About Swami
Thank you for visiting my about me page. Your curiosity will be rewarded as you discover more about who I am and how I can serve you. You’ll get to understand the reasons why people see me to overcome pain & upsetting emotions naturally and optimize their energy and experience more of their beauty and self-esteem … and wake up to their highest potential.
You may have heard of Auntie Margaret, Dr. Dane Silva, Dr. Serge King, Dr. Wayne Topping, and Anthony Robbins – all great masters I have studied with in order to deliver a variety of healing arts using Lomi Lomi massage, touch for health and more …
If you’ve ever wondered why my practice is called Swami’s Healing Arts? I’ll let you in on the story about how I came by the name Swami M. Om or “Swami Mommy”. First up I’m just curious …
Did you know that I am the original Garbage Guru?
I was in the core group to start the recycling movement here on the Big Island in 1989.
I had my vision to be the “Garbage Guru” when I was in California at a symposium back in 1978. I told God that I wanted to be “a high holy hippie elder”. God said All those positions are filled, although there is an opening for a clean-up master. To clean up after the high holies. I took the job.
I had started going to Rainbow Gatherings in 1976, the first was in New Mexico. I was ecstatic from the experience and planned to return next summer 1977. It was 1978 though in Oregan, after the gathering I stayed until the end looking to find “the Rainbow Family”. I found instead, the garbage clean up crew. They were just all regular people like me. I discovered that “Rainbow Family” meant everyone was in it no matter what color they were.
Why is this important to know? Well, as you may know …
It was extremely popular to change your name in late 70s to things like cloud, feather, white dove, no guns, makes one camp, to name a few.
I was interested in yoga since about age 11. I practised almost everyday and read yoga books. I always wanted to be a “swami’” with a following, like Swami Satchidaananda. I told Garrick Beck (one of the visionaries of the Rainbow Gathering). He started calling me Swami right then at The Rainbow Farm in Drain, Oregon. My 2 children still called me Mommy. It sounded good together and soon my name was “Swami Mommy”.
1979 Arizona gathering, I arrived early at this gathering with 3 small children in a van with tepee poles and a tepee and announced that I was “Swami Mommy”. When I asked where the kid village was, the people there asked me back, “where do you want it?” and thus I became in charge of the kid village that year. By the end of that gathering my name became well attached. That year my attention was on children, till the end when it was time to clean up.
I saw that even tho, I made recycling labels: Metal, Glass, Burnables & Compost. People didn’t understand yet about separating their trash, so not much ended up recycled that year. It was way overwhelming I knew I would need to teach the people HOW TO RECYCLE.
Teaching Others How To Recycle
After returning to my then home in Santa Cruz (actually living in the van). I and the children were sitting in the park meditating, when there was an Earthquake. No Damage happened, although it was very significant, because during my meditation, I saw the categories of trash and where they fit into the Yoga chakras. When I changed “burnables’ into Paper. It all came clear.
From Swami G-Arbage to Swami Garbage
I could see that all people need to do is SEPARATE the g-arbage into the 7 catagories. So I changed my name to Swami G. -Arbage.
People didn’t understand my g-arbage name, so I changed to Swami Garbage. Since my children called me mommy and it sounded so well together, soon I was Swami Mommy – Queen of the Garbage.
The next many years following I went to the gatherings and dressed up like a clown (Patch Adams was my inspiration- he’s the famous doctor that wears a clown nose.) I realized that my previous experience of trying to force people into doing right wasn’t getting anything accomplished.
I started to use comedy and sing songs:
Trash Goes Marching On“My eyes have seen the hauling of the trash.We’ll haul it to the parking lot to Swami Mommy’s stash.We’ll separate the metal from the plastic and the glass.The trash goes goes marching on” | Earth Mother says feed me“Earth Mother says feed me.The garbage from your plate is my food.The garbage from your body is my food.The garbage from the trees is my food.Feed me compost.” |
My name stuck so well that I changed it legally on Jan.22 2010 to be Swami M. Om forever to be the original Swami Mom
UPDATE 2014: My inspiration has reached the Netherlands!
Over a year ago I was contacted by Dianne Flemming in the Netherlands for permission to use the Seven Garbage chakras graphic on their compost drop off dumpster called NedCompost….well, they’ve finally accomplished the task. Here is what she wrote and take a look at the beautiful pictures she sent me.
Being an all volunteer organization, it’s taken awhile to pull all this together, but we are well on our way in reaching our goal of keeping all compostable waste in our own mountain neighborhood, providing the conditions necessary for turning it into valuable soil amendment, and returning it to our customers and the Earth!!!!
We’re currently collecting about 500 lbs per week, and are hoping to increase that by another 200lbs by the end of this year.
You have been an inspiration in my life, and your vision of loving our Mother Earth by reducing our waste and recycling has played a major part in my involvement with NedCompost, officially known as Nederland Compost and Resource Recovery.
Diane Flemming and the artist Teresa Keller.
Cleaning up one of our Earth Tubs, where the magic happens, even in below zero weather!!!