With its beautiful weather, beautiful scenery, diverse cultural scene and fun outdoor activities from hiking to swimming to surfing, Hawaii would seem like the perfect place to reduce stress and anxiety in one’s life. It’s why tourists come here, after all.
But this last year and a half has been extra stressful. While the worst of the pandemic seems to be behind us, there is likely residual stress in what’s left behind — whether it’s changes in the workplace, loss of jobs or careers, or loss of home. Lifestyles have changed too, with the changes brought on by technology seemingly adding to its burdens rather than making them easier.
“We all need ‘release,’” said Robin Miyamoto, PsyD., a practicing psychologist who heads up public education for the Hawai‘i Psychological Association. “Prior to COVID, we would have after-work time, and we would have weekends and we would go on vacation and travel places. Now, because we’ve learned to do so much online, there’s so many demands on people. I think we’re just not taking care of ourselves, and giving ourselves those releases we need in order to maintain that level of health and wellness.”
She recommends a number of stress-reducing tools and activities. Some are very simple, like taking small breaks throughout the day, so that “you’re dealing with stress in small chunks rather than letting it build the entire day,” she said. Miyamoto also recommends meditation, even if just for a moment.
A break every hour or two allows you to “slow your breathing down, get that heart rate down, and your blood pressure, and then you can go back to what you were doing,” she said. She also recommended the apps Shine, which is designed specifically for women, Home and Headspace.
In analyzing the level of stress and anxiety a patient is under, psychologists use a simple 0-10 scale, “0” being no stress and “10” being high stress. Meditation and small breaks are useful for the 0-4 range, Miyamoto said.
But for situations where the stress levels are higher, you might want to try the polar opposite of meditation with a visit to Break’N Anger, a “rage room” in Kakaako where you can smash things up. You’ll be provided plates, bowls, glassware, appliances and electronics to smash, or you can bring your own stuff. Co-owner Mark Gaulke said someone even brought in a battalion of old nutcrackers — the kind you see in the famous ballet — to destroy.
Outfitted in protective gear and face shields, people throw the items against a brick wall or the concrete floor, or take a whack at them with golf clubs, sledgehammers, bats, cudgels of any kind. At one recent session, some people hung teacups on the walls and smashed them with frying pans. “People really like frying pans,” Gaulke said.
Gaulke said he did a little research into the efficacy of rage rooms in dealing with stress and found “there’s mixed feelings out there. Some psychiatrists are like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it!’ but others are like, ‘It just promotes violence.’ ”
What he’s seen, however, is people coming in and “always leaving leave with a smile. Sometimes you hear them screaming in there, just releasing whatever they got.”
Since opening in 2020, Break’N Anger has helped plenty of people relieve stress. Gaulke has invited cancer patients to participate in free sessions. Women have brought in framed pictures of ex-boyfriends to hurl into the wall. Gaulke said a therapist even accompanied a client for a session.
“She sat upstairs and watched her client, and then they went into our Zen room, relaxed and talked about it,” he said.
The power of sound
Stress reduction methods can go from the cacophonous to the sublime.
Michelle Pirret had a career as a jazz singer in New York City before getting into sound therapy to deal with her mother’s Alzheimer’s disease. She uses gongs, chimes, drums and “singing bowls” — bowls that emit a pure, ringing tone when rubbed with a mallet — to create a peaceful, serene environment for people to help them relieve stress.
Pirret will be giving an hourlong presentation on her Sonic Alchemy work today at 2 p.m. at the Halekulani Hotel’s Garden Terrace and will be holding sound therapy sessions and giving other presentations there over the next few days.
Prior to the pandemic, she had started the sound healing program for hotels in New York. She came here two years ago to work on a music project and got effectively stranded on Hawaii island as the pandemic swept the nation. A nasty electric bike accident extended her stay even longer, so she sent for her musical instruments.
Her sound therapy sessions begin with a guided meditation, followed by a breathing exercise to promote relaxation. She then begins to ring gongs, from low to high, ringing them so that they “sing together.” She also has a variety of hand percussion instruments that replicate sounds of nature — rain, waves, a flowing stream, thunder.
“Generally, when we go out into nature, we become relaxed, because it’s a cacophony of frequencies all around us, and that really does relax the body at a cellular level,” she said. Her sessions conclude with sounds of the “alchemy” elements — earth, water, fire, air and ether — followed by singing bowls and her own singing.
The process is designed to get water in the cells of our bodies moving harmoniously, she said.
“Our bodies are 70% water, and when frequency is played around and near the body, the cellular water begins to vibrate,” she said. “In a perfectly healthy cell, there’s absolute symmetry. When there’s the presence of disease, it goes awry and there’s an asymmetry in the cell.”
A sense of calm
Sound is also a key component to programs at Still & Moving Center in Kakaako, where hula, yoga, aerial exercise, martial arts, meditation and other wellness activities are offered. Founder Renee Tillotson said sound in one form or another accompanies nearly everything in her programs. She calls the concept “sacred sound,” which fills the two-story facility.
“As people walk in, it’s lovely and there’s a sense of calm, but … there are sacred sounds that permeate the space,” she said.
Sacred sound can also encompass speech, she said. Still & Moving Center holds conversation circles that revolve around a specific theme drawn from an almanac Tillotson devised containing quotes and sayings by various historical figures — “everybody from the Dalai Lama to Dolly Parton,” Tillotson said with a laugh.
“Sacred sound starts with sacred speech,” she said, “especially when it is said aloud, which we are always sure to do.”
Yoga sessions will include sound-generating tools like the harmonium, an accordionlike instrument from India that has a haunting sound, or singing bowls. Adding these kind of sound effects to yoga can help heighten the experience, Tillotson said. “It’s setting a tone, letting some of the daily mind chatter settle down. It’s just telling you that you’re turning inward.”
Another opportunity for stress relief is acupuncture, the ancient Chinese practice in which microthin needles are placed into the skin at various points. Joe Bright, who trained in New York and San Francisco, operates two acupuncture establishments in Honolulu and has helped some of his students establish others.
“A lot of people think stress is always just a mental, emotional thing, but it can be very much embodied in the body, and whether that’s showing up as pain or digestive issue, sleep issues, any number of systems get affected,” he said. Chinese medicine, he said, does a good job of “getting the body to balance out, speed up, slow down, even out, strengthen it, chill it out, depending on the person.”
Acupuncture has been shown to increase circulation and bioelectrical signals to certain parts of the body, he said. The needles are inserted at certain “meridian points” to help “direct that flow, and get things going in the right direction,” Bright said.
During the height of the pandemic, Bright saw a major increase in anxiety-ridden patients. Acupuncture provided welcome relief to them.
“People would say, ‘I feel much more grounded,’” he said. “So the body might have been able to catch up to the mind, and now people feel like they can handle the stresses of life, versus being completely overwhelmed or running into panic.”
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Try it out
Break’N Anger
1008-A Kawaiahao St.
45-minute sessions in splatter paint room or smash lab, $45-$60; 90-minute combo sessions, $99-$110.
>> Info: 808-888-2630, breaknanger.com
Still & Moving Center
1024 Queen St.
Prices range from $12-$28 a class. Cost-saving packages are also available, as are discounts for students and seniors. Ask about other budget-friendly options.
>> Info: 808-397-7678, stillandmovingcenter.com
Michelle Pirret
Sound therapy at the Halekulani hotel, 2199 Kalia Road
>> Introduction/demonstration: 2-3 p.m. today, Garden Terrace
>> Private sessions: 70 minutes, $225-$550, available 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. starting Monday through June 27, except Saturday, when sessions end at 2 p.m.
>> Group sessions: 75 minutes, $95 per person, 4 people minimum, at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Friday and June 26
>> Presentation: “Art of Wellbeing — Sonic Alchemy: Sound Meditation & Vibroacoustic Therapy,” Garden Terrace, 3-4:15 p.m. Saturday. $25.
>> Concert: Michelle Pirret and her singing bowls, 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Garden Terrace. $30.
>> Info: Call 808-931-5322 for reservations. Seating on Garden Terrace is limited.
Joe Bright
Clear Path Acupuncture 1314 S. King St., Suite 707
>> Info: 808-597-1889
Kama‘aina Acupuncture (weekends) 3121 Mokihana St.
>> Info: 808-735-6389
Treatment priced on ability to pay
