Tag: Hawaii

I recently spent two weeks in Kaua’i, where I co-hosted a yoga retreat, practiced relaxing, and connected to a very special place. In Kaua’i, there is a feeling that permeates the island, inborn to the locals and infectious to its visitors. For me the feeling can be summed up in a simple motto: No Shirt. […]

Birth defects, premature births, endocrine disruption, cancer, Parkinson’s—why are we doing this to our kids? According to a new study published in the journal Endocrinology, oil and natural gas operations are contaminating surface and ground water with chemicals that wreak havoc on birth and growth hormones. Other recent reports show toxic levels of selenium contamination in the groundwater near fracking operations. This is leading to premature births.

From January through December 2014, Gallup-Healthways researchers conducted telephone interviews with a random sample of more than 176,000 adults living in metropolitan areas in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. These areas were defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. Well-being was calculated on a scale of 0 to 100 (where 0 represented the lowest possible well-being and 100 represented the highest). The metric took into account overall well-being, as well as five essential elements of well-being, including daily feelings of purpose, loving relationships, financial security, safety and pride in one’s community, and physical health.

Kristie Wolfe bought a plot of land in Hawaii sight-unseen for $8000. A year later she bought a plane ticket, packed her bags full of tools and with the help of her mother, began to build a bamboo “treehouse” that fit the surrounding jungle (though rather than using trees for support, she built it on stilts). After two months of building every day “from dawn to dusk” and an $11,000 investment, she had a second home.