Alternative healing was once seen as something well outside of the mainstream, a practice of people who perhaps to one degree or another were thought to be “strange”. Alternative healing today has not become wholly accepted, but it is certainly more embraced than it once was. Further, there are now millions of people who to one extent or another apply alternative healing in their lives.

One fairly popular form of alternative healing is ho'oponopono. Ho'oponopono is a Hawaiian technique that's been applied to solving problems for generations. The premise of ho'oponopono methodology is based on connecting with an ultimate source power and asking this power for help with resolving life problems and difficulties. Though there is an emphasis on higher source connection, ho'oponopono is not a form of organized religion. No sort of worship rituals or belief rituals are present within ho'oponopono.

Morrnah Simeona is credited with establishing modern day ho'oponopono. Simeona was designated a Kahuna Lapa'au. Translated, Kahuna means keeper of the secret, and Lapa'au means specialist in healing. Simeona, in a bit of a translation, was a shaman from a Hawaiian perspective. Simeona was highly regarded for her ho'oponopono understanding, and was asked by various bodies including the United Nations to teach the ho'oponopono method. Simeona died in the 1990's. Dr. Ihaleakala Len Hew was a student of Simeona's, and has since taken on a position of leadership in the ho'oponopono movement.

Ho'oponopono is not some magic form, nor is it a means for asking for and receiving any materialistic possession that one should want. Performing ho'oponopono won't make the perfect life suddenly appear, and it certainly won't suddenly materialize an expensive sports car into one's driveway. It's thought within ho'oponopono that outcomes are dictated by source power, and that these outcomes both in timing and result are ideal.

Like any method that emphasizes spiritual connectivity, ho'oponopono has its critics. Some people simply can't get around the idea of the existence of realities beyond what can be experienced by the senses, let alone being able to tap into these realities and gain from them. Other people may consider ho'oponopono to be a form of an illegitimate magic bean that promises the happiness and satisfaction that seems out of reach for many. Still others believe that at least some degree of suffering is a normal part of life. But while ho'oponopono is criticized by some, there are many who trust and embrace the ho'oponopono method and the results it produces.