EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION
Everything we do, every activity we participate in, provides us with a chance to learn and grow. We’ll spend time debriefing activities so we can really take a moment to grab this knowledge and apply these lessons toward our growth and development.
We have two general categories for the activities you’ll participate in. “Recreation, Cultural Experience, Education” & “Craft/Workmanship”. Here are just a few examples of these:
“Recreation, Cultural Experience, Education”- Yoga, Hiking, Gardening, hula/dance, surfing, swimming/snorkeling, paddling, ukulele lessons, Hawaiian language lessons, spear fishing/fishing, breath work.
“Craft/Workmanship”- pendant, spear gun, surf board, and ukulele creation. Mask making, and tiki carving.
DAILY & WEEKLY SCHEDULES
We believe in the mental, spiritual, and physical health benefits of a fairly regular routine. Each morning will start with a simple routine that consists of coffee/tea, journaling, meditating, and completing simple morning chores followed by breakfast and yoga or stretching.
Following our morning routine, roughly five days a week, we’ll embark on the morning’s adventure! This may include an ocean activity (ex. swimming), cultural experience (ex. surfing or hula), or educational experience (ex. reading, writing, or tending to online school work if needed).
Lunch will typically follow, and then we’ll head into our afternoon activity block that may consist of craftwork or workshop time (ex. building your speargun) or gardening (we’ll be trying to eat food from the land that we grow and harvest as well as sharing this bounty with the community).
Our afternoon block is often followed by a group debrief of the day’s activities. Evening time is reserved for Jiu Jitsu or gym time most days, followed by dinner/down-time/personal time.
Weekends typically consist of a full day adventure and a rest day that includes prep and planning for the week ahead.
Our schedules can vary quite a bit depending on time of year, weather, number of participants and what Experiences each of our participants are working through. You can be sure that setting the schedule each week is a community event and we all work together on this!
CONNECTION TO HOME, PERSONAL/FREE TIME, & SUBSTANCE USE POLICY
We’ll spend a lot of time together, but we’ll also make time for you to connect to home and/or to tend to your positive personal growth & development practices (see below). Your personal time can be used for reading, resting, listening to or playing music, or just hanging out with your fellow Mana Toa peers. There may be free time in the community as well.
Since our focus is on personal growth and development and living a healthy lifestyle, you’ll find Mana Toa to be a substance free community and we do not allow tobacco, alcohol, or other drugs on campus. Use of illegal substances at any time is ground for immediate dismissal from the community.
CONTINUED PERSONAL GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT
You will develop a mentoring relationship with all the staff at Mana Toa as well as numerous coaches and mentors within the community. Our hope is to be the guides on your journey toward finding your inner warrior! We’ll help you discover your personal values and passions and give you tools to grow and develop these parts of yourself. If you come to Hawaii with a few important and healthy self-care routines that you’d like to continue on with, we’ll work together to incorporate those things into your daily & weekly schedule. Let’s be sure to discuss this during the application process to make sure we’re a good fit!
WHAT’S UNIQUE ABOUT MANA TOA
We hope you’ll find our combination of regular routine and discipline combined with our passion for recreation, the natural world, and the island and people of Hawaii to be a valuable experience on your journey into adulthood. Our goal is to provide you with unique experiences to your life that you will learn and grow through and that will carry forward into your life beyond Mana Toa. We’ll be happy to answer any and all of your questions and believe in transparency throughout the application process so you’re able to make the right decision for yourself as to us being a good fit together! We can’t wait to get to know you!