Hanakahi is a section of Hilo, Hawaii, and the name of a chief who stood as a symbol of profound peace. Hanakahi literally means single task. Dancing the hula is always a single task, as the body's movements unite with the mind and heart. I see Hula as the oneness of energy and calmness. How wonderfully similar to Zen practice which includes everything while doing one thing at a time, keeping a single focus. It's June, my favorite month. This morning we sat early morning meditation outside on the Japanese Zen garden deck. The air's warmth reminded me of a Hawaiian morning - gentle and calm. During the second half I did a slow walking meditation on the Pa Hula (mound). Light dew clung to the generous grass, abundant after a very rainy weekend. I walked mindfully, feeling the moist grass and its roots, with the soles of my feet. Every now and then I'd see tiny bugs flying from blade to blade. I made sure not to step on them. The earth, cool to the touch at first, warmed up as I slowly circled the lower mound again and again. Glancing up I saw my friend, the old elm tree, clothed in beautiful shades of moss green. Two young gray squirrels chased each other, scampering around the elm's trunk and then invented new games. Birdsong filled the air. We had a 3-day silent retreat last weekend - a wonderful way to see and feel the oneness of life. A participant who had an attic room, facing the old oak tree in the front yard, saw over 10 varieties of birds in that tree such as a Magnolia Warbler, Ruby Crowned Kinglet, Brown Creeper, Black-capped Chicadees, robins and cardinals. He heard the screech of a Common Nighthawk in the evenings and saw Chimney Swifts darting around. He glimpsed a Cooper's hawk on the last day. How heartening to know that there are still many varieties of birds in Chicago - different than the tropical birds of Hawaii - yet beautiful. On the second day of the retreat we did the Practice of Immediacy developed by Nicolee McMahon. The practice doesn't create an art product - rather it utilizes different art and musical mediums to express what arises from the stillness and silence of meditation. Something happens when you sit silently for ten hours over two days. Extraneous things fall away and creative intuitions focus and clarify. A Hawaiian chant I started working with 4 years ago and had sat aside, called strongly to me and I worked with it again to my great joy and excitement! All this reminded me of Ho'omanawanui - an expectation I have for my self and my hula students. Ho'omanawanui means to be patient. Patience always serves you well in the worst situations - the very situations that are the best teachers of patience. Another important way to learn patience is through such disciplines as hula and meditation. In hula you must practice the different foot and hand movements to a dance over and over as the body and mind learn it. It takes patience to set a schedule and keep at it. Being patient includes patience and kindness to yourself as your body slowly learns the movements and your mind and heart join it as one. Malama pono (take care of body, mind and heart), June Kaililani Tanoue Kumu Hula | 
