Emotional calm is a valuable benefit for being more in the present.  The Fourth Principle of Huna is Manawa—Now is the Moment of Power.  In Hawaiian language there is neither past tense nor future tense, therefore, all time is present.  Serge Kahili King, PhD, in his book  Huna Ancient Hawaiian Secrets for Modern Living, shares the following Fourth Principle technique called i’ano (translates as “being here”) to increase calm presence:

1.  Look and be aware of colors.  Pick out all the whites you see, then the reds, oranges,  yellows, greens, blues, violets, and blacks.  Next look at all the straight lines, and then  curved lines.  Finally look at the shapes of objects and how they relate to each other in space.

2.  Listen to all the sounds you can hear, first high ones and then low ones.  As you listen, you will begin to hear more sounds.  Try to be aware of how what seem to be single sounds at first are often made up of several other sounds.

3.  Touch  shapes, textures, also hardness, softness, temperature, flexibility, and weight.

4.  You may also want to include smelling and tasting.

When a person practices this technique enough, they will discover three things:  (1) Release of stress and tension; (2) An increased feeling of energy, vitality, and well-being; and (3) an expansion of sensory awareness that might possibly change the way they think about the world around them.