Blog

  Winter doesn’t just change the weather—it changes your brain chemistry. Many people assume in winter, low mood means they need more motivation. In reality, what’s often missing isn’t dopamine—it’s serotonin. Understanding the difference can change how you care for yourself this season! Dopamine and Serotonin: A Simple Distinction Dopamine is about drive, novelty, reward,…

Screening plants like good fences, vines and hedges make good neighbors goes the old saying, and maybe in the old days it was the case. They may be used for privacy, to keep animals in or out or to exclude other folks. Stone walls are traditional and impressive, but expensive. Today, we have so many…

Diseases, insects and viruses have plagued humans since before we became human. Unfortunately, history doesn’t always tell much of the story. Civilizations have come and gone and we aren’t sure how much the great plagues impacted humans and food on which we depended had caused collapse. We do know that recent history has shown that…

Every January, the message is loud and relentless: New year. New goals. More discipline. More output. But winter is not the season of acceleration. It is the season of conservation. When we try to force summer-level productivity onto winter bodies, something breaks—not because we are weak, but because we are ignoring the intelligence of the…

  Winter asks us to live differently—but most of us keep using summer tools in a winter body. Shorter days, less light, more time indoors, and colder temperatures all change our nervous system chemistry. Motivation dips. Mood wavers. Energy becomes precious. This isn’t a personal failure—it’s biology meeting season. Winter self-care isn’t about “fixing” yourself….

There is a moment each year when the world exhales. The Winter Solstice—the longest night, the quietest turning—is not a collapse into darkness, but a pause so deep it becomes holy. In a culture that worships momentum, winter arrives as a rebellion, reminding us to descend into what lays beneath the surface and that we…

If you are the kind of person who makes New Years resolutions but never follows through, then maybe they are resolutions just too big to achieve. Start by keeping it manageable like planting one tree. You can do that on the first day of 2026! Since you have achieved your goal, then hopefully you will…

This is the perfect weekend with Christmas, Boxing Day and more celebrations coming. Many Americans are not familiar with the history of Boxing Day, but it is perhaps second only in importance to celebrating the birth of Jesus. The tradition of Boxing Day may be traced back to the early Christian era when the rich…

The pace of modern life can leave us disconnected—from the earth, from each other, and from ourselves. At Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary, we believe the forest offers a pathway home to clarity, calm, and deep presence. We’re passionate about bridging the divide between humans and nature, so that every person can tap into their innate…

By Norman Bezona All kinds of nuts and dried fruit are popular at Christmas, but no nut is so popular as the Macadamia. Some folks on the mainland think Macadamia nut trees are native to Hawaii, but here we know it is an Australian tree that we adopted as our own. We use the nut…

At Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary, our sound baths weave together nature and vibration — using carefully chosen instruments that invite deep relaxation, restoration, and connection with the land. Below are some of the key instruments our sound bath practitioners use, along with their origins, traditional uses, and what they bring to a forest-immersed sound healing…

Gift-giving can be an act of love—for both the receiver and the planet. This season, instead of buying items destined for drawers or landfills, choose gifts with intention, longevity, and impact. At Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary, we believe that the most powerful gifts are the ones that support wellbeing, connection, and earth-care. Here are five…

The holidays don’t need to mean plastic garlands, glitter, or waste. This season, let your home reflect the beauty of the natural world—simple, sustainable, and deeply intentional. At Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary, we believe the most meaningful decorations are the ones made by hand, sourced from nature, and returned gently to the earth when the…

By Norman Bezona Poinsettias with bracts of red, yellow, white and more are available at nurseries and garden centers now.Photo courtesy of Voltaire Moise Although we have been seeing Christmas decorations in some stores, the Christmas Holidays don’t seem real until our Thanksgiving leftovers are thoroughly digested. The Poinsettia and its close relative, Euphorbia leucocephala…

High above the beaches of Kailua-Kona is a place where the ocean breeze turns to mist. One of Hawai‘i’s most quietly extraordinary places lies on the slopes of Mount Hualalai: the Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary. While most visitors to Kona head straight for the water, few realize that the lush canopy rising above the town…

Most of us breathe around 20,000 times a day — yet rarely pause to notice how each inhale and exhale shapes our inner state. Breath is more than oxygen exchange; it’s a dial that tunes your brain chemistry and nervous system in real time. In this blog, we’ll explore three different ways of breathing —…

By Norman Bezona Living Norfolk pines for Christmas may be found at some nurseries now. It seems too early to think about Christmas, but since living trees are in short supply, grab one while you can.Photo courtesy of Voltaire Moise Halloween, All Saints Day and Day of the Dead are over for this year, but…

Every inch of Hawai‘i began as liquid fire — molten rock rising from deep within the Earth’s mantle, spilling into the sea, and hardening into land. The Big Island is still alive in this process — constantly reshaping itself through eruptions that birth two primary types of lava: pāhoehoe and ‘a‘ā. Though both come from…

Why Morning Sunlight Is Nature’s Most Powerful Reset Before caffeine, screens, or supplements — there was the SUN. Stepping outside in the first hour after sunrise does more for your mood, metabolism, and hormonal balance than most wellness hacks combined. Morning sunlight is the original biohack — syncing your circadian rhythm, boosting your happy hormones,…

As the air cools and the rhythms of the earth begin to slow, autumn invites us inward — a season for reflection, grounding, and warmth. At Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary, this transition is celebrated through mindful connection to nature’s cycles. One of the simplest yet most profound ways to honor the season is through an…