Healing Vacations in Hawaii

KONA: HEALERS, RETREATS AND SPAS ©

Hawaiian elder Auntie Margaret Machado, with Mimi George, Ph.D.

Hawaiian Seawater Cleanse

This simple yet powerful traditional Hawaiian cleanse works with nature to rid the body of accumulated toxins and parasites.

In days of old, when illness struck Hawaiians, they turned to the ocean, ingesting a seawater formula to loosen their bowels and rid their bodies of toxins. Seawater, taken in the right way, was considered "the universal remedy."

For the past 40 years, a loving Hawaiian woman named Auntie Margaret Machado has worked to keep this practice alive. She has assisted thousands of people through her Hawaiian Seawater Cleanse, which combines salt water and fresh water in a formula that is a key step in restoring health to the intestinal tract, colon and organs.

Today at the age of 87, Auntie Margaret is revered as one of Hawai'i's most respected elders and healers and is considered a "living treasure." Early on, she became noted for defying the prevailing belief that healing wisdom should not be shared outside the family. Led by spirit to serve and teach, she felt a different conviction and founded Hawai'i's premiere school of lomilomi massage.

"Auntie believes that every person who walks up on her porch is sent by God," says Dr. Mimi George, one of her protégés, who now oversees the practice of the Hawaiian Seawater Cleanse. "The purpose of this ten-day program," Mimi explains, "is a complete cleansing of body, mind and spirit based on the practices of aloha, prayerfulness, intestinal tract and organ detox."

Like other apprentices, Mimi first came to Auntie Margaret in need herself. "In 1996 I was dying," she recalls. "I had taken every medical test possible and none of them showed evidence of parasites. Dr. Glenna Wilde first brought me to Auntie and with her help, I began to get better. When I finally took the full ten-day cleanse, I saw with my own eyes a variety of parasites leaving my body." Mimi's health improved substantially and the pain and aching in her joints subsided. "After that," she says, "I knew I could get well and stay well."

Another remarkable account comes from apprentice Dr. Glenna Wilde. During her final year in naturopathic medical school, Glenna worked as a landscaper and was accidentally poisoned by a spilled herbicide. Despite seeking treatment from the best doctors and naturopaths available, a month later Glenna weighed just 90 pounds and had turned a yellow-green ochre hue. She called Auntie Margaret and began a cleanse.

"Glenna was so weak she could barely crawl out of her tent to take her formulas every three hours," Mimi says. "But on the ninth day she suddenly felt energy and rose to take a walk. During this time her body did a miraculous thing: She passed a light green blob that smelled exactly like the herbicide!" Glenna recovered and went on to become a physician who helped many others by leading them in Auntie's cleanse. Participants in the cleanse are given a daily schedule of seawater and pro-biotic formulas, Hawaiian herbal and organ cleansing teas, organic foods and grape juice formulas taken every three hours. The daily schedule also includes hydrotherapy in a steam bath and natural tide pools, lomilomi massage and cleansing treatments. Slant boards are used to help the intestines resume their proper position and to encourage deep inhalation and exhalation.

Ho'oponopono practices (especially at sunset), art therapy, lots of laughter and rest whenever needed fill out the program. Light exercise such as swimming, walking, chi gong and dancing are encouraged and supported. Participants will quickly drop any pretense or modesty as they live together as an 'ohana (family) at Kealakekua Bay, the most beautiful swimming and dolphin bay in Hawai'i.

"Nature plays a key role in the cleansing process," Mimi says, "and the steam bath/hydrotherapy portion of the program is still carried on at Auntie Margaret's beach house each day." Auntie's beach house is a much cherished place, modest and filled with the spirit of aloha. Although Auntie is now wheelchair-bound, she still takes an active interest in the cleansers.

"We provide information that people rarely learn in modern cultures," Mimi explains. "The daily cleanse schedule is intended to help make spiritual, mental and physical changes that are long-lasting. Some people do this program every year on their vacations, just as they did for several decades with Auntie Margaret."

Mimi intends to carry on this work under the auspices of a 501(C3) nonprofit organization in order to seek donations to keep expenses down. Present cost is $2,100, which covers everything including lodging. A $700 deposit and application is required to reserve a spot. Programs are offered intermittently.

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