WINSOME WILLIAMS- LaKahea Fram

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Jason Schwartz speaks with WINSOME WILLIAMS, La Kahea Community Education Farm Director & Local farmer sharing about Regenerative Agriculture & April 2020 Workshop & so much more…2-3-2020

Summary & Transcript

[00:00 → 02:37]
Introduction and Background Context
The show “The Neutral Zone” on KAKU 88.5 FM in Maui, Hawaii, hosted by Jason Schwartz, introduces Winsome Williams as a guest. The program focuses on exploring topics related to the environment, culture, art, and sustainability on Maui. Jason shares his personal history with Maui beginning in 1988 and the founding of the Maui Arts and Music Association and Dream Makers Foundation. These organizations promote art, music, culture, and education on renewable energy and environmental solutions, aiming for a creative self-sustainability model on Maui. He also references his involvement with the Green Party and local politics in the 1990s, underscoring his long-term commitment to environmental activism.

• [02:37 → 06:20]
  Winsome Williams’ Role and LaKahea Community Farm
  Winsome Williams wears “a couple of different hats” in the local community. She works part-time with Aloha Farms, which supplies kalo (taro) and sweet potatoes to local restaurants. She also founded LaKahea (“Calling in the Light”), a community education farm focused on assisting the transition from conventional to regenerative agricultural practices.

Key points about LaKahea:

• Location: Below Maui Tropical Plantation, between the plantation and the golf course, next to Pacific Biodiesel.
• Mission: To regenerate soil health by revitalizing the microbial life (bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes) crucial for nutrient cycling and growing nutrient-dense crops.
• Crops: Various kalo varieties, coconut, mango, native plants, and others suited for local conditions.
• Partnerships: Collaborates with organizations like the Maui Julio Foundation to conduct worm bin operations and composting of zero waste food scraps from community events. Compost tea produced is distributed on the farm to support soil health.

Winsome notes that LaKahea currently hosts volunteer days and has a small Earthship facility but is in the process of developing more formal agricultural tourism.

• [06:20 → 12:03]
  Soil Health and the Need to Grow Documentary
  The conversation shifts to the documentary “The Need to Grow”, which highlights that the Earth has approximately 60 years of farmable soil left if current practices continue. The film emphasizes the urgency of replenishing soil through regenerative agriculture.

Winsome and her team at LaKahea have been studying with organizations such as:

• Elaine Ingham’s Environmental Celebration Institute (focused on soil microbiology and compost education),
• Kiss the Ground (soil advocacy and regenerative agriculture education),
• Farmers Footprint (soil health and farmer support), and have even met Zach Bush, a key figure in regenerative health and agriculture.

Key insights on soil health:

• Soil is likened to the immune system of the planet, housing microbes essential for nutrient cycling and plant health.
• Industrial agriculture practices like tilling and chemical spraying destroy this microbial life, exposing soil to the sun and elements that kill or wash away beneficial organisms.
• Loss of humic acid and soil aggregates reduces soil fertility, impacting plant nutrition and human health.
• The decline in soil health parallels a decline in human health due to exposure to herbicides, pesticides, and nutrient-poor food.
• [12:03 → 18:51]
  Community Awareness and Intergenerational Perspectives
  Jason notes a generational divide in environmental awareness, with younger people like Winsome naturally more “awake” to sustainability issues. Winsome agrees, emphasizing the importance of community engagement and education. She shares her contact information for LaKahea (connect@lacaja.com) and social media handles, encouraging community involvement.

Winsome recounts her personal journey:

• She grew up in Wyoming, originally involved in rodeo and cosmetology school but found her passion after spending time in India studying yoga.
• Yoga’s meaning of “to yoke” or unite individual soul with collective consciousness deeply influenced her worldview.
• She learned about the karmic impact of diet and agriculture, especially the harm caused by pesticides like glyphosate on soil life.
• This led her to agriculture work in Maui, combining regenerative agriculture with spiritual and community values.
• [18:51 → 24:28]
  Local Agriculture and Vision for Maui’s Future
  Winsome works with Aloha Farms (managed by Juanita and Bobby Padilla) growing kalo and other crops. She highlights the challenges farmers face transitioning from conventional to regenerative methods, including the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, and the environmental impacts such as water pollution and ocean health decline.

Jason emphasizes the potential of Maui as a global example of sustainable agriculture and environmental stewardship, pointing to the concentration of conscious landowners managing 41,000 acres. Winsome stresses the importance of compassion for farmers who may not be able to switch practices overnight.

• [24:28 → 31:48]
  Integrating Indigenous Wisdom, Technology, and Community
  Winsome discusses the importance of honoring indigenous Hawaiian culture, language, and traditional practices as part of regenerative efforts. She envisions combining this wisdom with modern technology like biochar and phytoremediation to create profitable, sustainable agricultural models.

The group references Michael Smith, featured in “The Need to Grow,” who has developed innovative composting and soil regeneration methods that reduce glyphosate by 78% in one growing season, showcasing the potential for large-scale remediation.

Jason reflects on the convergence of environmental activism, community organizing, and spiritual awareness, linking it to historical figures like Ram Dass and Timothy Leary who influenced cultural awakenings.

• [31:48 → 39:10]
  Importance of Compassion, Patience, and Collective Action
  Winsome emphasizes that the regenerative movement requires patience and compassion, both for the land and the people involved. She notes that fear often hinders action, leading people to hoard resources rather than participate in communal efforts like gardening or reducing chemical use.

She encourages people to take accountability for their own behaviors and the impact of their consumption, such as using reusable cups and supporting regenerative practices.

• [39:10 → 46:59]
  The Bow Spring Postural Alignment System and Mind-Body Connection
  Winsome introduces a workshop she is organizing in April called the Regenerative Movement Workshop, featuring the Bow Spring Postural Alignment System. Key points:
• The Bow Spring system focuses on engaging the myofascial tissue, a connective network beneath the skin that communicates signals between the brain and body.
• This system contrasts classical posture training by emphasizing energy flow and communication through the fascia, similar to how mycelium networks work in soil.
• Proper posture through Bow Spring activates the parasympathetic nervous system(rest, relaxation, healing) as opposed to the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight), which is dominant in common “C-shaped” postures caused by modern sedentary lifestyles and stress.
• Activating the parasympathetic nervous system supports physical and mental health, balancing masculine and feminine energy channels.

This mind-body connection parallels the ecological connection of soil health and plant growth.

• [46:59 → 54:34]
  Regenerative Agriculture as a Model Beyond Sustainability
  Winsome explains the difference between:
  | Term | Definition |
  |—————-|———————————————————————————————-|
  | Degenerative | Current conventional agriculture that depletes soil, uses chemicals, and harms ecosystems. |
  | Sustainable | Maintaining current practices without causing further harm, but not necessarily restoring. |
  | Regenerative | Actively restoring soil health and ecosystems beyond sustainability to improve conditions. |

She stresses that regenerative agriculture is the goal to restore and enhance soil and ecosystem health, not just sustain degraded systems.

• [54:34 → 56:16]
  Closing Remarks and Call to Action
  Winsome encourages community involvement and compassion throughout the regenerative movement, emphasizing collective power. She invites listeners to register for the Bow Spring workshop via globalbowspring.com or through her Instagram @la_cahaya. Jason thanks Winsome warmly for her insights and contributions.

Summary of Key Themes and Insights:

• Regenerative agriculture is critical to reversing soil degradation and ensuring long-term food security.
• Soil health underpins human and planetary health, with microbes functioning like an immune system for the earth.
• Maui is emerging as a model for regenerative practices combining indigenous wisdom, community farming, and innovative technologies.
• Community education, compassion, and patience are vital to support farmers and individuals transitioning from conventional methods.
• The mind-body connection via Bow Spring posture complements ecological regeneration by promoting relaxation and balance.
• Collective action and raising awareness can shift practices from degenerative and merely sustainable toward truly regenerative systems.

Contact and Resource Information:

Resource/Organization	Website / Contact	Description
LaKahea Community Farm	connect@lacaja.com	Community education farm focused on regenerative practices
Kiss the Ground	(Not specified, but educational courses available)	Soil advocacy and regenerative agriculture education
Environmental Celebration Institute	(Not specified)	Elaine Ingham’s soil microbiology education
Global Bow Spring Workshop	globalbowspring.com	Postural alignment system workshop registration
Hawaii Farmers Union	(Not specified)	Partner organization for regenerative agriculture events

This comprehensive discussion showcases the intersection of environmental activism, community empowerment, traditional knowledge, and personal health as a holistic approach to sustain and regenerate Maui’s unique ecosystems and culture.

Transcript

00:00

[Music] welcome to the neutral zone we have a great guest today [Music] [Music] make a few the college watch this hand [Music] you nature good morning everyone I am excited to be here I have a terrific guest today I’m Jason Schwartz your host we’re on kak u 88.5 FM LP that means low power in Kailua Maui Hawaii and we also can be found on Facebook live right now but at Maui neutral zone calm and also on K aku FM on Facebook but Maui neutral zone calm we have a library that lives on YouTube and we are

01:49

going through the island picking beautiful stars and saying up some people don’t know their stars as some do but I see them as a field of possibility you know I learned that years ago and in that field of possibility things can be created in a unique way well you and everything is always there as possibility so I remember years ago in 1988 when I came to Maui in 1991 when I formed the Maui Arts and Music Association the dream makers foundation of Maui and we started dream makers in 88 but and what the notion was was to

02:37

promote art and music and culture and educate people about renewable energy technologies and other environmental solutions so the weak creative self sustainability model on Maui and then the Green Party formed and I ran for council I ran for mayor in 1994 that was quite a fun experience and I’ve been this you know then Green was radical you don’t even know I’m sitting here when I am sitting here with our future our present and our future I was just talking this is winsome Williams what

03:13

organization um hi and thanks for having me I were a couple of different hats in the communities primarily I am a part-time employee with aloha farms we provide all of the Kahlo bananas and a lot of sweet potato for Ola Honolulu Star noodle Aloha mixed play in Lyoto spice shop and our farm is located below Maui tropical plantation in addition I have started a community education farm called LaKahea and LaKahea translates to calling in the light so it’s kind of our mission down there is assisting with transition from

03:56

conventional practices to regenerative practices my audience here the ones that are your age and a little older say yeah that’s like natural if doesn’t everyone feel that we have to share it I imagine do you show and have a place to show people that are tourists you see we’re working on opening up to be able to host more people from the community and right now we have a small little Earthship facility down there that we do welcome guests and people from the community to come down and help us on our volunteer

04:32

days but we don’t have any official like AG tourism things set up quite yet okay well hopefully our time here today can everyone hear it I guess I don’t have one to hear on you know I hope you’re just loud and clear okay good I think you have an email address I want to make sure to get that I do yeah it’s connect at LaKahea calm how do you spell LaKahea la ka h EI and are you in one location right there when you say below that doesn’t mean below the ground where’s below I mean on the which side

05:09

of where I if you’re driving from Maui tropical plantation to Maya Harbor we’re on the left side of the road kind of right in between Maui tropical plantation and the golf course right next to Pacific biodiesel where you see all the sunflowers and what what are you guys growing or cultivating or regenerating yeah well we’re regenerating the soil so our main primary goal is to put the life back into the soil meaning the bacteria the fungi the protozoa the nematodes because those are what without those who don’t get

05:48

nutrients nutrient cycling into the plants so we can grow crops I’m using synthetic fertilizers but the nutritional density is a lot lower without those good organisms in the soil so that’s what we’re regenerating the crops that we’re focusing on growing our kalo or taro we have a bunch of different varieties that we’re cultivating and as well as we’re planting lots of trees coconut trees mango trees a bunch of native plants really just anything we can get our hands on that will grow down there where

06:20

we’re putting in the ground just you envision some green waste out of this process as well right yeah yeah we have we’ve partnered with a couple people who we’ve started on some small worm bin operations and the Maui Julio foundation were partnering with them so all the zero waste events on Maui were taking the food waste from them and composting them and then we then use that compost for our compost tea and we distribute the compost tea around the farm so the way I met winsome we have a guest coming

07:00

up in the future sunny Elliot eye sunny Elliot was their quote one of the teachers of Tony I even forget his name the the big speaker Tony Tony Robbins thing tell me Robin I’m not sure yeah anyway see isn’t that funny of people that are twice your age or I don’t want to say triple come not triple yet I’m six almost 69 years old and year 28 so when I was forming and growing in my concepts and holding a vision I was holding it for people like you and people of your generation who are I want to say are awake naturally

07:47

whereas old older ones went a different road for the most part so we have a chance to be a self sustainability model for the world that triggered me when speaking with you you you’re thinking you have a conference coming up which I want to be sure to not forget don’t let me forget okay remember we’re on K aku 88.5 FM I’m here with winsome Williams what’s that in the organization one more time sorry lock of hair luck air and the way to find you is um you can find us on Instagram or on Facebook or reach out to

08:23

us through email at connect at laka hair calm we’re gonna probably put that on the screen because it makes it easier for me um and for everyone and you can find links through our website to be able to get to her all that’s what’s gonna happen as of tomorrow so um when I talk to you and thinking of how I met you I met you because next week’s guest who is Michael Smith was the subject of an award-winning documentary called the need to grow which was brought to my attention by a couple of guys on Island

09:05

Paul Sabol and Chris mental about well you can probably tell me because I want to say it’s your business one is that the need to grow is we only have 60 years of farmable soil on the earth and if we don’t replenish we got and there are ways that that’s what’s expressed in this and he’s here right now in fact this morning before I came to you I went to the climate change the new climate change committee Kelly King and the Natasha comma and kyani and shainsa netsim just mentioning council

09:43

people through on off Island you may not know my names but and in the audience people like Jeff stark Sean Lester Chris mental William people that have been environmentally focused our potential to put all this together and be dealing with the climate change in a responsible way growing food anyway what do you think of that movie what do you think of what you saw on that yeah for the last year the crew of us down at locker here we’ve been studying with Elaine mhmm we’ve been studying with kiss the ground

10:20

an organization that focuses on soil advocacy and I’m just recently we got a we got a meet Zach Bush and farmers footprint and learn about kind of their mission and what they’re doing in and Michael’s video Anita Crowe was really inspiring and it was really in line with with the message that I feel like it’s just this snowball like that’s really growing and yeah really the message is is that we need living soil to feed people to nourish people and to grow healthy food and what’s happening right

10:55

now with your saying you know there’s only 60 years left of farmable soil is that you know where we’re opening up the soil and I like to think of the soil is like the immune system of the planet right and so like and that’s it’s alive same with with our immune system right it’s it’s made up of lots of organisms that help our immune system be strong help us fight off diseases help us you know absorb nutrients and the same is true with the soil so when we till up the soil and we spray chemicals to fight

11:27

off pests and and disease and weeds then you know we’re not only destroying the environment that microbes like to thrive in which is one that is covered and mulch tour has cover crops on it woodchips you know and we’re tilling that up fungus and bacteria and protozoa if we expose that to the Sun they’re home to the Sun they either go dormant or they die or if there’s a flood that happens they kind of wash away into lakes and rivers and oceans and and so and when we keep doing this for years

12:03

and years and years a lot of that humic acid or the stored nutrients in the form of aggregates in the soil you know they’re they’re gone and we don’t have that so that’s why we see this struggle for plants and nutrients to you know feed and nourish our population right now right you can see like as industrial agriculture started human health is like declined at the same rate as you know we’re spraying all these herbicides and pesticides and oh no well I was just I’m you know I keep looking at the cameras

12:43

because I know that many people see us on TV or afterwards at Maui neutral zone come we older people are listening to you with a different ear that’s why I asked you if you had tourists coming through because the tourists as I bracket them are generally older or wealthier and the ones that aren’t already at least in my mind they’re on the same page with your understanding of the fact that our resources are limited and let’s save the planet for us that are living you old guys just let this

13:20

place go to hell and here we are now and you’re you know you’re preaching and still telling us there’s nothing wrong with the environment what’s that so I hope to wake up everyone number one voting but that’s side living more responsibly the ways that you’re talking the information I’m sure that on you your website you have directions and things for people to get more in-depth information right um you know we’ve I’ve had this project for a little over a year now so my website isn’t dialed in

13:55

yet but we’re working on it well with the same perfect you know and we’ve been doing this a long time we can always go but that’s where you know community and people that have that kind of would help me and help you to be able to put some of the sound um that’s great to hear that there are other organizations around are they these are independent businesses doing things yeah yeah Elaine Ingham she’s got a school called the environmental celebration Institute and it’s a like a 4-course online where

14:26

you learn microscopy you learn how to make compost compost teas compost extracts you learn really intensely about the soil food web and how all these little guys work together and and work with the plants and sequester carbon and so that’s really fascinating and then kiss the ground is a little bit more let’s see a broader already audience could sign up for oh yeah kiss the ground and I think they’re based out of a company yeah it’s a it was a seven week course that I think every Thursday

15:01

we met for about two hours online and we just kind of went through how to talk about soil health how to talk about that connection to the humans how to talk about you know the fact that if we covered up all the soil on the ground right now and it’s open and exposed through industrial agriculture we could literally sequester all of the carbon that’s you know causing greenhouse gases and global warming and so you know that’s really inspiring it and they give you really fun ways of understanding and

15:29

I think that’s the biggest you know thing right now I just think it’s a lack of understanding kiss the ground that means understanding the need to grow that means anything yeah LaKahea calling analyte calling in the light understanding you know winsome williams thank you for being here with us i’m looking at our clock and i know we have about ten minutes before we take a break just as reference I’m sitting here and I say this to both men and women beautiful young lady the light is kind of blocking

16:07

your eyes so at some point if you take your hat off so Arendt’s can see it just as you’re comfortable with that perfect all right all right my hair yes that’s it so that’s one hat so give me your hats again because you know we all are very complex beings but I must say when I look in the mirror most people don’t know a lot of the people that I look at in the mirror and see because I like to think that it all fits together as one you see I’m a one guy with three logos you’re someone with

16:40

through at least three ideas of difference so what do you do now again okay so well before I move to Maui which was about five years ago kind of my main jam was I it was yoga and and I studied in India and I learned from my teacher in India that you know this idea of yoga means to yoke so it means to yoke and unite our individual soul with the collective soul and I understand that is like you know just consciousness and lifeforce energy that’s all around us and so when I got done studying in India

17:16

I came back to the United States and it was really my you know goal to just get a better understanding of how to share this like beautiful idea and concept with all my students and you know our teacher said really fancy postures that’s not yoga that’s fancy gymnastics right the pose doesn’t really matter it’s this idea of we’re connected and we’re related to all the living things all around us and which I find really inspiring and that’s really my my motivation on a daily basis to help

17:43

restore the soil and help you know bring awareness that plants and animals and everything that this we’re all connected and so you know the health of one is reflects the health of another and yeah so my teacher taught us there’s five points of yoga and he said you know we have positive thinking proper breathing proper diet positive of a positive thinking proper diet no here we go you know I’m gonna forget him the proper exercise in the form of asanas and you know when I got back to to the

18:20

mainland the hardest thing for me to grasp was this idea of proper diet because in India they teach you you shouldn’t eat animals because they have more senses in your you know accumulating more karma in this life by eating a cow because it can feel it can taste it can see versus like eating lettuce and then I started understanding about you know Monsanto and you know roundup and glyphosate and all this stuff that were spraying and I learned about the life in the soil and I was thinking you know those there’s billions

18:51

and billions of life in the soil and if we’re harming all of those things by not honoring how the soil functions and works then you know we’re really we’re causing a lot of karma that way so that’s what really inspired me to get into agriculture and now here in Maui now I’m working with two different organizations one that I started myself lucky’ Hannah and the other with Aloha farms and I work with Juanita and Bobby Padilla growing collar so reason I’m putting all that together you know many

19:23

people see things in the media about pointing fingers for example at my pono is not doing things responsible we don’t see what so you know public outcry can happen and really not see the extraordinary things that are happening through this new experience called 41,000 acres in the hands of conscious people I know them to be conscious people and I’m I saw it and I see it here and with you it’s so great that you’re out there feeling that and you’re taking everything and putting

20:03

it all together the way you do for everyone thank you none of these people they’re on the radio you’re kind of missing the full experience here because winsome is you’re 28 years old which actually I just turned 29 okay I got here in Maui in 1988 and when I stepped off the plane and thought I would like to be mayor of this and I thought you know what does that mean like the the responsibility for this whole place I got a text back from our mayor today who’s flown over to a Wahoo I wanted to be sure he knew

20:46

about Michael Smith mm-hmm and I’ve texted all the council people except kyani Kenny I know she’ll get today and we have great people that we’ve not really explored like Rickey Hokama who you know years ago had an environmental action committee with Shawn list there’s so many things that are happening that are so exciting they’re gonna make you and all of us in our world here excited to know that infrastructure is there and getting better to be that glowing global example that I like to speak up for a

21:22

lot of as long as you’re living right but that you’re speaking of and living and sharing thank you for what you do you mean you’re at the front edge and I’m hoping that are in this calendar year I hope that that voice will be heard in our elections locally statewide and nationally I say that responsibly because here in the neutral zone I’m sure we point fingers and we have opinions but what we have together is what you talked about you know uniting it and making it good Bobby and Juanita

22:01

Juanita yeah yeah yeah they’re the managers of Aloha farms so that’s a good large piece do you have green waste like I say you’re doing it with some groups do you find that you can get all of it out to one vendor or whatever they be um what do you mean do you like distribute how much green waste when what kind do you have for example this thing that you’ll see from Michael Smith and need to grow uh-huh it needs it depending on sizing but if it needs six metric tons of green waste

22:34

today we civilians say well how much is that Oh two and a half dump trucks worth let’s say and that can power a hundred homes for create biochar and phytoremediation seventy eight percent reduction in glyphosate in the first growing season I mean like right yeah Wow that means I have you know I have a half a dozen Maui projects and that’s why I’m so excited because you know it’s like if we focus on something it will come I’ve been holding this vision for the now when I can easily express I feel like

23:19

this organization I created with this vision is really there for you for you because your gun at 70 I can see myself living another 50 years we’ll see how maybe more hmm because things are changing but we want to save this place and really see what could happen with cooperation we’re sitting right in the middle of the Pacific the most remote landmass in the world here we are I know I get you can hear I’m like mr. soapbox but it’s really truly a pleasure to know that there are people like you

23:55

leading and sharing this good message I think you said it exactly right like a fir if our intention is to not you know point fingers at people who aren’t doing a ripe are out there trying to understand and learn like where these where they’re coming from like why are they doing this and you know how can we help right and and in that cooperation and you know coordination of working together I think that a big thing that we should need to do as humans to is like elevate maybe we need to celebrate this

24:28

human experience because what I mean just taking a step back where passengers on this planet right where do you know the name Rama does does that mean yes I’ve read I read the book rom das lived here online for a number of years and in the 1960s Timothy Leary and ROM Das and a guy named dr. Eadie jerel Elk and who’s up at Kula Hospital okay and others can Kies Ron Fogle Fritz Perls these are all names of people some live on Mount ROM das wrote a book called be here now he had been a professor at Harvard with Timothy Leary

25:09

and when they were purporting you know encouraging LSD and Other Drugs of at that point question nature they were expelled he went to India he became robbed us he was Richard Alpert mmm-hmm and be here now his book was like the first awakening I was speaking to my partner Ariel about this because ROM das and her same periods of awakening so many great things in our world that you as young person when you’ll see he just passed away he’s wonderful man and we have a community that has been enriched

25:51

through him being involved in things so I hope all of us to explore that interview who haven’t but you young people for sure there’s some incredible wealth of good people and good ideas you’re so blessed to be here on Maui I’m so blessed to be here on Maui and I’m talking up a storm and now I’m gonna go to some sponsors and then we’ll be back and we’ll explore more fully winsome Williams from I say it for me like a head lock I hey I see you I have to see it written I guess and I will be right

26:25

back and we will see in a moment the neutral zone with me Jason Schwartz would like to sincerely thank Dave Brian for his support David was founder and head of school at new road school in Santa Monica California and as the board chair at the Ojai Foundation and on the boards for brave new films the neutral zone is alive Mondays at 11:00 a.m. here on Kak you 88.5 FM the voice of maui and again on saturdays at 7:00 a.m. as well as on TV and on Maui neutral zone dot-com want to post your own radio talk

27:03

show you can once every month kak you 88.5 FM offers an introduction to radio class at ikkaku Plaza at 333 dairy Road in Kahului this introduction to radio will get your feet wet and show you what you need to do to get started interested call us at 875 5:4 for more information and registration Aloha it’s Brad Friedman your friendly investigative blogger journalist troublemaker and muckraker from brad blog.com and yes the host of the broadcast join me every night at 5 p.m. for investigative interviews with

27:46

newsmakers and smart coverage of the day’s news that you won’t hear anywhere else Monday through Friday at 5 o’clock the broadcast right here on Kak you the voice of Maui all the great programs you hear the voice of Maui talking loud and clear it’s a gravy show wednesdays howdy we’re back here at Maui neutral zone Maui neutral zone calm I’m here with winsome Williams I’m Jason Schwartz at kak u 88.5 FM in Kahului Maui Hawaii you can find us on tuned in you can find us

28:48

on Facebook live Maui neutral zone calm has all of our shows they’re all sitting on YouTube everywhere but Maui usual zone calm will redesign our website we’ll redesign your website to make information available and more interlinked with ikkaku where a radio and TV I can’t call a TV now I have to call it what mixed media you live in a mixed media I’ve always had internet world how about you yes it was always such a thing as a cellphone and the answering machine yep you know there’s a man on this

29:24

island he’s a friend I haven’t spent much time his name is Shep Gordon I have heard his name yeah Shep Gordon is like used to be manager of Alice Cooper he may still be a he’s a wonderful guy had restaurants still kinds of things the way I got to him was I was just persistent did he told me one time man you are persistent those were the days when answering machines weren’t really not around and I was just very persistent so uh in this day and age it becomes a maze and it’s difficult with all the information to

29:59

figure out what’s important what is it what is true what is it you know our president now makes reference to fake news I don’t think it’s some is fake but there’s so much there’s so many ways to get information how do you as a young person decide what’s important to know and understand um I think a big thing is just tapping into how things make you feel like while you’re doing them or if you hear information just like sitting with it and kind of resonating with that I have

30:34

to admit I’m I’m not one to really watch the news I listen to NPR every now and then on my drive down the hill but mostly just like hearing stuff from the community and then going out and researching stuff on my own as that’s how I well you know it’s interesting and not watching the news you know won the Super Bowl the can’t Kansas City Jesus City yeah you want to give a a welcome to both teams and congratulate them Kansas City Chiefs had a run at the end and and outpaced the

31:09

San Francisco 49ers who were also playing very well it was a really exciting extraordinary game and like I say I got that call right before the game and needed the couple of the guests you are a wonderful guest thank you for being entertaining me I I know our audience kind of sometimes wonder why I go all over the map but I want you to really understand in me that this show is really there to showcase people that have ideas that work together years ago I ran for mayor you haven’t seen me political thing I’ve been interviewing

31:48

candidates for 14 or 15 election seasons by my own choice independent you know so I’m really like I said I’m a neutral zone and I was gonna do radio that way but because of the equal time concept I went to values and I have been collecting great people for you and everyone to see and share because I see it happening it like next week the fact that we have a guy that of all the places in the world sees Maui as an ideal place to do an example and that’s what I’ve been holding this

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vision for you know I have a picture by Richard fields of a rainbow temple and really it’s like looks like Lonnie apoco because the visions that integrate all this this is you know what do they say you ever see a movie called Close Encounters of the Third Kind yeah Steven Spielberg was the director was a great directors than many things et many Jurassic Park you ever see Jurassic Park I seem like one of them the reason I bring it up I think I saw one of them but in it where the things that grow so you and lush a

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strawberry this big that’s what I got out of the need to grow movie what did you get whoa I think probably the biggest takeaway because we watched it again last night actually in full fart coming here and it was just how everyone was celebrating Michaels achievement of really like listening to nature right so his facility and I must admit I don’t I don’t fully understand the whole working all the working parts of it but I’m getting the gist of it and I know the important says there are some things

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that weren’t in the movie you know but the he’s here now that’s the whole yeah so I’m really excited because I know a big part of our farm and even you know I believe Kelly King and Bob King you just got like a permit for doing some sort of like composting operation and after you know we studied with Elaine Ingham we’re just kind of trying to figure out the best way because we know we need compost we know we there’s organic waste all over and people have to pay to go to the dump and the dump is

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filling up and you know so and right now where our farm is accepting woodchips from from people in the community just being really sure that you know we’re not bringing in any other the red fire ants but you know with with food waste and with organic matter from landscaping companies and tree companies you know all this organic matter how do we process it and break it down and help rebuild rebuild the soil and put the organic mounted the life back into the soil so Michael was really inspiring

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because he’s really seems like him and his wife have found a way to expedite that process and you know for us we’ve been doing the best we can with resources that we have and just kind of patiently waiting and gathering information and seeing right what is the best option you know we have 300 acres of which is a conservation easement so it’s really interesting piece of land that we have Mike Atherton who is the owner of a tropical plantation yeah he is doing my lucu town and bless his

sustainability because what are we sustaining right now like we’ve got plenty of stuff to work towards and refine in so I think together as a community we need to set the bar of what does reach what is regenerate no that’s perfect what is regenerative which is more than just it’s sustainable but it’s that means getting it back that is super super and that is the best takeaway35:08

heart he put a big portion of his land into conservation in order to get the development going there so I just feel like our farm right now with a goal of calling in the light not only on regenerative practices but calling them the light on all sorts of things that we can just improve upon as humans I think that our location being so central and also being on old sugar cane land we can really like set the bar high for you know how we can behave how we can interact how we can celebrate this experience celebrate our connection to

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nature together so I’m really excited to meet Michael I’m really excited to see within our whole property and our project how maybe we can incorporate one of these what are they called again them is the building building because it’s many people call the green power house the green power house okay you know name will be changing company name is Regina tech okay the biochar and Fido remain using algae and it blows my mind you know you could Michael mm-hm but when he talked about in one study that they did

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78 percent reduction in the glyphosate right and that’s just a statistic alone because what would happen if Monsanto just did a test project Maui let’s clean it up an example and we see that’s where neutral zone can do a lot of good yeah because in your lifetime you know the big bad wolf before was a carpet company called Monsanto they are there those pesticide what would happen if they had the opportunity to make money in something that would also help them clean up the land what fantastic solution yeah you

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know wait what do they say what did Jesus say let them in Rome have what they want we got something else going on yeah okay I again I need a Jewish kid I don’t know so what you were get to where were you before you were here in Maui I grew up in Wyoming actually oh yeah so I was actually a cowgirl way back in the day and rodeoing and doing that whole scene and and when I went to college I took like General Studies at first and just like didn’t wasn’t stoked on it it was in cosmetology school for a little

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bit wasn’t stoked on that either and then I ended up going to India and spending a good chunk of time over there and really just kind of shattered my my belief about my place in the world and my connection to the world and I’m really grateful for that experience because from there I feel like that’s been kind of my my compass guiding me to where I am right now and really you know just I got so much excitement and relief out of this out of a new understanding of my connection to myself my connection

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to nature and my connection to you know all life around me and just seeing the need for us to restore and help Mother Earth it just seems like you know the right right path that keep sharing this story and keep you know just celebrating celebrating the fact that we are humans and you know this is such an incredible like particle experience that we’re having here right and you know everything we need is on this planet we’re cruising through outer space you know on this Bluegreen planet and here

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we are and so yeah just how we can celebrate and restore and just love what we have here as opposed – you know trying to go land on another planet and you know mess another planet I think there’s a lot of work that we can be doing here and yeah so you know everyone has their different relationship in connection and motivations for being here and I just think that yeah love is a super strong thing the loja spirit that’s really like grounded me here in Maui because I think that in this movement it’s so important

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to tap into wherever or right if we’re in Wyoming or if we’re here in Maui tap into the indigenous native cultures here and the wisdom that is in their languages and that is in their dance and that is you know in the way that they process food and store food and preserve it and you know the prayers that they do to celebrate I think there’s so much in that and my hope is that you know as more areas around the world start to do this you know honoring and learning from the native seer but also including in you know work

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like what Michael’s done and you know bringing in technology and and bringing in it’s it’s sure our Hawaiian host culture yeah again would like to showcase itself to the world we know about the acquisition of Oi but that idea of using things from the outside is if we all honored each other’s cultures and took these technologies and worked and use them together this technology creates profit centers in the work you do so as I see all this fitting together it so much feels like I hear it I don’t

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know if you are you hearing that the linking of the nonprofit’s what I talk about as the most important is what we’re seeing happening here if people understand that all this is together and they move forward in responsible ways to be supportive through their action what we’re doing and this is just extraordinary yeah I think one other you stand for the older people I’m I’m reaching out old I read you got to the young people but I see so many older people that have taken things so for

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granted and I feel like we’re in a crisis to me 60 years of farmable soil left this kind of crisis for a whole planet wouldn’t you think totally and my reaction to this is that I think so much of our the way that we’re behaving is based out of fear right I think fear is just such this thing that keeps us afraid to you know listen to our intuition afraid to like reach out and connect with somebody right if there’s not that much soil left right instead of going out in helping garden are starting

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a garden on your own and learning about it you know we don’t know there’s fear on that there’s fear of well let’s go to Costco and buy as much stuff as we can and you know take that and have kind of just just like fear thing of protecting as opposed to you know yeah just holding space and expanding in who we are as people and who we the power that we have as individuals the power that we have is like in community and the powers we have is like a collective is like a human you know one

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of the things I said in the video last night I can’t remember the farmer you know who had the little microgreen farm right in the city and they tore it down to put up an ice skating rink wonderful we held up that soil yeah we’re talking about scenes in the need to grow movie yeah I hope I’m sure you’ll share that with with Bobby and Juanita and other farmers and we want to make sure that people while Michael is here we’re gonna have a showing I believe Friday night at the college people can get attention

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afterwards some people could be a touch through us you’ve been a great guest then we’re gonna jump in I know I’m looking at it you are planning very powerful things and I want to make sure to leave room at time for you to get into it can you help me introduce it to our audience um yes so we are having a regenerative movement for the regenerative movement workshop and what this means is kind of like we were talking earlier with fear being a limiting factor for us to kind of like participate in this in this movement in

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whatever way you know our magic is is calling us to do so I think that a lot of you know the way that we carry our bodies the unconscious like habitual patterns of our posture we store a lot of fear and you know the shape of our body literally is like telling our mind you know what how to feel whether we know it or not so one of the things about this this workshop that we’re having it’s in April it’s April third fourth and fifth the third is actually we’re partnering up with Hawaii Farmers

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Union and it’s going to be one of their local 4 events up Kalama intermediate so that’s on this you’ll send to me and I’ll post it ok cool what is it’s called both spring the bow spring is that there’s the postural alignment system that we’re going to be we’re gonna be exploring together and do you a little bit of introduction to that is it’s it’s different than classical alignment in that it focuses on the engagement of the myofascial and you can think of the

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myofascial ike the mycelium in the soil it’s this communication channel and network good yes slow in for a second oh do have to take a break you audience do you know what she just said she said say it one more time slower for us okay in the body it’s evolved just below the skin we have our Maya fossa that means this below skin is a layers okay yeah and it’s it’s a connective sheath and up until recently when we were studying the body we would kind of pull the skin and the myofascial away

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and we were just like look at the bones and the muscles so there’s been this understanding of proper posture as knocking of the bones and stacking of the muscles to get this like a rep shape whereas a lot of people have been studying now and my teachers John friend and Desi Springer who will be here there’s really like in traditional Chinese medicine there’s a directionality of how chi or energy or you know when you move your hands that signal travels across the myofascial to the brain or your brain is sending a

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signal to your body and that’s how our mind and our body are communicating and so what my teachers have kind of been studying and what really gave me a lot of inspiration in the power of the human is that by engaging or by turning on our this our body by putting our body in this bow spring template we can really activate the parasympathetic nervous system all right so the parasympathetic versus the simple sympathetic nervous system is if we if we hold our bodies typically you know what we’re seeing how

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people are walking around or sitting you know we’re spending time on the computers we’re spending time on our phones and we’re in this C shape so our tail bone is kind of tucked our bellies are short our shoulders are rounded down and we’re kind of closing off yeah but it’s also a way of protecting right so if you you know yell at a dog the first thing that does is tug its tail bone protect itself drop its head and neck and you know across the globe you can just see this C shape as like kind of

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the the posture that everyone’s taking and it totally makes sense I mean there’s plenty of stuff to be scared about right now right food security you know our president the poisons that are being sprayed you know money draw all this stuff that we have plenty of stuff to be scared about and so you know my experience if we’re holding ourselves in this in this C shape our body is signaling it’s literally our sympathetic nervous system which is telling our brain like fight or flight fight or

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flight fight or flight right and we’re living in this the shape so the bow spring is really like opening up all of these areas that were work unconsciously kind of closing off and what’s happening with that is one we’re engaging the parasympathetic nervous system which really allows our body to take this kind of like a calm cool like you know relaxed state of being an alertness and it’s balancing the feminine and the masculine energy channels in our own bodies what is there between sympathetic comparison okay yeah

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so um sympathetic is fight-or-flight parasympathetic nervous system is like kind of cool calm relaxed confident that’s the difference our audience of course you’ll give me the appropriate links and we’ll put them on our website so you can get to some of these ideas because that’s what the Maui Arts and Music Association is it’s like an association of people and associations that together represent man what great knowledge you gave older people hearing things like there’s a layer of skin

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under the top skin which helps communicate between the mind and the body these are new concept to people that are well Mabel there’s a lot of people that have no idea and so that’s why I slowed you down in the sense of wanted you to realize and I know our audience realizes and the older ones do how refreshing it is to know that there are people like you who are so aware and can share with others like what you said about the president you know again I leave politics out but if you see things

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that you I hope that people will say maybe it is a good idea to vote maybe I can’t express so that my world can be what I see it could be not something that may not be aligned with the that’s why I pop up people aligned in positive action we’re not a group that is possessive this is the concept it’s like the good housekeeping signs of approval showing off incredible people like you who cross whether you’re into farming or health or you know awareness and spirituality things are very where our world is

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really getting that way you want like I contacted Vince Mina from the Hawaii Farmers Union again I want to be able to get this in front of my pono to the right you get it in front of Bobby and Juanita I want to get it too we all want to get it so that these concepts can be used and embraced here there are owners that have the money that could say this business is going to make four and a half million dollars a year wanted a half million profit we have the room you only need seven acres if you grow the

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stuff to go in if you don’t have to do that there’s excess green waste take the ants and the problems you have and turn them into part of the solution and get rid of them and let’s say we are in an amazing world at the right time and you are the right guest thank you really been a pleasure now we have about six minutes left and I know you can speak about all kinds of stuff but what is important that you feel you’d like to express you’ve been expressing it anything you were writing some things

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there are any things that you want to be sure to to cover or like your thing in in April how do people get in touch about that um we can sign up you can register at global bow spring comm noble bows spring uh-huh bo wspr ing de yeah exactly there’s a link on our Instagram which is la underscore cahaya and you can click on the link there that will take you to the registration and really I mean for for this workshop it’s always been kind of my my passion and my excitement uh to bring the support that I’ve gotten from

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postural awareness to the farming scene because like now that I’ve been in the farming scene for over you what about over a year and a half you know there’s it’s there’s a lot it’s like it’s there’s some heavy stuff in that transition of you know transitioning from conventional practices to generative before I got involved it was very much I thought well why aren’t they just doing it just do it already like just stop using the poisons and start using this and now I’ve really got to

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step inside and understand and learn like it’s not that easy you know and so I think that like we need to have a lot of compassion for the farmers that have been growing the food and we’ve got to realize that you know they’re not maliciously doing this maliciously spraying chemicals and pesticides like life is it that can really damage you know all the animals the plants you know right our health is a reflection of the health and the soil so everything we’re spraying there is you know reflecting

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the health of us so I think yeah just sharing let’s let’s just like keep keep staying very compassionate for the whole movement and all the people that are involved and you know and really seen like I think everyone has their own magic that they can bring to this whether it’s you know designing websites or whether it’s you know bringing people together or soil science or you know carpentry like there’s there’s so much infrastructure there’s so much that so much support that we need in all

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directions so I think you know I feel really blessed that Bobby and Juanita asked me to be a part of their project not because I had you know motivations of you know wanting to do anything but I was like how can I help I want to learn like can I get a job with you guys can they learn how your operation is is going because that’s when we really can like start to connect and like you know understand where people are coming from and it’s like you get into this cycle of of growing and weeding and harvesting

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and bringing your crops to these you know two-year restaurants and they’re by the end of the day you don’t have that much time to like sit down and like redesign your entire operation to you know when when you’re spraying and you’re using these fertilizers and you know you’re learning shoot these synthetic fertilizers are you know going into our water table they’re leaching off into the ocean the oceans are dying this is like super heavy stuff that you know we don’t all have the answers for

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and it’s it’s wonderful that there’s people like Michael there’s people like you that are all coming together and one do this so I think that we just need to be patients we need to be compassionate and really just take accountability over like our own actions and where we’re supporting who were supporting and how we’re behaving when nobody else is watching you know are you using your reusable cup or you know what’s what’s there’s so many areas that we can help

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the planet not just in the regenerative agriculture movement just like regenerating the planet and you know one thing I want to share before we’re done is that from kiss the ground one of the biggest takeaways that I had from them is like you know we have degenerative like kind of this degenerative model which is conventional agriculture that you know where we’re degenerating the land we’re spraying we’re tilling and we only have 60 years left of like farmable soil and then we have this

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sustainability this and and then we have regenerative and I think what’s most important is not not you keeping using this word of sustainability because what are we sustaining right now like we’ve got plenty of stuff to work towards and refine in so I think together as a community we need to set the bar of what does reach what is regenerate no that’s perfect what is regenerative which is more than just it’s sustainable but it’s that means getting it back that is super super and that is the best takeaway

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today and I think once we set that bar then then we move into sustainability and we sustain it from there I got a well you know all of you out there can listen to the Gannet Maui neutral zone calm and all the other ways that you can find it we have a minute to go you have been a terrific guest winsome Williams I hope you’ll come back and join us and hope everyone will look through our website to be able to find you here’s the show again you’ve said so much you are so much really it’s been a

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blessing and a pleasure and on short notice for you to come down and and what do we say subject yourself to me and my questioning has been a pleasure I hope our audiences I’m sure you have enjoyed this show with Winston Williams thank you guys for joining us together you can contact anybody through me of course but you can also realize we are together and that’s why the neutral zone it’s anything but neutral but it all fits together in a beautiful way congratulations Kansas City San

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Francisco the whole world thank you winsome for being here yes I’m gonna play our music and we are out of here [Music] thank you everyone for joining us [Music]