Once you've registered, & the next group is scheduled to begin, you'll receive an email containing a link to an extended version of these instructions that include techno-details for entering our classroom. Even before we set sail as 'ohana on our voyage of discovery, though—there are some VERY IMPORTANT THINGS for you to know & remember while taking this course:
* The best way to work Ka Hana Pono is to visit the classroom every couple days. Others in the 'ohana will have made comments, & responses will have been made to those comments both by me (your cyber-kumu & 'navigator' on this journey :>) & other 'ohana.
By checking in every couple days, it's also easier to write a quick bit on a particular exercise or thought you're having, or an experience or card that came up for you—then if you wait until the end of the week to comment on all the exercises, all at once. You receive significant insights into, & support for, your own practice by showing up "i ka hale papa"—in the classroom—as often as you can.
* Showing up in class, though, is not a substitute for doing the hana. If your comments are mostly reports on how your hana is going, rather than stories about your life in general—guaranz!—your journey will be one of discovery. It'll be about new tools, & new ways to use them, to empower you & strengthen your connection to Spirit. If your Mo'olelo is all about the mea, mea, mea in your life (card 15, go read)—guaranz!—you'll still be in bailing mode by the time our course is pau. A good exercise throughout this course is this: Try notice how you feel when your mo'olelo (& your life!) is mostly hana-related...& how it feels, da kine, all ka mea, mea, mea.
* Cyberspace give us complete flexibility regarding when we participate. You can work every aspect of the course at your own pace & convenience. It's really important to respond back at least once a week to keep the flow of mana going & growing. Consider at least one mo'olelo comment on each lesson as minimum participation level to accomplish this.
* Each 'discussion page' contains a lesson link, & is a separate 'class'. Post your responses for each lesson onto that lesson's page by clicking on the 'reply' button next to the lesson you're replying to. Please enter your comments on the most recent weekly link. Then we're all (literally!) "on the same page"!
Starting with lesson 1, each discussion page has a date right below the topic header for each lesson. The link to that lesson will be active when that date rolls around. Please do not post any messages to the discussion pages whose dates have not yet arrived, until they do—& we move there as a class—again, so we're 'all on the same page'. Once that date rolls around, & we have moved on to that lesson, please post your comments on the most current page that corresponds w/ that lesson.
* Once each week's lesson is released, it'll remain open & active throughout the entire length of the course, so you can refer back to all comments & responses, even to past classes, at any time. There's a 'search' feature on our classroom tool-bar, to more easily help you locate things said in previous classes. After we've been paddling for a while, our earlier discussion pages will be archived for space reasons. The 'search' feature will also help you locate these past posts once they've been archived & are no longer 'able to be seen' on our board.
* Kapu—things which are 'taboo' or sacred... (confidentiality). In place are several layers of protection around our sacred healing space. Should anything come up that you'd like to discuss with me privately, please feel free to do so at any time. The email address to reach me for this purpose is linked at the bottom of my posts online, & also in the front of Ka Hana Pono (the book & cards set we use as tools to learn the practice of pono.)
Although I'm "out here in cyberspace" I commit to being actively present to your learning & 'practicing' experience. My aim is to respond to all comments in mo'olelo & private interaction. This isn't always possible, although I notice as I make this my stated intention to Spirit, it's becoming more so! (Except when I 'go into Te Kore'—call it a 'sabbatical', in English—though I'd like to see this voyage through without one! Can read more on that in my own 'intention-setting' response in 'Aloha Kakou' link, once we get paddling.)
I urge you all to comment on each others' mo'olelo comments, as well!! I've been known to fall silent, a traditional practice that navigators on ocean-going canoes do from time to time, to let their haumana jump in w/ 'paddling input' of their own.
Haumana, the Hawaiian word for student, literally means 'a budding power source'. Power sources, connected together—create more power. Larger mana accrues when mo'olelo runs throughout the group. It informs our sacred healing space.
A kapu exists on what is, & what is not, appropriate comment in sacred space. Basically, 'olelo no ke ola ~ language of life ~ is perfect for Mo'olelo—& all other endeavors! (Read card 49.) 'Olelo no ka make—judgements, criticisms, 'shouldas' & all li'dat!—are not. What kinda things are? Aloha, mahalo, ownership of one's own feelings, these are 'olelo no ke ola. If the answer's 'yes' to the question, 'Is this loving?'—it's a good mo'olelo comment.
There's also a restriction set in place that disables the ability to forward our classroom pages to others outside the group as a further layer of protection. Truly, though, the strongest kapu protection is the intentional commitment we set for ourselves & to each other. Our group discussions are private to this group. It is sacred learning & healing space we do not share w/ others outside this group. That means no forwarding of the lessons themselves, or any links relating to our classroom—to anyone at all. Please adhere to this. There's been a kapu set on this...& breaking kapu is never a good thing to do. It's always deeply consequential, even when we think we're 'getting away w/ something that no one will know about'. Spirit always knows; na kupuna always know; na'au always knows—& they will let you know they know through your disharmonious inner & outer world experience.
From our first ho'olauna (introduction), we acknowledge & honor sacred healing space around us. We see each other as present together in spirit & connected at highest Spirit level—to each of us here "in da canoe" & to all our guides. We commit to bringing the deepest regard for self & others into Mo'olelo, & to continuously strengthening the kapu—the sacred healing space—around our Mo'olelo.
And so, ku'u 'ohana 'uhane (my precious spirit family), we begin... Mahalo nui loa for joining me on this adventure!
The exercise: Let us know you received this by checking in with an 'aloha' to your braddahs & sistahs - introduce yourself & let us know where you're paddling from.
Me ke aloha, Connie