Save local studios.

Many of us join an independent fitness studio because they’re part of the community. You’ll often see other members at the grocery stores or farmers market.

Before each session you’re greeted by someone at the front desk who actually knows your name.

The sign-in process isn’t some key code, app or card swipe, it’s an actual human checking you in for your session. In fact the owners mop floors, restock shelves and manage the website. Why? Because they want to serve their community.

I’m blessed to teach at such a location and have the freedom to add my island heritage into their list of services. I came up with the idea to offer a four part Hula series that includes a soulful practice called, “Umeke Mālamalama” or bowl of light.

The class was fully booked then the governor of Washington state shut down all studios. Mind you, plenty of other stores stayed opened such a as liquor and smoke shops. Why gyms and boutique studios? (Including dance and martial arts.)

So many inconsistencies such as chain stores and fast food are enjoying a profitable season while closures affect small business owners. Schools shut down while daycares are over crowded. From the time of this blogpost eleven (11) studios closed their doors and are out of business.

11 Local Shut-downs

These owners served their community and struggled through the first six months, they were happy to reopen at a smaller capacity. To only succumb to the sad reality that nine months of zero income and a growing lease would be the end.

Many of these shops support other local business and allow them to sell their quality products.

Bottom Line

I’m 100% about being safe and cautious, don’t miss understand, but it should be the same for all businesses. We need to support what is left… we need our small business owners because they are invested into the community.

You can help

Here’s some things you can do to help your local studio…

Instagram, Facebook the owners and leave them an encouraging message. Show love.
Give them a good review on Yelp and Google. Help increase traffic.
Post your testimony. Heartfelt messages are powerful.
Join their online sessions and maintain your membership.

CAUTION: I have to mention one bad apple. I’ve heard of one gym that kept charging their clients during the shutdown and when the member tried to call NO ONE was manning the phones. Yikes.

Last suggestion, you can help them fundraise. The beanie above is made by a lovely yoga member. The sale goes towards a scholarship fund to help people maintain their membership.

So much good in the world and we need to shine a light on it!

I look forward to filling these spaces again but for now I’m content to try their online sessions.

At the end of the day we need to practice good vibes only and remember that LOVE does.

I’m currently working on an online fitness program for Mom’s to help our bodies cope with this world. If you would like more info join my newsletter and I’ll even throw in some digital goodies.

Good Vibes Only

Bonus

I was able to redesign their website and you can visit it here: https://www.solhealthyoga.com Since covid19 it’s been a roller coaster ride due to our State’s leadership. There’s actually a Facebook page dedicated to listing all the businesses that closed due to certain ordinances. (Keep in mind that liquor, marijuana, fast food and other chain stores are thriving.)

If you know a local fitness, wellness, dance or martial arts studio that needs website help you can send them here https://www.hoomalamalama.com/design I’m doing free assessments during January 2021.

PEACE Be The Journey

Supercharge Your Body With Tea

Weather’s changing and we should all drink more tea 🍵. My goal of this post is to convince one person to invest in quality, preferably loose leaf, tea.

TWO CATEGORIES

Before I share my list of benefits, know that I view tea in two categories: physical health and emotion health.

PHYSICAL HEALTH

The herbs benefit your digestive system, improves circulation and boost your immune system. In many holistic homes you’ll find a tea cabinet dedicated to wellness.

EMOTIONAL HEALTH

Tea is a ritual unto itself causing you to pause. Within a stressful environment tea-time offers a unique opportunity to create a ritualistic experience of relaxation.

POINTS IF INTEREST

The term, “You get what you pay for” applies to teas. So keep that in mind when shopping for your tea stash. Speaking of stash I had the opportunity of visiting Steven Smith Tea in Portland, Oregon. My friend Jackie took my sister and I for a special excursion. He created several tea brands including TAZO which was purchased by STARBUCKS.

Imagine walking into the Mecca of tea shops. The variety, blends and presentation was elevating to my senses. It was lovely.

INVEST IN THINGS THAT INVEST IN YOU

Their main building houses both a distribution center and tasting spaces. I was excited to try their Matcha & Ginger Latte which had an energetic taste. Matcha is known to improve attention, memory and reaction time. It’s caffeine and L-theanine, can improve brain function.

Then I tried a Masala Chai which contains an impressive collection of spices such as ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and black pepper. Many are used in Ayurveda treatments for digestive issues. I asked for hemp milk and it was delicious. (As I reflect on the drink it might have been almond milk. Lol)

However the winner of the best-in-show category belongs to their Chocolate Enfleurage Flight purchased by my sister. It’s a pairing of three blends and matching chocolates. A fit-foodies paradise!

The basic truth is that organic teas have so many health benefits. You can find them at your local grocers or online.

TEAS ARE PERFECT FOR

JOINT RECOVERY
PRE-WORKOUT
POST-WORKOUT
ENERGY BOOST
RELAXATION
CLARITY BOOST
HEALTHY GUT

This is my work station while I enjoy my tea and schedule my classes. If you’re ever in Portland I suggest you visit Smith Teas and enjoy the flavors, here’s their menu.

If you’re near the Olympia, Washington I’m co-teaching a fundraiser September 29, 2019 Join the events list here. PEACE Be The Journey

Fit 2 Paddle

From April – June I started conditioning classes to get paddlers ready to pull. Every year different tribes from the PNW host an annual Canoe Journey. This year it was Lummi.

On this particular 5:30 am sunrise we connected our minds to the 4-hour paddle ahead. It was exciting & overwhelming at the same time. Below are my thoughts on conditioning the mind…

BREATHE – Sometimes we overthink the situation. To put it into perspective it’s not 4-hours but one dig at a time. [To “dig” is to put the paddle in the water a pull your canoe through.]
FEEL – Connect with the joy and excitement of others & allow that to feed your motivation while squashing any doubt.
DO – You’ll never know what’s possible until you try.

On this particular part of the journey I had the privilege to paddle with my two oldest children. They were ready! In fact this was their pre-paddle schedule…

2x’s Week 6am Walk/Run
2x’s Week a 60min STRONG Session
2x’s Week Culture Lessons

When we lifted the cedar canoe into the water the sky greeted us with a few sun rays and a rainbow. Unfortunately I didn’t capture the rainbow but it was totally there.

We paddled from Port Of Tacoma to Alki Beach in Seattle. It was beautiful!!! Especially when we stopped on one of the islands for stacks & a quick toilet break.

My personal favorite was the lighthouses along the way. They inspire me to live simple and be the light in a dark world.

Vashon Island was so generous to host us for a 30min break. Each tribe was able to get refreshments & use the much needed toilets. 🙂

SEATTLE!!!

The best way to enjoy our shores is to paddle along it, almost as if you’re becoming one with nature. Remember to ALOHA ALWAYS https://www.hoomalamalama.com

Food & Fitness, Why it matters.

I’ve heard the comment, “You can eat whatever you want, as long as you burn off the calories.”

Not true!

To, loosely, quote JJ Virgin, “We’re a society of sugar burner(s) not FAT burner(s).”

We’ve been programmed that sugar is energy & fiber, like prunes, give you diarrhea. So we consume sugar filled energy drinks and avoid fiber at all cost. We actually think iceberg lettuce is healthy, but its soul purpose is to hold your dressing.

5 Tips for Food & Fitness REVOLUTION

1. Start with a food journal.2. Cut out food & fitness images that inspire you. Glue them in your journal or in my case I use a DIY Make Mahalo Planner.3. Draw, doodle or write your daily focus. Mine is, “Walk In Beauty.”4. Look for food & fitness inspirations. Here’s my food & fitness boards. Also allow yourself to be inspired, I share mines here. 5. Create a menu & make it happen. Schedule your fitness sessions & ask someone to hold you accountable.

Start simple, slow & steady.

I’m including a YouTube vid by JJ Virgin. I appreciate how she’s speaking out & educating America about our food & fitness perception.

If you’d like to build accountability around your food & fitness goals, connect with me on Instagram.

WholisticFit Blogpost:

PEACE Be the Journey

How STRONG is your WHY?

Living fit is only part of the journey, having a holistic life brings every facet of your BEing into balance. And balance isn’t perfection it’s grounding. Which leads me to the title, “How STRONG is your WHY?”

This journey called life is meant to challenge your WHY, but if you lack foundation & balance then your WHY will crumble under the weight of L-I-F-E. So let’s talk about your why as in why live healthy, holistic & happy.

Do you deserve healthy, holistic & a happy existence? None of us deserve or are entitled to it but we can earn it. I once heard a wise elder say,

You were given the gift of life, now you have to earn your living.

In other words we don’t wake up winding a dial that’s attached to our heart. The heart has its own intelligence, that’s the gift of life. Yet how we take care of our hearts is an example of us earning a living.

Your why is the emotional connection between appreciating the gift and earning it. It’s your anchor ⚓️ into everything you do. This is the secret sauce to having a powerful why, the type that moves mountains. [That’s why I’ve created the MERMAID e-news to stay connected.]

I started this blog to encourage my sister through stage-4 cancer and one of the harshest chemo treatments, confessed by the nurses, they’ve ever heard of. You can read my why here but to summarize we did a complete 180• and changed everything.

Somewhere in the mix they wanted to remove her uterus because that’s where the cancer was. It started as a molar pregnancy that spread into bladder and lungs. However after a combination of modern, ancient & holistic therapies she was deemed cancer free by her doctor. While looking at her X-ray he & the nurse said it was one of the most beautiful uterus they’ve ever seen.

Q: What was her why?

A: That’s simple her children.

Q: But I’ve heard that before. So what made her why so different?

A: The energy she put behind it!

Q: Did she do it alone?

A: No, she incorporated a team & consciously surrounded herself with love.

Q: Is it safe to assume that her why needed help?

A: Yes, all of us will face moments when our why requires a little boost. That’s when we enlist the energy of others to carry us through. This can be emotional support, teachings or reading something to encourage us.

I’m excited to announce that I will be going full-time into my WholelisticFit coaching helping other women regain the power of their why and thrive.

Which brings me to another announcement: My sister just gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Both a miracle and a confirmation of our Spiritual foundation.

I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken…

My husband adoring a bundle of grace, mercy & unconditional love. [ALOHA] I’m sharing this, very private, moment with you to encourage YOU, yes YOU. Miracles do happen! You have all the resources, tools and knowledge at your fingertips. All you have to do is put energy behind your why.

I took a snapshot of the scenery outside of the birth center & tons of baby pictures. But the purpose of this blog isn’t to show off my nephew, it’s to testify to the power of WHY.

There are steps to connect to your why.

I’ve grown to understand and appreciate the process of reconnection. And I was also grateful that my sister allowed me to coach her even in the delivery room.

There in the delivery room both her life and babies life faced hurdles. My sister’s body had grown tired and weak. The midwife’s assistant was concerned because her water broke, baby was in the birth canal but her push wasn’t strong enough. Meanwhile a host of family members stood in prayer.

We all go through moments of doubt, which is why a coach is so important.

And then I spoke, “You can and will do this because your Savior has brought you this far and HE can do anything but fail. Stop fidgeting and use the contraction to push baby out! Short sips of air into your nose then exhale him out.”

See him in your arms and send your energy there.

Sometimes we have to refocus our why.

Partner with a coach that can see your potential, remind and hold you accountable. It’s their job to ignore the excuses and condition your mind for excellence.

This is the type of WholisticFit coach I’ve become. Through trials and personal tribulations becoming a student to the teachings of L-I-F-E. My goal is to connect women to their power of why which is MANA WAHINE. Women of power. This power doesn’t stand alone, it’s a culmination of experiences. The life lessons taught overtime from one generation to another.

Seasons of change… for the better.

I’ve enjoyed blogging here and I feel that it has become a testimony to the circle-of-life. [Enter the Lion King theme.]

Through this blog I’ve shared, stirred the mind & supported a place of growth. And now it’s time to open my arms to the future of sister-hood. Create a virtual space of excellence. I hope you will transition with me and become a MERMAID to receive my e-news. Also I’ll be posting on my blog WholelisticFit regularly and creating content for women who pave the way. I look forward to seeing you there.

PS: As a sweet parting gift here’s a 60min course I created called BALANCED BEAUTY. Use is in good health and share the link with others. PEACE Be the Journey.

3 Changes 2 Better

I’m always learning and processing. Especially when confronting uncomfortable change. When I first started teaching STRONG By Zumba® I was way out of my league, but I wanted change.

Being a mother of seven [7] I didn’t want to look like I gave birth to seven. I wanted to be healthy enough to play soccer ⚽️ with them. Hike and create an active lifestyle.

My goal was to embrace where I was and suffer through the workout, to be STRONG. Happily, I no longer suffer through the workout because my body is conditioned to flow with it.

Here’s what I did in info-pic form…

[PS: Comment if you want to dive into a life changing experience of your own.]

Get my post: How to get over a fear-of-success. You can expect a questionnaire and resources. Start living your fit life today.

5 Tips to Vision. [Fitness Edition]

I host a booth at my local farmers market and for years people would ask me, “What do you do?” And I use to have trouble answering it. Yes I’m creative and I make stuff but I’m also a mother, blogger, fitness professional, foodie, nature lover and many more descriptive words. One day I decided to glue it all down. Literally.

The idea was to gather all these descriptions and match them up with images. To create a cohesive vision board. [What is vision?] Vision, my definition, is the ability to project what you desire.

Here are 5 Tips To Vision [Fitness Edition]

Start with self discovery. What kind of lifestyle do you want? How do you want to feel & look in 1, 2 or 3 years? What do you like to do for fun that involves movement?
Search for inspiration. Look for magazines, blogs or Pinterest for image and words. Magazines are my favorite because you can do part 3 with them.
Collect words and images that inspire you. Cut and glue them on art paper. I use water color paper because it can handle the weight of the glue without warping. I also use decoupage glue instead of a glue stick.
Display your creation in a prominent place. Be proud of the work you did and look at it often. It will motivate you when times get rough.
Create or modify a new one as needed. We are in constant change. Our cells are regenerating and so much goes on in our daily lives. If an old vision board isn’t serving you than create a new one.

I created several versions of vision. A flat poster to display on the fridge and an accordion styled vision board. The one above usually lives by my windowsill. It’s one of my favorite things to look at because it has so many elements that I enjoy.

For an added bonus I did this excercise with my children and they loved it. The cork board above was an Ohana, family, project. My kiddos cut out images that they wanted and I arranged it in a snug design to reveal our idea of Ohana health.

Goals and dreams are all laid out for me to revisit often. I truly enjoyed doing this and I hope you try it out. The whole process is to align what you see with what you desire. If you want a healthy body than make sure to add images that support it. NOT a model or someone else’s body but things that will support your journey. For example: I want to loose 20lbs and like to hike; I’ll find images of trails and nature.

Need help organizing your thoughts and creating a schedule click here.

Want to be apart of my virtual class and need more info, comment below. I’ll be working with several individuals online to plan, create, schedule & do.

What you see in this blogpost is part of the fun process. PEACE Be the Journey.

What is WholisticFit?

Have you ever experienced something that completely changed your perspective? I’m sure you have and will probably go through many more shifts in your lifetime. That’s what 2015 was for me… a total shift. Then came 2016, a year of learning. I took classes, eCourses, read a ton of books, watched a load of YouTube videos and magazine articles about holistic living. Finally 2017 came around and PAUSE!!!!

Information can turn into junk if not used or shared with others and I was in over-load. Too much stuff in my head and now comes the fun part… organizing that knowledge into useful segments and categories. Sounds ubiquitous (sigh) but it can be a tiny bit overwhelming. So I’m starting simple.

WholisticFit: The idea that one should practice many forms of fitness to benefit the whole being. Fitness for the MIND, BODY & SOUL.

I strongly believe that we spend a lot time connecting fitness to our bodies and neglect the rest of our being. Too often we view ourselves in one dimension but we are so much more. I once read a description of a diamond and how every facet is unique. It’s one gem with many significant angles. In our case we are one body with many different layers. [Shrek was right about layers.]

We all need to live holistic in a way that will bring harmony to ourselves and surroundings. This will take practice, lots and lots of practice. In my personal experience I’ve noticed that it will blossom from [fairy dust sound effect] having a PLAN.

Which is why I created a one hour online workshop with printable to make sure you have the right plan working with you. It’s a free session that is followed by easy to understand prompts. You’ll uncover your Food, Fit & Fun emoji. Seriously. And you should be able to create an outline for future Food, Fit & Fun schedules in your planner. I also take time to share with you ideas to boost your Self-Care regime. Yes, spending quality self-care time is so important but often overlooked.

If you don’t like where you are, make a PLAN to change it, one task at a time. Then stick to it! Believe in the process and invest in YOU.

PLAN for YOU.

Want to take the workshop? Luckily I have the link: http://www.wholelisticfit.com and you’ll also see my new website. It’s still in creation mode but I like how it’s turning out. In fact I’m creating a blog post called: 5 Benefits of living holistic – Mom, Dad and Child Edition on WholisticFit.com and I’m opening a NEW fitness class just for Moms at a dance studio. I’ll be running a full program which is food & fitness coaching, so excited!

If you want to see what my Zumba life looks like, here’s a snippet from #zincon 2016.

I mentioned earlier that I’m breaking it down to three segmented list; mom, dad and child. However that will be on WholelisticFit.com but I want to share my top 5 general benefits.

MIND – A strong mind is 80% of the work. Exercise with reading or projects that are positive. Daily affirmations or scripture reading is super beneficial.
BODY – A healthy body will out perform everyone else. While promoting oxygen and circulation to the brain. Not to mention that this prevents a ton of poor life-style diseases.
SOUL – A nurtured soul is able to handle all the twist and turns that life may throw at you. Exercise through meditation, music, art journaling or basically any creative activity.
NATURE – A well kept environment rewards you with fresh air, and that’s pretty much a major incentive. Make time to give some TLC, tender loving care, to nature in the form of picking up random trash or recycling. There isn’t a physical reward for this one, its more intrinsic.
ETERNAL – A happy connection to your idea of eternity will dictate how you value life. Exercising your eternal muscles looks a little like this: Giving to others without expecting anything in return. Your gift is a seed, perhaps one you might not harvest but can become beneficial for generations to come. Think about inventions someone gave to humanity which we benefit from today. A positive outlook made that gift possible and their Eternal Muscle stronger.

Don’t forget to start your WholelisticFit plan. I’ll include the link on the image below.

5 Reasons to Start a Fitness Revolution!

Maybe “Revolution” is a bit heavy of a word to use.

But that’s what it feels like. It feels like you have to amp people up to move. Motivate others to join the wellness movement, after all this is a worthy cause. So why not start a revolution and wave a flag of wellness over the nation? Well, let’s at least begin in our homes.

Aging gracefully is a worthy cause! Being able to use the toilet on my own at 93 is a worthy cause!!!

Working out is a worthy cause but we all need motivation to get this revolution going. All the more reason to try Zumba. I think it’s a great introduction into fitness and can open the door for advancement. It’s the music that motivates me out of a sluggish attitude. The bass does all the work while the treble gets you stepping.

Here’s my FIVE [5] REASONS TO START A FITNESS REVOLUTION

It’s time to overthrow diabetes.
Start a mutiny to obesity’s plans.
Revolt against heart disease.
Cause a rebellion on products that slowly destroys kidneys & liver.
Begin an insurgence against “mis information,” become self-educated about what we consume & how we move. (In other words – be careful of all fads, do your own research.)

My upcoming classes are for Moms because I see their commitments & dedication to their Ohana, family. Often putting their needs last and rarely making time for self-care. My goal is to create a bubble of health and that 1 hour belongs to them. 100%

If you need help setting or creating a food, fitness, fun & self-care plan check out WholelisticFit PEACE Be the Journey & comment below if you’re starting a FITNESS REVOLUTION in your home.

MANA Wahine Fitness