Huna Article

Huna International

Leaving Ku's Work to Ku
by Susan Pa'iniu Floyd

For very practical reasons, Hawaiian Shamans looked at the major functions of the mind and gave them names. Names were important in that they reflected and inspired qualities. KU was a name they gave to the part of the mind that has to do with memory and maintaining patterns or habits. Some definitions of Ku are to stand upright, to stay, to remain, to establish, to resemble, to appear, to reveal, to be suitable, appropriate.

This part of our mind stores memories of all kinds of data that we perceive through our senses, whether consciously or not, whether important or not. The more times we perceive or experience something, the more times it gets stored and the pattern is strengthened. The majority of our remembered patterns are useful in some way. Some are not.

For most of my life I was on the upper limit of the recommended weight for my age. I often experimented with diets and so my Ku had lots of different patterns stored on that subject. Each diet had its merits and if I stuck to one long enough it produced encouraging results. But I wasn't one to live with limitations for long!

Huna helped me to realize it wasn't the diet, but living in harmony with my beliefs that produced good results. For example, if I believed that sugar was bad for me (remember the book, Sugar Kills? That one really made a strong impression on my Ku.) then I would be very smart to stay away from it.

Over the years my Ku was filled with "rules" about food that conflicted with one another: eat this, no don't eat that; eat this but not with that and you'll be OK; eat moderately; eat often but less; eat raw; eat cooked; fast; don't fast... you name it, I tried it. My poor body was always breaking some "rule" no matter what it did. It adapted to the resulting tension for as long as possible and then it broke down. If I had been paying attention to it I might have caught the gentle messages, but as it was, I was blessed to notice the loud knock. And lucky for me, the Divine part of my mind (called Kane or Aumakua whose function is creativity and to provide energy) steered me in the direction of Serge King and Huna.

The first change I made in my thinking was to reduce criticism. Wow - that made a dramatic change in my health! I never thought I was a critical person (I hardly ever spoke mean or angry things to others) but boy did I have opinions. Opinions on how poor situations were in the world, how unfair, how sad, and how inconsiderate and insensitive some people could be to others and to the world, and how inefficient some systems were..etc., etc..see how it creeps in? Well, a little shift in thinking went a long way. Within 3 weeks I was out of bed and hiking mountains!

At the time I was on a diet of no sugar, caffeine, or alcohol. Within a year I moved to Kauai and was living with and visiting Hawaiians who would invite me to eat with them. Their cooking often included sugar. By now I knew the conscious mind (Lono) could re-teach Ku to ignore previous beliefs and habits and take on new ones, so I decided to change my beliefs and experiences of sugar.

I decided to believe sugar was good for me and that, indeed, it could also make me skinny. This new belief worked well and so I experimented with other food beliefs. As I tuned in (at that time I used a pendulum, but Shaman stones and kinesiology work well too) I found most foods tested bad for me. The old diet beliefs were still operating. Time for a change. So I retrained Ku. I taught it (me) to forget all those rules and the new rule was "everything I eat, drink and breathe into my body is good for me and, especially, sugar makes me skinny." For 15 years I had little fluctuation with weight and for the majority of the time, I was healthy.

After September 11, 2001, my weight creeped up 5-7 pounds and stayed there. It was not a comfortable weight, but not uncomfortable enough to motivate me to change. Then in the beginning of 2003 I lost those extra pounds without effort. Serge and Gloria King decided that summer to experiment with eating a low carbohydrate diet and got great results. More than just the loss of weight, they experienced a very high increase in energy, and yet they felt more peaceful at the same time, much more centered and balanced. Still, I felt my energy was great and my health fine and....I loved my ice creams, and breads and pasta, and grains and fruit smoothies!

Eight months later, I was in for a surprise. My Ku presented me with such an unusual idea that it got my attention. Even though I had released the "don'ts" from my rules about food, still, I had preferences. I had preferred to eat mostly vegetarian for most of the last 30 years. Although it was perfectly fine by my rules, I didn't feel like eating eggs, or much cheese either. Then, at a Prime Rib Buffet in Los Cabos, Mexico, I found myself feeling like eating meat. I was so shocked that I decided to go with it and see what would result. I mean Ku must have its reasons, right? What followed gave me a clue. I was so satisfied from eating the meats that I didn't want any of the desserts. Can you, who know me, imagine that? At an all-you-can-eat buffet with a super dessert table? But again, I decided to follow my body's lead. It wasn't like giving up anything, I just didn't want any.

I was eating dinner with Serge and Gloria - perfect timing Ku - so I asked them for details about their way of eating. I felt very attracted to trying out a lower carb diet, so I began. Four months later I now know what they were talking about. I have lost and kept off 8 pounds and that feels great. Even better are the inches I've lost and the body awareness I've gained. I feel my muscles. I feel them when they are being used. And I feel them moving me to stretch and squeeze out their tension. These are precious feelings and they must be why I treasure this new way of eating.

Now, I'm not saying that a low carb diet is for everyone. Just the opposite, it's not. What I am suggesting is to listen to your body. Clear out the "food rules" and see what happens. Ku knows what our bodies have too much of and too little of at any given time. It will tell us just what to eat or drink to bring back the balance. We just need to listen. Leave Ku's work to Ku.

Copyright Huna International 2004