thing to have to do, taste all the ice cream , sorbets and frozen yogurts . That really is the tough  part of my job . :(  So much for all the yoga and dance classes that I am doing every day ! I will be increasing in girth, not decreasing ! :(   I LOVE ice cream . I can eat ice cream every day !  Oh, I make smoothies too at Hale Aloha . Hale is pronounced as Ha lay , not hail . Just so you know ! :)

In restorative yoga yesterday , Kathy always has a song to sing at the end of the class .  We sang " Row row row your boat " at the end of the class .

" Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream.....
merrily merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream ! "

Keep it simple. Keep it pure. Be kind to one another . Live you Dream . Dare to Dream.......

With much aloha ,
Namaste....Shanti.....
x0x0x0x0
Molly