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It's nice to know that there are concerned citizens out there! My Monday morning newsletter was a few hours late and I received a few e-mails from friends checking to see if I had taken ill. This was one of my favorites:

when i awoke, i was certain that it was monday:

errands had to be run on monday.

bills are to be paid on monday.

persons were to be contacted on monday.

there is a yoga class on monday.

but, there was no newsletter from kona.

so, to say the least, i am not not so sure that it is monday.

how will i begin my busy week?

how will i complete the tasks that are demanded?

i was so very positive that today was monday.

where did monday go?

whatever day it really is; hope all is well...

allan

Photo:Heck of a Guy

Blessings Come Down

"Blessed are those who give without remembering. And blessed are those who take without forgetting."
-Bernard Meltzer

This is a first: I am writing this newsletter early Monday morning, the time when most readers are checking in. My usual Sunday writing spree was pleasantly interrupted by a phone call from my son.

Just seconds before, I stood up from my desk and looked around at my half packed room and wished that I was moved and settled into my new space on Alii Drive. The disorder of it all was what I wanted to change and I thought about Brede and what he might be doing.

"Watcha doin', mom?"

I laughed before I answered, "I was just thinking about you." Ever since we watched the movie Dune when he was barely five years old, Brede and I have assumed a wireless thought transmission.

"I was thinking that we should move your stuff today instead of trying to fit it in during the week," he (?) decided.

End of story. You get the picture. I shut down the computer and packed it up. By the time we were done I was too tired to Google.

I am living a life of multiple blessings, going from one beautiful space to another. I seem to be on the receiving end of an assembly line of material and emotional abundance.

There's an old proverb that insists, "prayers go up, blessings come down". Could it be that my prayers are louder than others? Is it possible that my simple wishes and whims are heard as prayers?

Maybe my mother was right: "You were born under a lucky star!" She, of all people, should know.

Photo: camera_rawanda

The Beginner's Mind

"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's there are few."
-Suzuki Roshi

 

Krista led the first Moms and Babes yoga class on Friday. Each of the moms pictured above, attended our Prenatal Yoga classes until the birth of their children. The mothers and babies (left to right) are: Alissa and Tessa, Joy and Bruein, Megan and Ruby, Krista and James, Misty and Jonathan.

Bruein is the only walker (more like runner) for now. They are all healthy, eager and curious little babes. The physical world is so new to them that everything is worth grabbing and inspecting, with all of their senses. They possess the true beginner's mind.

Somewhere along life's time-line, we lose that innocent, questioning mind as we strive to become "the one who knows", the expert of life. Abbess Zenkei Blanche Hartman cautions us:

We all want to be the one who knows. But if we decide we "know" something, we are not open to other possibilities anymore. And that's a shame. We lose something very vital in our life when it's more important to us to be "one who knows" than it is to be awake to what's happening. We get disappointed because we expect one thing, and it doesn't happen quite like that. Or we think something ought to be like this, and it turns out different. Instead of saying, "Oh, isn't that interesting," we say, "Yuck, not what I thought it would be." Pity. The very nature of beginner's mind is not knowing in a certain way, not being an expert.

Growth and changes are visibly apparent in newborns and so the world readily accepts their daily advances. Adults are expected to be 'full grown' and mature so perhaps that's why we conform to a static image.

Congratulations to Krista for beginning this new class and for not being an expert yoga teacher or mother. Hurray also, to the new moms who maintain a beginner's mind and revel in the possibilities of yoga, their children and themselves.

Beginner's Mind, a lecture by Abbess Zenkei Blanche Hartman.

A Beginner's Mind, a business version found in an article by Richard Watson for Fast Co. Magazine.

Recyling for Yoga

As a follow-up to my Monday newsletter article, I've signed up with GRC Wireless Recycling and expect to receive a mailing kit and posters from them by the end of the week. Cell phone use is growing exponentially (6 million new users a month in India alone) and the thought of another mountain formation on this island, made entirely out of cast-off phones is... ghastly.

GRC will accept all phones and batteries only, no chargers or accessories. The "memory" in these phones will be erased during the reactivation process that utilizes approximately 60% of those collected. The remaining 40% is considered non-viable and they're shredded, smelted and refined.

The goal:  Offer free and/or discounted Prenatal Yoga classes funded through a cell phone recycling program, ASAP.

Photo:Private Sector Development Blog

Winners all!

Deylin Lees

Look at the photo of a class doing a downward dog up there in the banner (second panel from the right), the woman on the left is Brenna Lees. While she lived in Kona, she was one of the most devoted yoga students. She and her husband David, and son Deylin, moved back to Las Vegas but we're still in touch through e-mail.

Yesterday, Brenna sent me a news video of Deylin, who used to attend Kahakai School. He made a Hole-in-One! Congratulations, Deylin! You can tell how proud his dad was in the interview, and we're proud of all of them. Way to go, Deylin!

Watch the interview: Download DeylinLees.wmv (1511.5K)

Zappos

I got another piece of good news from my brother, Jason, who forwarded a heart-warming blog post about a woman's experience with Zappos. An on-line store, Zappos says "We are a service company that happens to sell!" They certainly do keep to their promise.

Here's the post from Zazlamarr: http://www.zazlamarr.com/blog/?p=240

These are the kinds of stories that should be circulated by e-mails. I don't mind sending it to 10 friends within the next 8 minutes. Even if I don't get a surprise visit from the Lucky Charms leprechaun. (I hope it's still politically correct to use that term).

Photo: BBC-Hereford & Worcester

October 15, 2007

"We have the power to make this the best generation of mankind in the history of the world - or to make it the last."
-John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Today is Blog Action Day. Over 14,000 blogs, Kona Yoga included, with an estimated readership of 12 million, have committed to posting about the chosen subject: the environment.

I had some time to think, in between three take-offs and landings on my way home from West Virginia on Friday. Conveniently, American Airlines dedicated their weekly inflight magazine as The Green Issue and I was re-acquainted with architect and designer, William McDonough's inspiring work.

About seven years ago, I read an article about McDonough and his involvement with the Center for a Sustainable Future on Coconut Island. I was looking into the possibilities of building a cold storage warehouse out at the Natural Energy Lab that would utilize deep sea water as the cooling agent. One of McDonough's associates responded to my e-mail and asked me to give him a call. He listened intently and offered support, as well as the name and number of a Hawaii contact. The warehouse project was eventually shelved (pun intended) but McDonough's mission has expanded and thrived.

He has co-authored a book, Cradle to Cradle, Remaking the Way We Make Things, which is in itself a statement: It is printed on a synthetic 'paper,' made from plastic resins and inorganic fillers, designed to look and feel like top quality paper while also being waterproof and rugged. And the book can be easily recycled in localities with systems to collect polypropylene, like that in yogurt containers. This 'treeless' book points the way toward the day when synthetic books, like many other products, can be used, recycled, and used again without losing any material quality-in cradle to cradle cycles.

What William McDonough and his associates are achieving could be labelled as "win-win to the nth degree". It's a chain of good that I would like to emulate, even if my attempts add up to only a simple win-win-win.

A few pages flipped in the same magazine brought me to an ad for the recycling of used cell phones as a fund-raising method. Win-win. Was there a way to add another win?

I've been thinking of ways to offer prenatal yoga classes to those unable to afford them. We have had so many happy birthings and long-lasting friendships result from our classes but we're not at the point (yet) to be able to offer free classes. A recycling program that would help to happily usher a new human being into the world makes ecological sense.

This week: check our blog for a daily progress report on cell phone recycling and our yoga scholarship program. Feel free to make your comments and suggestions. Mahalo and Aloha!

View the results of The Blog Action Day.
Photo: MyThs

Blog Action Day

This coming Monday is Blog Action Day. Over 9700 bloggers (the number grows hourly) have committed so far to answer the question:

What would happen if every blog published posts discussing the same issue, on the same day?
One issue. One day. Thousands of voices.

The Environment is the chosen issue. That one day is October 15. We are one of thousands of voices.

Why don't you join in on the action? Watch the video (1min 8 sec) on YouTube, pick a way to Go Green, choose an environmental issue to blog about on Monday or pledge to lower your personal climate impact forever.  Sign-up at BlogAction.org.

Travel Lag

Through travel I first became aware of the outside world; it was through travel that I found my own introspective way into becoming a part of it.
-Eudora Welty

I am six hours away from my usual self. I left Kona on Thursday and flew to Honolulu, then to Dallas, then to Pittsburgh late Friday afternoon and on to Morgantown, West Virginia, by car. My luggage arrived safely but my face took thirty-six hours to land. My eyes will be blood shot for another twelve hours, if I'm lucky.

That's all the whining I will do because I did land safely, three times! I haven't changed the time on my clocks, mechanical and biological, and usually am affected by the changing time zones and altitudes when I return to Hawaii (October 12). There's too much to see and absorb while I'm away from my usual self so I send these links ahead:

Jet Lag Calculator
Your Body Clock

Photo: Tom Magliery

Haumea's Garden

Thalia Davis, a Kona Yoga regular, kindly forwarded the news of this weekend's Haumea's Garden- A Local Food Exposition to be held at the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort.

Thalia says that 85% of what we eat on the Big Island is shipped in. INcredible! Thanks to organizations such as The Kohala Center, our own conscious farmers, and progressive educators, we will:

...make a strong positive statement for the future of our Island’s agriculture, with an emphasis on the keiki, their education and their future participation in our communities as leaders.  We can assist our island to eat in a healthier way, creating a thriving and resilient economy while preserving our precious natural and cultural resources.-The Kohala Center

Not far from our studio, Innovations Public Charter School has started a garden program to teach kids about our environment, food and cultural history. Thalia's son attends the school so you can be sure she'll be at the summit and at the benefit concert on October 6. The proceeds from the concert will provide support for youth gardens and agricultural programs around the island.

Look at all of the participating farmers, businesses and organizations listed here:

http://www.kohalacenter.org/food/haumea.htm. It'll warm your heart and tummy to know that the Big Island is eating its way to sustainability!

Let's Eat Local

Food is the most primitive form of comfort.
-Sheila Graham

I joined the Eat Local Challenge (ELC) a month ago, inspired by the Keauhou Farmers' Market and my dear friend, Nora Bow. It was a month of education for me because I made the commitment to record my consumption of local foods and, as we all know, thirty days hath September!

I certainly fit in with the population of humans who reportedly eat from a preferred list of ten or fewer foods. It would have been opportune for me to try different fruits (but I love mangoes!) and food products for a wider variety and a more interesting read. I did, however, learn a few things, made some new connections and have some ideas for future challenges.

This is what I learned:

Your local supermarket may be a better source than the health food store, at least for fresh and local produce. I found that out within the first week.

The proper placement of the apostrophe S for the possessive noun farmers is after the S, as in Farmers' Market, not Farmer's or absent as in Farmers. I'm usually picky about such things but chose to ignore it until I began reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - A Year of Food Life. I respect her writing expertise so much more than any government entity. Mangoes may make you lazy and I'm correcting my previous posts as I find them.

It's far more healthy to feel good when eating your food than worrying about eating good food. You can take down two mangoes off a tree with one stone, if the Eat Local concept truly appeals to you and you don't obsess over it. Click here, for Food: The Science of Scrumptious. The article explains how we all have our food quirks and may even pass them on to our kids.

Pre-planned meals avoid the need for prepared meals. You'd think I would have learned this after all the years of late afternoon competitive grocery shopping.

My Eat Local focus has given me a greater appreciation of the Big Island and all that is grown here. I'm also gaining a new respect for the foodies of the world! Their enthusiasm and true joy of eating will change the way America eats, which Europeans will say is with too much worry and guilt.

Here are some links to a few happy foodies I've made contact with this past month:

Bettina and Suzanne are the high-energy writers of Loulies...for the love of food. Bettina found us through the ELC website and introduced herself.

You'll want to keep an eye on a new Hawaii publication: Hawaiian Edibles. Gloria Cohen, the publisher and editor-in-chief, promises an interesting second issue.

Kale for Sale is written by an eco-conscious foodie named Katrina and she mentioned Kona Yoga in her September 27 post along with a list of other blog sites.

I am inspired to continue my local eating focus and to try some of the recipes shared by all of my new friends. I'm also highly intrigued by the concept of a 30 day challenge so stay tuned, this is the beginning of a brand new month!

What's considered local? Take a look at this 100-mile radius map and type in your zip code. Many Eat Local enthusiasts consider local to be within that area.

Print: TaroFestival.org

My October Challenge...