Aloha 'Oe!

My days at the Yoga-Oasis in Puna were special and so dear to me, I felt very content being there and also I enjoyed my best yoga lessons ever. This pic I took just before I left: 


An unforgetable moment for me: 
Sitting the sun, sucking it all in and feeling completely absorbed by the place, very very much at home. It was so nice!
I miss Hawai'i... I love Hawai'i

This is Hayward, who showed me around a little so that I could discover the area a bit. Hayward is a FANTASTIC yoga-teacher. He also took me to the airport and we enjoyed Michael Jackson's Thriller-album and some other music on our way, good fun. 

Later I was stunned by the magnifisant view on Maui, Kaho'lohawe, Lana'i and Moloka'i while flying from Hilo on the Big Island of Hawai'i to Honolulu on O'ahu. Hehe, I know the names are strange when you're not used to them. I now got used to them. I believe I could live here.

It was lovely, I could even see some of the places I had visited. An exiting and very beautiful sight. 

After spending the night close to the airport I left early to fly back to Amsterdam - 
and did the Time-Warp.


Bärchen loved the trip!



To make the long story of flying from Honolulu to Amsterdam short: 
I simply accepted whatever time it was anywhere and slept as much as I could. LA and London were rainy and grey in grey, dulldulldull.
But luckily Amsterdam greeted me with a crispy freshness, and was behaving itself by being clear and dry. My friend Ina who wanted to pick me up fom the airport couldn't make it, she's a midwife and was delivering a child. I didn't mind really, it was actually nice not having to talk and just arrive. So I with a slight sence of being in the twillight-zone, I simply strolled home on foot. Let me tell you: there is nothing like travelling light : ))  


I slept well trough the night, good chance the jet-lag will be light.
Now I am about to dive back into my life here. 
Much love all of you, and here's a last and heartly: 


Aloha!


PS: I will continue writing in this blog, about twice a mounth I think, we'll see.


xx

Two days left! Is that right?

Today was a magnificent day, my singer-friend Sandrina came to visit me yesterday and spent the night here at the Oasis. We went out and had Thai-food and thought we'd have a cocktail afterwords but to our surprise everything was closed at 9:30 in Pahoa, so we went to 7/11 and got us two beers and had a really great eve here. 

Today we took a drive down to Kehena Beach, the weather was perfect... as was the scenic-drive that led us there...

So now I'm up for a nice hot shower and early retirement, tomorrow morning it's 2 hours of Yoga.


And then I will see what's up for my last afternoon and evening on the Big Island. 
Wednesday round noon it's of to O'ahu, where Honolulu is, and then Thursday morning I am on my way back to Amsterdam, doing the Time-Warp and all that...


...sigh...


Aloha!

profound

OK, first things first: Yesterday morning I swam with dolphins! I have never felt such a humbleness inside of me and I sit here at the Yoga-Oasis now, still containing such a deep respect for these creatures. It was truly amazing to encounter an animal that could so very easily kick some human ass, yet is so peacefull. Dolphins seem to have a very special relationship with humans. There are myths talking of these beautiful creatures saving people from drowning and bringing them to the safety of shallow waters. At one point there were three pods in the bay. Doing formations and jumping flips and salto's. Lucky lucky lucky me and the others that were there. I guess nothing prepares you for an experience like that. 

Profound, I love that word. And for me it reflects the work with wonderful Rhiannon us 14 singers were engaged in during the last 8 days. 
Here in the rainforest as I hear birds and insects making unintended music with eachother constantly. It is reminding me of how we made unintended music and how we learned from eachother. 
The animals here all have their patterns and solo's. We invented and felt patterns and sang solo's from our brains, hearts, bodies and souls. We were pretty good, but let me tell you: The birds here kick ass!

I feel each and everyone of the people I encountered during this week in me. I realize now how close we actually were as a group: every single one the beautiful singers left something in me to go, so to speak. 
Rhiannon is such a shining source of music and inspiration, I have never seen anybody give feedback so profoundly and with so much love for improvisation, for voices and for people.

Last Thursday we went to Volcano National Park to work with dansers and one in particular: Shizuno Nasu . Shizuno lives and works up there, she loves to dance close to the lava and you can see that when she dances. Pure fire. There is a very confronting energy up there, very strong. To work with movement and dancers for me led to a profound experience. Up on the Volcano, close to the craters we improvised together and I started moving and singing completely in the moment. I felt a neutralness and an undramatic depth that was new for me. I had a moment in time of completeness. Words kind of fail. 
And as soon as I started talking about the experience, emotions and thinking came back and I had left that state, but nevertheless entered new healing. 


It was a big week for healing, I think all of us delt with our very selves in unexpected ways. 

Back to Volcano:
They say that house-prices are very low up there, because there is a real chance the lava (or beter said: Pele) might come to take your home. Rhiannon told us that some people are known to have cleaned their houses, decorate it with flowers and get it all nice and ready to be taken by Pele. 

She is very much respected. For obvious reasons. 

We also sang in a lavatube, a tunnel made by lava... You kind of realize the force there. I am very close to Lava streams here in Puna and I really want to go and see one. I'll let you know. 
There is this impressive story about a family chanting and praying to Pele to spare their house and they apparantly were heard, at least the Lava would go around them (like lastminute) and the property. Now that's what I call faith! They would have been very dead.

Friday evening we all performed for eachother. It was high quality entertainment and yet very sweet and simple, very island-style, so lovely! Bärchen got a private-lesson from Kalani about the Old Ways. Later hetold me he had areally nice chat with his Kalani's wife Julie. 
Julie cooked for us during this week: I guess the word profound finds it's place here again somehow, if you can say that about food, but you can also just state: YUMMY, VERY! 


And then yesterday morning we all said our goodbyes. As so many things that happend that week, that was so dear to me! I carry something of every single one of these people with me, just in the way I carry something of my friends and loved ones and family with me. Always there. 

It was especially funny getting all of us into cars to go somewhere. Like putting chicken in a basket. Suzanne, Rhiannon's manager, did an exellent task in organizing this though. only reason why we ever got anywhere. 
So in the end we all got in different cars that brought us to airports, or where ever one would go next. 
After dropping off my sweet German singer-friends Petra and Sandrina (who might visit me later), Suzanne gave me a lift to Hilo, to the other side of the island. That was a magnificent ride, beautifulbeautiful times 100000000.  Hawai'i reminded me a little of Tahiti in parts then. Also, it was really nice conversation we had. 

Then I took the bus from Hilo to Pahoa, where I met Aurilius and Liz. These people I just fell in love with on the spot, just love them! So did Bärchen. Hope to meet them again.

There were some chickens travelling with us in a man's bag. They were a little weired though very cute in a muppet-kind-of-way. Alas they were not very content, I guess. Maybe they knew that they were about to get sold... oh- oooo... 

In Pahoa I got picked up by Hayward who runs the YogaOasis together with Star and her partner Carl. This is a great place in the middle of nothing but rainforest and fruit-trees. 

I just took a walk around the property met some of the chicken that live here. They are very sweet and very big and they are always totally convinced that I will feed them. Carl said they get fed in two ways: food and love. You can really tell, these are happy big little chickens. Apart from the typical boaakboaak, they make the most unexpected sounds too, almost like singing. They were singing for food : ) just like me, hehe. There are also wild pigs here. Gulp. Wild animals teach me humbleness, they really do.


Earlier I had a very inspiring conversation at the breakfast-table about Japan and Bali and an instant contact with Stefan and his wife Kate, that invited me to come visit if I ever get to Japan. They live there and know a lot about the country and it's ways and where it's cheap.
So that's exciting me. I'm thinking: Bali, Japan, Hawai'i and back. Depending on the time of year. Anyone wanna join me? I might take 6 weeks off from Amsterdam tasks somehow, to have two weeks at every place. Hmmmmm.... maybe try to perform and give workshops while I'm there, hmmmm, here goes visualizing... life is great!


Aloha, much love to you!

In the heart of it

Yesterday we visited Mayumi Oda. She is a quite known and very exceptional artist from Japan, who started her own farm, Ginger-Hill Farm, here on Hawai'i. She talked about her work as a farmer and as an artist and we sang for her and her friends. 
Mayumi mainly paints Godesses and some of them are serene, some fierce and firy and others get to do fun things like snorkeling or riding a bike. There is a depth to work that reflects in the person she is and it was profoundly inspiring to witness her.

This is "Aunty Aka", she has her own cooking-show going on. Aka is all about Aloha. Check out her MySpace if you want to see some Hawaiian vibe.
The German word that comes to mind when I think of her, is "Naturereignis", a force and manifestation of Nature that is one of a kind. 


Yesterday on that farm I had the best fruit of my life. I tell you. 


Also Aka tought me the true way to enjoy fruit: suck and slurp it the way you were told not to do it as a child : ))
I highly recommend it! It's fun and sooooo yummy. 

During our classes I arrive in a deep state of learning and JOY. I will write more about the singing and the work we do, when I have more words to express this in good way. Right now words fail me.


This evening  another big inspriation in form of the beautiful old but very young Hawaiian woman called Puna came by and taught us some chants and: Hula. yes! That was fun.
She taught us what Hawai'i means: 
Ha = Breath of Life, Wai = Water, 'i = spiritual force.

Also a whale was heared from the distance which was quite magical and totally blew everyone that heard and recognized it away.

More soon, much love!!!

It's happening!

I have been looking forward to coming HERE to expand my vocal skills for at least 6 months, so I am very excited and happy.

The day before yesterday I arrived on Hawai'i, the Big Island. It is very different here, every island apparently is. Also the vacation state-of-mind has stepped back a bit and made room for ambition and the urge to SING and make music. 

Arriving here mentally at Hale Kai took me a whole day. It is a peaceful yet strong vibe to settle into. A truly magical place. The whole complex was built from scratch from the remains of old tree-houses from Bali and everything runs completely on solar power. Food is mostly organic and very delicious. You can imagine: these people have well thought about what they wanted to create here. 




They just got wifi which I like. There is no internet-link to this place because Hale Kai doesn't advertise at all. People and groups that are welcome tend to find it, if I understood correctly. We sleep in little huts. There are no windows, the kitchen and the huts have mosquito net screens for windows. 

We are like 30 meters away from the ocean. The ocean is extremely wild right now and we are witnessing the biggest waves experienced here in a long time, some say even in a hundred years... so the sea is not really far away from us and keeps coming closer... hmmm... The splashes get up to about four times higher then this one you see here. I would have loved to take a pic of that, but it was like waiting for a toaster, you know, but this gives an impression I'm sure.
The beach consists mainly of lavastone and there are caves under it where the water comes out with such a strong force. So we see these huge waves coming towards us and then many big and small white explosions on the shore. 


So there goes my snorkling... maybe on Thursday or Friday I get a chance.

The workshop has been absolutly fantastic so far. 
Working with Rhiannon is a delightful and rich experience. And to be here with all these other fantastic singers with all of their wonderful voices and different skills adds so much inspiration - sometimes I am in vocal-heaven. Rhiannon and Bärchen get along really well. 
When we sang together first I almost cried because I felt that had arrived at a point of bliss and also no return. It made me feel melancholy and vulnerable, at the same time very grounded and strong. 
The joy and the depth of sounding and creating with voice is so naturally there for me, yet apparently I had to travel so far in mind, spirit and body to get there and to appreciate and fully recognize it. 
I want to become this undeniable vocalist, of course I get that's a developement from within. The work we do here is a significant milestone on my path to vocal freedom. 

We have had the great honour of meeting Kalani, one of the very few left that teaches the old Hawaiian knowledge. He told us a lot about Old Hawaiian Tradition, History and Thinking. Also we learned a chant, just like one of those I admired so much on the whale tour on Maui. Wow, Maui feels so long ago and far away right now...








I love the way Kalini teaches! He told us too much to write down here now, but I want to tell you about these four rules that apply to: Everything! 




Nr. 1: It begins when it begins.
Nr. 2. Whoever shows up is supposed to show up.
Nr. 3: Whatever happens is all that could have happend.
Nr. 4: When it's over it's over.


And there is a law: When it's over: dance away!


Kalani will be teaching us some more this week. Also we are going up to the Volcano and see lavastreams, learn some hula and visit a couple of very intriguing people I will tell more about in my next blogs.


Aloha 


- which means:
hello, goodbye, good wishes and good feelings and that sort of thing. 
The "ha" in the end is what unites us all, it represents the last breath everyone will take someday. Hawaiian words always mean at least four things, and it depends on your relationship with the person you speak with what they mean. 


Also: The basis here is a matriarchic society, I like it, hehe!
Hawaiians are traditionally serial monogamists, and it is always the woman choosing someone new. Old women are considered beautiful and wise teachers. 


ok Aloha for now, much love, feel free to comment, ask, leave any thoughts.


Much love 2 u

Time flies...

Today was my last day here on Maui. 

I went to Little Beach and Big Beach (sigh) 
2gether with Jena, a fantastic woman I met last night. Jena moved here from California and has been living on Maui for 6 years now. 

We spent a very nice afternoon joined also by her beautiful little baby-parrot and her very lovely and very enthousiastic dog (forgot the name).

It was gorgeous day, alas no snorkling... 
the ocean was wild, big waves that almost swept me offshore, it was very exiting to feel the raw power of the sea!  


On little beach you're allowed to run around naked if you want. I actually really enjoyed that. Didn't feel weired at all. Sorry, no pictures, hehe.

Bärchen totally hit it off with Little Birdy.

Farewell-Sunset... 


... sigh...

Yesterday I during the day I went to Paia, a cute small town on the Northern Shore. Willy Nelson lives there. Different vibe, and surfers everywhere - cause that coastline is where the famous big waves are. I hitched on the way back and met a man whoms great-grandfather was a Norwegian captain that was sent here by the king and never went back AND married the daughter of the chief. How cool is that? He told me some about Mauian History, too, it was fun!


Later on I was out and about in Kihei nightlife, met a guy called Tylor, and we chatted away all eve until the morning about the meaning and nonsense of life, that was very refreshing, actually. 

Also that night I very much enjoyed a really cool band that played at a place called "Life's a Beach" (haha).





All bandmembers sang really well: solo aswell as in perfect harmony 2gether, and they were a super-tight band. The music was like a mellow reaggae-sound and they were playing covers, but really good. Island-Vibe for real! Dancing and cocktails: sweeeeeeeeet!

The day be4 yesterday I went on a snorkling-trip. We saw Whales and dolphins and turtles, it was amazing. I also got a glance at the island Lanai, it was a great trip! The island u c here is Maui though. Soon all the brown will be green again. Imagine: This is winter...

2morrow it's off to the Big Island.  
All the music and experiences that await me there, I can feel it, it's like a buzz in my whole system!

Much love and Aloha xx

Jetlag has its benefits...

... you kinda have to take things one thing at a time. So I am writing this from the garden of Gilbert and Stani's and reflecting on yesterday with my very slow brain. 
Yesterday I went to Lahaina to go whale-watching with a company called http://www.pacificwhale.org. Great non-profit organisation, will also take a snorklingtrip from Ma'alaea with them tomorrow. 

Lahaina is very very cute little village, very very touristy also, of course. Many stupid shops, but the vibe was nice anyway.

The Humpback-Whales are flourishing here, and we were in so called "whale-soup" and the males were showing off their best tricks to the females. The whole boat with about 50 people was staring at the ocean as if it was a big surround-toaster, and everyone, including myself, was going aaaaahh and ooohhhh whenever a whale did anything. 

I wonder if these beasts have a clue about how powerful they are. 

I would love to take a less commercial whale watch someday, in a smaller boat with less people and a chance to be more quiet around them. Because even on the crowded tour (that was exellent) I felt this deep joy whenever I saw one of the whales. Even when they showed up in the distance. 

Two of them came quite close to the boat. That was rather spectacular and could have also been very touching, maybe even spriritual - in a different setting. 
On our tour of course everyone wanted to get the best shot to take with them, so the atmosphere could feel like kindergarten at times. 

Nothing wrong with kindergarten, just sucks when all the other kids have the better toys:

This is the best shot from my I-phone (great toy, but alas no zoom), the little splash in the distance is a whale, promise. 

More animal sensations: 

For all of you who wonder where Bärchen is, of course he came!!!

Today I started preparing a bit for the upcoming workshop-week on the Big Island. So looking forward to that. It feels like it will be very libarating in all kinds of ways, not only vocally. Though what I am most looking forward to right now is the jamming with all the other vocalists, oh bliss! It feels like I will be diving into an ocean of sound!

Heared some traditional Hawaiian singing on the boat yesterday, an old chant. 
It sounded very shamanic and extremely rich. Googled and found this that came very close to what I heared, esp nr 2, check out the samples.

Oh, and more about my read The 4 insights:

It's based on the wisdom of the Laika. 

I started reading it from the beginning again. 

More soon, much love and

Aloha xx