In an effort to combine readers as well as my thoughts, I am taking a brief hiatus from this particular blog. I plan to merge several blogs into one in order to focus more and present you with a better product. Anything new I write will be on http://lava-to-lilikoi.blogspot.com from now on. Please check it out and subscribe! I don’t want to lose my readers.
Here on the Big Island of Hawai`i, it seems we are having a problem keeping traditional medical doctors. I won’t go into the reasons for that, but it brings a deeper awareness that I need to start taking care of my own body.
Certain diseases and surgical procedures that I may need as I get older will require more of Western medicine, I’m sure. However, in keeping with Da Vinci’s notion of corporalita, I can keep my physical structure as healthy as possible through natural means.
The little book that started me out doing yoga many years ago is Richard Hittleman’s Yoga 28 Day Exercise Plan. My old worn-out copy was published in 1969! It’s simple and the postures are easy to follow.
When I moved onto Lothlorien and stopped doing yoga, I didn’t get back to it when I moved back onto land in 1983. I’m writing this post with the intention of putting myself back on track.
“You are as young as your spine is flexible.” Hittleman quotes this ancient yogic adage. I have certainly been a good example of this, and as I garden (see http://lava-to-lilikoi.blogspot.com) I’m even more aware of my need to return to yoga.
There is another gentle movement that works wonders with our flexibility, balance and serenity. That is Tai Chi Chuan, or more typically called Tai Chi. If you saw the movie “Calendar Girls” (one I highly recommend), then you saw the women doing Tai Chi at the beginning and at the end of the movie.
I started doing Tai Chi with nothing but a book to guide me, and I can’t even remember the name of it. Like most activities that involve movement, however, it’s not easy to follow and get it right.
Years later, I took a few classes with an elderly cardiologist from China who was a guest lecturer at the University of Arizona Medical Center in Tucson. Because of him, my interest developed, but then I moved away.
Now a CD guides me in its calm and flowing way. The beginning of it is beautiful just as a meditation, if nothing else. T’ai Chi for Health, Yang Long Form with Terence Dunn. It is a full 2-hour program that starts with a philosophical and historical intro, then ends with a 15 minute demonstration.
Writing this post has inspired me to devote more time to my health in this way. Turn up your sound, and take a few minutes to watch and meditate with the Tai Chi video.
This stately bird on a pier on Anna Maria Island in Florida is a perfect example of poise and grace. The pier continues to hold its own through all the hurricanes.
I had been doing yoga for a number of years before I moved onto the boat. Yoga gave me flexibility and inner well-being. But I gave that up when it became impossible to maintain a position, no matter how still the waters were.
Living on Lothlorien became an exercise in constant isometrics. Contracting my muscles became an unconscious act as I tried to maintain balance with a moving deck under my feet. So living aboard and sailing took the place of yoga. The main problem I had was walking on Mother Earth after a few weeks at sea.
One of da Vinci’s principles is that of corporalita. He kept himself in top physical condition and gave much advice on preserving our fitness. Physical activity and health isn’t always as high on my priority list as I would like, but I hope his modeling will assist in my “cultivation of grace, ambidexterity, fitness, and poise.”
Many of my friends, including non-Hawai`ians, are studying and using Hooponopono. This is a way of working with families and individuals within families to set things right, not only with each other, but with our ancestors. http://www.ancienthuna.com/ho-oponopono.htm
There are many ways to achieve health and fitness. Learning the ways of the kahuna, opening ourselves to the ways of oriental medicinehttp://www.qi-journal.com/tcm.asp , living by da Vinci’s rules of health, we can begin to put ourselves right in many ways.
Many of my sailing stories are of events that happened to us at the Isthmus of Catalina Island off the California coast. This particular story, however, took place in the anchorage outside of Avalon.
One lazy afternoon, most people on the hook were relaxing in the sun, napping or reading. The owner of one small sailboat (about 18’) had evidently dropped anchor and taken off for the shore without waiting to see if his anchor had set. Later, I envisioned the anchor dangling straight down into the deep water without touching bottom.
Anchoring is an amusing topic for another post, so I won’t get into that at the moment.
This little boat was drifting between all the rest of the big “girls,” and each time she bumped against the hull of someone else’s boat, they would just give it a gentle shove to send it on its way. Pretty soon, a little breeze would blow it toward another boat, only to be sent off in yet another direction. I watched until I got bored with it all, and decided to nap.
This particular story probably comes under da Vinci’s “Sfumato” heading http://lothlorien-lucy.blogspot.com/2008/06/overview-of-davincian-principles.html because all of us pushing that little boat away were fairly ambiguous about what to do with her. She’d been a nuisance but no one knew who she belonged to or what to do with her, and I suspect that most of us really didn’t want to be bothered with it.
I’m not sure how much later I woke up, but in the meantime, evidently someone had called the Harbor Police to come take care of the little boat, and he was towing her down the coastline out of everyone’s way. At one point, he casually glanced back to make sure she was following adequately.
We watched as he quickly cut the motor of his own boat, took off his jacket, balled it up and flung it down. I think it’s probably a good thing none of us could hear what he was saying.
The object of his frustration was trailing behind him. It seemed that in the process of drifting from one boat to the next and being sent on its way, the little boat’s anchor had gathered up the rodes of several other anchors and was pulling them off their own secure anchorage. A trail of about six boats were being towed, one right after the other.
The guy got on his radio to call for assistance. I wanted to watch it all get untangled, but I never did get to find out what finally happened. Several of us were heading into shore for dinner, and the main topic of conversation was that little boat. We could just imagine the owner coming back out on the bum boat at the end of his day, scratching his head and wondering if his boat had sailed off without him - especially if he’d been drinking. What a shock that would have been!
We wondered if all the other boats received the same free trip down the coastline to be re-anchored. I wonder what those owners thought when they found their boat missing. If that had happened at the Isthmus, everyone would have known what was going on, but at Avalon there were too many boaters and very few people shared stories with others. If anyone was there and knows the end of this story, I’d love to hear it.
I was very happy my own rode wasn’t one that she picked up.
MOVING DAY!!!
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In honor of my 50th post, I have switched to my own domain and website!
I hope you noticed my occasional sign-off as “Lava Lily.” The reason?? My brother ...
Aloha!
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As you may know, I’ve been writing several blogs in different topic areas.
http://lava-to-lilikoi.blogspot.com - about my “homesteading” efforts here
in Ha...
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