During a recent yoga class, I had a lightbulb moment. A concept connecting yoga, science, and personal development during my Ph.D. program. The connection being hulihia. Hulihia as a yoga student, as a researcher, as a person. Hulihia is a Hawaiian term that describes a massive change, an upheaval. First, yoga. Yoga has helped me grow and learn. To stay physically and mentally healthy for over a decade, including during graduate school. So, during this recent yoga class, the teacher guided us through a fun flow between the two asana (yoga postures), flip dog and fallen warrior. She giggled, “like a rotisserie chicken” and I thought “like huli huli chicken!” Huli huli chicken is rotisserie chicken in Hawai‘i since huli means to turn, and rotisserie chicken is consistently turned over. Her giggles made me laugh and smile. I laugh a lot during this teachers’ classes. It’s refreshing to laugh. And I’m grateful for yoga to help me laugh, stay healthy, and to huli huli my perspective figuratively and literally. Kolo is a good yoga practice buddy. Although, he seems to prefer sunbathing and chewing bones. Second, science. When deciding to attend the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UH) for my Ph.D., I did not foresee how transformed I would be by Hawai‘i. Western approaches and English-speaking institutions dominated my scientific training until my Ph.D. program. At UH, I learned about guiding principles that allow people to approach situations with multiple ways of knowing (e.g., Indigenous and Western knowledges). I learned about genuinely listening first and centering reciprocity in my life. While English is predominately spoken at UH, ‘ōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language – shout out to February being Mahina ‘Ōlelo Hawaiʻi) is gaining recognition and is critical to conducting culturally appropriate research. And while my dissertation is very much Western science based, I am grateful that my Ph.D. program has been far from that. Third, personal development. The most influential course in my doctoral studies, Pono Science, explored Hawaiian ethics, implications of research, and decolonizing methodology to better understand our role in culturing a pono (goodness, uprightness, morality) future. During the course, I truly began to grasp what different worldviews mean and how our ways of knowing guide our daily lives and research. I have incorporated these lessons directly into my life and work, such as following Hawaiian protocols (oli and kilo) upon entering my research sites, learning ‘ōlelo Hawaiʻi, and emphasizing the use of Hawaiian place and plant names. There have been many changes for me and for my family. I think these changes have accumulated to a personal hulihia. And the yoga and science huliahia play into them too. I not only view my work with different perspectives but everyday life too. I have had many moves, including moving to islands in the Pacific Ocean. I’ve begun learning a new language and culture. I married my partner and worked through long-distance so we could both pursue our education/careers. My siblings have had children and two more niblings on the way. We rescued a puppy and are fostering another. I hope as my Ph.D. program comes to a close, I remember that hulihia can be good. As a new chapter begins, I hope to stay flexible and open to hulihia. Upheavals can be alarming, and they can be transformational. If I struggle with shifting my perspective, getting upside down helps.
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AuthorI started this blog as part of my Botany In Action Fellowship through Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens Archives
June 2023
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