By Dr. Roxanne Daleo

In honor of Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) Heritage
Month, I offer the value of a closer look at another’s cultural custom which can level-up
our daily lives in unexpected, positive ways.

I recently learned that the traditional Hawaiian greeting, aloha, means more than hello.
It reflects a way of life and an attitude of well-being by natives for thousands of years.
Originally, it was reserved for greeting loved ones by rubbing noses and the inhaling
each other’s breath. The word aloha translates as alo meaning in the presence of, and
ha meaning breath of life. In short, to live with the spirit of aloha is to live with an inner
knowledge to be loving and genuine in all interactions with all relations- people, animals,
and nature because all of life is connected.

Think of this next time you say, hello. Silently acknowledge, the breath of life in me and
the breath of life in you is the same breath shared by all living things. Aloha!