Mondays, 7:00 – 8:00 PM: Rest & Renew Yoga

Reprieve awaits you… Discover resting and calming yoga practices to diminish your physical tension and emotional overload while enhancing your mental clarity and inner peace. Revitalize your immune and neuroendocrine systems via restorative asanas interlaced with centering mindfulness and breathwork. Julie provides modifications for any health concerns.

Wednesday, 4:15 – 5:15 PM: Yoga Therapeutics

Julie gives accessible and practical recommendations for those with health concerns. Having worked in hospital and doctor office settings, Julie knows how to blend Eastern and Western approaches to healing. This class explores an integrative approach to improving your quality of life. Learn how to prevent and decrease discomfort, and to enhance well-being while encouraging improved daily functioning. Julie uses a gentle approach to yoga, providing modifications for all individuals. Sample topics for class include: hips, back, balance, shoulders, sleep, and stress.

Wednesday, 7:00 – 8:15 PM: Anusara-Inspired, Mixed Level Yoga with Guided Reprieve

Anusara implies ‘flowing with Grace,’ ‘flowing with Nature’ and ‘following your heart.’ The Anusara hatha yoga style is founded upon five “Universal Principles of Alignment”: Opening to Grace, Muscular Energy, Inner Spiral, Outer Spiral, and Organic Energy. All of the physical asana (postures) are connected to philosophical aspects of the practice. Anusara is “grounded in a philosophy of intrinsic goodness”. All levels – from a curious beginner to an advanced practitioner – are served in this class by highly experienced Anusara yogini and teacher, Julie Vosters. The class closes with an optional guided reprieve.

Thursday, 12:15 – 1:15 PM: Yoga for the Stiffs

Can’t touch your toes or your nose? This class aims to bring yoga to you, no pretzel body prerequisites. Come as you are. Be encouraged by a mild pace, facilitating self-awareness and assimilation of safe techniques. Develop an informed approach to basic yoga movements for greater flexibility, enhanced range of motion, and freedom from tight muscles. Modifications provided for health concerns and wellness goals.

Julie Vosters, ERYT, Yoga Therapist & Instructor

Meet a yoga teacher and therapist who has been been healing people through therapeutic yoga for over a decade. With kindness and compassion, Julie truly listens to discover each individual’s needs and goals while providing personalized care so they may discover enhanced well-being. With a Bachelor of Science in Art and Psychology, Julie initially worked as a neuropsychological research assistant with the Medical College of Wisconsin. She’s also a lot of fun to be around: she performed internationally as a professional ice show skater with world-renowned ice shows including Disney On Ice.

Thereafter, Julie has gained over 12 years of full-time yoga therapeutic and teaching experience. She’s worked in a variety of settings including schools, health centers, and medical establishments and has provided workshops, retreats, research, and video projects. Julie offers vibrant energy and encouragement to students (4 – 84+ and severely compromised to seriously athletic) who seek greater harmony and vitality.

Mondays 11:00 am – 12:15 pm

This is a practice for anyone who would like to de-stress and re-balance her/his energy, no prior yoga experience or flexibility is necessary. Through a variety of postures supported with props, i.e. chairs, bolsters, blankets and straps we experience a deep relaxation. We move our spine in all directions, alternately stimulating and soothing our bodies organ systems. The effects of gravity are reversed, returning the fluids to our upper body and enhancing heart function. Reducing muscle tension and fatigue, as well as improving digestion, we provide a supportive environment for total relaxation.

Deep relaxation and restoration, will create a sense of renewal, energy and readiness to take on the day and week.

Claudia Castor: Growing up in Europe and traveling throughout the world led Claudia to study and practice yoga in order to encourage a slower and simpler life style. Finding joy and peace through her experience with yoga is what inspired Claudia to begin teaching.

Claudia’s teaching style integrates the functional alignment, core strength, flexibility and balance of Sri T. Krishnamacharya’s classical Hatha yoga lineage as well as the stimulating and creative elements of Kundalini yoga. She also incorporates the heart opening, illuminating, pure love of Bhakti yoga which celebrates life and invites grace to flow. She has extensive training in a variety of lineages, including: Hatha, Kundalini, Tantra, Bhakti, Vinyasa Krama, Zen, Yin as well as the healing science of Ayurveda. Claudia truly enjoys synthesizing all of these wonderful teachings with her own vibrant approach to create unique classes plus individualized private sessions.

with Maya Portner

Wednesdays, 8:30 – 9:30 am starting April 8

Become aware of imbalances in your body and focus on alignment while strengthening and lengthening your muscles, using the specific exercised and principles outlined by Joseph Pilates. Improve spinal column health, promoting overall health and wellbeing.

After suffering from chronic low back pain in her early 20’s, Maya Portner arrived at Pilates from the perspective of sports medicine and rehabilitation. She has practiced the “Pure Pilates” method with Diane Lam contiguously since 2001, and believes strongly that the discipline of Pilates has kept her virtually pain free since that time. Maya has also been a student of Iyengar Yoga for over 15 years, and was fortunate to have visited and observed classes at the Iyengar Institute in Pune, in early 2012. The rigorous focus on alignment, technique and balance that is emphasized both in Pilates and Iyengar Yoga respectively is the reason she has incorporated both practices into her life.

with Sentwali Copela

Tuesdays, 4:15 – 5:15 pm

These classes are designed to rapidly promote health from the inside out; while also allowing the student to form a solid base for any martial arts practice. In these classes students will learn simple beginning movements taken from Chang Quan, also known as Shaolin Long Fist.

Your teacher, Sentwali, refers to this form as Longevity Movements because it promotes health and reverses aging. These moves simply promote healthy qi and blood flow through all of the meridians in the body. The idea is that stagnation is the beginning of disease and aging. These movements will help you with anything you do.

We maintain a long-distance relationship. We have for years.

In the early days we were so close we could hug each other daily.  Time went on and the circumstances of life carried us in different directions, till now we only talk on the phone every few weeks.

What happened?  Our little daughter Sandhya grew up and became a delightful young woman, self-directing in all sorts of wonderful ways.

We knew when we went searching for colleges together that this girl was set on going places in her life. The University of California Santa Barbara, a couple miles from where we had brought her up, didn’t even get an application from Sandhya, and she only checked out a couple colleges in the whole state of California. Hawaii – where Cliff and I were mostly residing at the time – got only a glance of half-hearted interest. Instead Sandhya and I traveled together throughout New England, to Ohio, Washington and Oregon checking out schools. The campus that ended up stealing her heart was Colorado College in Colorado Springs.

Like thousands of island parents, we sent our daughter thousands of miles away for college, our heartstrings taut and stinging with her departure. Off she went to Colorado for her freshman year with a full scholarship that she had earned on merit, brimming with zest to protect the earth as an Environmental Science major. We were happy for her, we had to be, even while knowing how much we would miss her. Every parent who raises their child to be self-sufficient suffers from the success of their efforts.

Along the way of her education, Sandhya spent a summer in Costa Rica working at a sea turtle reserve (yes, she loves honu, too) counting turtle eggs and encountering a jaguar in hunt for the turtles. YES, she is intrepid! In her Junior year, Cliff delivered her to a non-profit organization in northern India with which she had worked out an internship. There for a semester, she helped villagers on the Thar desert of Rajasthan to create water conservation tanks, and taught children sanitation techniques.

To the girls and women of this impoverished area, Sandhya served as a living example of a strong, intelligent woman who had gotten herself an education and gained the independence to travel without her family in a distant land. She met with the women in the village councils and gave speeches when the non-profit organization when on marches to promote water conservation. No one had ever seen a fair-skinned, blue-eyed girl with the Indian name Sandhya – they hung on her every word.

Meanwhile, we shared emails back and forth with a few phone calls scattered in.

Not surprisingly, Sandhya fell in love with a place thousands of miles away from home, and also with a fine man who loved living in Colorado. Honestly, I never expected this adventurous girl to move back home after she left Santa Barbara, and meanwhile Cliff and I had definatively moved the other direction, buying a house in Kaneohe, Hawaii. The physical separation between us became more lastingly established.

Once I started Still & Moving Center, time got exceedingly tight on my end. We were leading parallel lives with Sandhya embarking on her new career as an environmentalist and me embarked on my new career as owner of an international movement studio. We each cheered each other on from afar.

Yet we missed each other more than we knew.

Finally, this Christmas vacation we did something we hadn’t done for years: we made time to hang out. Here on island we spent lots of family time, and she took me for brunch one morning to the Halekulani – deluxe! We even made a trip together to Kauai where we adventured for 3 days. We faced rain that was driving sideways, hiked muddy trails, chased colorful chickens to take portrait shots of them, and discovered a hidden beach. It was glorious just spending mom-and-daughter girl time together. Realizing how much we had been longing for each other’s company, we are planning a road trip from Santa Barbara, CA to Durango, CO in May, and my mom is joining us: triple girl time together!

Sandhya has always said she admires me for being my own person, for creating my vision of a wonderful place with Still & Moving Center. The reality factor is that Sandhya’s mom [that would be me!] spends most of her waking moments and some of her sleeping time focused on her work. If I was Sandhya It would have been an adjustment not to be the center of my mother’s world anymore.   Even though Sandhya is busy leading her own life, she probably feels as if she has to share her mom’s attention with a lot of other people who are in daily contact with her. And vice-versa.

I am realizing how even the strongest, most loving long-distance relationships benefit from sharing the intimate details of everyday life, spending time in each other’s spaces. I love and miss my daughter – you all probably know the feeling with someone in YOUR life. Together in the same house or car or path, she and I can laugh at the same things we are experiencing together, eat each other’s food, and give each other a hug whenever we feel like it.

I just wanted to stop in to tell you in person what an incredible difference to my life these Feldenkrais classes have made. I’ve been in pain that was so debilitating. I’ve had to miss up to a month of work. Feldenkrais has really relieved my pain. Now I’m moving again in ways that I haven’t been able to move for decades…since my twenties! I tried EVERYTHING before: hot needles, physical therapy, Pilates, yoga, Rolfing – you name it – and they’ve each contributed something. But nothing has worked like Feldenkrais has worked. Our teacher Eve is amazing. And I’ve benefited from Eva’s Feldenkrais workshops as well.

It seems unbelievable that something that’s almost effortless can make such a difference. I’m so used to pushing hard to get better. Now I’m just rolling around a little on the floor, and I come out of Feldenkrais with my body feeling completely different and better. I’m much more in touch with my body – I’m more intuitive now about how I can move to feel better.

I really can’t thank you enough for having this great place and offering these wonderful classes. I keep telling all my friends about it! And I just had to come by and tell you.

Ken Smith

with Eva Geueke

Saturdays @ 1:15 – 2:15 pm in May

Workout for legs and core – inspiration for your soul. This fun contemporary dance class will strengthen your core and work and shape your legs, sharpen your memory and inspire your soul. Modern dance is a very sound muscular training. It’s aim is the command of your body so that your soul can more fully express itself thought your physical form. We will also play with choreography at the end of each class.

Eva Geueke is a professional dancer who draws her eclectic and profound knowledge of movement, body and learning from different dance styles, the Feldenkrais Method, Body Mind Centering, Contact Improv Dance Technique, Capoeira and years of experience

with Julie Vosters

Mondays 10:00 – 11:00 am

Discover a gentle and accessible approach to free your range of motion through light stretching and strengthening with the comfort of a stable chair. For ease of your joints, you will move slowly through the movements, with the teacher providing individual modifications for any health concerns. You will breathe in a deeper, more relaxed way. With time for calm contemplation and mindful movement, you will find your thoughts becoming clearer. This class is appropriate for people with compromised balance, gait, or cognition, and those who need to avoid rigorous physical movements. No experience necessary.

Julie Vosters, ERYT, Yoga Therapist & Instructor

Meet a yoga teacher and therapist who has been been healing people through therapeutic yoga for over a decade. With kindness and compassion, Julie truly listens to discover each individual’s needs and goals while providing personalized care so they may discover enhanced well-being. With a Bachelor of Science in Art and Psychology, Julie initially worked as a neuropsychological research assistant with the Medical College of Wisconsin. She’s also a lot of fun to be around: she performed internationally as a professional ice show skater with world-renowned ice shows including Disney On Ice.

Thereafter, Julie has gained over 12 years of full-time yoga therapeutic and teaching experience. She’s worked in a variety of settings including schools, health centers, and medical establishments and has provided workshops, retreats, research, and video projects. Julie offers vibrant energy and encouragement to students (4 – 84+ and severely compromised to seriously athletic) who seek greater harmony and vitality.

Local Hawaiian designer, Lily Lotus, has truly inspiring colors in their summer collection. We are stoked to be carrying it at Still & Moving Center. Organic cotton and bamboo blends make for  great feeling clothes on and off the mat.

Sizes XS – XL

Chakra Tank and  Chakra Pants in Cobalt Blue. Alligator wash capri, tanks and pants. Pictured here is the Amazon/Pinkberry combination in the Ruched 3/4 length Capri. Organic cotton.

Alligator wash in Cobalt Blue and Cora in oraganic cotton caprl. Flowing tank in Bamboo.

Renee., our director, modeliing the Ruched Capri and Flowing Tank at the Still & Moving Center

OK, so I believe everything is alive. Really everything. If I angrily slam a door, all the innocent life-atoms that make up the door and the walls and floor around it are all negatively affected – I’m slowing their evolutionary progress. I believe every speck of the universe is part of a grand journey towards a higher level of consciousness, from the mineral to plant to animal to human stages and beyond.

Human beings have a powerful consciousness. I make a significant impact on the life atoms around me because as a human being, my actions come from a place of self-awareness and deliberate choice. When I chew and digest a carrot in a in a cheerful or peaceful frame of mind, its atoms are furthered on their evolutionary path. [Be sure to catch the final video for visual confirmation of the influence of human consciousness on water molecules]

We have a family friend, Robert, who washes his car almost as vigilantly as he would bathe a child. He never lets it stay dusty and he keeps the interior and engine immaculate.

If I were still a life atom passing through the mineral realm (instead of the human realm that I presently occupy), I certainly would benefit from being part of Robert’s car for a while!

It’s not always easy to figure out how to live by the principle that everything is alive. I’m currently struggling a bit over how to deal with a the big Ganesh statue we shipped back from Bali for the house we’re rebuilding.

When I first saw this red stone carving of one of my favorite Hindu deities, I felt a strong pull of attraction. Many months later, Ganesh made it to Hawaii, then spent more months in his shipping crate.

We have recently encountered a number of snags in our construction process. Since Ganesh is considered the remover of the obstacles, Cliff expedited getting our stone statue into his position at the new house site. We didn’t even have our walls or a roof in place, but never mind, it was time to install Ganesh.

Transporting our heavy Ganesh down the steep, winding driveway and over a concrete
bridge to his new home was no easy feat. He almost tipped over the beefy forklift Cliff was using to transport him, and we had to counter-weight him with a few guys. Did I tell you this Ganesh weighs over a ton? The forklift wasn’t enough, We finally had to resort to using a boom truck to lift Genesh into his place of honor. 

Now Cliff thinks we should have a welcoming ceremony for Ganesh. Hmmm…I’m chewing my lip a bit over this idea. It’s one thing to honor and wish to elevate all the life-atoms that surround us. It’s quite a different thing in my book to go around worshipping idols or trying to buy favors from the gods.

You may be wondering at this point, “Why DO you have all those religious symbols and statues around your house and Still & Moving Center?” Good question to ask someone raised to be a religious sceptic.

To me, symbols from the world’s spiritual traditions are potent reminders. The lovely wooden Kwan Yin in the Still & Moving Center entryway reminds me to have compassion and mercy. At our reception desk the Saint Francis statue holding a little bird evokes love for all creatures. In the Sun & Moon room, the copper Star of David with its upward pointing triangle suggests to me that we should always strive to lift ourselves up, while the interlocking downward triangle tells me to focus and bring down to earth the light from above.

Ganesh represents that aspect of the universe that places obstacles in our way for our own good – kind of like the song, “Thank God for unanswered prayers”. Ganesh also symbolizes the removal obstacles from our path when we are ready to proceed forward. Seeing a beautiful image of Ganesh – like this very serene, grounded statue – helps me to calm down when I don’t get exactly what I want, when I want it. Sometimes I have wait years before I can look back and recognize the good in losing something I loved or in failing to achieve something I wanted. That’s an “Ah-ha!” moment when I realize the Ganesh principle has been at work.

Now back to my dilemma about a ceremony. What shall we do? In India or Bali there would be no question: they’ve got ceremonies down pat.

I was once at a puja, a religious ceremony, at a Hindu temple in California, with a very wise Indian man. When everyone else was offering coconuts, marigolds and ghee to the deity being honored by puja, he offered a half-eaten bag of Dorito chips. Of course! Why not? If all the life atoms of the cosmos are on a grand pilgrimage to becoming more and more conscious, shouldn’t we honor everything in the universe as sacred? Why not Dorito chips? And at the same time, the humor of his action showed me that he really didn’t take the outward ritual of the ceremony too seriously. He certainly wasn’t begging any favors of the deity with that bag of chips!

Thinking of our stone Ganesh and of Robert’s car, I wonder: Is there something different about the fact that the mineral atoms of stone were made into a statue representing a deity rather than the mineral atoms of metal being made into an automobile? Hmmm….I don’t know.

When Robert cleans his car, he doesn’t seem to be praying for any divine concessions from his car – other than the normal hope that it will continue to take him from point A to B. It’s just Robert’s way to care for things. In India there’s a day of the year when the drivers say mantras and honor the rickshaws that they pull for a living. What if Robert views his car as being sacred? Robert takes great care of everything he owns, from his plastic toothbrush to his leather shoes.

Curious, I called Robert this morning and asked, “What are you thinking about, what are you feeling, when you clean your car?”

Robert replied, “Oh, I don’t know. I’m just thanking my car for getting me around safely. And when I clean my shoes, I just thank them for protecting my feet and keeping them warm.”

Gratitude. It’s not an asking for favors. It’s a recognition and appreciation for what we are given. Just gratitude for the things themselves, beyond even the human beings who crafted them. Robert gave me the key to treating every ‘thing’ as being alive.

So whatever sort of welcoming ceremony we may have for our Ganesh statue, I trust that it will be an expression of gratitude. At any moment in time, we can offer thanks to even seemingly inanimate things, appreciating all the little lives that make up the universe around us.
Moving in Stillness and Resting in Joy with you,

 with Krista Hiser, Nia Black Belt
Wednesdays 11:00 am

Nia is the ultimate in efficiency: in one hour, you get a physical workout, a mental re-set, an emotional experience through music, and an energizing connection to your sacred purpose on the planet. It’s a community, workout, dance party, therapy session wrapped into one
amazing hour! Nia is THE 21st century fitness modality!

Experience the magic with Krista this summer: Wednesdays June 17 – August 19.

with Julie Vosters 

Wednesday July 15th – 7:00 to 8:00 PM

One of our first outdoor classes of the Summer!! 

Anusara implies ‘flowing with Grace,’ ‘flowing with Nature’ and ‘following your heart.’ The Anusara hatha yoga style is founded upon five “Universal Principles of Alignment”: Opening to Grace, Muscular Energy, Inner Spiral, Outer Spiral, and Organic Energy. All of the physical asana (postures) are connected to philosophical aspects of the practice. Anusara is “grounded in a philosophy of intrinsic goodness”. All levels – from a curious beginner to an advanced practitioner – are served in this class by highly experienced Anusara yogini and teacher, Julie Vosters. The class closes with an optional guided reprieve. This is an Anusara-inspired mixed level yoga class.

The class will meet at Still & Moving Center at 6:40 and walk to the park together.

with Greg Henry “The Salsaman” 

Fridays 5:45 to 6:45pm

Come enjoy Salsa/Latin movement and dancing with Greg!  He offers interactive instruction for all generations and cultures, a foundation that will provide a celebratory exploration of cultural dance and joy for living life with zest and spirit!

Greg “The Salsaman” Henry AKA Hawai’i Salsa Ambassador began dancing professionally at age 3 in Seville, Espana. At age 6 he moved to San Hose California where his mother a Flamenco Performer had a dance troupe. They performed for several years till his mother learned English after that they performed at private functions until Greg was 18 years old.

Greg went to college then nursing school and joined the army in order to follow a life long dream to move to Hawaii. Once in Hawaii in 1988 Greg danced modern and Techno. He moved back to the mainland for ten years and studied Salsa and Latin dances in San Francisco and San Diego. Returning to Hawaii to live out the rest of his life he discovered the true need for a full time professional Latin Dance instructor. (thanks to the persuasion of his students)

Greg is passionate about giving back to the community, as a result his Hot SalsaTeam teaches at local schools and community centers.They are accredited by the Hawaii State Board of Education and a member of the Hawaii State Dance Council.

Ballet Barre & Conditioning – Wednesdays 4:45 pm

Whether you are a current, retired or wannabe ballerina, or whether you just plain like to be in great dancer shape – this is the class for you! Use ballet movement at the barre and in the center to increase your flexibility, tone the lean muscles, improve your balance and proprioception. You will use the barre for warming up and finding balance before moving to the center. You will especially engage your small, stabilizing muscles, your inner thighs and your upper glutes in class. Brigitte teaches safe ballet jumps in place as well as traveling leaps to provide a cardio workout before stretching out at the barre.

Contemporary Dance Workout – Saturdays 1:15 pm

Workout for legs and core – inspiration for your soul. This fun contemporary dance class will strengthen your core and work and shape your legs, sharpen your memory and inspire your soul. Modern dance is a very sound muscular training. It’s aim is the command of your body so that your soul can more fully express itself through your physical form. We will play with choreography so the soul can more fully express itself through your physical form.

Becky McGarvey is a dancer devoted to sharing her art. Locals have seen Becky most recently in the IONA Contemporary Dance Theatre concert, Dominion, in which she performed highly athletic, technical pieces.

Born in Honolulu, Becky took her first dance class when she was 15 and has been dancing ever since. She received a BFA in Dance from the University of Hawaii and has also studied with the Boston Conservatory. She has danced with Yung Li Dance Company, with Once Upon a Time Inc in New York state, and locally with Divino Ritmo, as well as IONA.

Becky co-founded Spatial Sculptors, Honolulu’s first all compositional and contact improvisation dance company. She has choreographed and danced in pieces for various festivals and events such as Puja, Spring and Fall Footholds, Black Box Black Blocks, First Fridays in Chinatown, and Oahu Fringe Festival.

with Brigitte Kawakami

• Tuesdays, 9:30 am
• Fridays, 9:30 am
• Saturdays 10:00 am

The Feldenkrais method has dramatically changed Brigitte Kawakami’s life. Bebe – as she is fondly called – encourages her students to  “grow younger with Feldenkrais.”

Brigitte was born to a family in Austria, where alpine hiking and downhill skiing were part of their physically active lifestyle. In 1976, Bebe came to the US, and eventually to Hawaii where she  married a wonderful local man.

Crossing the street one day, Brigitte was struck by a car and tossed into the air. After that, she suffered back pain for over 25 years. She tried Rolfing, chiropractic care, Pilates, yoga, and shiatsu massage…all helped, but only for a few days and the pain always came back.

Bebe discovered the Feldenkrais method with Eve Strauss in Honolulu and experienced relief. This led to further study and training with Jerry Karzen on Maui, and after practicing Feldenkrais for 8 months she was pain free. Her studies continued at the main Feldenkrais Institute in Vienna, Austria with Jeremy Krauss, Luci and Carl Ginsberg, and Miriam Pfeiffer. She is now more agile than she was even as a child!

As a Guild Certified Feldenkrais ® teacher herself now, Bebe is dedicated and passionate about the Feldenkrais method. Formerly kindergarten teacher, she is an enthusiastic instructor. She enjoys sharing the Feldenkrais technique in two ways: group classes (formally known as ATM – Awareness Through Movement) and one-on-one sessions (formally known as FI – Functional Integration lessons).

with Julie Vosters

Revitalize your core strength, balance, and range of motion with a complementary blend of techniques from Pilates, yoga, ice skating, and dance. Julie provides energizing variations for all fitness levels. Her modifications safely supporting any physical health concerns. Yoga mat suggested, other props provided during class.

Julie will offering this class on Wednesdays, filling in for Li Si Yung from June 3 to July 1, 2015.

Julie Vosters, ERYT, Yoga Therapist & Instructor

With kindness and compassion, Julie truly listens to discover each individual’s needs and goals while providing personalized care so they may discover enhanced well-being. With a Bachelor of Science in Art and Psychology, Julie initially worked as a neuropsychological research assistant with the Medical College of Wisconsin.

She’s also a lot of fun to be around: she performed internationally as a professional ice show skater with world-renowned ice shows including Disney On Ice.

Julie has over 12 years of full-time yoga therapeutic and teaching experience. She’s worked in a variety of settings including schools, health centers, and medical establishments. She’s done workshops, retreats, research and video projects in her fields of expertise.

Julie offers vibrant energy and encouragement to students – from 4 to 84+,  from severely compromised to seriously athletic – who seek greater harmony and vitality.

We often call our elder son Shankar ‘an animal’. Not exactly a flattering description, when I think about it.

Why do we say that? We mean he has the toughness of a bear…the fierceness of a wolf in the face of danger…the dauntless determination of a loyal dog. Basically, you just can’t stop this guy.

From the moment he was born, this kid has been overcoming adversity. Cliff describes the delivery room that day as a battlefield operating theater with blood everywhere. Let’s just say Shankar fought his way through a not-so-easy entrance into the world!

When I finally got to hold him, he felt like a bundle of live wires, he was so energy-charged.  Later, when we’d open the door into a room where little toddler Shankar was sleeping, we felt a temperature warmer than the rest of the house, just from the body heat he radiated.

At age five, Shankar stopped breathing with his throat swollen closed and the doctor had to yank out his tonsils. The next year, he broke his leg due to a rare bone tumor. It wouldn’t heal, so the surgeon replaced most of Shankar’s fibula with bone from the growth plate of his hip.  Through all that, no physical pain could raise a word of complaint from this tough little guy.

As soon as bone grew back, Shankar flung himself into Little League, basketball and soccer. Whatever he lacked in finesse, he made up for in gusto! At Junior Lifeguards, he won almost every race over sand or through water. In surfing, the bigger the wave, the better.

Shankar’s years from teens through college freshman were no walk in the park. I think he was determined to make his parents as tough as he was, taking us through many a harrowing experience. Talk to me if you ever despair of your child surviving into adulthood.

Out of high school, Shankar seriously considered the military. I told him that although we had brought him up with the Gandhian principles of nonviolence, if he truly believed that he was born to be a warrior, we would support that endeavor. However, I counseled, I was less concerned about the possibility of him being killed than I was about him having to live with the memory of taking someone else’s life. Shankar has always had a good heart – in that way he’s certainly NOT a beast.

Cliff and I suggested that instead of fighting people, he might look into fighting fires. That suggestion evidently resonated, and he tried a few fire science courses at a community college, but his ‘devil may care’ attitude prevented any progress. When his choices became irresponsible, we cut off financial support, and he found himself solely responsible for keeping himself alive, in every sense.

Once Shankar decided to apply his daredevil nature to something worthwhile, he emerged from his dark period. He set his sights high, passed fitness tests with off-the-chart scores, and earned a spot on the elite federal firefighting team, the Hot Shots. For the next 5 summers, he fought wildfires across the country.

During the winter months he came to Hawaii and worked hard drilling into rock faces for our construction company. He continued his exercise regimen, running his first Honolulu Marathon in just 3 hours, unaware that his shoes were soaked with blood. Typical.

When he tried out for the ultra-elite federal smokejumping team, our Beast discovered that physical willpower alone was not sufficient to accomplish his goals. On the first day of training, his stress-induce lack of sleep and extreme over-exertion caused his kidneys to pump dangerous levels of toxins into his bloodstream, landing him into the hospital for 5 days and out of the program.

He paused, he reconsidered. As someone hoping to have a family himself someday, he realized that spending 5 months a year in the backwoods isn’t an ideal line of work.  For the first time in half a decade, he spent a summer doing construction instead of fighting fire, and wondered whether he should shift into steady year-round work in the family business.

The longer he stayed away from firefighting, the more distressed he became about losing his path.  Much as our son loved working with his family, he missed those walls of flame, and the bigger they were, the happier he was. Lolo, dis kid, yeah?

He kept losing sleep at night and had no way of quieting his mind. I told him about a friend of ours, Tony Bonnici, a life coach who teaches Zen meditation. Shankar was desperate enough to try it, and with his usual zeal he applied himself to deep belly breathing and rigorous self-study.  He became calmer and clearer.

His dream job, he realized, would be to live at home year-round, working for an urban fire department near Santa Barbara, California, where he grew up watching firefighters rescue people at the beach.  He also realized he needed a lot more training and experience to achieve his goal.

Shankar the uber-athlete became Shankar the dedicated student. He plowed through his remaining college courses to complete his fire science degree. Then he earned his EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) license. Becoming a paramedic required even more serious study. During all his book-worming, he never quit his normal workouts, such as hiking 5 miles uphill with a backpack carrying over 100 pounds of water. But what amazed us was how hard he was hitting the books!

Fast forward a couple years, through an ambulance job as a paramedic, and a small town fire-fighting job, to 2015 when Shankar was chosen from a field of 5,000 applicants to enter a grueling fire-fighting academy.  On May 22nd he graduated, achieving his life ambition of joining the Santa Barbara Fire Department.

So how do we feel about this ‘animal’ of ours? Powerful as a bear, fierce as a wolf and doggedly determined, Firefighter Tillotson is bravely serving his home community…and we are proud as punch!

Will Shankar sit back now and rest on his laurels? I doubt it. We’re just waiting to hear the next target the Beast sets his beady eyes upon!

Moving in Stillness and Resting in Joy with you,

The FUN begins June 20th!

Are you a person who rises to a challenge? Make your way around the Still&Moving-Opoly Board, gathering stars and having a blast! In the traditional game, participants develop properties and seek to monopolize the board. Here, the only objective is to acquire experiences and take ownership of your own health and wellness! And perhaps win a prize along the way!

Participants will receive a star on each block they complete on the game board. The blocks consist of a wide range of Still & Moving Center activities, such as classes, workshops and carrying out Sustainability Tips outlined in the back of our 2015 Almanac.

Benchmark incentives (that’s a fancy way of saying PRIZES!) will include bodywork and complimentary attendance to the workshop of your choice. The culminating event on Sunday, August 30th will honor both participants and teachers. Prizes will be awarded, including the grand prize of a boat trip to the Sand Bar in Kane’ohe Bay!

Look for your game card at the front desk and happy gaming!

with Kezia Holm

Sundays,  9:30 – 10:30 am Aerial for 6 – 12 year olds – NEW CLASS
The class will alter between aerial yoga and aerial dance. We are playing with and exploring space on the different apparatus. We increase our proprioception – safely learning where our body is in space, whether upright or upside down. Here we will twist, turn, climb, invert and hang to learn about ourselves as we develop coordination, concentration, balance and strength. Fun is always an important component!

Sundays, 11:45 am – 12:45 pm Aerial Hammock Moving Meditation –  NEW CLASS
This class helps us to open the body to greater flexibility. We release tension which stretching and inverting with the support of the hammock. The spinal extension moves help to decompress the vertebrae. Our focus is on breath and body awareness to cultivate a mindful movement practice.

Thursdays, 5:45 – 6:45 pm Aerial Hammock Flow & Conditioning – NEW CLASS
Hammock dance is more supported than aerial dance on silks, so requires less upper body strength, while still giving you the opportunity to explore your creativity in vertical space. It’s a new way to dance, playing inside the aerial hammock. The conditioning will help to increase both your core and upper body strength, your flexibility and balance. Safe space and giggles galore!