"Welcome to the Blog for Kawai Purapura"
- the Retreat Centre and Holistic Living community in Albany, New Zealand
About This Blog
The wide range of interests and activities at Kawai Purapura run from small to large – for both retreatants and residents. This Blog is created to provide a representative sampling of life at the KP community, and to start an online record for future viewing.
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You can provide text, photos and videos for inclusion in the KP Blog.
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Read More“Divine Clearing” for Healthy Living
Dr Yvonne Murphy is a happy resident at Kawai Purapura. Correction: Yvonne is a happy person!
Following 25 years of study and practice in many disciplines, including as a Doctor of Chiropractic, Yvonne found many conventional modalities to be too narrow.
Yvonne discovered her true role as a healer after studying both osteopathy and naturopathy, and the relevance of the teachings of Anandamayi Ma.
“To be truly healthy we also have to feel our good health on the inside,” Yvonne explained. The sight of a happy and healthy child is a reminder of the purity of good feelings, she said in a brief interview this week.
Yvonne is now sharing her knowledge as she believes there is great need for all to become free of any “illness” restriction we see in our lives.
One focus is working with parents to assist them in achieving happiness and balance for both adult and child in the family. The starting point is often to define the happy feelings the parent would like to see in their child, and then use the Divine Clearing process to build and encourage the thoughts and feelings to achieve that desired state.
Full details of Yvonne’s background and teachings can be found at the website: Divine Clearing
Read MoreA Taste of Honey – Literally!
A hive of “placid” bees from Italy enabled two local space-suited Earthlings to remove the swarm from the walls of a maintenance shed and into more appropriate quarters near the driveway gardens.
Yes, if you look closely you may just guess Erin is the cautious but enthusiastic trainee bee-keeper to the right.
With the guidance of Marcello, a local apiarist, Erin took her first hands-on steps as Kawai Purapura’s new queen bee.
Moving the bees resulted in a large sample of raw honey being available to residents on site at the time. Those who sampled the fresh and tasty delicacy claimed to feel invigorated and refreshed after just a few minutes!
It was interesting to learn that bees are quite hardy when it comes to hive moves. They will forage up to a 5 km radius, although they stay close to the hive if there is a plentiful supply nearby of flowers with high nectar. Pohutukawa and Manuka are favourites for bees if nearby, and Manuka honey is known for its antibacterial and antifungal properties.
Here’s wishing Erin the best of luck with her new hobby.
2012 Update
The bees have flown! Literally. They swarmed a few times and have left their cosy home in the orchard behind. Stay tuned for the buzz on the bees 
Making Light of Heavy Work
The twin needs of lumber clearing and laying in stores of firewood for the winter took large steps forward recently. With the aid of a Chopper wood splitter and tractor with trailer, the hills rang to the sounds of a team of WWOOFers and residents.
There are approximately 16 good wood-burning “appliances” around Kawai Purapura (surprised me, too) according to Tony O’Brien and the stores of split logs are now back to a healthy level.
LumberJack (sorry) and Matilda hard at work on the Chopper!
A Reiki Resolution – New Year Energy
“Enhance your well-being and vitality!” That sounds as good a new year resolution as any, as well as a great plan for any time. One way is to experience the benefits of Reiki in mid-January 2012, right here at Kawai Purapura.
Sandra Daubney
Reiki is based on the observation that our bodies have an inbuilt predisposition towards health and well being, towards balance and harmony. Sandra Daubney explains: “We all have healing ability. Reiki simply enhances that ability.”
We all know that perceptions flow in all the time, and Reiki goes one step further to say our perceptions create our experiences. For example, our natural flow of energy is blocked when we experience stress. As Sandra says, “These energy blockages warn us that something in our life is not working. We can be proactive and change the cause or ignore it.”
Sandra adds that when we are without fear, worry or anger – when in harmony – then life flows and we perceive the beauty and the potential. On the other hand, when we worry or react to our expereinces with anger, then life constricts – we see less of the “good” and more of the “bad”.
For more details on Sandra’s Start 2012 With Reiki go to http://www.reikigaia.com/
Read MoreQuestiontime – Newcomer’s Corner
Name: Tira Cole
A little about you: Will be a student next year.
Why are you in NZ? It’s home but I plan to travel one day.
How did you hear about Kawai Purapura? TradeMe.
Special Interests? Environment, natural health.
How long might you stay? It all depends.
What’s next? Studying Biodiversity Management next year.
Can we use a photo? Yes.
Read MoreAgnihotra At Kawai Purapura
Agnihotra is a healing fire from the ancient science of Ayurveda. The term describes a process of purifying the atmosphere when performed at sunrise and sunset daily.
Interested community members gathered at Rangimarie recently to see Agnihotra in action. Based on the sunrise and sunset rhythm, Agnihotra is referred to as an ancient science, given in Sanskrit language at the time of creation. Sanskrit is not described as a mother tongue but rather as a language of vibration.
Hungry Creek Graduates Deck The Walls …
From left: Caroline, Tamar, Jessica, Natalie, Debbie, Brigette, Catherine (and, just sneaking in, one proud son).
The students and staff at the on-site Jewellery campus of Hungry Creek held their graduation ceremony and prize giving last weekend. A wide range of the work from the year was also on display at the studio, which we feature below.
Catherine Randall, year 2 "best student"
As well as Kawai Purapura, Hungry Creek Art & Craft School have another campus at Puhoi. Their courses include Certificates and Diplomas from level 4 to level 6, spanning three years, plus the Advanced Diploma at level 7.
Catherine Randall, detail
The courses on-site are practical, with most of the time spent in the workshop. Students learn traditional and contemporary making and design skills.
Jessica Gillespie, year 1 "best student"
Shane Hartdegen, the Head of Department for Jewellery, explained that students are encouraged to work with a variety of materials and, just as important, to become comfortable with experimenting with designs and concepts.
Jessica Gillespie, detail
The curriculum exposes students to a varied yet inter-related study program. The aim is to give each student the skills to enter the industry either as a jewellery designer, manufacturing jeweller, or self employed studio jeweller. There is also the opportunity to go onto further study.
Auditorium Project Begins
Work has begun on the new outdoor auditorium, situated adjacent to the orchard area on the south slope of the valley at Kawai Purapura.
Jenny explains: “This will be an awesome outdoor venue for the community, with plans to build a gigantic outdoor picnic table shortly.”
Day 1 - industrial magic makes light of the task
Community workers (from P.D.) assisted with the preparation of the area, levelling and raking for grass seeding.
Day 2 - many hands made light work of the levelling and seeding
WWOOFers: “enjoyable, educational” volunteering
Willing Workers on Organic Farms is part of a world-wide community that promotes awareness of ecological farming practices by providing volunteers with the opportunity to live and learn on organic properties.
Known as “WWOOFers” and held in high esteem, people of any age can contribute. WWOOFing is also an enjoyable, educational and affordable way to explore and get to know the community of Kawai Purapura.
To discover more about how you can join as a Wwoofer, call (09) 415 9468 or email Luca.
Read More