Kelani Oceanside Retreat

I'm spending my last two  nights in Hawaii at Kelani - the last bastion of hippy society here at the farthest edge of the of the United States, in the deep green jungle.

Kelani is located on the Big Island, in the district of Puna which is the far Eastern edge of the island. It's gorgeous here. they have 200 acres of protected land, a wonderful staff and programs and a very full volunteer program. they could not run this place without all the wonderful volunteers who live and work here.

They have a full schedule of yoga classes, aquatic classes, healing of all kinds, meditation, and more. The food is delicious and so damn fresh it makes me want to cry.

I spend my days at the pool mostly, or going on a walk around the miles and miles of trails through the jungle, or over to the ocean where I can sit on the point and watch the powerful surges as the waves slam against the volcanic rock cliffs.

this area, like the rest of the island has been covered by lava several times when the glorious goddess Pele decides to let loose a little steam and a lot of lava. Just down the road, a whole village was wiped out in 2003, I believe. The earth is alive here and you can definitely feel that energy. It's vibrant and strong and intense. But pretty cool too.

The community is wonderful. The people who come to Kalani are all looking for healing and it looks to me like they find it easily. From the wonderful food, the great teachers and the superb healers who work here. And of course the clothing optional pool is pretty healing and freeing too. Not to mention the incredible environment - a thick green jungle to play in. flowers to smell, gardens to pick, hammocks that are tied between two trees to swing in, a huge reclining Buddha to sit in wonder and quiet contemplation in front of.

It's such a nice way to end my time in Hawaii. It's been a month of wandering, discovering, playing, exploring, sunning, loving, smiling, dancing, diving, hiking, meditating, yoga-ing, meeting new souls, and just enjoying the hell out of every delicious day.

I am so very grateful for this experience. Grateful to friends who helped make it happen and grateful to me for being curious enough to just go for it, and see what happens, to hand it over, put any fears aside and have another adventure. I am in love with adventure. It feeds my soul, fills my heart and makes me feel ALIVE!

The power of manifestation

We are on a boat, she and I
Friends and sisters from another mother for over 20 years

We speak of our power for manifesting what we want in life
We hope to see dolphins on this outing near the islands of Maui, Molikini and Lanai'i

Soon they are there
40 or more. Newborn babies too.
We cry tears of joy as we watch these amazing creatures play in the water before us
What a gift

Later after lunch we talk of what next
"I would love to see a whale" I say. "It would be amazing to see a shark" says she.

As soon as the words fall from our salt-water-dried and sunburned lips
The captain's handsome voice surrounds us.
"Everyone look over to the starboard side of the boat. Our crew has just spotted a whaleshark."

What a delightful day...

The Big Island

After an amazing three weeks on Maui, I have come to the Big Island. I have much to share about Maui, but I will backtrack later and relate the wonderful experiences there.

I have been on the big island for three nights now. I found a sweet little guesthouse online, and it has great reviews and a great price, so I booked it. It is a sweet house owned by a Korean/Japanese family. The young son, Jade is the primary caretaker. His father is here too but is recovering from knee surgery and he doesn't speak a lot of english, but a very kind man. The house is large, was built in 1930 and has 4 guest rooms. The grounds are large and lush with a Japanese garden made with black lava rock at its center. There are two cats, Snowball and Tiger who have the run of the place. They are so sweet and mellow and loving. There was one other man here for the last two nights but he seems to have left now.

The first night here, I was lulled to sleep by what sounded like millions of little frogs in the yard. The sound grew louder and louder and surrounded and memorized me. I have never heard anything like it. They are a very different kind of frog than the ones I heard in Bali at night. These have a more sing-song quality and I imagine they are no larger than a bug.

My head was full of dreams that first night. Lots and lots of male energy. I was in a car driving up the side of a volcano and couldn't get to the top. The car kept sliding back down again. At one point I was almost to the top and the car toppled over and landed on its roof. In another part of the dream, a man was trying to subdue me. I tried to get past him but he would block my way. He grabbed my arm and put a pin in my wrist, like an acupuncture needle. There was nothing scary about this dream. It felt more like frustration at not being able to go where I needed to go.

In the morning, Jade asked me how I slept. I told him I slept well but had lots of dreams, and told him about them. He said it was very interesting because the man who built the house in 1930 was a doctor and had his practice here for many years. He ended up loosing his life at the nearby volcano......

Things that make you go "hmmm...."