 This is Stink Tech, Hawaii. Community matters here. Oh, everyone, welcome. I'm your host, Sharon Thomas Yarbrough. Sister Powers VIP guest today is Kimberly R. Kelly, author of the number one international bestselling book, The Road to Mana, Finding Healing, Happiness and Power on the Road to Life. Kimberly is an anesthesiologist and medical acupuncturist specializing in anesthesia, acupuncture, pain management, and medical simulation. Join us as we discuss finding healing, happiness, and power on the road to life. Welcome, Dr. Kelly. Thank you, Sharon. Thank you so very much. It's a pleasure to be here today. I'm so happy that you're here. And the reason why I'm extremely happy about it, I like our title from your book, Finding Healing, Happiness and Power on the Road to Life, because now we're in the throes after Thanksgiving of the holidays. And I find that this is a time that people are feeling either lonely or they're feeling overwhelmed by many things that is expected of all of us to get ready for the holidays. So I know you are going to map out for our sister power viewers the road to finding healing, happiness, and power on the road to life. And so give me a little bit of background about you. About me. Okay. I'm originally from Ohio, a Buckeye. I've been in Hawaii for about 15 years. I was going through a change of life. I had always visited Hawaii vacationed here and I thought that I would retire here. Never did I imagine that I would be working here. But as life would have it, here I am and I'm happy to be here. Oh good. You know, I was born in Toledo, Ohio. Oh my goodness. So that must be the connection. That's the connection. That is connection. I had no idea. So what part of Ohio? So central Ohio. I'm off of Springfield between Dayton and Columbus, small town off of I-70. You're off of I-75. Yeah. I live in Dayton, Ohio too. Oh my goodness. Born in Toledo, Dayton, Springfield. Really? My father had churches all throughout Ohio. Oh my goodness. That's wonderful. We have so much in common. We do. I did not know. Wow. Good. Well, getting back to your book. Yes. And I love it. When I first opened your book, it says, there is no greater agony than hearing an untold story inside you by one of my favorite poets, Maya Angelou. So what prompted you to write this book? Well, I'll get back to the quote. One of the things that Maya Angelou says is there is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you. And I'll just go a little bit further and say there's no greater agony than letting a story bury you. So as women, we all have stories. We all live this wonderful life, but we all have stories. And oftentimes, we don't share those stories. But I think it's in the sharing, number one, that we can become free. And number two, that we can empower other women when they hear our stories. Well, that's what it's all about. It is. And I think that people need to realize that you have to really like and love yourself first before you can really share your story and bring people into your wellness. And also, you're the founder and director of Core Wellness Hawaii. Tell us about your organization. So this organization came about because I am a medical physician, and I've been doing anesthesia for about 30 years. And I'm Western trained, but I realize now that that may not be the best model for everybody. Western medicine is based on a pharmaceutical model using medications. And what I found for myself and my own journey, that those weren't the things that I was looking to to help me to heal and to become whole again. What I looked for was more Eastern, more of a holistic modalities to help me. And so that's really what I describe in the book. We talk about meditation, talk about yoga, talk about nutrition, talk about exercise. Those are the things, mindfulness, the breath work. Those are the things that we can do naturally that help us to heal. Those are the things that can sustain us a lifetime. So that's kind of what I share in the book. So it's more of a transition from what you might expect from a Western trained physician, anesthesiologist to be specific to what really I've embraced in my own personal life to help with healing and wholeness using a more holistic approach to heal the mind, the body, and the spirit. You know, while they show us a picture of your book, I enjoy this first part about it. This is the story of five people who come together for one week looking for peace and a way to deal with the chaos of life, anxiety, depression, burnout, compassion, fatigue, and moral injury laced with regret have dimmed their prospects of living full and happy lives. And looking at the cover of your book, The Road to Mana, it's just beautiful and it's really peaceful and calming. How did you, what inspired you to write this book? So a couple things. Number one, I'll just briefly talk about the cover. The cover is actually a real picture of the road to Mana. There is a road to Mana in Waimea on the Big Island. There we are. There it is. Right there. It's beautiful. So are you. Thank you. And then in the background is Mana Kea. So I wanted to tell a story. We talk story, as you know, in Hawaii. And so I just wanted to talk story. I didn't want to be like a lot of the books, the novels. You need to do one, two, three, four, five things to help you heal. Well, that's not life. And it's certainly not life for me. So what I wanted to do was bring into five characters and they go away to a retreat on the Big Island and there's a wise sage, a lady in her name is Sister. And Sister is very knowledgeable in the ways of life and also in the ways of healing. And so each of the characters represents different persons that you may meet in your life. One is a physician, one is a veteran who's dealing with PTSD and anxiety. One is just like a housewife who's had to put her career on hold. And another one is a young lady in like a millennial, just transitioning. She's got issues with her gender. She has issues just in life. Where is she going to go? Just transitioning in general out of her parents home into her own place. So well, this is definitely a must read book because out of the five characters, everyone out there listening and viewing Sister Park right now knows someone that is going through depression, anxiety, and just feeling overwhelmed. And I think one of the characters is a biracial woman and she's trying to find her way. Yes. Yes. Absolutely. And we get a lot of that, especially here in Hawaii, but it's almost as if our cultures are intermingled, but then how do we deal with that? Sometimes our society isn't necessarily kind, but if we give you ways and tools to help with that, it makes it a little easier journey. And so that's what I do in the book. That's what you do for each individual. Now are these individuals people that you know? No, actually not. No. They're based on people that I have known or in my own life, different parts of different aspects of me through the years, but they're not, it's not a real person. You would think, you think they are because you'll see some of you in each of them. I'm sure if you... Oh, absolutely. You probably saw pieces of you there. Because we live in such a society that they want more and more and it's almost, it feels like that you almost need to be perfect and we don't live in a perfect world and no one is perfect. Correct. And what would you tell that person that's trying to please everyone and it's trying to do too much and not giving enough back to themselves? Let it go. Let it go. Let it go. I have a girlfriend that wrote a book about that. Let it go. Well, because the only person that you can really be is yourself and in terms of trying to heal yourself, you have to heal from the inside out. And if you're not being authentic, not being transparent, then it's really not going to work. And so that's my own philosophy. Just let it go. You have to be who you are. How does that person find out who they are? What is their role to just starting off on that path? So I think they have to be comfortable listening to that inner voice because your body knows number one and then your heart knows. Now your mind, your mind will kind of play tricks with you and have you think one thing or another. But your heart usually knows and I think that's the beauty of as being a woman we have this inner knowledge, this inner intuition that sometimes we doubt we don't tap into that. We sit quietly, alone time, quiet time, peaceful time, usually in the wee hours in the morning, you'll find that voice because it's always there. But we don't listen to it and think, oh, no, that can't be true, but it is. Intuition is I always tell people when this tells me something, I follow this. This, you know, that can lead us, our heart can lead us here and there and our mind can take us. And I think we can overthink things too much. But that intuition, that gut feeling, just really puts you on the right path. That's the universal knowledge that's trying to tell you which way to go. The universal knowledge. Wow. So the book, The Road to Mana, give us some more information about their journey when they first start off, when the five individuals come together, they end up where? Well, first of all, how did they find out about this journey, this retreat? Was it a retreat? It is a retreat. Okay. It's a retreat. And so this is our retreats that we do here in Hawaii, actually, based on the book. So that's kind of the adventure that you can get. But most and foremost, I think that we heal and we learn in community. It's not me telling you what to do. It's not that parental dictatorship. It's more of a community relationship. And so the five develop a relationship. The first day, there's some tension. I don't want to tell you the whole story. But there's some tension and some anxiety because it's five people from all different walks of life. They don't know each other at all. They just know that they've come for different reasons. The veteran came because his commander had come several years prior to the retreat. And he said, hey, if you're trying to get your life together, this is where you need to go. So he was reluctant, but he was having some marital problems at home with his wife. And so she gave him an ultimatum, get it together or you got to go, buddy. So that was one of his motivating factors. The young lady, her name is Raco, she was actually there on the big island just with some other friends. She was doing some hiking and whatnot around the volcanoes. And then she saw it in one of the lodges there. And so that's why she went. Well, when we come back, we're going to finish the story and finish talking about finding healing, happiness, and power on the road to life. Don't touch that dial. We'll be right back. This is Think Tech Hawaii, raising public awareness. When I was growing up, I was among the one in six American kids who struggle with hunger and hungry mornings make tired days, grumpy days, that kind of days. But with the power of breakfast, the kids in your neighborhood can think big and be more. We're not hungry for breakfast. We're hungry for more, more ideas, more dreams, more fun. When kids aren't hungry for breakfast, they can be hungry for more. Go to hungarees.org and lend your time or your voice to make breakfast happen for kids in your neighborhood. Aloha. I'm Marcia Joyner, inviting you to come visit with us on Cannabis Chronicles, a 10,000 year artisty, where we explore and examine the plant that the muse has given us and stay with us as we explore all of the facets of this planet on Wednesdays at noon. Please join us. Aloha. Welcome back to Sister Power with our special guest, Dr. Kimberly Kelly. And we're discussing your book, The Road to Mana, Finding Healing, Happiness and Power on the Road to Life. And before we took the small break, we were telling us about the five individuals that attended the retreat. And you stopped at Rayco. Right. So I spoke about the veteran. I spoke about Rayco in her transition. And then there's also a physician. What a lot of people don't know is that physicians have a high incidence of compassion fatigue and burnout as well. And so if we as healthcare providers don't buckle up our seatbelt first, then how can we serve you? Right. And so Sarah is the character there who demonstrates some things that Sarah has to learn. And then there's another character. His name is Ira. Ira is an older man. And he actually had a farm out on the Bayard in a coffee farm. His wife died. She had breast cancer. And he had some sons that he was mentoring to take over the business. Well, the sons betray him. And so he has to deal with betrayal and guilt and also grief and the loss of his wife. Yeah, those are three. I tell you, betrayal is if you've experienced it before, that is so traumatic because it's always the person closest to you. Yes, it is. And that's what makes it so difficult. So what was their takeaway once they, first of all, how long was the retreat? It's a five day retreat. It's a five day retreat. Five individuals in five days. Five individuals, five days, five different healing modalities. Each person, instead of me saying, oh, I want you to learn about massage, each person actually represents a healing modality. So it makes it a little different. And then when they, as they are on their journey and in their experiences at this retreat, because it's a very experiential retreat, they just don't sit and talk around the campfire. It's a little bit more than that. They go hiking, they go swimming, they bike, they do all sorts of things on this retreat, so that took to bring them together in that community. Well, that's a perfect, you know, retreats are just a perfect place to come together, especially with people you don't know. And I'm president of Sisters in Parang, Hawaii. And if we were to create a retreat and partner with Core Wellness Hawaii, what would the attendees expect from the retreat? Yeah, workshops as well. Correct, correct. But from the retreat, it would depend on the size of the group, but they could expect a very unique, experiential retreat, not only getting to know their sisterhood, but getting to know themselves. And that's really what makes it genuine and important. The other thing they would, I think sometimes we need permission to be free, sometimes permission to be okay and not be, be whole to almost, I don't want to say broken, but we're sometimes not all put together. Sometimes we, in certain areas of our life, we have a flat tire. Well, how do we, how do we fix that? How, how are we OK with saying that that may have happened to me? And that's only through telling your story, telling your story. And, you know, I want people to know that this is the number one international bestselling book. They should definitely go out and get it. It was very inspirational to me reading about the various people in the book. And I, you were, let's talk about because you do corporate wellness and team building as well. Yes, yes, we do. Yes, we do. So there's a group of us. I don't work by myself. There's a group of us. We have a counselor, we have a rofer, we have a massage therapist and we all sort of work together. And we would do an intake form to determine what your organization would need. We just don't have one size fits all. That's not how life works. And so we don't do that. And so we would get down and sit with you, do a consultation and see exactly what you needed. And we would try to provide. We would not try. We would provide that for you. Oh, I like that. Is there a minimum maximum of people? No, no, no. So how do you get the word out that you this wonderful organization is available? Core Wellness Hawaii, this is something that we need to do at least quarterly, I think. I agree. I agree with you. Absolutely. So this is a startup company. As I said, this is something that came out of the result of my work at the hospital, trying to fill a void in another way. I mean, I can affect each person one at a time. I just do anesthesia one at a time. But how can I affect more people and share what my what my thoughts are and what I believe may may help them? And so that's how core wellness came about. Wow. It's a startup company. So how long? How long have you been in business? About a year. And we do retreats and whatnot. So it's programs like this that we get the word out. Oh, good. Wonderful. Is there a retreat coming up soon? Are we shut down for the year? But in March, we have a very large retreat that's on. Tell us about the retreat in March. I can't read the book. It's kind of mirror. Oh, OK. So you have to read the book. OK. So it tells us a little bit about the retreat that's coming up in March. It's coming up in March yet. So it'll be just it's not going to be a five day retreat because it's actually going to be here on this island. And so it's just going to be a two and a half day retreat where we hit just most of the modalities, if not all the modalities. And we just kind of share and talk and and come into community and relationship. So let's talk about movement, staying active. You know, and I think that sometimes we just settle into not only into our work and we're sitting all the time, but just so in life, period. Correct. We do. So movement represents exercise. We have to exercise. And if we do it, we know that we feel better. We do feel better. It increases the dopamine receptors. And so we're much more happy people. But it's just that that initial inertia getting up off the couch and just going. But even if you just walk, yeah, that's my favorite exercise. Just walk, just walk. There's a marathon coming up. Just walk it. Oh, the Honorable Marathon. I believe it's the eighth or ninth of January. That December. Yes, yes, but that's a that's a that's a huge goal. But just start small. Just walk, walk five minutes, walk for 10 minutes. And then the next week, you do a little bit more and you'll be amazed. But just don't stop. Just don't stop. Just don't stop. Keep it moving. You got to keep it moving. I like that. And then mindfulness. Let's talk about mindfulness. So when I speak, think about mindfulness, I think about the breath. And here in Hawaii, ha, the breath of Hawaii, that's what Hawaii is all about. But the breath, focusing, concentrating on your breath as it enters your body and as it leaves your body, thinking, wonderful, happy thoughts, just focusing on the moment. So many times we're thinking about what we're going to do next, as opposed to being present right here in this moment. That's what mindfulness is. That's such a good point, because we live in such a fast paced world. And you're thinking about next month, next year already. Someone is asking me, well, what are you going to be doing for a holiday that was six months away? And I'm trying to figure out what right now, the next hour. Right. So how does a person position themselves to start putting themselves in the moment? So in the moment, you can be in the moment anywhere. You can be in the moment right here. All you need to do, close your eyes. Is that some meditation? It is. People call it different things. I don't believe you have to be on the floor. I don't believe that you have to be in a certain position because that you may not be able to get into a certain position, number one. And it may not be convenient for you. So why put all those constraints, restraints on it? Just just do it and you do what you can when you can as you can. Just do it and just keep it simple. Just keep it simple. I think that's another aspect we should add to our life simplicity. Yes. And it's so much easier just to keep it simple. Just keep it simple, be authentic, be transparent. Because nothing at the end of the day, none of it matters. And guess what? We're in control of absolutely nothing. Correct. Correct. We think we are, but we're not. No, we are not. Do you plan to write another book? I do. I do. Each of the characters actually will have their own separate book at some point. And then this one is more for adults. I do really, I'm very, very concerned about our young people. We have bullying and those kinds of things that they're having difficulty, things that we experienced in my in my time, but not nearly to the extent that there are now. I'm with the Internet and all of those kinds of things. It's just very unfortunate and difficult to be a teenager. So I want to address a book specifically for that age group to give them some tools to help them ease on down the road. When I the road to Mana is Mana means power, Mana means strength and that's what we need to have as women. You know, this is a very important time in our life as women. In terms of medical school, for the first time, the women outnumber the men in medical school. Women are coming along and you witness the races, the congressional races. There were a lot of women were very, very successful. So it's I don't want to say it's women power, but it's just a change of the time. And we have a lot of power and we need to be able to utilize that power, not step back, but step forward and embrace it. And so the road to Mana, I kind of think about, do you remember the Wizard of Oz and Dorothy? Dorothy went through all these experiences with the crazy monkeys and the munchkins and all of this. And at the end of the day, she was, you know, begging the great Oz to help her. But at the end of the day, she had the power. She had it all along, but she didn't just didn't realize it. Well, that is what I'm trying to explain here in the book. You have the power all along. You just don't realize it, but you have to tap into it. Oftentimes we give it away. We give it to the physician. Oh, doctor, please help me. All of that. No, you have it right within your very heart. Right now you have it. But how do you tap into that? That's what we're talking about. That's the mindfulness that's going to show the cover again. So people can purchase this. The number one international bestselling book, The Road to Mana, Finding Healing, Happiness and Power on the Road to Life. And it's so needed in the world that we live in today. And I always tell people it's so much easier to be kind to one another. Oh, yes. And I noticed a difference when the holidays are coming. Everyone is cheerful and, oh, happy Kwanzaa. Americans, happy Thanksgiving. If we could give each other on a daily basis, just a smile to one another. Just a compliment to one another. That just that would make everyone feel better. I would. One of the things my dad says to me or as always said to me, he said, Kimmy, he said, if you find someone without a smile, give them yours. Oh, I like that. Say that again. Say that to the camera right there. They need to hear that. If you find someone without a smile, give them yours. Give them yours. And it's so easy to smile. I think I'm your physician. I mean, muscles we have when we smile and they're far more muscles when we frown. Correct. Is that correct? OK. I know a little bit about you. You're doing well. Very nice. Wonderful. So what hospital do you practice at? I actually work at Tripler. So I work with the veterans and I'm very, very honored to do so. And it was one of those experiences working at Tripler that also inspired the book because we do have a lot of veterans that have challenges and issues with PTSD and anxiety. And we are doing much better. The VA is doing a better job, but it's not nearly what it could be, given the resources that are that are directed in that way. And so one of the reasons why I want to bring light and focus on that because we have to help our veterans. Absolutely. And I like the fact that you have military and veteran programs. Absolutely. I'm a veteran myself. Absolutely. So let's just bring everything home and summarize and just leave our audience with just a peaceful journey that each person should try to take and input in their lives. I think never, never travel alone. I think you need companionship. I think you need relationship. I need I think you need friendship in in health and in sickness. It doesn't have to necessarily be a spouse, but a girlfriend. Yes, that's really what we need, that sisterhood, that bond. I think you need to be patient with yourself. I think you need to be kind and loving to yourself. Sometimes we beat ourselves up with our thoughts and our words. That self talk is very, very important. I I think innately, God has given us healing power with nutrition, eating properly, plant based, whole food diet. I think that's important because our food source is contaminated in a sense. It's difficult to get good, healthy, wholesome foods. We have GMOs and those kinds of things that that alter what we're eating. And so it's not like it used to be. So that's very, very important. I think massage, a simple massage is just in our our elders used to do it. You've seen them sometimes in the kitchen. They just kind of massage their hands. Just massage your hand. You can massage your foot. A whole body would be excellent. You can't always do that, but you can help yourself. There's some Japanese traditions that really do the hand massage that can really help. Mindfulness, just the breath work. Just take a moment to take a nice cleansing deep breath. How about if we stretch, just bend a little, maybe touch our toes. Those kinds of things, just as simple, nothing fancy. Yeah, nothing fancy. Keep it simple. Keep it simple. Well, I want to thank you, Dr. Kelly, for coming on Sister Power and empowering, inspiring, educating us. And once again, I want everyone to go out and purchase the number one international bestselling book, The Road to Mana, Finding Healing, Happiness and Power on the Road to Life. Bye bye, everybody. Thank you.