Chakras and Shotguns

E121: Indigenous Hawaiian Wisdom for Modern Times feat. Kumu Ramsay

• Mik & Jenn • Episode 121

Share episode

Send us a text

Kumu Ramsay, an indigenous Hawaiian healer and teacher, joins us to share his insights on forgiveness, wholeness, and community. We discuss the importance of reconnecting with our ancestral roots and how indigenous wisdom can help us navigate modern challenges. Tune in to this inspiring conversation and embark on a journey of healing and transformation.

We discuss the art of hoʻoponopono (forgiveness and stress release), the power of indigenous healing traditions, and what it truly means to find wholeness. Kumu Ramsay also shares his insights on cultural appropriation and how we can respectfully integrate Indigenous knowledge in today's world. Whether you're seeking healing or cultural understanding, this conversation offers valuable lessons in honoring the wisdom of the elders.

You can connect Kumu Ramsay on his website ramsaytaum.com, on YouTube ( @ipuka01 ) and on Instagram (@ramsaytaum)


Support the show

Click here to join our mailing list, support our Patreon, or check out our merch store.

Mik:

You are now listening to

Jenn:

Chakras and Shotguns. Welcome to Chakras and Shotguns, the podcast that guides you on a journey of spiritual development and personal preparedness. I'm Jenn, a former corporate lawyer, now yoga instructor, human design reader.

Mik:

And I'm Mik, a marketer, energy healer, and prepper.

Jenn:

So a few weeks ago, we had Jamani Ashe on talking about reconnecting with our ancestral roots, ancestral survival skills. We're seeing more and more people go back to basics, living off the grid or returning to old ancestral or cultural traditions that they had. And it's kind of no surprise in Western culture, Western society today, a lot of our problems, we can point to that loss of indigenous wisdom and indigenous culture and community and empathy, these values that used to be the standards for. indigenous people around the world. So today on today's episode, we are welcoming Kumu Ramsay, an indigenous Hawaiian healer and teacher, and he's going to share with us. And we had an amazing conversation about forgiveness and wholeness and healing and how these values can be shared to help us all be better collectively.

Mik:

But before we get into that, we want to make sure that you guys are signed up for our mailing list. We send out a lot of great tips, a lot of seasonal updates, invitations to events, discounts on merch specials that we're running for readings with us. So go ahead and make sure you're signed up for that. You can use the show description or go to our website, shotgunsandshotguns. com to sign up for that.

Jenn:

All right.

Mik:

Let's begin as we always do with a breathwork meditation to put us into a mindful place.

Jenn:

So when I was thinking about the breathwork for this episode and thinking about community and being a collective, I was like, well, I don't want to invite people in, in the meditation necessarily. I don't know what's going to jump on. Okay. Spooky season. But I did think about like the value of gratitude and how being grateful for. Your, your environment, the people around you makes us better people. It makes us more likely to like see each other and be grateful for the things that the other people can, you know, contribute to the collective. And so today I wanted to really focus on gratitude. I love it. So go ahead and find a comfortable seat. You can always lie down, and let's begin. Place your hands somewhere face down on your body. We're gonna ground. I like to place one hand on my belly, one hand on my heart. Do whatever feels nice for you. Take a deep inhale in through your nose. Expanding your belly. Open your mouth, exhale completely. Let's do that again. Inhale through your nose, expanding your belly, pushing against your hand and then open your mouth. Exhale, completely letting something go to another one together. Inhale in through your nose and then exhale this breath back out through your mouth. So your lips closed, allowing your inhales to match the length of your exhales. Finding stillness. Feeling completely at ease. A lot of our hangups around truly being in community with each other is fear, feelings of lack, feeling like we don't have enough, that someone else has more than us. Which can be a misunderstanding of how much stronger and abundant we all are together. So I wanted to take this time, it doesn't have to be anything specific, it can be, summoning up that feeling of gratitude. How do you feel in your body, in your chest, in your heart, in your belly? When Someone gives you something, maybe something you've been wanting for a long time, or even something out of the blue. That feeling of feeling cherished, seen, thought of. My body feels light, maybe even a little bit. a little effervescent. Can you sit in that feeling? If you need a little assistance, you can go ahead and think of a time where you just felt really thankful. Maybe for a new job, a person in your life. Maybe even allow a small smile. On your face, as you try to feel this feeling of gratitude on a cellular level, deep into your bones, into every molecule. Take a deep breath in through your nose, exhale your breath back out through your mouth, maybe even wrap your arms around yourself. Give yourself a big squeeze. And start to wiggle your fingers, your toes, keep holding onto yourself, flickering your eyes open, come back into the room. Hello.

Mik:

That was great. I love that one.

Jenn:

Thank you.

Mik:

Yeah. Hopefully everyone is feeling in a mood of gratitude right now. That was great. Jenn. Thanks. All right. So let's introduce today's guest. So, Kumu Ramsay Taum, he was mentored and trained by respected Hawaiian elders, also called the kupuna. And he is a practitioner and instructor of several native Hawaiian practices, including hooponopono, which is a stress release and mediation practice. He's also trained in Hawaiian body alignment and Hawaiian combat slash battle art. Ramsay Taum is also a recognized cultural resource sought after keynote speaker, lecturer, trainer and facilitator. He is especially effective working with Hawaii's travel, leisure and retail industry, where he integrates native Hawaiian cultural values And principles into contemporary business. He is the founder and president of Hawaii based life enhancement Institute or lay lay of the Pacific. Uh, he's the director of the Pacific islands leadership Institute at Hawaii Pacific university and the cultural sustainability planner at PBR Hawaii and associates. So without further ado, we welcome Kumu Ramsay Taum to the show. Thank you so much, Kumu Ramsay, for coming on Chakras and Shotguns. It was such a pleasure to connect with you at the Aniwa Gathering, and I just really wanted to share some of your wisdom with our listeners, and kind of share some of your story.

Kumu Ramsay:

Well, thank you for having me on. It was a pleasure meeting you at Aniwa as well.

Jenn:

Let's get into it. So your background is very unique., talk to us about your journey and how you got to doing this work that you do now.

Kumu Ramsay:

Yeah, well, thank you for that. Um, it's been an eclectic experience for sure. Um, I'm not sure if I told you, Mik, when we met, but my experience at the Air Force Academy, I have to say, I had to lose my sight to gain my vision. What I mean by that is at some point, preparing to get in the cockpit to fly, they told me that I lost the capacity to fly vision. So, I had to redirect, frame, redefine what it was I was looking for and what I wanted to do and whether or not that was the right place. And so I think that was one of the first major shifts in my life at the time, because there was this direction, there was an idea of where I wanted to go. And so it was at that time that I came back to Hawaii for a bit, but transferred everything that I had done to the University of Southern California, and actually ended up in Washington, D. C. as a legislative aide for a Congressional office. here in Hawaii. So I was still connected to the islands and intention and purpose. And my purpose at the time and intention was to create a better experience for, uh, all of us living in Hawaii, primarily Native Hawaiian, and had been engaged in activities since high school that were focused on the, on that outcome. As many people may or may not know, you know, the Hawaiian kingdom was overthrown in 1893 and the conditions for Native Hawaiians. Under the continued occupation of the United States has been, well, we're at the top of all the wrong lists, put it that way. So, many of us have been working towards how do we improve those conditions, and really that was the focus. So, Jen, to answer the question, it's because of that focus and interest in improving the living, health, human rights and conditions of our people and our community at large, because it's not just the aboriginal indigenous people. individual that was part of our kingdom. But it was really anyone that had loyalty to the crown and to the principles of living with the law and living in Hawaii, they impacted. And frankly, anyone that's come to Hawaii that's living under a false pretense that this is paradise in the absence of struggle and challenge. So unless everyone is actually achieving, you know, levels of peace, harmony, uh, and all the things that everyone wants around the world, clean water, good food, education, housing. That's not an ethnic thing. It's not a culture thing. That's a human rights thing. So I hope I'm not going too far afield, but that's fundamentally why I got into this work was because of that great interest in bringing us to parent, not asking anyone to do anything more dramatic than feed people, house people, educate people, you know, and treat everyone with the same degree of opportunity and respect. So that's kind of how it started. And I was fortunate to enough enough to be mentored by numerous elders. who I would call disciplinarians, but not for the standpoint of being punitive. You're punishing ones as a discipline, but they were very in their discipline.

Mik:

Thank you for sharing that. I would love for you to touch a little bit more on some of those native Hawaiian principles, right? We hear about the spirit of Aloha, and obviously you shared, uh, the whole Pono Pono principles at Aniwa. So I would love for you to kind of talk a little bit about some of those principles and how that really shaped.

Kumu Ramsay:

Yeah, you know that one of the big principles of our community is that community, the notion of we versus me. In our language, we say kākou, which is everyone, which includes our elders. And of course, we in society, contemporary society, have managed to separate our elders from what we call our opio and our keiki, our children and our teens. So there's a gap. You know, we don't have, the bookends have been separated with nothing in between because there's a separation. And so you don't have that, I would say that mentoring, right? It's not in your home anymore. That was a big panel. So caring for, respecting, and assisting our elders was a really important component, principle to move by. So with that principle in mind, I found myself in assistance. of these elders. And it was through that exchange of being present. I didn't do it because I was expecting anything in return. That was just part of the process. So when I happened to be the last man standing in some cases, I was the only one left in the room. So it was then that they decided that they would fill this empty coconut with some information. Yeah. And so benefit to me, but there's still days. I wish I had spent, I had spent more time with them because there were just so much knowledge. So that's the grounding of that. But the principles in particular, um, have to do with how we behave really the principle of Aloha, which is what I spoke about it, Aniwa. And this is an overarching concept that I think if anything, the world needs more now than ever, you know, which is actually one of the principles and concepts that one of the elders did share with me, uh, her name of Pilahi Paki, who I endearingly call Aunty Pilahi, because in the time we spent together, learning and her sharing, and me learning, She really made it clear to me, at some point in the future, in our lifetime, the world would be in turmoil. This order, and challenged, and the land, the environment, and the people, we would all just be in disruption. So she said that Hawaii and Aloha would play an important role in bringing about the healing. In that time, in that condition, and, and frankly, between you and me, Mik, I think we're, we're in that time and have been for a while now, this is why the underlying reason again, continuation of the previous question, my desire, interest, and actually direction from these elders was to share these principles of Aloha. And hooponopono, of making right to correct, but also doing so with the spirit of the warrior, uh, as a lua practitioner. So these are the two or three things that I spoke about in Aniwa, but they are all weave, they're woven together within my persona. I had all these, these elders come together and kind of, like I said, pour that into me so that I could share with others. But aloha is an overarching principle. The process of hoopono and loa are methods and means of bringing things to balance. But underlying it, aloha is the thing that keeps us grounded and acknowledges that your air is my air, my air is yours. We don't want to damage that. So if I damage you, I damage me. And it also suggests that each of us is a representative of, within us, we retain the spirit, the life giving spirit. Which is divine. That's the principle. And the first move, what Aloha means to be in the, to be face to face. Much like we are now, but even in person, face to face, eye to eye. So it is in that moment that Aloha is extremely critical. Because you're establishing a commitment of trust. When you say, Aloha, I'm acknowledging the spiritual entity, the divine in you. It is a reflection of the divine that's in me. So consequently, I can live to that principle that why would I want to or could I even do injury to the divine without doing injury to myself? So Aloha is that principle of leaving people whole, leaving places whole, but also you yourself finding wholeness, right? Rather than operating from scarcity or from a position of not having, despite what's in front of us. The bowl may be empty right now, but if we see it as empty rather than opportunity to be filled, then our focus gets in a different direction. So yes, my, is my glass half full or half empty? Someone told me it depends if you're pouring or if you're drinking. It's what your perspective and relationship is. So, aloha is a principle. It's a way of being that hopefully allows us to engage in those experiences where the scarcity in mind may take hold and remind us there's only abundance when we focus on divine.

Jenn:

Oh, I love that. I wanted to ask you um, something that Mik and I have wrestled , with is the keeping of certain indigenous traditions, sharing them. And, And maybe that's partly ego of being able to trust that the people that you're letting embrace this, learn about it. Can you trust them with it? Um, do you hold something back for yourself? Did you ever feel like this push pull with being , given that mission of a soul, you know, Sacred to you and not knowing if it's going to be as others.

Kumu Ramsay:

Yeah, that's a really good question. Probably one of the greatest challenges that those of us that have been given the responsibility of not just only sharing but also caring for the content. It's processed procedures, but also for those who may use the information inappropriately, which could do harm to them and others. So in a world today, which of course we see so much going on around us, gun violence, take that as an example, is that if you are the keeper of a weapon like that, It's incumbent upon you to protect it from those misusing it, because they don't know how to use it properly, they could hurt themselves or others. Or perhaps they come in with an attitude where they want to use it to harm others, and you have to have discernment to be able to recognize that. So similarly, cultural principles and practices, especially those that are deeply spiritual, which then begin to have impacts on different planes of reality, right? Dimensions. We aren't playing with. An empty gun when we start, and I, I don't mean to make it so violent, but I, I think that demonstrates the, IM import the importance of taking these. Uh, responsibility seriously as a kumu in Hawaiian kumu means, you know, teacher, professor, uh, but it's really resource. So as a resource, we have to be mindful about how, where, when, and whom we share this with. At the same time, however, we have to operate in faith that divinity is guiding us. At least for those of us that subscribe to that, that those that need to hear it will hear it and that those that shouldn't won't at that point in time. It still requires us to be mindful, right? Pay attention in how we share this information. So Jen, your question is, is well placed. It is a great responsibility. But again, we also have to know, I don't own the information. Now, from an intellectual property standpoint, I may design a book or film or something which I can claim ownership of, but the content, the information, is really universal. It just happens to be coming through me at the moment rather than someone else. There is that privilege, but there's also responsibility. And I'm not sure it's any different than a spring that feeds a pond or watering hole that feeds the animals that come to it. Watering hole doesn't discern who gets to drink, nor does it say that the lion can't eat the llama. It just says, I'm here, I'm providing, and please use it to your benefit. So we have students who come oftentimes, I'm having it right now actually, they just don't have the willingness or experience once, and already they want to be teaching. Where is that coming from? So there, there's a gap, but it tells me, it tells me that there's a need for something greater. And. It isn't the class, it's the perception that one knows has a capacity to share, perhaps for the wrong reason. So all of that is, I think, important for anyone with molding ancestral knowledge, wisdom, because it feeds the future. And if we allow it to be poisoned, then, or damaged, spoiled, then that nutrition is lost to the future. It makes sense.

Mik:

Yeah, yeah, sure. I was talking to Jenn after Aniwa and was trying to Explain to her, uh, the Ho'oponopono process and what it's all about. And, and, you know, the experience of, and it's something that you can't really put into words, at least I can't, um, cause I don't have , that experience that, that you do, I don't, feel like I did it , justice. So for Jenn and for our , listeners, just kind of get an overview of what Ho'oponopono is and., some of the forgiveness aspects there.

Kumu Ramsay:

Sure, at the highest level, Ho'oponopono is a way of making things right. Primarily things called relationships. Primarily about relationships. It's not fixing a glass that falls on the floor. However, if I pick it up and I glue it together, That would be Ho'oponopono because I've kind of put it back into order, but it may not function in the same way it did before. Ho'oponopono is really about restoring, um, improving, enhancing our relationships, primarily the intimate ones. But, you know, those relationships with half our colleagues work that we work with. Because it, uh, it's, it acknowledges that life is about relationships. More so than transactions and yet we live in a world that is driven by transactions constantly That's all we do whether it's getting on a bus and going somewhere and there's some kind of transaction exchange of something which may not necessarily require a spiritual exchange or So, when that spiritual, emotional breakdown between people occurs, there is a way of restoring that. Not fixing something that's bad, by the way. Bad behavior is bad behavior. I don't want to fix bad behavior. I don't need better bad, I like to say. What we want to do is create a preferred condition where whatever was causing that inappropriate behavior no longer exists. The ingredients are no longer there. Imagine us eating a chocolate cake that has bad ingredients in it. Looks good on the outside, but not very good on the inside. Putting more frosting on it, it's not going to change its nutritional value. So what I need to do is I need to change the ingredients if I want to have a healthy cake. The ingredients, in this case, happens to be our memory, our experiences that we come to, especially those that are littered by and clouded by fear, anxiety, mistrust. All of those kinds of elements will begin to shape how we interact with other people. Which means, because I distrust in general, I can't even trust myself sometimes, then how can I trust others? And if we're judgmental about others, there's a likelihood that we're going to feel we're being judged by them. In essence, it's not the mirror. So the mirror that we are standing in front of, which is another person, is reflecting back to us what we've placed in front of the mirror. So if I don't like what I'm hearing, I don't like what I'm seeing, then I need to look at myself, which Why am I seeing this? What did I put in front of this mirror to experience this sadness, this anger, this fear, this anxiety, this anger? Hooponopono allows us then to go into that memory, if you would, and clean that up, remove those barriers, those obstacles that are created by these memories, so that we can move forward in our lives, rather than constantly looking over our shoulder, looking back. That's the simplest way of seeing it, is that If your natural guidance system is to turn right every time you run into conflict, the conflict will be there, but you're turning right and you no longer see it, believing that you've dealt with conflict. But if you keep turning right, you're going to run into the conflict again because it never ended. So going right, you end up left, you end up right where you started. And many of us have that cyclical cycles in our lives where we could change. Companions, we can change jobs, we can change houses, we can change clothes, but fundamentally, the person inside is the same. The lens that we operate from is the same. So consequently, we'll see it again because we never erased the ingredients that allow us to see and measure that light beam, that metric that is now bouncing off the back of our eyes, right? And triggering those memories.

So if you want https:

otter. ai Then changing the memory of what you think you're seeing and allow you to see perhaps truth for the first time. So I'm not explaining how it works yet. I'm just saying what it is. It's something that allows us to remove the memories, the underlying causes to those things that serve as barriers and obstacles in our lives, especially to good relationships. And at the end of the day, It's always about relationships, whether I'm buying a pizza as a transaction, I'm taking it home to my family to have dinner, that's a relationship. So, one way or another, it's always going to be a relationship. And it's not always just with people, the relationships with the world around us, the environment. And so even there, it's necessary for us to hooponopono, to make right. When we have done damage or harm to our environment.

Mik:

So I guess in your view, would you consider the Ho'oponopono process, a meditation? Like how do you classify it?

Kumu Ramsay:

Yeah. I think if you walked into a room while a group is doing Ho'oponopono, it'll look as if they're maybe even sleeping because they're in deep meditation. Keep in mind. Meditation as a practice is really the hearing part. You're listening, you're meditating. When you're praying, that's the sending part. And so there's two components to it. So in Ho'oponopono, there is the prayer, the invocation, the request, the ask. And then there's the other part that just allows it to be and, and you receive. In this case, the receiving may be the blessing of one of those memories being erased or altered, but not because you want it to be, but because it's time for it to be. In other words, to say, I'm ready now. Thank you for all of these multiple lessons, whether it was one year or a thousand years. I'm at this point in time. I need to be past this. I've now seen my anger reflected back to me. I've now seen my distrust reflected back to me. Please forgive me for this behavior that I've imposed on others because now they're teaching me what it feels like, what it is to be victimized, what it is to be deceived. So the process then allows us to, uh, cut that line. Discard what doesn't work for us anymore. Hopefully replace it with something that does. And not just for our own good, but for the good of others. So essentially that's what's going on. We're not doing it on the physical. It's not me thinking I'm going to get a glass of water and I physically do something. There is that. You must physically decide I'm going to be quiet. Physically I'm going to do this process. That's your conscious mind saying slow down. As you said, Jin, slow down for a moment. Take a moment and ask, but this is a relationship between you and divinity, you and your subconscious mind, that part that connects all of us to the great beyond. And so if you're operating in the conscious mind, you're still outside of the room. So when you're doing the process. And you start communicating with your inner self, your inner child, as people would say. That is actually the conduit to the process of connecting to that larger source of information. So I like to say, Mik, that it's really hooponopono as a way of reconnecting to source. And if you reconnect to source, and if you're connected to source genuinely, so on a regular basis, then Jen, I would ask you, could there be such a thing as scarcity if you're actually connected to source?

Jenn:

Yeah. You're touching on a lot of things that I've been talking about for the past weeks, all the way up until this morning. I did a yoga nidra session last night. And what came through was the mirroring, the reflection, the seeing of each other. Um, yeah. So this is everything I needed to hear. Everything's lining me.

Kumu Ramsay:

Yeah. And you know, if, if we are aligned and I'd use the word alignment, hope on the point is about alignment. When we are aligned properly and appropriately with the environment around us, lean is part of that process as much as being mean is too, right? The, the object is, Nature has a way of understanding it. So animals, the animal world knows that when there's less food around, they tend to produce fewer children because they know that they don't want to bring these children. But where does that come from? Is it a conscious thing? Did they talk to their tax accountant? Is there enough food for me to do today? Right. Because that, that, that's a control thing, but somehow they have communed with nature around them. that recognizes, hey, less food, less baby, less, less responsibility and likelihood that we survive rather than bringing, you know, too many kids into the world. Other animals and other species of trees, they'll go dormant for a while because they know that the resources on there, they'll go underground and then they pop up later when the water is back. There's a resiliency, which I think we as, as humans have lost, or at least have forgotten because we're applying maybe a false metric of success. It's how much we got rather than how well we use what we have. And it's always more is better, more or less. But the object is. There's a tendency to be very quantitative in our lives and less qualitative about it. And so I think that sets up this, this tension, I don't have this, then I, I'm not successful. Oh, don't get me wrong. We need to eat, but that's the basics. Can I, can I eat? Can I make it to the next day? But we also don't want to be in Just a survival mentality all the time, or even a fear mentality that if I don't have, I won't have that type of thing. And there's really only two fears if I, if I may, and the two fears really, I have to do with losing and not having all of their phobias come back to that. Losing and not having, but if you're connected to source. You always have what you need, therefore you can't lose what you don't have. But the fundamental practice is I've got something in my hand, you're getting more, I'm getting less, therefore at some point I'm going to have nothing and you're going to have everything. We've set up that paradigm in our lives. Rather than recognizing, I have exactly what I need, and now I have to figure out, well, if everything around me is what I need, then I need to shift my thought process about what that might really be, or realign my behaviors to be in alignment with that. Now, that's not to say that we should accept less, right, especially when you deserve more. But many of us think we deserve more but haven't done the necessary work to receive more. Many of us just show up thinking because I'm here I receive. That's the principle of learn to earn and earn to learn. What is that? In some cases it's not just on the physical plane but on the spiritual one as well. Have I achieved a level of spiritual maturity by the graces that I demonstrate, I too shall be rewarded. That's the reciprocity agreement of Aloha to give and to receive, never forget to give back when you do receive. And never expect anything in return. Fundamentally releases the pressure that I think most of us are experiencing. Because if I saw that someone was in need and I had the capacity to help, and I were to fill that hole for them, I've created a hole in my life so that someone can fill it for me. We create that energy of flow. But when we're in these lean times, as people say, we tend to shut down. And when we shut down, we shut everything. And therefore there's no in, because there is no out.

Mik:

I think that kind of brings me back to that metaphor about the animals around the watering hole and the watering hole, it's our earth and the animals. are like us, where humans were all collectively around this watering hole. And even what you were just saying now is this tension between capitalism and indigenous knowledge. And so even as animals around this watering hole, we have some who are, a lot of us who are poisoning the water hole, and some were trying to clean it up. We have others who are selling access to us , for the watering hole. That we should all have access to. And so as someone who I see who navigate kind of , the business space, but all knowledge, like, can you just talk a little bit about that tension and how you're able, to kind of, infuse these indigenous principles at the same time, understanding the system that we're, uh, and just , trying to, to navigate that and kind of infuse our spirituality in some of the more secular places.

Kumu Ramsay:

Yeah. Um, I think maybe the simplest way is to always be real. Real is an acronym for being respectful and reverent as well as resilient. So in your resilience of being able to respond, but with respect and reverence, you then can be more equitable when you're engaging others. in yourself and equitable, not so much as. Equal. Equilibrium. Equilibrium suggests that at times there is more, at times there is less, but overall everything is in balance. Like the ocean, there are waves that come in and there are waves that go out. Imagine if the ocean was just static and didn't move. Everybody says, oh good, everything's calm. No. Something's wrong in nature when the ocean isn't moving. It's that movement that creates equilibrium. Change moves nutrients move. So you want the ocean sometimes it moves very big like giant waves tsunamis But those are the rare occasions So you don't want to live your life in fear of rare occasions. You just need to be prepared for those right? but it's that movement that you're looking for so being real respectful and reverent of that ocean while we're looking for equity and And equilibrium, but also be ethical about that. Right? What ethics are we operating from? What's your ethos? And I subscribe to a set of ethics that perhaps others may not, but I'd like us to aspire to, right? Less such as being kind, right? And making sure that everyone is eaten. Everyone is housed. Those are the questions that I'd like to ask myself. Did you eat today? Right? Did you sleep well? Do you have what you need? Because if the answer is yes, then hopefully we've done something properly. So you have the R and the E, but now you have the A, which is being authentic, showing up, how you show up. I trust what I see. So I want to show up authentically. So when people see me and we engage me, they know that they're getting me, there's integrity there. And so, but I also want to respect others may not be that way. So I'm engaging in business. I have to realize their goals and their objectives. They've come to us with an exit strategy where we don't have one, right? We're going to be a planning around. So how can we work together so that you get what you need? We get, we need, but everyone is left whole and not in one. But if I'm not authentic about that and I can't honestly tell them, Hey, look, sorry, I was at out. You just stepped on my toe. Please don't do that again. By the way, this is my toe. You're standing on it. Uh, was that your plan? It's uncomfortable. And I think that's part of it. So being authentic as well as, um, leading and living with Aloha. That's to do if you don't understand what it is, but fundamentally it's again, leaving a place whole and fulfilled. You should feel that way too. And anytime someone's doing that, it's understanding what my boundaries are, what their boundaries are, you know, And as cliche as that may sound, it's important because you then know what parameters, the range of motion, right, as well as where your levels of balance and imbalance are. And that's an awareness, a personal self awareness. So you need to be authentic and you need to be aware. As you're being ethical and equitable in the same time of being reverent and respectful. The last thing in that would be the idea of being logical. There's the logical part, but then there's a logical L A W. Logical meaning honoring the land, the air and the water. Those are the resources that we all rely on. And so my engagements with people tend to be around development, creating new opportunities, et cetera. So we have to say, well, how does the land benefit? Are we make are we damaging the air that we're all doing air being the atmosphere in the room? The water is anything that flows between us whether it's finances or relationships Honor the law or the laws laws which includes spirituality and sustainability And so that's always held top of mind And I operate from a what we call a systems management systems thought process that all things are connected. We are connected even just for a few minutes. But even when we turn this system off, we're still connected. And so acknowledging that that connection with these people. Means that anything I do to harm them at some point it kind of going to come back to harm me and anything I do to benefit them. Hopefully will benefit me as well because we have this bigger thing in mind So the L in real means logical and logical but also logical logical for me is Understanding the stories the lore of someone's background their culture All right, even their operating culture the lore of business You If you don't understand the lore of business, the stories that people tell themselves, then you may be entering, you know, a story at the wrong end. So being logical, what's the story? What's your story? What's your narrative? And being humble enough, which is the important part, is humility. To be able to sit there long enough, well, with enough time to hear, to listen, to engage at the heart level as much as you're engaging at the head level. So it goes into the eyes and ears, but it should drop to your heart and triggers a response. And so by being real, all of those things I just said, it makes engagements such more, uh, more successful, more equitable, but they're all being driven by law.

Mik:

So I guess end with, if you have, if you have any tips for how we can better get closer in terms of our relationship with, with mother nature.

Kumu Ramsay:

Yeah. Well, interesting enough, you know, the closest thing we have to mother is the food we consume, right? It all comes from nature. And if it doesn't, they come from a box and it comes from a test tube. So if you want to get close to nature, know where your food comes from. That's probably the first thing and grow what you can in the spaces that you have, because then you know where it's coming from. And more importantly, you've been able to nurture it while it nurtures you. So being more selective and maybe more discerning about the things that you purchase and who you support, uh, in terms of what you're, what you're eating. Now, granted, it becomes extremely expensive to eat healthy these days. They got us by, you know, over the barrel. If you want that, it's cheaper for us to produce. junk food than it is to keep things natural. I don't understand that, but that's how it works. Short of putting plants like the one I had behind me. I live in Hawaii, so it's not a problem getting into nature, but having it in the room just a reminder that we're all connected. I mean, she's providing air for me right now, which I very great. Um, so things like that, but also edifying. Anyone that is in how to help them because they're the warriors, they're the ones on the ground that are helping to keep the water clean, the forest healthy, you know, the fish populations, you know, going supporting those kinds of programs because in that way, you're still being connected. But my, my first response, I think is probably the most, the most impactful one is recognizing that we are what we eat. If you want to connect with mother, And the first mother, right, our first mothers that we came from, they fed us. So whatever she's consuming, we're consuming. If we want to consume healthy food, breathe healthy air, drink healthy water, then we have to make sure that what we're putting into the earth and into the air and into the water, healthy, or at least not damaging what it is we've ultimately consumed. That's the cyclical relationship. That's reciprocity. So if you live in a, in a high rise, or if you live on the land, I don't think it's any different. It's a matter of recognizing what my relationship is with mother. And the most significant one is the food we consume because that represents that connection.

Mik:

Well, that answer did spark one more question. So I'm going to go ahead and ask it. Being on kind of the, the mainland 48 contiguous You know, a lot of folks out to Hawaii. And , so are there any tips you have people who want to visit? How they can be respectful of the place when they are?

Kumu Ramsay:

Yeah. Yeah. I would just say that wherever you visit, whether it's Hawaii or anywhere else, remember that people live there. Now, if you go to an amusement park, that's a little bit different. That's, you know, a contrivance, but when you come to Hawaii and places like this, our beaches, our mountains are, we live here. So when you leave, we're still here. So we've got to deal with the benefit of your being here, which is perhaps sharing your, your revenue by purchasing and buying from our, our communities. But there's more to that, right? Is that don't leave the place trashed. Don't take what's not yours to take, right? Acknowledge the fact our children are here, our elders are here. How you behave impacts them. And if you want to come back to a place that's beautiful, then you should leave the place beautiful as you found it. And if it's not, then do something to help restore that beauty. But just keep in mind, this is our home. It's not a playground as much as you may recreate in it. We recreate in it. We will also worship in it. And so while we're worshiping and you're recreating, keep in mind that there could be some tension there and acknowledge that. Many of our temples, which may just look like stone walls to you, are no different than the cathedrals or the, the synagogues that others go to. It's just a matter of recognizing, uh, their cultural and spiritual significance to people. So kind of getting educated before you come and, or find someone who is knowledgeable and let them be your guides rather than just thinking that you know it all or that you read a guidebook and that's enough, which unfortunately I think is one of our biggest problems because to your point earlier, somebody wanted to become the spring, wrote a guidebook and doesn't understand the nuances of what they're telling people, which in some cases actually puts people at risk by telling them, about places that they probably shouldn't be going to in the absence of having someone from the place be their guide. And we've seen that many, many times. In fact, many people who love to go to Kaua'i would be probably frightened to hear that they just had to close one of their favorite hiking spots because of a norovirus. Now that's not happening in nature. That's because humans have gone in there and their behaviors, Right. Impacted all those others that followed them. So it's just a reminder that we are connected and that our practice today will have an impact on somebody tomorrow. I think that's the underlying concept. You come to Hawaii, you're coming to someone's home. Enjoy your te, you know, benefit from it. But maybe ask the question, how does this community in this place benefit from me being here? What can I do to leave this place better as a result of my engagement?

Jenn:

So thank you so much. This was beautiful and very encouraging for me with a lot of the things that I've been talking about, but it's been also interesting just hearing about the work that you do and your perspective on how and how you approach life and how we should approach each other. If people want to learn more about you, learn more about the work that you do, even get in touch with you, how can they find you?

Kumu Ramsay:

Well, I'm very fortunate that I have a, an assistant who is my daughter. And she's put up social media things. So I am on Instagram. Uh, Facebook, uh, under Kuma Ramsay Taum. Um, and I do have a webpage, which I think you can share with others later, but it's really LEI of the pacific.com, um, which represents Life Enhancement Institute. It'll also show up under my name, ramsay taum.com. They can find out about the offerings that are there, which includes group sessions, uh, individual sessions, and of course if someone is interested in holding, uh. A workshop for their communities and the possibility of having me, um, be a speaker or a presenter at their, at their functions. There's that too, but I, I prefer face to face, you know, when we can see one another, although, um, any way we can communicate issues is important to me. So, but that's how, that's how to find me sign up or just get on our mailing list.

Mik:

Well, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate you sharing your wisdom today with us, uh, forward to staying in contact.

Kumu Ramsay:

Thanks Miklos. Appreciate it. Jenn. Nice to meet you.

Jenn:

All right. That's the show. I hope you enjoyed that conversation with Ramsay as much as we did. It was fantastic. Speaking to someone who. just has this very beautiful understanding of how we should live life and interact with each other and share and forgive and heal. And it was just a very beautiful outlook on life.

Mik:

Yeah. I love even just watching some of his YouTube videos when he's breaking down some of these principles and just talking through how we can just be in better relationship with each other as well as the planet. So hopefully you guys enjoyed that. And thank you again to Kumu Ramsay for being on the show. Finally, guys, if you're loving the show, please subscribe and give us five stars wherever you watch or listen.