Join Team Red Lotus Hawaii for the American Heart Association’s 2014 Oahu Heartwalk on Aug 9th.  Here at Red Lotus, we believe that healthy hearts are happy hearts!  

Joining is easy.  Go to our team link: http://heartwalk.kintera.org/honoluluhi/redlotushawaii and sign up.  Friends and family are welcome to sign up, too!  The more the merrier.  Walk, donate, sponsor a friend– participate in whatever way you can!

Let’s show some Red Lotus aloha to our community and celebrate our commitment to healthy living and healthy hearts.

I used to hate being called “Ma’am.”  The first time the check-out girl called me “Ma’am” in the line at Longs, I remember being so surprised and even offended!  Who are you calling “Ma’am?”  We’ve been raised in a a society that puts a premium on youth and immaturity.  It is cool to be young and clueless, hip and self-absorbed.  Old people are passé and lame.  “Ma’am” in my mind equalled old and out-of-date.

This month we focused on shifting our perspective and re-framing our view of the world.  Sometimes, all it takes is the tiniest shift in perspective to become happier and healthier.  We discussed people and our environment, our nutrition and daily habits.  Just listening to you and meditating with you provided me with new thoughts and appreciation for the blessings in my life.

This past weekend, I was working with our pre/K martial arts keiki.  We were sitting in a circle stretching.  I gave an instruction to one of the 4 year-olds, and he looked up at me, smiled, and said sweetly, “Yes, ma’am!”  This is a student who has regularly provided challenges to instructors, who has been unwilling and difficult to engage at times.  As I watched him happily complete the task, I realized what an important moment we just had.  His whole little heart was contained in that “yes, ma’am.”  The sincere utterance of those two little words made me proud to be a sensei.  

I never want to be called “Miss” again.  Even in the line at Longs.

Seven years, hundreds of students, ninety-nine bootcamps, eleven black belt tests, and thousands of hours of sweat, laughter, and tears.  It seems like yesterday that I was laying down the red mats, installing mirrors, and dreaming of students walking through the door.  

Cade was only six years old.  

White belt- Cade, at his first test on May 26, 2007.

We sanded wood for the bench and built it together.  I had no idea how many moms, dads, aunties, uncles, grandparents, and friends would rest on it while watching our ohana train and grow.

We have created walls of change and inspiration.  We have made black belts.  We have shared our lives.

The dojo has gone through re-branding and growing pains.  However, our motto has always been to motivate, inspire, and transform our students from the inside out.

The reality as I look back over the years with my son, who now stands taller than me, is that you have motivated, inspired, and transformed Me.  And Cade has grown up with all the positive and dynamic energy of the dojo to shape him.  Everything is different.

Seven years has flown by!  

We are moving locations, more change is coming, but there is no doubt in my mind that the next seven years will be brighter, bigger, and better because of all you!

Happy Birthday, Red Lotus and much love to all of our beautiful, Red Lotus Ohana near and far.

xoxo,

Sensei Reiko

I love New Year’s eve.  Everyone is energized and hopeful.  We can shake off the old year and embrace fresh starts and new possibilities.  We can get un-stuck.  We can get moving!

Let’s live with intention and inspiration.  What makes you happy?  What moves you?  What do you wish for? What will add adventure and magic to your life?  Sometimes, I get stuck in my daily grind– work, parenting, endless driving in traffic– and I forget to dream.  I forget to imagine the impossible.

So, this January, we are making the wall of the dojo our vision board.  Pictures, words, hopes, reflections– post them all.  Our collective dreaming will be the breath of inspiration for a spectacular 2014.

Happy New Year, my loves!

xoxo

“Gratitude is the discipline of happiness.”

As Thanksgiving nears, it seems only fitting to focus on being grateful.  Most of us know to count our blessings– to be grateful for the good things, the happy events, the kindnesses of loved ones, the joy that we receive in our lives.  What about the failures, the fights, the metaphorical falling down that we all encounter?  

There is a gift in every moment.  It is hard to see the blessing in a difficult moment that is causing us pain.  We often turn to anger, so that we don’t really have to experience the hurt.  But, on the other side of hurt lies compassion and grace.  

So, I challenge you to embrace resilience and to be thankful for all of your experiences, the victories and the perceived failures. They make you unique and very, very special.

xoxo!  Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Red Lotus Hawaii.

Kick for a Cure is back!  Join us on November 2nd and kick breast cancer in the booty!  

Everyone is welcome.

There will be a $5 donation at the door or you can donate directly to our team at Susan B. Komen Passionately Pink:

http://www.info-komen.org/site/TR/PassionatelyPink/HeadquartersSite?team_id=281048&pg=team&fr_id=3715

“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” –ee cummings

The best and hardest advice i’ve received in my life is this:  Just be yourself!

As my birthday approaches (eek!), I find myself reflecting on who I am today.

In my twenties, I was all over the place, dyeing my hair a different color every week and constantly wondering what everyone thought of me.  In my thirties, I was figuring out how to be a mom and an “adult” with a real job and responsibilities, too sleep deprived to wonder what anyone thought of me.

Now, in my forties, I’ve given up wondering what anyone thinks, and I’ve learned to focus on what I think is important.  Now, I’m old enough to consider all the times “two roads diverged in a wood,” and appreciate where my choices led me.  I’ve learned that there is no joy or passion without sorrow or pain.  We have to own our choices and get through it– hopefully with some grace and style and a loud ki-ai.

Does this mean I’m finally growing up and being me?  It’s about darn time.  Those birthday candles take up the whole cake these days.

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” –Gandhi

Oh my gosh. It’s September.  How did that happen?

Our annual September Challenge is on!  During the month of September, choose something that you can practice mindfully every day (even for a few minutes) that will bring increased happiness and health to your life.  You get to reward yourself at the end of the month for your commitment to improving your well-being.  It’s a win-win!

Come get your goal sheet.  I love watching the wall get wall-papered with your good intentions.

Happy Fall:)

“leap and the net will appear.”–zen proverb

It’s easy, in the chaos of daily life and pitfalls of parenting and relationships, to forget one simple truth:  You are perfect.  You don’t need fixing.  Your core/ soul/ spirit/ heart is unchanging and beautiful.  And when you remember who you really are, bliss is possible.  Attaining joy is sometimes as simple as recognizing who you really are and taking a leap of faith.  It’s time.

As Deepak Chopra, one of the coolest men on the planet, puts it: “Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future.”

Time to be you.  Time to let go.  Time to leap.

This is a shout out to all the teachers, mentors, parents, and friends in the world.

This past weekend, a teacher and mentor of mine passed away.  We didn’t keep in close contact over the years.  I saw him now and again at various shows or events.  However, when I learned of his passing, a flood of vivid memories washed over me in an instant. I felt like laughing and crying at the same time.

Sometimes, in the moment, it is difficult to see the profound affect we have on one another.  We take the mundane for granted.  We can’t imagine that our words or actions could shape the future or people around us for better or worse.

But this I know:  I am the product of the amazing teachers, role models, friends, and even adversaries, that I have had in my life.  I carry them with me, and they are present in every word that I say and every step that I take.

In the words of one of my favorite poets, e.e. cummings:

Aloha to my dear teacher and director, Glenn Cannon.  Mahalo nui loa.

You will be missed.