Meet Blue Zones Project Champion Debbie
Interviewed by Kayli Pascal-Martinez, Blue Zones Project - Hawai‘i Ambassador
During my time interning at Blue Zones Project, I had the opportunity of interviewing Debbie Nakaoka from Central Union Church. She helped to lead her community towards a healthier lifestyle! I got to chat with Debbie about her process of getting the church to become a Blue Zones Project® Participating Organization and what she learned throughout that time. It was very insightful to hear her experience with the Blue Zones Project and I encourage anyone who is interested in getting involved, to read ahead!
Serving up healthy breakfasts. L-R: Debbie, Carol (Centering Prayer meditation and moai lead), Becky (vegan chef and author of The Blonde Vegetarian), and Betty (BZP planning and strategy).
How did you find out about Blue Zones Project?
I learned about the Blue Zones Project when Dan Buettner first came to HMSA to kick-off the project with its employees; it may have been around 2014. I was so excited about the Power 9® principles, the factors of health that weren’t just diet and exercise! It tied in with my personal values as well as my long time interest and involvement in health care. It also tied into the values and practices of my friends at church. Inspired by a church initiative to "Be a Blessing," I was already involved with organizing informal health-oriented seminars for our congregation, so it fit in perfectly. In 2018, our pastor was approached by Blue Zones Project and we started our journey on becoming a Blue Zones Project Participating Organization.
What was the process like for you, your community, and your organization?
It was easy to form our Blue Zones Project team since we had members who were passionate about leading a healthy lifestyle, and even more passionate with sharing their gifts and talents with others through our BZP activities. Some were vegetarians (plant slant), others practiced meditation, mindfulness and yoga (down shift), some walked and exercised (move naturally), we were all regular church attendees (belong), and many were already on various church committees (right tribe) - touching on aspects of the Power 9. Our team consisted of individuals with various synergistic gifts: some possessed high energy, others were strategic planners, they were reliable/can-do positive spirit individuals, generous with their time in leading activities, as well as were wonderful with nurturing the team. Everyone on the team possessed uplifting leadership qualities that helped to move the project forward!
We thought it was going to be easy, but the formal process took longer than anticipated. It was a lot of fun, but it took awhile to get enough members to sign the pledge. Overall, we were blessed to have the Manoa Seventh Day Adventist as a model to follow and cherished the support of our Blue Zones Project contact Molly Mamaril!
Blue Zones Project - 4M Kickoff. L-R: Patti (BZP planning and strategy, yoga practitioner), Dan Buettner, Debbie, Molly Mamaril (Blue Zones Project - 4M engagement lead).
What activities or events did you do to become a Blue Zones Project Participating Organization? How did you get members involved?
We invited the congregation to participate in numerous events primarily through our church newsletter, through personal invitation and emails. We invited them to: weekly Walking Moais at church and at Kapiolani Park, plant-based cooking demos, Green is the Color of Food - a green smoothie demo/presentation, a Reiki class, a Purpose Workshop, weekly mindfulness classes, Yoga on the Lawn, weekly Mindful Movement Bamboo Stick Qigong classes, weekly Mindful Yoga classes, a plant-based themed movie - Forks Over Knives (which was also attended by the Vegetarian Society of Hawaii president), Labyrinth walks, Taize - an ecumenical music/prayer event, a Straw Challenge healthy planet activity, and added vegetarian options at various church events. During one of our Moai Walks we added a historical walking tour of our campus that was led by our church historian, and learned about early ministers, and church history that we were not aware of before.
We were blessed to have the support of the Hawaii Conference United Church of Christ interim conference minister, who was passionate about health and was a raw food advocate! She led a class that discussed the benefits of greens in our diet and demonstrated how to create several delicious green smoothies. She also led a Christian Reiki healing class that included members from our church, community members, as well as congregants belonging to other churches. We also published an article about our Blue Zones Project “Our Faith Journey to Building Community and Healthy Habits” in our Conference newsletter.
Our plan was to create a spiritual community that would help transform lives holistically, addressing the mind, body, and spirit.
How has this change affected the community/people from your organization?
Events and Moais created many opportunities for people to connect with one another who normally don’t attend the same service, creating a greater sense of community. The events gave people reason and encouragement to eat plant-based meals, add more exercise, allow more opportunities to downshift and enjoy time with new friends. We now have two Kapiolani Park Walking Moais that continue to meet on Monday and Friday afternoons and have a regular following of members who continue to practice Mindful Movement Qigong and Mindful Yoga, Mindfulness and Centering Prayer (a silent meditation) on a weekly basis. Additionally, some have added more greens and green smoothies to their diets.
During our journey, we discovered that the Blue Zones Project was important to our community, not just our church or individuals. Small group activities became opportunities to make new friends, providing a sense of togetherness and a chance to do something healthy at church for the congregation as well as the public. Being healthy is a sacred promise that we need to make–it is not just a commitment to personal health. We eventually renamed our Blue Zones Project team - it’s now called the Mind, Body, Spirit Movement; we continue to communicate and support the Power 9 principles.
Forks Over Knives movie event. L-R: Carol, Claire (BZP planning and strategy, moai advocate), Debbie, Margie (Centering Prayer meditation, mindfulness, qigong, and moai organizer), and Sanford (moai lead, mindfulness and qigong practitioner).
Do you have any tips or tricks to share for other organizations that are also interested in getting involved?
Engage one-on-one with the congregation members, get your pastors involved, announce the events from the pulpit, gain support of other church committees and your church council, invite the community, and invite other churches to participate. Cast a wide net - be fishers of men and women!
What did you learn from this experience with Blue Zones Project?
It was a positive and fun experience! It provided us an opportunity to meet other people at church, in our Conference and in the community (i.e. the Seventh Day Adventists), as well as participate in and learn of healthy practices that we were not aware of before, such as Forest Bathing.
Overall, it not only served to strengthen health, but it deepened relationships and created life-long friends - Moais.
Join the Well-Being Movement!
Email our team to learn more about partnering with us to make healthy choices easier at your worksite, school, grocery store, restaurant, or faith-based organization.
Check out free upcoming events in Hawaiʻi!
Sign up to receive community updates!
Learn more at www.bzphawaii.com
