Reclaiming Our Humanity at Work
Why Living ALOHA Belongs in Business
In a world driven by productivity metrics, quarterly reports, and shareholder returns, something vital has gone missing: our shared humanity. The modern workplace is often structured to extract output, not foster wholeness. Yet this system, which prioritizes performance over presence, logic over empathy, and results over relationships, is breaking down because human beings are not machines.
Beneath all the performance evaluations, onboarding decks, and OKRs, there remains something essential in every person: a spiritual connection to life. Not religious dogma, but the deeply human, natural sense of being part of something bigger. Hawaiians call it ALOHA. Indigenous cultures revere it. Buddhist meditation reveals it. And science confirms it.
This article makes the case - spiritually, psychologically, and strategically - that business must evolve. It must allow people to be fully human, not just functionally useful. And the key to that evolution is simple: let ALOHA back in.
“ALOHA is something that is there. We can feel it but cannot touch it. ALOHA is a way of life because it takes your heart. The five ways to bring ALOHA out are: your eyes, your spoken words, your hands, your hearing and your breath.”
~ Aunty Pilahi Pakī
ALOHA Defined
ALOHA, as defined by Hawaiian elders and cultural practitioners, is more than a greeting. It is the Universe, the animating force of life itself. The word breaks down into:
A: luminous, to shine like a star
LO: the front of the skull
ALO: presence, face, to be with
HA: breath, life, sacred number four
Aunty Pilahi Pakī taught: "ALOHA was that tiny glow to life or spark in life, which enabled man to imply his thoughts, and apply his heart, to the imagination and passion of his and her Being."
This is not philosophy, it is functional wisdom. And it applies just as much to boardrooms as it does to beaches.
“When I asked [my grandmother] why she fed [the stranger], she got angry and said, ‘ʻ I was not feeding the man; I was entertaining the spirit of ALOHA within him.’
The practice of honoring the other [as ourselves] was so much a part of [our] culture…To feed a stranger passing by – that is pure ALOHA.”
~ Aunty Nānā Veary
The Systemic Amnesia of Work Culture
From the industrial revolution to the digital age, work culture has systematically narrowed the range of human expression considered "acceptable" on the job. Intuition, spiritual insight, or even simple human vulnerability—these have been treated as distractions, liabilities, or at best, HR issues to manage.
Instead, the conceptual, logical mind has been crowned king. Yet as Buddhist psychology explains, the conceptual mind is not truth itself - it is merely a processor of memory and conditioning. It sees not reality but projections. And when two people with different conditioning try to make decisions together without acknowledging their inner influences, confusion and conflict are guaranteed.
As Aunty Nānā Veary said: "Separation from ALOHA leads to deterioration." That deterioration is visible in rising burnout, declining trust, and workplaces where people feel unsafe to feel. This is not sustainable. And it is not necessary.
What It Means to Be Fully Human
Before our logical minds developed, we experienced the world through what can be called our original mind: open, connected, and grounded in felt experience. We lived in a natural state of unity. According to Aunty Morrnah Nālamakū Simeona, in Hawaiian understanding, this is ALOHA - a luminous awareness of life, others, and the sacredness of breath (hā).
Children operate from this space effortlessly. They feel, they connect, they trust. It’s only later, through social conditioning, that they’re trained to silence the voice of the heart and elevate the voice of logic. But true intelligence integrates both. And truly human work honors both.
Being fully human means:
Feeling and honoring what is felt
Listening with empathy, not just analysis
Acting from our true nature, not just incentives
Valuing presence over performance
It’s not about being soft. It’s about being whole.
The Strategic Case for the Integrity of Being Human
Let’s be blunt: people are tired. Not just physically, but spiritually - and spiritually here means “being in a way that relates to or affects the human - or ALOHA - spirit as opposed to material, mental, or physical things.”
People are hungry for meaning, connection, and authenticity. This includes business owners. Many entered business not just to make money, but to create value, offer something worthwhile, and live a meaningful life. Somewhere along the way, the system hijacked that aspiration.
But there is a growing body of research that shows:
Empathy in leadership increases employee engagement and loyalty
Purpose-driven companies outperform their peers
Mindfulness-based practices reduce stress and improve decision-making
Psychological safety enhances innovation and collaboration
Living ALOHA is not a luxury. It is a high-functioning operating system for human beings. And businesses that adopt it don’t just survive, they thrive.
ALOHA Consciousness in Practice
To allow people to be fully human at work means designing environments where ALOHA consciousness is the norm, not the exception. This means:
Welcoming inner life: Create space for reflection, mindfulness, and trusting feelings.
Centering empathy: Train leadership not just in performance reviews, but in true compassionate presence.
Encouraging authenticity: Let people show up as whole beings, not filtered avatars.
Valuing silence: Make space in meetings and schedules for pauses, not just productivity.
It was once emphasized: this is not an HR program. It’s a cultural shift from mind to heart. And culture doesn’t change through memos. It changes when leaders model what’s possible.
Meditation as a Tool of Return
The practice of Buddhist mindfulness meditation is not about relaxation or escapism. It is a rigorous discipline to break the addiction to compulsive thinking and reactive behavior. It is the training ground where people can reconnect with their original mind - with ALOHA.
As the Buddha once taught, and as quantum mechanics now echoes: we are not separate. The illusion of separation is the root of suffering. Meditation dissolves that illusion, not by dogma but through direct experience.
Workplaces that integrate meditation are not just adopting wellness trends. They are building measurable resilience into their culture. And that’s a competitive advantage that cannot be bought or outsourced.
Rehumanizing Business
To live ALOHA is to remember who we are. Not machines. Not assets. Not just workers. But luminous, breathing beings capable of feeling, compassion, creativity, and cooperation.
This is not a utopian fantasy. It’s the practical, observable truth of what happens when people reconnect with their wholeness. Teams collaborate better. Conflict reduces. Purpose emerges. Retention improves. And work becomes a vehicle of meaning, not just survival.
The Hawaiians of old didn’t need a word for this. They simply lived it. We gave it a name because we forgot it. But forgetting is not the end. Remembering is a choice.
To business owners who still feel that quiet tug in the heart: listen to it. Let your workplace become a space where ALOHA can be felt, lived, and shared.
In doing so, you’re not just improving productivity. You’re participating in the healing of a fractured world.
And there is no more important work than that.
Resources and Practice:
Begin your meetings with 60 seconds of silence. Celebrate not just wins, but values lived.
Host weekly meditation circles open to all employees.
Train executives to lead with empathy.
Make mindfulness practice and self-awareness a norm among leadership teams.
Encourage employees to speak from experience, not just opinion.
Replace performance management with honest dialogue grounded in mutual respect.
Craft a vision that includes social good, not just shareholder return.
Foster environments where people can show up as their full selves without fear of reprisal.
Use circles, story-sharing, and silence as valid forms of problem-solving.
"The consciousness of ALOHA in being human is the essence, the sum, and substance of all beliefs. To live ALOHA is the first essential of every satisfactory life."
~ Nana Veary
If you feel urged to bring empathy and ALOHA to your business, you may be served to know that other businesses have done so with success through my Leading With Empathy training program.
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