My Three Healers

When the patient is ready, a healer will appear.

Although I have an oncologist, surgeon, and radiologist on my medical team, most of the healing seems to be going on outside of conventional medicine. The oncologist wants to put me on what is called “palliative chemo,” which is not intended to cure the cancer; instead, the chemo just makes your life less painful as you die.

So I turned to other forms of healing. A friend from meditation referred me to Dr. Tom, an energy healer. Dr. Tom, a former engineer, has a straight forward manner and approach to healing. “You can live 20-30 more years, Kozo. It is all up to you–how you control your emotions.” Always smiling, Dr. Tom advocates the power of positivity. Stress causes inflammation which causes dis-ease including cancer. Positive thoughts release dopamine and other hormones which reduce inflammation. Negative thoughts and emotions release cortisol which leads to stress>inflammation. It is so simple…until I tried to control my thoughts and emotions.

Amazingly, since working with Dr. Tom, I have become acutely aware of when cortisol is released in my body. This allows me to “check myself, before I wreck myself.” I thought I caused the heightened awareness, until Dr. Tom said, “I am increasing your ability to sense stress with the energy I am sending.”

Dr. Tom calls me on Facetime, asks a few questions, then hangs up and “works on me.” One week, I experienced debilitating pain at the surgical site. After I told Dr. Tom, I hung up and laid down. Within a few minutes, I was asleep. When I woke up, he called back, “How are you doing now?” he asked. “I have no pain,” I replied in amazement.

John Lavack is another energy healer I am working with. A student of the Bengston method of energy healing, John has an 80% success rate with cancer patients. Although John practices the cycling technique of Bengston, he also has his own methodology of healing. As soon as he started working with me, he noticed a dark cloud of sadness, resignation, and grief in my peritoneal area.

I had always considered myself an optimistic, happy, positive person. But John uncovered some grief and sadness that I wasn’t even aware of. As I allowed myself to grieve, sometimes for things I didn’t even understand, this cloud in my guts began to disperse. I realize now that I was living out the phrase “tears of a clown.” Although I offered the world a smiling, positive facade, deep down I had sorrow in my heart (and guts). “You’re getting suspiciously happier, Kozo,” remarked John during my last session.

Last but not least is Dr. Cynthia Li. A few months ago, I was tapped to host an Awakin Call with a doctor named Cynthia Li, who is trained in functional medicine, acupuncture, qigong, and intuitive medicine. The day before the call, I caught a docuseries about Radical Remissions. One of the featured patients was Cynthia Li! Cynthia had been through a near death experience with an autoimmune illness, which she documents in her book Brave New Medicine.

I felt deeply connected with Cynthia on the Awakin Call, but when some audience members asked how they could become her patient, she said that she wasn’t taking any patients at this time.

A few weeks later, I had COVID-19-like symptoms. My boss, Michael Lerner, who is a close personal friend of Cynthia, called her and asked her to take me on as a patient. A few minutes later, Cynthia texted me and said that she would call me later that afternoon.

Just before the scheduled call time, Cynthia texted and said she needed 25 more minutes to meditate and scan my body. When we finally met, she said that her intuition told her that the illness I was experiencing wasn’t viral, but bacterial. She prescribed antibiotics.

“I haven’t taken antibiotics in 25 years,” I protested.

“Let me check with my intuition again,” replied Cynthia closing her eyes and moving her lips.

“My intuition says that this will really help you, but you don’t have to take them if you don’t want to,” she said.

I ended up taking the antibiotics and I was on my feet feeling great in less than a day. Not only that but my neuropathy was better.

In her book, Cynthia talks about contracting Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) her second year of residency. After 3 months, she recovered. But “the reality was, after acute mono resolves, EBV hibernates in white blood cells…when the immune system becomes suppressed or dysfunctional (like from chronic stress, shift work, nutritional deficiencies, or gut inflammation), viruses like EBV can rise up and throw a ‘reactivation’ party” (192).

Earlier this year in March, I went to the emergency room for a horrible flu. After testing negative for Influenza, the doctors assumed I had COVID-19, but that test came back negative. I was bedridden for a whole week.

“That first bout was likely bacterial too,” Cynthia surmised.

The bacterial infection was taxing my body, which inhibited it from fighting the cancer, kind of like a cascade effect. Cynthia’s intuition helped heal not only the respiratory illness, but perhaps some deeper issues that were affecting my overall health.

She also intuited that I was low in minerals like selenium and zinc, which I had been taking the first time I had cancer, but stopped after I had my tumor surgically removed.

“Usually, I prescribe magnesium with selenium and zinc, but with you I’m not getting a hit for magnesium,” queried Cynthia.

Later, when I told her that my right kidney was only 2% functional, she said, “That is why I didn’t get a hit for magnesium, because magnesium can cause kidney problems.”

This amazing process of using her intuition, then checking it with her medical knowledge guides Cynthia to some of the most novel and effective treatments.

Cynthia also got me doing one and a half hours of qigong a day. When I protested that this was too much, Cynthia replied, “In the qigong hospitals, patients do this for 4-6 hours a day.” I have been doing the practices for about a week now, and my neuropathy pain is lower and my energy is substantially higher.

I am so grateful for these healers for all they are doing to improve not only my health, but also my life and relationships.

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More Cancer–More Learning

So the cancer is back. Two small tumors in the same area as the last time, but since I had surgery, the organs are no longer there. This means that the tumors are in my peritoneal lining which makes surgically removing them very difficult. Technically, I have metastatic colorectal cancer which is incurable…according to conventional medicine.

But as you all know, I’m anything but conventional. Like a gift from God, a few months before I was diagnosed, I was hired by a non-profit called Commonweal to work on their Beyond Conventional Cancer Therapies website. My boss is Michael Lerner has been working with cancer patients for over 30 years. He is the author of Choices in Healing, a book I read the first time I had cancer. Every week I have a Zoom call with Michael, an oncology nurse, a medical researcher, and a grant maker whose father died of cancer. This is for work, mind you. 

So when I told my colleagues I had a recurrence of cancer, they knew exactly how to react–with compassion, wisdom, and generous listening. For example, when I learned that the median life span for peritoneal cancer is 6-12 months, I sent Laura, the oncology nurse, an email asking her if these were the odds I was facing. She sent me a simple email:

I suggest you read this article by Stephen J. Gould called “The Median isn‘t the Message”   and see if you don’t see some similarities between you and Gould that might guide you toward the right-hand side of the bell curve—-the side where 50% of people outlive the prognosis compared to  those who sit right in the middle or to the left of the bell curve.

This shifted my mood, my perspective, and my capacity for hope. I have already passed the 6 month mark, so I guess things weren’t as dire as they sounded at diagnosis.

This new bout with cancer has deepened my understanding of healing, life, and grace. I have already been gifted so much by so many. I thought I had used up all my free passes the first time I had cancer, but it seems that my friends, my family, and the Universe just keep giving with no expectation of returns.

I hope these blog entries can be of service to anyone else who is facing a life-threatening illness. I also would like to use this space to offer gratitude to all who are walking this path on the edge of darkness with me. I love you all. Thank you for your care, support, wisdom, and love.

 

 

Peace is Every Child

7-year-old Fox wanted a history book for his daily reading, so I let him loose in my bookshelves. First, he grabbed my Bible.

“Is this a history book?” he asked.

“Yeah, it’s a kind of history book,” I replied.

“Can I have it?” he asked thumbing the vinyl cover.

“Of course,” I said.

Then he grabbed A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr., but it had too many big words for him.

“Here is a history about a Vietnamese monk,” I said handing him Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh.

Reading the editor’s introduction, Fox stopped after reading this poem:

Peace is every step.

The Shining red sun is my heart.

Each flower smiles with me.

How green, how fresh all that grows.

How cool the wind blows.

Peace is every step.

It turns the endless path to joy.

“Daddy, can I write this poem out?” asked Fox with wide open eyes.

“Sure,” I said thrilled because his penmanship needed work.

Fox carefully wrote out each line. He smiled when he wrote “each flower smiles with me.” I was stoked that he was learning to spell smile, peace, and heart. At the end he wrote “Love, Fox.”

“Can you make copies?” he said as he handed me the hand written poem.

I gave him two copies. On one he wrote, “Merry Christmas. Thank you. To Mrs. Kraemer and Mrs. Grant” [his second grade teachers].

I almost cried. What a wonderful gesture. I am so grateful that he resonated with Thich Nhat Hanh, even though he had trouble reading the name. When I told a friend the story, he asked, “Who is the teacher and who is the student?”

What poem would you have a child copy?

Cultivating Compassion One Breath at a Time

Watching men in high positions fall like autumn leaves has inspired me to start a daily compassion practice. I have no doubt that if these men had more compassion and empathy, they would not assault women. I don’t want my sons to become highly “successful” only to fall from grace from a lack of compassion.

Dacher Keltner at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center discovered that there isn’t a universal look of compassion, but there is a universal sound of compassion. People around the world make the same sound when they sympathize with the suffering of others—“Aaawwwwhhhhh.:

Moreover, modern research reveals that making this sound stimulates the vagus nerve which lowers inflammation in the body and leads to more pro-social behavior. The vagus nerve runs from most of the major organs in the body to the brain stem. It also runs through the vocal chords and the inner ear.

Making the “aaawwwhhh” sound stimulates the larynx and the inner ear and, thus, the vagus nerve. In addition, Stephen Porges found that when our exhale is longer than our inhale, we also stimulate the vagus nerve and feel more connected with other.

So I am setting a goal of saying “aaawwwwhhh” as many times a day as possible. When I am stuck in traffic, I say “aaawwwhhh.” When my sons start to whine about how they only get to play 2 hours of video games, I reply, “aaaawwwhhh.” Every time I hear a news story about men committing heartless acts, I say, “aaawwwhhhh” for them, for myself, for men in general, and for the victims.

When my aunties in Hawaii would see someone do something harmful, they would make the universal sound of compassion and say, “poor ting.” They felt sorry for individuals who were so disconnected with aloha (love) that they felt the need to cause conflict with others. In essence, my aunties were saying, “Awwwhhhh, poor thing has no aloha.”

Every time I make the universal sound of compassion, I feel warm vibrations resonate through my body. I feel grateful to connect with others through suffering. Everyone becomes my family regardless of what they look like or what they have done.

So grateful for this simple practice.

What daily practices do you do to connect with others?

My Life as a Dog

My 7-year-old son believes in reincarnation, so I asked him what he would like to come back as in his next life.

“Probably a dog,”  he said nonchalantly. “Or Santa Claus.”

After a bit of contemplation, I realized how wise this response was. We often think that humans are at the top of the reincarnation ladder, but this isn’t necessarily true. Dog is God spelled backwards.

“If you can remain perfectly calm in traffic…

If you see others succeed without a tinge of jealousy,

If you can love everyone around you unconditionally,

If you can always be cheerful just where you are,

You are probably…

A Dog!”

I’m starting to think that dogs are far more enlightened than even high-vibration spiritual masters. Our two Shi Tzus are definitely the two most compassionate and equanimous members of our household.

When my sons are crying, both my dogs will start to moan and howl in unison with the cries. When I had a tumor, Skye and Jax would come lie on my belly when I was sleeping. They could sense my pain and would just be with me.

These dogs spend most of their day sitting in silence. One could argue that they meditate over 5 hours a day. They always welcome me with open paws when I return after a long day and never seem to hold any grudges, even when I forget to feed them.

I think my son was intuitively sensing into a higher consciousness. Even his answer about Santa Claus can be seen as refined.

Santa Clause spreads joy and gives generously without any expectation of getting anything in return. If he was a Buddhist, he would be what we call a Bodhisattva—a being that compassionately refrains from enlightenment in order to save others. Was my son saying that he wants to come back as a Bodhisattva?

A dog or a Bodhisattva, those are two noble intentions. Amazing how simple and wise young children can be.

What would you come back as in your next life if you had the opportunity?

 

 

 

 

Aloha Healing 12/2/2015

‘Ole Pau
Welehu 2

Reading a book called Radical Remission. Kelly Turner, the author, found over one thousand documented cases of cancer patients healing from cancer without Western medicine or after Western medicine had failed. She interviewed 50 of these patients as well as alternative healers and found that most of these patients shared 9 healing factors. I was happy to find that I am already doing most of the 9 healing factors.

	Radical Remission	Aloha Healing
Factor One	Radically Change Diet	Eliminate all sugar, meat, flour, fruit, dairy Drink fresh vegetable juice daily Increase Raw Foods Consume only Organic or Homegrown No processed foods
Factor Two	Take Control of Your Health	Refuse Chemo, Radiation, Surgery Research and Implement Custom Treatment Plan Use HCG testing to monitor treatment
Factor Three	Follow Your Intuition	“Ike” my “mana’o” Get in touch with my perineum
Factor Four	Use Herbs and Supplements	Beta 1A Glucan Moringa Apex Protandim Cod Liver Oil Flax Seed Oil Hemp Seed Olena or Turmeric with Honey Kangen Water
Factor Five	Release Suppressed Emotions	Heart to Heart with Mom Inner Child Work Daily Forgiveness Prayer Ha Mahiki clearing Ho’oponopono
Factor Six	Increase Positive Emotions	Sympathetic Joy and Compassion response Watch funny movies Laugh with sons Pet Skye the puppy Listen to Hawaiian Music everyday
Factor Seven	Embrace Social Support	Hugs and Love from wife, kids, and puppy Awakin Circle every Wednesday Night Men’s Group Blogosphere Empathy Buddy Walks Coworkers and Boss
Factor Eight	Deepen Spiritual Connection	Morning Sunrise Prayers Live Aloha Gratitude Practices
Factor Nine	Have Strong Reasons for Living	My family–wife, boys, and puppy Spread Aloha Heal the ‘âina

Perhaps my most powerful practice is to relax into faith and patience.

Diet

I’m feeling better, so I’m tempted to be less strict on my diet. At the same time, I don’t want to claim an early victory. A friend of mine said, “you need to error on the side of gentleness,” so I’m going to start putting green apples in my juice in the morning. 🙂

Exercise

I am starting interval training which includes sprints or burpies to raise my heart rate. The goal is to increase heart rate variability. It feels good to do some vigorous exercise again.

Relationships

All’s quiet on the relationship front. Had an interesting Thanksgiving. I felt really disconnected with most of my family on Thursday–might have been because everyone was on their iPads! The night before I went to Awakin Circle meditation and felt deep connections with lots of people I have only known for less than a year.

It reminds me what an Akashic records reader once told me, “Your connection with your spiritual family will be deeper than any blood relationship.”

Spirituality

I have been getting so many messages lately. It seems like whenever I’m thinking about a decision, the Universe will send a message in a song, a text, a book, a phone call, or a conversation. The messages are subtle and open-ended. Not like a commandment, but more like an invitation.

It also feels nice remembering what Marianne Williamson said about the Universe being like a GPS: Whenever we make a “wrong turn,” it just recalibrates and sends us new directions.

Kūkae (BM)

11/19 Friday

6:15 AM BS Extra Lrg BM

9 AM Med BM

12 PM Large BM  Little Blood

9 PM BS

11/20 Sat

6:30 AM BS Lrg BM

9:10 AM Small BM Little B

2:40 PM Small BS

4:15 PM BS

11/22 Sunday

1:30 AM BS 2 drop

6:45 PM BS X-Lrg BM

9:40 AM Med BM Dirty

8  PM BS small BM

11/23 Mon

1 AM Blood and sediment

7:30 AM  BS

8:30 AM Med BM BS

1 PM BS

3 PM BS

6 PM BS

9 PM BS

12 AM BS

11/24 Tues

6 AM BS Sm BM

7 AM Large MB

11 AM Large BM Little B

3:30 PM Large BM + B

11/25 Wed

6 AM Tiny BS

7 AM Tiny BS

11 AM BS

2 PM BS

3 PM BS

6:30 PM BS

11 PM BS

11/26 Thurs

2 AM tiny BS

6 :45 AM BS

7:40 AM Large BM Little BS

9 AM med BM

3:20 PM BS

8:30 PM BS

10:30 PM BS

11/27 Friday

2:40 AM BS Lots

7:45 AM BS Med-Lrg BM

11:45 AM X-Lrg BM Little B

5 PM small BM watery

10 PM BS

11/28 Sat

5:45 AM BS small BM

8:30 AM Med BM small BS

10:30 AM Small BM watery

4:45 PM small BS

8 PM BS

10 PM BS

11/29 Sunday

4 AM BS

9 AM BS small BM

10 AM x-Lrg BM

2 PM BM watery

4:30 PM BS

10 PM BS

11/30 Mon

7:15 AM BS + Med BM

9 AM Med/Lrg BM

12 PM tiny BM watery

7:30 PM BS

10 PM BS

12/1 Tues

6 AM BS

8:40 BS small BM

11:30 AM BS small BM

3 PM BS

5:30 PM BS

7:30 B

12/2 Wed

7:30 AM BS small BM

8:30 AM BS Large BM

3:30 PM  BS Small BM

5:45 PM BS

6:30 PM  BS

10 PM BS

 

Aloha Healings 11/18/2015

 ‘Ole Kû Kolu
Welehu 18

We took the boys to the beach the other weekend. Beautiful, warm fall day with no crowds. While watching the surfers, thoughts of jealousy arose. “I could have surfed that wave better.” “Why are claiming that wave, you didn’t do anything?”

I realized that these thoughts were spoiling a beautiful day with my family. Just then, I saw my youngest son running up the beach away from a breaking wave, screaming his lungs out with joy. I couldn’t help but smile.

I decided to step into sympathetic joy with everyone and everything around me. I felt the freedom and thrill of the seagulls skimming the water. I experienced the beginner’s mind of surfers learning how to stand up and turn their longboards. Suddenly, everything became a launching pad for joy and excitement.

Later, I made an intention to only have two responses to any interaction with another sentient being–sympathetic joy or compassion.

I have been practicing this new form of relationship with others for over a week now, and I am amazed at how wonderful, peaceful, and intimate life has become. When someone is rude to me, I step into compassion for their suffering. When someone is overjoyed, I share their jubilation. I can’t think of a better way to go through life.

I noticed that our shitzu, Skye, lives life like this. When one of my sons is crying or whining, Skye howls sympathetically. When we are laughing or excited, Skye barks or runs around in circles feeding off our joy.

Skye reminds me of a poem that has been circulating around mindfulness circles:

If you can sit quietly after difficult news…

If in financial downturns you remain perfectly calm…

If you see your neighbors travel to favorite places without a tinge of jealousy…

If you can happily eat whatever is put on your plate…

If you can love everyone around you unconditionally…

If you can always find contentment just where you are…

You are probably..

A dog.

Diet

Been really enjoying the combinations of veggies that I have been experimenting with. I bought some sauerkraut and made some veggie fajita and sauerkraut sushi the other day. I also made some yummy kale, red pepper, and black bean quinoa that I wrapped in lettuce leaves.

Exercise

Everyday I seem to be getting stronger and stronger. In my morning movements I do a kind of chair pose called “punahou” (young spring). I have been holding this pose longer and longer every week.

A friend gave me a hug over the weekend and said that even though I haven’t gained any weight, my body has a different “texture.” He said that when I first started the juicing, fasting, and eating an all-vegetable diet, he got frightened when he hugged me because I was so skinny and frail. Now he feels strength and health when he hugs me.

Relationships

Practicing mudita (sympathetic joy) and karunâ (compassion) has done wonder for all my relationships. Even while listening to the breaking reports about the terrorist attacks in Paris, all I could feel was compassion for both the victims and the attackers.

Spirituality

Had an interesting moment when I saw lots of tiny stars all around while sitting in the break room at work. My father-in-law said that is what chi looks like, but I’ve never experienced it indoors before.

Kūkae (BM)

11/7

7:30 AM Extra large BM (maybe biggest ever) BS

11 AM Med/Small BM

4:30 PM Small BM BS brown

6 PM BS

8 PM small BM BS

11/8

12 AM tiny BS

6:30 AM BS

9:10 AM Small BM BS

10 AM Tiny BS

12 PM Tiny BS

6:30 PM BS

8 PM BS Small BM

9 PM BS

11/9

1 AM BS

6:30 PM BS Small BM

8 AM Large BM BS

10 AM Large BM little B

1 PM Med BM BS

5 PM BS

6 PM BS

11/10

6:30 AM Blood and sediment with small BM

7:30 AM Large BM BS

9 AM Large BM

2:20 PM Blood

6:30 PM BS

7:30 PM Blood and Sediment.with small BM

11/11

Lost data card

11/12

6 AM BS Large BM

8:30 AM Watery small BM

6 PM BS

9:00 PM BS

11/13

7 AM Tiny BS Med/Lrg BM

8:40 AM BS brown

9:30 AM BS brown

4 PM BS

7 PM BS

11/14

8:40 AM Med BM

1 PM Med BM

6 PM small BM BS

8 PM BS

9:30 PM BS

11/15

6:30 AM BS Small BM

7:30 AM BS Small BM

5:20 PM BS

9:30 PM BS Small BM

11/16

6 AM tiny BS Med BM

8 AM Lrg BM

10:11 AM Med BM

12:45 PM Med/Lrg BM tiny B

2 PM Small BM

3:30 PM Small/Med BM

7 PM BS

10 PM BS

11 PM BS

11/17

1 AM BS

6:15 AM BS

7:15 AM BS Large BM

9:10 AM Small/Med BM Little BS

6:30 PM BS

7:30 PM BS

8:30 PM BS

10 PM BS

11/18

3:30 AM BS

6:30 AM Tiny BS Large BM

7 AM Large BM

8:30 AM Small BM

9 AM Sm/Med BM

9:40 AM Small BM

3:20 PM tiny tiny sediment

8 PM BS

9 PM BS

Aloha Healing 9/22/2015

Huna
Māhoe Hope 22

I appreciate all the love and comments I have been getting on this blog. I agree that I really need to delve into my relationship with my mother. I will write about this after I have a heart to heart with her–I promise.

I had a day that had little to no conflict in it. We are taking our sons out of a Chinese Language Immersion school and putting them into a normal elementary school. Jett was crying that he doesn’t want to leave his friends. I tried to be compassionate and let him feel his grief. We ended up getting to Beryl’s apartment late and she was not happy. I tried not to react and was able to drop the boys off without an argument.

It feels good to have an entire day without conflict. I’m even finding that I don’t get upset with drivers, litterbugs, and unscrupulous people. Someone stole Fox’s bike today, but I didn’t look down on the thief. I guess they needed the bike or the money more than we did.

Diet

Ate the veggie sushi and split pea soup leftovers today. For some reason, I had a lot of gas today. Not sure if it is the daikon or too much alkalinity in the body from all the alkaline water I have been drinking.

I realized today that besides Apex,Mangosteen, and psycho/spiritual practices, I’m not really doing any cancer treatments. Diet is not necessarily a cancer treatment. I need to start regularly applying powerful cancer treatments. I’m going to make an intention to start these treatments in the next week.

Exercise

Again, I did early morning prayers and movements. I’m feeling more flexibility in my hips and hamstrings. My body is very skinny, but tone. I did my exercises, dropped the boys off at school, worked 5 hours, and still had some energy in the afternoon.

Relationships

Like I said, not much conflict today. We’ll see how many days I can keep this up.

Spirituality

Been having some bizarre and vivid dreams lately. The funny thing is that my body doesn’t get involved. I used to have dreams about fighting or surfing, and my body would get all tense. I would even grind my teeth. The other night I had a dream about having to fight my high school friend to the death and I didn’t tense up at all. I ended up running away and jumping down a building into a prison, but I still didn’t get tense in the body.

Same thing goes for semi-erotic dreams. I have to say that my sex drive is really low. I don’t even wake up with morning wood. I’m not trying to be graphic, but I want to document any possible symptoms or reactions I’m having to this dis-ease and the treatments. Perhaps a low protein, sugarless diet is lowering my libido.

Kūkae (BM)

Just when i thought I was entering a pattern??? Today, I had a lot of bleeding and sediment throughout the day. I am aware that we are entering a new phase of the moon from ‘ole pau to huna. Not sure if that is a factor. Trying to be patient.

I also stopped taking the cod liver oil because I want to get a urine sample to do an assessment of my treatment and excess vitamin D messes with the test. I will get the sample on Thursday and get back on cod liver later that day.

Aloha Cancer 9/9/2015

Kāne
Māhoe Mua 9

Woke up this morning and headed to the Keaiwa Heiau (Hawaiian temple) above Aiea on O`ahu. I entered the heiau to do my prayers and exercises with the rising sun and crowing roosters. Such a gift. After meditating for a while, I did some qigong walking around the heiau and noticed the waning crescent moon in line with the rising sun in the east.

Then when exiting the heiau, I learned that this heiau was for kahuna lapa`au (Hawaiian medicine men). They gathered herbs and plants and made them into medicine at this heiau. Lots of healing energy stretching back thousands of years.

Later, I met a Kumu Hula (Hula Teacher) who told me that the name of the heiau was one of her favorite words in Hawaiian. Āiwaiwa means “inexplicable, mysterious, marvelous, strange, amazing, fantastic, fathomless, incomprehensible, wonderful because of divinity.” What an amazing word. Wouldn’t it be great if we lived our lives āiwaiwa?

Diet

Had a great raw, vegan meal at Greens and Vines restaurant in downtown Honolulu. The Living Lasagne was tasty and filling. Talked to Chef Sylvia afterwards and she gave me some tips on how not to get bored with a raw diet. “Cook 1/4 portions and experiment with flavors and seasonings.” Great advice, since twice I have made almond hummus and ended up dumping 1/3 of it because it spoils or I get bored of it.

Exercise

Besides morning exercises at the heiau, I swam in the ocean at Ala Moana Beach Park. Water was salty, so it floated me without having to do much!

Relationships

Had a long talk with a friend who is counselor for elementary school children in Hawaii. We talked about compassion, boys, and the struggles boys have with compassion and school. It felt great to reconnect with someone after years of absence only to find out that we are on the same wavelength.

Missing Beryl and the boys. They call and tell me they love me. “Can I go to the heiau?” asked 5 year old Fox. So cute and inspiring.

Also, connected with two teachers at the Still and Moving Center where I am giving the workshop. They gave me support in my choice to heal from the dis-ease in an alternative way. It feels good to have support from near strangers on such a monumental decision.

Spirituality

Went to go buy a Hawaiian music Cd, only to find a cool bookstore that had tons of old books about Hawaii and Hawaiian spirituality. So much wisdom on this island. I learned a new ‘ōlelo no‘eau (Hawaiian wise saying): e puka aku me kāu mau makana–“emerge with your gifts.”

Or as Pono Shim says, “if you would honor us with your gift, we would hold it as valuable. Nothing was too big, nothing was too small; every gift was important. Everyone was valuable.” Reminds me that everyone has gifts to give and receive. This saying reminds me to be open to both giving and receiving.

For me this blog is both giving and receiving. I receive so much from every comment, yet many of the comments thank me for writing. 🙂

BM

Very little blood today. More green and brown than red. Sorry about the details, but I’m really trying to track any signs of change or healing. Had lots of energy throughout the day with swimming, socializing, reading, and driving. I did add a supplement rich in anti-oxidants this morning. Not sure if that made a difference.

Healing Cancer With Aloha

How ancient Hawaiian wisdom can help heal a modern epidemic.

–––

“No, No, No, you can’t refuse treatment; you have cancer,” the doctor was shaking his forefinger at me.

“I understand, but chemo, radiation, and surgery don’t feel right to me,” I explained.

The doctor shook his head and turned his palms toward the ceiling.

What this doctor didn’t understand is that I have always believed that there are many paths to healing. Refusing conventional Western medicine is not a death sentence in my eyes. In fact, it is one of the most healing things I can do for my body and my family.

I see this dis-ease as a message from my ancestors that I have some cleaning to do. What follows is my five prong approach to healing cancer with Hawaiian spirituality.

1. Wai

Wai means water in Hawaiian. Wai is sacred in Hawaii. Traveling thousands of miles across the Pacific ocean, Hawaiians knew that without water, survival was bleak. One of my friends told me about a colon cleanse that a Kahuna named Auntie Margret Machado used to host. The one thing my friend remembers is that “they had to drink choke (lots of) sea water.”

One theory about cancer claims that cancer grows due to dehydration, so I’m trying to flood my body with wai. I try to drink at least a gallon of spring water everyday. I also juice as much as possible, turning my meals into liquid.

2. Hâ

Hâ in Hawaiian means breath or more specifically “the breath of life.” Aloha means to be in the presence of “the breath of life” or the Divine. Using Aloha to heal from dis-ease involves breathing deeply into the Divine. I do a number of deep breathing practices from meditation to swimming.

Research shows that cancer is anaerobic and can’t survive in oxygen rich environments. Oxygenating one’s blood with deep breathing helps the body fight the cancer.

My friend’s father, who was an MD, was diagnosed with terminal cancer in the 1970s. Rather than do chemo and radiation, he chose to strap on a scuba tank and dive 20 feet under water off the coast of Hawaii. He would sit under the water for 20 minutes breathing the oxygen rich mixture. His cancer went into remission much to the amazement of the doctors at the time.

Unfortunately, I’m not a certified scuba diver, so I’m taking a supplement called Apex that uses nano-silver particles to oxygenate the blood.

3. Ho`oponopono

Most people who’ve heard of ho`oponopono are familiar with “Self-I-dentity” ho`oponopono popularized by Joe Vitale. Although I continue to clear my subconscious by repeating “I love you; thank you; thank you” over and over, I’m using a more traditional form of ho`oponopono to heal this dis-ease in my body.

In Hawaiian healing, they don’t just ask where it hurts and what you ate; they ask who you were with and what you said. In ancient times, a family would sit down and ho`oponopono a ma`i (sickness). facilitated by a kahuna (medicine man) or kupuna (elder). Unfortunately, there are not too many kahuna around, so I’m gathering my family members to have a healing session to clear any negative energy that might be lingering between us.

One of the greatest gifts of this diagnosis is that my family, who would never agree to sitting in a circle to talk about emotions, have consented to participate if it will help heal the tumor in my guts.

4. `Olu`Olu

I’ve always taken my body for granted. Actually, I’ve been pretty abusive to my body. When I used to surf, I would pull into waves that I knew I had no chance of making. It stroked my ego, but it thrashed my skin, limbs, and bones.

Even as a meditator, I would force myself to sit through excruciating pain in order to maintain the semblance of equanimity. This disease has made me realize that my body is my temple, so I’m taking care of it like it is a child. In Hawaiian, the term `olu`olu means to be gentle. If I am to heal this dis-ease, I need to be gentle with my na`au (guts) where the tumor is. I’ve cut all sugar, meat, bread, alcohol, and dairy from my diet. I nurture my intestines with fresh fruits and vegetables, freshly squeezed juices, and lots of water.

I also spend time each day rubbing my belly and telling it that I love it. My approach to the tumor is to kill it with kindness, not to poison it or cut it out. I feel that if I can heal in this manner, then I am getting to the source of the dis-ease and not just curing the symptoms.

5.`Âina

During meditation, I realized that my body is simply reflecting the state of the `âina (land). If you think about it, our planet has colorectal cancer–there is too much unprocessed waste that is poisoning the whole. A Chinese medicine doctor told me that this condition I’ve been diagnosed with comes from too much heat in the body. The earth also has too much heat that we call global warming.

The Hawaii state motto is “Ua mau ke ea o ka `aina i ka pono,” which translates to “the life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.” I see this dis-ease as a challenge for me to be pono (righteous) in order to save the land and my body.

Pono doesn’t really have the religious connotations of righteousness. I translate pono as being in alignment with the Divine. Lately, I’ve been actively trying to get in line with nature. I walk barefoot on the ‘âina, hug trees, swim in the ocean, and try to get as much sunshine without wearing sunscreen as possible.

I don’t know what all these practices will do to the tumor inside of me, but I do know that they have already brought me in alignment with my ancestors, my family, my friends, my sons, and the Divine. In a way, this diagnosis has been the greatest gift I have ever received.

Photo: flickr.com/brian talbot