Healing Vacations in Hawaii

Grace Imani and George Emerson.

A COUPLE'S HEALING VACATION IN HAWAI'I

By George Hayden Emerson

If you're cruising this website, there's a good chance that you have something in common with Grace Imani and me — a desire to explore, heal, celebrate and rejuvenate the spirit, mind and body while on vacation. Figuring out how to plan such a vacation, especially in a location as remote as Hawai'i, can be difficult. Here are some of the challenges we've faced over the years:

Finding practitioners of various mind-body-spirit modalities in advance of the visit is tough. Because skilled practitioners are likely to be booked weeks in advance, booking upon arrival is not a good idea. Actually finding the practitioners can be even harder. Many advertise not on the Internet but in local community papers and magazines that can be difficult for nonresidents to obtain.

Finding places to stay can also be quite a challenge, as the hustle and bustle of the typical hotels, resorts and condominium complexes are not conducive for creating the tranquil environment that many well-being vacationers seek.

The rare resorts that provide an authentic mind-body-spirit experience tend to be very, very expensive. Keep in mind that you probably do not want to be isolated in a resort where it can be difficult to get a feel for the local customs and way of life.

Renting vacation homes is a great alternative, but all you see before arriving are pictures. How do you know if your idea of peaceful, natural or quiet is the same as your host's, or if there's construction going on next door?

Organized retreats are another great alternative as long as your interests and schedule match the local goings-on; ours did not.

Making arrangements on your own can be very time consuming, a situation exacerbated by time zone differences. Furthermore, making arrangements while on vacation is not the most relaxing, recreational activity!

Dining recommendations can be tough if you are particular about eating healthful food that is made with care.

Lastly, if all you have to go on is Web sites, brochures and other advertisements, you really have no idea what you're getting yourself into because prices, pictures and promotional materials often do not accurately portray the intangible qualities associated with your idea of a fantastic well-being vacation.

Fortunately, for our first trip to the Big Island, we overcame all of these challenges and experienced a healing vacation that changed our lives. Our healing vacation in Hawai'i was nothing short of magical, a truly awesome and life-changing experience. The quality of Susanne's recommendations was beyond expectation, and all of her arrangements occurred just as planned. Her partnership with us enabled us to enjoy a very rich experience because we could focus on living in the moment.

As our days on the island unfolded, we came to call our adventure the "Vacation of a Lifetime." It was an incredibly rare treat to have all arrangements made and actually be a human being instead of a human doing. On top of that, the arranged activities and practitioners ranged from good to sensational, with only two choices that we would not repeat. The cultural activities (a personally guided tour of the Place of Refuge and learning to weave traditional lau hala baskets) gave us insights and led to relationships that we were unlikely to have found on our own. Each lodging expressed its own unique reflection of heaven on earth and was ideally suited to the environment and part of the custom retreat we were experiencing. The lodging complemented, on the energy and ambiance levels, the healing and growth aspects of our holiday and intentions. Even the dining recommendations suited our complete experience through personalized service and wholesome, high quality food prepared with love and care.

The key to this fantastic experience was our partnership with Susanne. Her local knowledge, gift of professional service and ability to listen made her the ideal person to help us create and experience a healing and profoundly life-altering vacation. We found it easy to work with Susanne because, while always making insightful suggestions, she was able to put her own preferences aside in order to focus on ours. In short, we consider the time and money spent working with Susanne to be the best investment we ever made while planning a vacation.

On a personal note, the vacation was healing and life-changing for me in many ways. I consciously re-engaged spiritual aspects of my life's journeys, aspects ignored for a few years. Through interpersonal work started while on holiday, I have been better able to accept life's changes rather than trying to control them. I feel renewed energy and creativity that has catapulted the art I create in new and exciting directions. I've been more focused on caring for my mind, body, emotions and spirit, and I am earnestly contemplating the new experiences that the next 40 years of my life may hold. Even my desire to be an ideal partner for Grace has been rejuvenated. Lastly, I feel more alive than I have in years. What more could one expect of a healing vacation in Hawai'i?