Once A June Bride...Celebrating Twenty Five Years Of Aloha

Twenty-five years ago this was me and my college sweetheart--two engineers, two catholics, from the same middle-class background.

For me this was 'escape' from an unhappy home with three girls, a stay-at-home mother and a father who worked two jobs to support us. I was free! We even had a Bentley rented to drive us from the church to the reception. Remember, my parents discouraged me from my dream of being a doctor because A) it is sick to want to work with sick people B) these are the best years of your life and C) we can't afford it.

Fortunately, the honeymoon was on Kauai. As our plane from LAX landed into Honolulu for the connecting flight, my eyes filled with tears as the sheer beauty of Oahu overwhelmed my So-Cal native eyes... We stayed at the honeymoon suite at the Sheraton Coco Palms.

This was by the room. I wondered why there was a beach and no one could swim in it. Strong currents or something? But Kauai and I were a perfect match! The Fern Grotto, the Na Pali Coast, and snorkeling in Poipu.

We came back two years later to see a friend get married. He married a Japanese, but was blotchy. It turned out he was dying of AIDS, and I always wondered if the 'woman' he married, Setsuko, perhaps was a man...

It was that trip where the Spirit of the Islands started to call to me, and the marriage started to crumble. I bought a book by Serge Kahili King on breathing Mana. I saw my first menehunes. And I connected to the sea and the land.

My next trip was almost ten years later--that week off between internship and second year. I took my baby sister, who unknown to me likes to sit by the pool at the hotel the entire trip.

I left her by the pool and discovered this, the place of refuge. There was a cultural fair there. I made a bracelet, a lei for my head, and took my first ride in an Outrigger Canoe. I had 'flashbacks' of a past life for the first time.

I also discovered Pele. I left her an offering, even though I wasn't supposed to. She made me promise to return with my children and bring them to her. I agreed.

My next trip was with husband number two. We stayed at room 605 at the Fairmont Kea Lani, in a room much like this. He told me he wanted a divorce in the restaurant in front of everybody and made me cry. We slept in separate beds.

But in the Outrigger Canoes at the hotel, I saw my first Honu in the water. I jumped in and swam with it.

As a young attending I went to a Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists' Meeting in Honolulu. I stayed at the W hotel right at the foot of Diamond Head. All of my worry about a 'curse' of the islands was not to be true. I ate asian every meal, every day. I rode a catamaran off Waikkiki Beach with a bunch of Japanese tourists and had fun even though we couldn't speak. I danced ballet with the State ballet. But most amazing, one morning I woke up to this question: would you like to have a baby? say yes or no?
'Well, what is for the Highest Good? What does God say?'
'Yes'
'Okay then, I will'.

Two weeks later I got pregnant!

When he was three, we went with the California Society of Anesthesiologists to Kaanapali, Maui.

We went whale watching three times in one week!

When he was five we went to Kona Village.

He 'met' Pele. And we have enjoyed time with friends. For more, see October and November 2012.

This last time has been the best.

Love works in mysterious ways. I never would be alive or 'awake' if I had stayed with ex- number 1, ex-number 2 or even the baby daddy (who never made it to 'ex')!

Mahalo and Aloha. Remember, no matter what, your Purpose and Vibration will get you through to a better place, even if you miss a Twenty-Fifth Wedding Anniversary party and cake.

Namaste,

Reiki Doc

Healing Candle Number 5: Beach Paradise

These are Pele's braids, flowing off Kilauea. This is the most active volcano in the world, with the longest continuous lava flow.

The healing from Beach Paradise is as forceful and unstoppable as this lava flow. Through my perception and level of consciousness, I am 'letting go' of 'things I want to believe'. In other words, there is a great deal of 'reality' that is in all honesty, a 'fairy tale'.

Take for example, Hawaii. I love to vacation there. I love the water and delight in snorkeling with the fish. Honu are most dear to me. I take many whale-watching trips out of Lahaina when I am there. I am not content with just one outing. I want to be with the whales. I want to support the research and the organizations that run the eco-tours.

The last time I was in Hawaii, it was Big Island. I could not help but notice--the beaches for the tourists and the beaches for the 'locals' are a separate as the seating on a segregated bus. The hotels are by the water in pristine man-made beaches with tons of lifeguards and a snorkel shack close by. And all the chaise lounges with the towels. And everyone getting a drink and a tan. The locals go where it is rocky, and they are lucky if there are some picnic benches and a porta-potty that has been put there by the state.

Which is the real Hawaii? How can I ignore the living conditions of those around me when I am in their midst? I got lost and took a road up into the hills last time. Many of the houses are shacks and are falling apart. I know they are expensive...but still, is that any way to live?

Isn't the entire Tourism Hawaii a money-making venture to benefit the rich few? Did you know that palm trees are not native to the islands? And that pigs have gotten loose and run wild through the hillsides? Or that the native birds and plants are threatened by invasive non-native transplanted species? When I saw Ulalena, I could not stop crying at the part where the Portuguese arrived on the island. Even now, when I listen to the score, I skip past that song. There is too much suffering for me to bear.

When I go, I do my best to be respectful to Pele in everything I do. As a result, I meet wonderful people: the granddaughter of the last Kahuna at the Place of Refuge, a woman who raises goats and gives me a cup of milk, a man who helps old people go to the beach for 'rehab' instead of their lying in bed, two 'Elvises' at a costume party, construction workers at a Seven Eleven getting their breakfast too before dawn. I tip the maid in my room every day a lot of money. And I support with my dollar the people who inhabit the islands that I adore. I consciously make the choice to see past the Lies and Fantasy, and to extend my Open Heart to those who make my being there to visit a possibility. 

In return, I am offered Kama'aina discount. People ask what island I am from. We end up being 'friends' on Facebook. We are Ohana, because of the aloha and respect I have for them.

What other 'fantasies' do you 'accept' consciously or unconsciously? Do you like sports and follow professional team? Do you watch lots of television and enjoy the entertainment? Do you like to 'eat healthy' based on what the package says is 'healthy' about it? Do you think the public school system is for your children's good--or the society's good? Do you 'buy' what is on broadcast 'news' and 'accept as truth' what you read in the paper?

Open your eyes and see Truth. I am letting go of 'doctor'--it is what I do, not who I am. I am letting go of 'mommy'--it is my most favorite work, but not 'what defines me'. I am in human form, but this is not 'who I am'. I am so much more. And so are you.

Beach Paradise is just a name to sell candles. It is blue and stinks. If you want to buy a candle, go find a better one to light. That is my advice to you at this time.

Love, Light, Gratitude, and Namaste,

Reiki Doc

P.S. I would give anything right now to spend another night with the music of the koki frogs. Their 'song' is magic to me. <3

Kanaka Sick

There was a patient, an old Hawaiian woman, who had been seeing her Doctor in Honolulu for some time with no success. No matter what he prescribed, she still had the same pain in her head and in her throat. Exasperated, he looked at her chart, looked at her and said,  'There is nothing more that I can do for you. You are Kanaka sick. Go and have Kanaka medicine for your illness.'

She was elated! Her Western physician was telling her it was OKAY to seek traditional, old Hawaiian healing! She went home right away, told her family, lay in bed, and waited for the Cousin, the kahuna to arrive.

He came, took his time, stopping to bathe and to dress in his pure white kahuna priests' robe. He sat cross legged on a mat in the center of the room, and commanded, 'Auntie, tell me your troubles.'

She poured out a story of how she had a quarrel with her only son  more than a month ago. She hadn't meant it, but in anger he left home. The evil which began with the quarrel had about driven her mad with pains in her head and the strangling sensation in her throat. Her headstrong son had gone to sea as a common sailor after their quarrel. Since he left in anger, the pains had grown worse and worse and with them had come a premonition that son would be drowned at sea and she would never be able to tell him how she regretted those hard words.

The whole sad story was told. Auntie cried, everyone in the room cried.

With the voice of authority, cousin finally said, 'Auntie, you have allowed a great evil to take hold. We will ask the gods to help. If they are willing, we will drive this evil from you.' Each person in the room was given a task. Papa must go to bring back five mullet fresh from the water. Another to bring fresh ti leaves, another taro, another...brandy, awa root, salt, an egg, seawater, and driftwood from the beach.

A meal was prepared and offered to the gods. There were small bundles made for each of the gods, and put into the pit oven to cook. The good was cleansed spiritually, and blessed by Cousin. Then the gods took the essence of the food, and the family, the food itself. But every morsel left after the meal was bundled up, Cousin told Auntie to go to sleep, and if the gods were pleased she would have a dream. He went with Papa and took the bundles of left over food, and buried them on different sacred parts of the island. Cousin then came back, and sat through the night on the mat, waiting for the first rays of the sun. Auntie woke up and shared with Cousin her dream--her son was safe on the big ship traveling around the world and was coming home at the end of the trip. Auntie cried with joy as she told of talking to her son. He was no longer angry. He, too, regretted the quarrel and wanted to wash it from his mind. Yes, the gods had taken away the evil which had possessed her. The pain was gone from her head and her throat.

Cousin agreed. They took Auntie to a clean beach with shallow water. They put a special lei on her, and helped her to swim. The lei was allowed to float away into the ocean, as an offering of thanks and as a symbol of her evil floating away. Auntie's treatment for her illness was part of a medical tradition that reached back into the ancient times of her ancestors.  (Story is copied from the book, Hawaiian Herbal Medicine -Kahuna la'au lapa'au) by June Gutmanis, Island Heritage Press, section 'Prologue')

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My parent has an elderly mother over ninety years age, who suffers from dementia. Grandmother wanders and falls in the night. She had lost weight, markely under the care of a sibling to my parent. My parent had been the caregiver until health concerns had made that not possible, and care had gone to this sibling, who insisted everything be done their way, with no questions, and if there was a question, that was it, full responsibility for their mother would go back to my parent. Upon learning of the decline in health and weight, my parent insisted on Grandmother's admission to a local E.R. over the wishes of the caregiver.

My parent's sibling was upset, and there was a quarrel between the two. The sibling disowned my parent. Although Grandmother gained weight and began to thrive in the rest home, my parent got more and more sick. Diabetes and cardiac issues were behind a long decline, including a severe dental infection, that had set this formerly active parent back for eight weeks. Now in the hospital, I witnessed Kanaka medicine: the other sibling called my parent to apologize, and offer to drive the three hour drive to the hospital if the prognosis was poor for my parent. I saw joy spread across the face of my parent while the two were speaking on the phone. There was a release and healing before my eyes. My parent had been torn to have to choose between Grandmother and a sibling, who had been close. How can one choose between two people they love and have known all of their life?

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Some things are a constant in the human condition, are they not?

In Auntie's case, the throat chakra and brow chakra were affected, with symptoms that were not responding to conventional medical care. The intervention of a kahuna family member, Cousin, was required to intercede to the gods on the behalf of Auntie, who received a complete cure.

In my parent's case, the solar plexus and heart chakras were affected, along with the red chakra (teeth represent financial worry, which is survival, the red chakra). The entire family has been at the bedside 24/7, taking turns. Our parent is enjoying the attention and nurturing at the hospital of their choice, the Big Box who has been a part of our lives for decades, and even assisted with the palliative care of the other parent.

I see the connections with the energy to the disease in both cases clearly. Does this show itself to you here with the stories shared? It is my hope that soon others will start to unite the cultural and traditional methods into mainstream medicine, so that the 'failed' patients can find their equivalent 'Kanaka medicine' cure that truly works for them. It doesn't have to be one paradigm or the other that is right. It must be the connection with the patient belief and the ability to activate their innate healing power that is within them. I have seen conventional medicine do miracles. But it's not for everybody. (if you have cancer, or any other major health concern, try to find a doctor who is willing to work with you on your optiona, and always be open and honest with them on every treatment you do.)

Everyone has a right to be free of disease and suffering. After all, this IS the twenty-first century!

Namaste,

Reiki Doc

P.S. Yes I have sent distance Reiki, given Reiki in person, notified family and friends to ask for prayer, and put my loved one on the Reiki Share list. I have also been the doctor and the caring child too.