Teaching Classes

There are several classes I am looking into teaching. Here are a few of them:
TCM-
An overview of basic helpful points. A series of good points to know for stomach aches, headaches, muscle spasms, charley horses, constipation, sore eyes, sore ears, low energy, PMS, poor circulation, fever, kidney stones, breathing issues, and emotional crisis. The history of Chinese Medicine and some of the basics of Chinese Medicine--five element theory, organ meridians and times of day, yin and yang, and organ pairings will all be discussed.

Traditional Chinese Medicine--
Support for the Great Nurturer/Healer. This class will take a TCM approach to the spleen. Spleen has the power to help your lower back flourish, your sweet cravings all but dissappear, and turn your time spent worrying too much into time spent in greater tranquility and balance. Learn how to thrive by taking up more space in your world, by giving what it is your joy to give, and sensing where to draw the line. This class will go over self massage, diet practices, and sleep strategies that are possible for the spleen, based on the ancient practices of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Traditional Chinese Medicine-
Ancient Medicine for insomnia and decision making.
This class will take a TCM approach to the Gallbladder. Taking better care of your gallbladder can help you resolve long standing hamstring, leg pain and side pains. The Gallbladder has the power to help you make timely decisions with grace and confidence. It also can help you to let go of an over-critical mindset, and enter into the healing, relationship building space of non-judgement with friends and loved ones. Got insomnia? Gallbladder can help here too. In this class we will learn some self massage, diet and routine strategies that can care for the all-important GB. Even if you have had your gallbladder removed, this is an excellent class to make sure to attend.

Traditional Chinese Medicine--
Exploring the Dream maker, the Leader, the Shaman within.
This class will take a TCM approach to caring for the Liver. Make use of the wood energy of the Liver to help you to dream more vividly, get control of your anger, and energize your life, so that you can better manifest your dreams in the world. If you're seeing red all the time, it could be your liver that needs nurturing. Become more of a leader in your own life by exploring the strengths of this organ. This class will cover some healthy practices for encouraging your liver's natural balance through pressure points, diet and other wellness routines.

Traditional Chinese Medicine--
The home of Chi, safety and sexual vitality in the body. The kidney in Chinese Medicine, is the home of your life energy, your Chi. Learn how to help these and other organs in your body to all cooperate in creating a safe home within and a safe space in your life. Strengthen your Kidneys, so that they in turn can empower you to face your fears and move past them, super-energize your day, everyday, and turn those aching knees into a problem of the past.

Traditional Chinese Medicine--
Good medicine for letting in and letting go.
Look to the lung to help you grieve and let go of a loved one, relax your OCD, and have the faith to let go of control in small ways in your life. Lung helps you have beautiful, healthy skin, and a clearer and freer breathing experience too. Look to your Large Intestine when you are ready to learn how to let go--of bad habits, of people, of arguments, of possessions that want to possess you, or a tendency to give up too easily. Taking care of your large intestine means letting go, with moderation, and 'letting go' of digestion issues from Constipation to Diarrheah to IBS as well.

Raw Cuisine-

An introduction to raw eating. This 7-day class will show you some basic meal plans you can try with ease, and without a lot of specialized equiptment. Raw Alfredo and Zucchini Linguini; Raw Pad Thai; Raw energy bars; Three-Layer Mexican Dip, Green Energy Smoothies and Green Soups will all be covered.

Going further with Raw Cuisine. This 5-day class will introduce you to further practices of raw cuisine. Participants will learn how to use a spirooli, a dehydrator, a blender and a mandoline to make creative and delicious raw meals. We will cover how to make Jicama Fries and Raw Katsup, Onion Bread, Veggie Burgers, Spagetti Marinara, and Raw Lasagna.

Sweet Tooth in the Raw. This 5-day class will show you how to make delectable desserts with zero guilt! We will use the low-glycemic index, raw sweetener called Agave, as well as the superfood Raw Cacao, and great-for-your-health Coconut Oil to make some mouth watering sweet treats. Chocolate Tarts, Strawberry Pie, Haupia, Fruit Parfaits, and Sweet Potato Pie are all on the menu.

Macrobiotic

An introduction to Macrobiotic Cuisine and the principals of Macrobiotic eating. Attendants will learn how to balance each meal for health and well being. How to evaluate what you need for maintaining your optimum health. Feeling airy and wanting to feel more grounded? Feeling dense and worried, but wanting to feel more expansive? Find out the right foods to eat to balance out your moods. As part of the class, everyone will get to take part in a delicious Macrobiotic Dinner.

Going further with Macrobiotics. In this 7 day class we will be learning more about how to cook your grains and ferment your foods. We will get to sample some various pressed salads and fermented foods. Participants will learn how to set up their own indoor kitchen garden, complete with sprouts, herbs, saurkraut, kim chee, yogurt and miso.

The Alewives Kitchen. Going further with Fermented Foods. This class will look at the ancient practices and recipes of Midievil England, How Alewives made beers that were above all for health, and how we too can make these recipes. Also in this class we will cover the making of super healthy Kombucha Tea.

Tumeric, Aloe, Apple Cider Vinegar, Coconut Oil, Spirulina. Some of my favorite health foods to integrate into diet, and why.

Acupressure and memory- a powerpoint slide presentation on the relationship between acupressure and memory. A brief series of pressure points for improved memory will be demonstrated, and my research study showing a correllation between acupressure points pressed and improved memory, using data from 20 college students at UH Manoa, will be discussed. This will be an interesting discussion for anyone interested in the brain and what is currently known about memory, as well as people with interest in Traditional Chinese Medicine and ways to improve memory with simple daily pressing of points.

Permaculture-
Workshop garden classes where attendants will learn by doing. In these classes, attendees will learn how to make:
Herb Spirals (a sloping spiral of herbs, where the dryest herbs are planted highest up, and the herbs that need the most water are planted at the bottom of the slope, so that water is used more efficiently)
Orchards and Tree Ecosystems (thinking about the right companion plants to plant around a tree, in order to strengthen that tree or many trees, as it creates its own micro-ecosystem, which in turn fertilizes, protects, and helps trap water for plants nearby)
Making a rotation compost heap (using a four square plan, and learning about proper compost chemistry--what to add, and how to add it, when to turn your heap, and how to tell if it's baking properly)
Compost Tea (using an already going-strong compost heap, 'gardeners gold', fish offal, and willow water, to make an excellent fortifying tea which you can use to water your plants and help them flourish)
Vermiculture (In this class we will all make our own earthworm bins. Participants will learn how to care and 'feed' their worms with everyday kitchen refuse, and in return, the worms will create 'gardener's gold', some very fertile fertilizer for your plants)
Willow Tea (Making and using willow tea to help cuttings to sprout roots, and build stronger, healthier tree and plant grafts)
Companion Planting--(Squash corn and beans, marigolds and greens, cleaning up waste water with irises. --This class will work on covering one or two examples of good companion planting systems, plants will be chosen that help retain rainwater, help fend off bugs, improve lighting situations, or offer structural support for climbing plants You will learn how helping plants to cooperate, can help your garden to be all it can be.)
Creating a wetland ecosystem (duck ponds and other examples of manmade wetlands can help a garden by creating a great sustainable source of compost materials and organic compost. Learn how to build a manmade wetland, and how to use it to help your garden irrigate and fertilize itself.)
Chicken Tractors-(How to build a moveable chicken yard. And why would you want to do this? By moving the chickens around your garden plot, square by square, you nourish the soil with chicken compost, you weed the ground using chicken scratch instead of human labor, and you feed your chickens, who in turn feed you.)


Radical Self Care- The tenets of RSC include Breath, Water, Gratitude, Intimacy, Wealth, Service, Elimination, Sleep, Movement, Nutrition, Forgiveness, Rest, Play, Self-Massage, Celebration, Radical Power and Radical Consciousness. In this class we'll get the chance to talk about habits surrounding these pillars, and how to develop in your own course towards evolving on this planet. This is a very practical course, looking at actions we can all choose in every moment. This is a program created by my teacher at Aloha Institute of Massage and Healing Arts, Elizabeth Reveley. Please visit the site at http://www.myradicalselfcare.com/ for more details. Every participant will recieve an ongoing monthly e-newsletter to help keep up their practice.

Self Massage- Dry Brush, Tennis Ball, Golf Ball, Stomach massage and oil massage techniques and daily routines for better health.

Disaster Relief and innovation--What the rest of the world can learn from Katrina, and put to use in our communities. A presentation and dialogue on my experiences in Post-Katrina New Orleans.

Cooperative living. Five examples about how people run communities in some very cooperative ways. From a hostel in the forest, to two Post-Katrina New Orleans emergency communities, to an arts co-opt, to a 15 person household and even larger kitchen share, to small groups of people living together in one shared household. How people find solutions and get along, have fun, share moments, share groceries, and share space.

Zero Waste and some ideas on how to get there.--A 4 day workshop covering some essentials of reuse. How to reduce your waste to near zero by creating 'garbage gardens', natural dyes, health and beauty products, fermented foods, compost heaps and creative crafts. Bring in a sample of your garbage on the last day and we will apply these techniques and get creative about what you can do with what you throw away. We will work on ways to log our creative use of garbage and discuss how to start your own blog on all the waste you have reduced.

Making your own custom-made beauty products Why not taylor your beauty products to your complexion and mood? Why not make them from household products and natural sources? From toothpaste, to shampoo, to face masks, to sugaring, to peels, to lotion. Create it for yourself, create it from all natural products. Sustainable cosmetics!

Community Klatches-- How to build trade circles that help us all to live more sustainably. An idea and discussion session with a panel of experts from the community. In this discussion we will get people talking about synergistic buisnesses as well, how people can cooperate to make more money for everyone, and have fun doing it.

Savoring Incense. The Midieval, Japanese and Native American practices of focusing your attention on incense and the way it makes you feel. Incense can encourage you to go for a run, meditate, get creative, heal, get in touch with your spirit, or open your heart. Some traditions believe that incense is a good way of communicating with and honoring those in the spirit world. Participants will learn how to properly burn natural incenses, and deeply notice their own physical and emotional responses to an incense experience. Much like a wine tasting or cheese tasting class, in that the subtleties of our senses will be explored in a very meditative way. Incenses covered will range from Cardamom pods, to star of anise, to sage, cloves, rosemary, sap, cedar, mugwort, damiana, sweetgrass, lavender, frankensense, and rose. A great class to pair with a nature walk.

Art and your inner Artist- Creative artistic play workshops. You bring your creativity, and we make a space for you--complete with huge rolls of paper and all the brushes and paints and pencils you could want. Directives include--using art to heal yourself, art as little altars, art as communication and connection, art as a savoring of moments past.

The Writers Workshop- A place to write, reflect, and get feedback. Every month we'll have directed writes on a different subject, supported with examples from literature, along with music, pictures, and other muses for our creative inspiration. A mini-class will be taught at the beginning of every workshop. Set goals and watch as your writing progresses over time. Some of the areas we will explore may include-Memoir and sense of self; becoming the myth-maker for your life; archetypes and how they help us understand life lessons; travel and what it means to us; snapshots of vibrantly alive moments; the written portrait--character studies; poems and photographs expanded; fables retold and updated; landscapes explored; what is our creative process--and what do some famous writers have to say about this; observing poignant synchronicities and putting them in your work; writing to heal and release emotions.

Ecstatic Dance Workshop- Groove to the music and learn how to go deep into self expression. Contact improvisation, dancing with the chakras, trusting your body, communicating with yourself and/or other people, is all part of the ecstatic dance experience. here's a weblink to Ecstatic Dance Oahu. http://www.ecstaticdancehawaii.com/Site/home.html