'Aina Me Kalani: Newspaper Articles

Kupuna Conference
Experience the Healing Island

By Kevin Fipps
Wednesday, May 2, 2007 8:58 AM HST

Click HERE to see the article on the Big Island Weekly website

February of this year saw the launch of the Hawai`i Island Wellness Travel Association (HIWTA). The aim of this organization is to promote the healing aspects of this island to tourists and to educate residents about many of the activities and events that take place in their own backyard.
Hawai`i Island is often referred to as the Healing Island because of its volcanic energies, majestic mountains, mist-filled rainforests and pure waters provide the perfect natural setting for wellness and rejuvenation.
HIWTA encourages wellness in all aspects of life on the island including traditional and holistic medicine, natural local products, retreats and conferences, massage, spa treatments, yoga and spirituality.
Hawaiian culture has a rich tradition in the healing arts, from massage and cleansing to herbal remedies, all embued with spiritual practice.
The next big event to hit Hawai`i Island is the Healing in Paradise with the Kupuna Conference
The sacred healing arts of Hawai`i will be taught in half-day and whole-day workshops with local masters of healing.
`Aina Me Kalani invites you to spend four days in Kona learning and working as part of their annual conference. Participants can choose half-day and whole-day workshops in lomi lomi (spiritual massage), la'au lapa'au (healing with medicinal plants), ho'oponopono ke ala (making right more right the path), oli (chant) and Hawaiian spirituality taught by the kupuna (elders) from several Hawaiian islands.
The event takes place Thursday, May 24 through Sunday, May 27, 2007 at the King Kamehameha Hotel from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Registration is $750.
These kupuna are well-known and respected elders who are masters in their area of the healing arts. They provide a connection to the old ways, language and traditions of Hawai`i.
Kupuna already confirmed for workshops are: Aunty Mary Fragas, Papa K Kepilino, Kahu na la`au lapa`au mahi`ai ka kupele Kaipo Kaneakua, Kupuna Alva Andrews, Aunty Mahealani Kuamo'o-Henry, Kumu Hula Keli'i Tau`a, Aunty Maile Napoleon and Aunty Maile Shaw.
For mor info contact `Aina Me Kalani at 959 - 2258.

Healing in paradise
Kupuna conference in Kona

By Hadley Catalano
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 8:54 AM HST

Click HERE to see the article on the Big Island Weekly website

Hawaiian culture is not based on books. Accounts of ancient Hawaiian practices, ceremonies and spiritual worship were not recorded literally but shared orally and demonstrated visually, a-learning-by-doing method, by the elders of the family and communities.
Nowadays the Internet is a one click window on a worldwide range of information and while the accessibility to such diversity is beneficial, cultural significance and traditional learning methods are sacrificed to such technological approaches.
In 2004, Rebecca Avery and Papa K Kepilino helped revive the sacred art of sharing knowledge and wisdom through kupuna, or elder, based teachings with their organization `Aina Me Kalani, a non-profit educational foundation.
The group's now annual spring conference "Healing in Paradise with the Kupuna," was held in Kailua-Kona, May 24-27.
"Papa K - a lomilomi kumu - and I first came up with the idea when talking to a few kupuna who were lomilomi practitioners. We were discussing how there were few kupuna left who did lomilomi and even less who were teaching. We decided to create an organization that would look for and support kupuna who were carrying on not only lomilomi practices but the other healing arts of Hawai`i. The kupuna carry so much knowledge that is beyond the techniques of any of these areas and exemplify the spirit of aloha," explained Avery.
The spiritually oriented conference, which `Aina Me Kalani has been putting on twice a year since 2005, offers a four-day retreat into the hearts and minds of Hawai`i's kupuna. Through their stories, learning methods, and demonstrations, the values, ideal of caring for one another, and the unity of mind, body and spirit draw connections to the land and people of the traditional practices being learned.
"Love is what you are putting into the person's body," demonstrated Auntie Maile Napoleon, a lomilomi teacher, who graced the conference on Friday, May 25, with her hands-on workshop in lomilomi massage.
The fifteen or so conference attendees that learned from and worked with Auntie Maile Napoleon, often referred to as "Smaile Maile" traveled from all over the world, from the mainland to Australia to Japan, to gather first-hand experience from her.
Napoleon herself learned lomilomi from kupuna, her own grandmother and papa Kalua Kaiahua.
"When I work on this leg," Napoleon said as she began to massage a gentleman from Australia, "I am massaging the leg of my son. When I massage the other leg I am massaging the leg of my other son and when I work on the body I am working on the body of my daughter. The whole time I am saying 'I love this body'."
Napoleon explained that the spirit of the ancestors is always present, always three feet above the ground and they guide us with their wisdom. She teaches her students how to become an instrument for healing by using the breath, or "ha," along with the intent of their thoughts and love for the person they are treating.
"Personally, I believe that there is profound spiritual knowledge held in these islands that is not known or experienced in many other places, especially in the industrialized countries," said Avery. "Many of the kupuna exemplify that knowledge in their very being as well as in their knowledge. Personally, I believe this information is imperative for the world and I believe it is time for it to be shared. I am very grateful to the Native Hawaiians who share this vision and are willing to share their values and wisdom with the rest of the world."
In the spirit of `Aina Me Kalani's mission, to create and perpetuate the culture and bridge the gap of the Hawaiian healing arts with the alternative and complimentary healing arts of the east and west, the conference focused on several healing techniques. Along with lomilomi, the indigenous healing techniques of la`au lapa`au (using medicinal plants) and ho`oponopono (conflict resolution through self awareness and forgiveness) were taught.
The kupuna present at the conference were well-known and well-respected masters of their healing practice and according to Avery "are our connection to the old ways, language and traditions of Hawai`i."
The workshops were taught by:
Auntie Mary Fragas, a lomilomi teacher; Papa K Kepilino, a lomilomi master; Kahu na la`au lapa`au mahi`ai ka kupele Kaipo Kaneakua, referred to as the "Medicine Man of Maui," for his knowledge of la`au lapa`au; Alva Andrews of O`ahu who emphasizes ho`oponopono and lua to lomilomi; Auntie Mahealani Kuamo`o-Henry; Kumu `Elel `O Na Kupuna, a native Hawaiian messenger for the ancestors spiritual voices; Kumu Hula Keli`i Tau`a and Auntie Maile Napoleon with her expertise in lomilomi and la`au lapa`au.
Healing in Paradise has received excellent response from members of the public who share an interest in learning ancient Hawaiian technique. More importantly, perhaps, participants have expressed that by embracing the kupuna and the aloha they have to share, the true meaning of healing has entered their own lives.
"These values embodied by many of the kupuna are the true gift of the kupuna and of these workshops," said Avery.
Upcoming `Aina Me Kalani conferences:
October 25 - 28, 2007
This year, this four-day conference will be held in Honolulu. There will be daylong and half day workshops in lomilomi, ho`oponopono, la`au lapa`au, Hawaiian spirituality, oli (chant) and `olelo (language). All workshops will be presented by the Hawaiian kupuna who are masters in these healing arts.
For more information visit
http://www.healinginparadise.org