This is my first time on Kauai, a 6 million-year-old speck of volcanic rock in the chain of ancient Hawaiian Islands that are 2,500 miles away from everywhere else. And yes, there is a Starbucks.
Kauai — rhymes with Hawaii — is the lushest, wettest island on earth, and it offers more forms of spectacular and insane outdoor adventures than any place else I can think of.
As my dear readers know, "adventure travel" is my maiden name. Trekking in Tibet, bicycling in France, scuba diving at a YMCA in Chicago. Kauai is a mecca for all that, and so much more. We'll get to the "so much more" part in a minute.
Kauai overflows with opportunities to connect to nature, and I hope to inspire you to plan some adventures of your own this spring and summer. The "Garden Island" offers world-class hiking and cycling; snorkeling and scuba; surfing and boogie boarding; plus zip lining, whale watching, rafting, kayaking and rappelling down waterfalls.
Personally, I came for the yoga, slow and deep and somatics-based, a seven-day retreat with Sienna Smith, a gifted yoga teacher based in Fairfax, California.
It was a sensational dive into one's own nature, because that's the kind of yoga Smith teaches. One morning she surprised us with a visit from Fern Merle-Jones, a teacher and practitioner of Huna, the ancient and esoteric wisdom of Polynesia, "a way of integrating spirit, mind and body to harmonize, heal, change or manifest desired conditions and circumstances."
Go, Fern.
"Hu is the word for rising energy, and na is the calming energy," she explained, as we sat beneath swaying palm trees, rain clouds overhead. She blew her conch shell, lit her sandalwood incense and built her altar of stones, crystals, red salt and precious objects.
Hu, we learned, is the masculine energy of movement, chaos, change, creativity. Na is the feminine energy of stillness, stability and the urge toward love.
"We've all got a lot of Hu in our lives, but not enough Na," Fern said. "When we have balance between hu and na, we have health."
Fern's been living and teaching the Huna way of healing and harmonizing relationships on Kauai for more than 30 years. Here are a few of the seven Huna principles she presented, as she learned them from her teacher Serge King, Ph.D. scholar, author and founder of Aloha International. They may or may not be new to you, but if they spark joy, be sure to check out King's website, http://www.kuna.org, for more and surprising details.
IKE (pronounced "ee-kay"): The world is what you think it is. "The idea behind this Huna principle is awareness," Fern explained. "Each person creates their own reality." (FYI: Modern neuroscience backs her up 100 percent. And so does Shakespeare: "Thinking makes it so.")
"Be aware that you can choose the thoughts you think and the beliefs that guide your action," her handout explained. "The way to improve your experience is to improve your thinking."
KALA: There are no limits. The second Huna principle that leads to personal transformation involves the idea of freedom, Fern continued.
"Be free to change your mind about the limits you have set on health, happiness, prosperity ... and all your relationships. Limits and limitations may or may not be useful, but they are all made-up."
MANAWA: Now is the moment of power. "Be centered in the present moment when you want to make a change. You cannot do anything yesterday, and you cannot do anything tomorrow. This is the time to influence events. Act now."
A few nights after Fern's powerful call-to-nature ritual, the north shore of Kauai — where we were staying — was deluged with 28 inches of rain in less than 24 electrifying hours. Maybe you saw it on the national news.
No one died — a kind of miracle — but roads and bridges down below us flooded, houses were swept out to sea and more than 100 people had to be evacuated.
Act now! We had booked our room for four days, but after that one astonishing night of biblical rain and thunder, awareness kicked in, and we moved quickly. We packed our bags, jumped in our rented car and drove through flooded streets to safety on the south side of the island.
I was thanking Fern the entire way.
ENERGY EXPRESS-O! THIS IS YOUR LIFE
"One big adventure from start to finish." — Serge Kahili King
Marilynn Preston is the author of Energy Express, America's longest-running healthy lifestyle column. Her new book "All Is Well: The Art {and Science} of Personal Well-Being" is available now on Amazon and elsewhere. Visit Creators Publishing at creators.com/books/all-is-well to learn more. For more on personal well-being, visit www.MarilynnPreston.com.
View Comments