How did we establish cooperation with Janina from Cukrfree?
It was a normal working morning when we saw Instagram notification with a nickname "Janina from Cukrfree". Her sister gave her Crystal yogamat and she fell in love with it. We enthusiastically rejoiced with the whole team. We really like Janina and we won't miss any of her podcast .
Soon we were introducing a new collection of yoga mats with different countries for all the nomads, which had our full attention. Even so, we kept thinking that we would like to create something together with Janina. It didn't take long before the idea of a joint project came up.
How about creating a joint mat with a theme of some place Janina likes? We asked her if she would be interested and she agreed. In the end, we decided on the Maui Island motif from Hawaii.
Months of tweaking ideas and adjusting the design to perfection followed. The challenge was to create a design inspired by traditional Hawaiian postcards. Part of the design was to include a rainbow, which can be seen several times a day on Maui. We wanted it to be perfect to instantly transport everyone to the beautiful setting of Hawaii. No one on our team had been there and we only knew her from talking and taking pictures. But the more we found out about it, the more we fell in love. Besides the beautiful nature, we also fell in love with the Huna philosophy that makes people happy in Hawaii.
Hawaiian Huna philosophy
Have you ever seen a picture of a Hawaiian man frowning? Breathtaking nature, the ocean, beautiful beaches, sunshine... who wouldn't be happy? But there's much more behind the smiles of the Hawaiian people.
The mentality of their culture is based on the Huna philosophy, which has much in common with yoga. Specifically, it's based on 7 principles from which we in the western world can draw much inspiration:
1. IKE - The world is what you believe it is.
Let's try to train our minds to move in a positive direction to help us create a more beautiful world around us. Our thoughts have tremendous power and only we can choose what to change in our lives through them.
2. KALA - There are no limits, everything is possible.
Having no limits doesn't mean we suddenly become superheroes. Rather, the Kala principle seeks to draw attention to the limits in our minds. The ones we often unnecessarily give ourselves - I'll never be good at..., I'll never become... The strength of real superheroes lies in their confidence.
3. MAKIA - Our energy goes where our attention goes.
You don't have to have read the research and studied the culture to know that negative thinking won't get you very far. The more we pay attention to positive things, events, situations and people, the more we will move in the right direction.
4. MANAWA - Live in the present.
A very repeated phrase in yoga, but one that we all forget sometimes anyway. You can tune into the present moment by meditating, practicing on a beautiful yoga mat or practicing mindfulness practices, for example.
5. ALOHA - Happiness comes from love/compassion.
You may have heard of the word "Aloha" before. What does it mean in the context of Hawaiian principles? Aloha brings us closer to our hearts and the hearts of others. It is based on compassion, love, and asserts that love is all around us - in the good and the bad. It's just sometimes hard to recognize.
6. MANA - The greatest power lies within us.
Mana tells us that our soul can inspire others, that our beliefs can help another in need. And last but not least - even though we may feel powerless at times, we all have enough strength within us that no one can take it away.
7. PONO - Truth is a virtue.
The last principle encourages living by the highest moral values. Every day we can do a nice deed for someone else without any reward. A kind deed will always come back to us in at least a nice feeling inside.
We believe that each of us can apply at least a small part of these principles to our own lives or be inspired by them in some way. You can be reminded of Hawaiian culture and its profound principles on a Maui yoga mat.
Source of the cover photo: https://cukrfree.cz/hawaii/
