So day one in Hawaii is turning out to be pretty jam packed full of fun!
After our drum circle and ceremony in the cave, we were starving, so we drove back down the highway to Hanalei for lunch. We stopped off at the Ching Young Village where we could shop and eat all at the same time. I had a kalua pork sandwich which was awesome and that's coming from a girl that lives in a BBQ state.
We were running short on time, so we changed plans a little and headed back to another cave in Haena called the "Blue Room Cave." This cave is a short walk uphill and then a short walk straight downhill. Once you get to the bottom, there is fresh water pool down there. You would think the water is stagnant, but it's not. As a matter of fact, the pool is so deep that Jacques Cousteau brought his crew there to explore the caves and could never find the bottom. The cave is separated into three small rooms. There is a room that branches off to the left that is wide and dark, and then there is a room that branches to the right that is smaller, but you can also swim underneath a small wall and enter another dark room in the cave. When you are sitting at the bottom of the hill looking into the cave, you cannot see how far it goes. But you can swim to find out.
Mishi and Tim had planned for us to meet a new friend, Tiffany Tatum, and do a sound healing meditation. She and her friend Preston were waiting for us at the bottom--the entrance to the cave, when we arrived. I was ill prepared for this hike because I was in flip flops, and the incline was super steep and wet--so it was slick. But I was NOT going to miss out on this experince. There were a few in our group who decided not to make the climb down. They stayed at the top of the hill to observe and listen and their perspective on the afternoon was interesting too.
When Tiffany began her meditation, I was blown away. I have never heard a person use their voice in such a way. I thought at one point that the sound that came out of her mouth could not come from a human. She was very kind and gentle and took the time to talk to each one of us. She then led us into a meditation through drums, sound bowls, rattles, and toning with her voice. It was simply transcendental.
Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your perspective) there were some people in the cave with us that did not feel comfortable with what we were doing. Through out the mediation they mocked and yelled out at Tiffany as she did her thing. But it did not phase her a bit. She did not stop, she did not falter and it gave us the courage and confidence to keep on going too. Afterwards, the smell of pot smoke lingered in the air as our "friends" made their way up the trail. Our real friends that we left at the top of the hill also commented that they were stoned on mushrooms and quite possibly had been drinking. Ahh the party life in Kauai.
One of the topics that had come up during our talk was fear. There were several people that had come to the caves to swim and the thought of getting into freezing cold water and not being able to see where I was scared the crap out of me. But after the meditaiton, 6 of us decided we were going to be brave and swim in the cave. As it turns out, we were so brave we were going to do it without clothes! As it turned out, our loud and obnoxious visitors had left by the time we were finishing up and no one else was coming in, so we stripped naked and jumped in.
I can tell you from personal experience that the water was so cold it literally took my breath away! I think I came up screaming! Tiffany led us through the right side of the cave first and I felt totally safe with her. Even though we were further back in the cave, there was still enough light to see and I then realized that it wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. We did not swim back into the smaller room under the wall because the water was way up and it was getting late. We then swam over to the darker part of the cave and toned in there. It too was not as dark back in there. When you are standing at the edge looking in, you cannot see at all, But when you are in the cave looking out, it is much brighter.
Our friends waiting patiently at the top stood by and "held the space" for us as we took our journey into the waters....although some of them took picutres. Please note the one at the bottom of the page. If you look closely enough, you may be able to pick out my white butt. If the rest of the week was going to be this exciting, I'm not sure I am going to be able to handle it.
After our drum circle and ceremony in the cave, we were starving, so we drove back down the highway to Hanalei for lunch. We stopped off at the Ching Young Village where we could shop and eat all at the same time. I had a kalua pork sandwich which was awesome and that's coming from a girl that lives in a BBQ state.
We were running short on time, so we changed plans a little and headed back to another cave in Haena called the "Blue Room Cave." This cave is a short walk uphill and then a short walk straight downhill. Once you get to the bottom, there is fresh water pool down there. You would think the water is stagnant, but it's not. As a matter of fact, the pool is so deep that Jacques Cousteau brought his crew there to explore the caves and could never find the bottom. The cave is separated into three small rooms. There is a room that branches off to the left that is wide and dark, and then there is a room that branches to the right that is smaller, but you can also swim underneath a small wall and enter another dark room in the cave. When you are sitting at the bottom of the hill looking into the cave, you cannot see how far it goes. But you can swim to find out.
 |
| Looking down from the top. The black part is water. |
Mishi and Tim had planned for us to meet a new friend, Tiffany Tatum, and do a sound healing meditation. She and her friend Preston were waiting for us at the bottom--the entrance to the cave, when we arrived. I was ill prepared for this hike because I was in flip flops, and the incline was super steep and wet--so it was slick. But I was NOT going to miss out on this experince. There were a few in our group who decided not to make the climb down. They stayed at the top of the hill to observe and listen and their perspective on the afternoon was interesting too.
When Tiffany began her meditation, I was blown away. I have never heard a person use their voice in such a way. I thought at one point that the sound that came out of her mouth could not come from a human. She was very kind and gentle and took the time to talk to each one of us. She then led us into a meditation through drums, sound bowls, rattles, and toning with her voice. It was simply transcendental.
Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your perspective) there were some people in the cave with us that did not feel comfortable with what we were doing. Through out the mediation they mocked and yelled out at Tiffany as she did her thing. But it did not phase her a bit. She did not stop, she did not falter and it gave us the courage and confidence to keep on going too. Afterwards, the smell of pot smoke lingered in the air as our "friends" made their way up the trail. Our real friends that we left at the top of the hill also commented that they were stoned on mushrooms and quite possibly had been drinking. Ahh the party life in Kauai.
One of the topics that had come up during our talk was fear. There were several people that had come to the caves to swim and the thought of getting into freezing cold water and not being able to see where I was scared the crap out of me. But after the meditaiton, 6 of us decided we were going to be brave and swim in the cave. As it turns out, we were so brave we were going to do it without clothes! As it turned out, our loud and obnoxious visitors had left by the time we were finishing up and no one else was coming in, so we stripped naked and jumped in.
I can tell you from personal experience that the water was so cold it literally took my breath away! I think I came up screaming! Tiffany led us through the right side of the cave first and I felt totally safe with her. Even though we were further back in the cave, there was still enough light to see and I then realized that it wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. We did not swim back into the smaller room under the wall because the water was way up and it was getting late. We then swam over to the darker part of the cave and toned in there. It too was not as dark back in there. When you are standing at the edge looking in, you cannot see at all, But when you are in the cave looking out, it is much brighter.
 |
| At the bottom looking up. |
Our friends waiting patiently at the top stood by and "held the space" for us as we took our journey into the waters....although some of them took picutres. Please note the one at the bottom of the page. If you look closely enough, you may be able to pick out my white butt. If the rest of the week was going to be this exciting, I'm not sure I am going to be able to handle it.
 |
| See if you can pick out my white butt :-0 |
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| You can see the water in this one |
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