365 Inspirations—315: Being Welcomed into Ohana (Extended Family) at Kalani

Today, after a vigorous Ashtanga Yoga class at 6:30AM and after a night of hurricane rains, Manuela from Brazil came and found me at breakfast and said, "You and Yoon should come to our volunteer meeting.We welcome you."

I was already feeling quite welcomed and people have really extended themselves to us, but the community (Ohana) meeting today really gave us a feel for what Kalani is all about.

There something special about this place. I know it's probably been said at a million places, but Kalani really has something here.

They don't tell you to do anything. There's no dogma or practice or rites or rituals or religion you must follow. There's a buffet of classes offered at the Hawaii Yoga Festival and at Kalani and it's up to you to pick and choose what appeals to you. There are ukelele classes, hula, yoga, meditation, space for being with yourself and enjoying the amazing natural beauty here, there's space for writing, for meditating and for just being. You can come work as a volunteer and cook, clean, do maintenance or garden.

What I love most about Kalani is the way they celebrate each person talents and uniqueness. They believe everyone has gifts to offer and they support each other in offering those gifts. Some people can cook, some people are good at gardening, others here are artists or writers in residence. It's beautiful how everyone is supported in this lovely setting to be who they are. You really can feel a lot of love and aloha here. There's a lot of spiritual growth happening, but that growth and the way it unfolds depends on each individual.

So today Manuela welcomed Yoon and me to the community and mentioned that I was the Artist-in-Residence for the Hawaii Yoga Festival. She placed a lei around my neck and everyone smiled and clapped and we really felt happy to be part of this place.

Yoon and I gave announcements about our upcoming classes and encouraged people to join.

Tonight Yoon gives a talk called Overcome Fear and Follow Your Heart. I'll be there as the designated photographer.

More soon from the land of Aloha.

Have you ever joined a retreat or community where you felt a lot of love from the group? Where was it? Did it encourage you to spread that around?

365 Inspirations—122: Yoga and Writing Retreat Offerings

Bell Rock Vortex, Sedona, AZ, Yoga Retreat

"One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure."—William Feather

I've been working on getting a flyer together for a big book event we are headed to on the Olympic Peninsula tomorrow. Forty people are expected to attend the event and I have about EIGHT books left on hand. Hopefully people will bring their own copies.

My inspirations today are these retreat offerings and this flyer I created. Space is already filling up FAST. I'm looking forward to meeting some lovely people at our retreats again this summer and early fall. While I love the people I've met online, it's such a different feeling when we meet together in person on retreat. Please share this page with anyone who might be interested! Here's the flyer:

Questions for you: Have you ever gone on a retreat? Do you think it added a new and meaningful perspective to your life? In what ways?

365 Inspirations—19: Planning a Trip

“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

I always get inspired when I plan a trip! Maybe I should have been a travel agent. I love traveling, but I also love planning trips. I'm usually the one who organizes the travel arrangements in the family. My husband and I have spent a great deal of our 17 or so years together traveling. We've been to India, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Tibet, Hong Kong, Nepal and Canada together and to many other countries on our own. In the USA, we've traveled to Hawaii, Arizona, New York, Maryland, Nevada,  Utah, Washington D.C., Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maine, Florida, Oregon, California and to many other states that I can't think of right now. He's seen much of the USA, but his first trip to America was in 2000.

We got married in Korea and had a traditional Korean wedding and went to a Japanese hot spring resort for our honeymoon and then we had another wedding ceremony in Washington State at a friends house on the water. We took a boat across Lake Washington to a friend's condo and left the next morning for a second honeymoon in Kauai, Hawaii. My aunt and uncle offered their place to us as a wedding gift. I felt lucky to have both eastern and western weddings and honeymoons. I loved planning those trips.

For my husband's 40th birthday in December, we went to Las Vegas and met two friends from California there. We also took a side trip to Zion National Park. Our friends planned most of the trip. It was actually nice to have someone else do the planning for once, even though I love it. I finally got to just go along for the ride!

In March, my husband is leading a yoga retreat in Hilo, Hawaii. We have done many yoga retreats together and even combined our talents at yoga and writing retreats at various locations in both the USA and abroad. We hope to do more of those! I'm probably going to add an extra page to this blog with information about our retreats. They are usually very well attended.

We just booked our flight for Kona today. The yoga retreat is for seven days in Hilo and I will also do a book reading/signing at a bookstore in Kona for my book Lessons from the Monk I Married that came out in April last year. From April to June, 2012 my husband and I went on both an east and west coast tour for my book and had a great time!

Do you like planning trips? Do you have plans to go anywhere soon?