Happy Valentine's Day - Hope it's a Kooshoo day!
Happy Valentine's day! A lovely day for a Kooshoo update. A new blog will be launching March 18th. This will be followed by the launch of 4 diverse and inspiring styles, each available in multiple colour options. We thank you for your patience. Super excited to share the beautiful craftsmanship that has gone into these products.
Martin Luther King: an Incredible Human Being
Today is Martin Luther King Jr Day in the US. I admittedly know very little about him though from the research I've read of late, he was a great man, cast from the same stone as Mahatma Gandhi.
A brief selection of some of his most powerful quotes:
On his learnings from Gandhi: "Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity. In a real sense, Mahatma Gandhi embodied in his life certain universal principles that are inherent in the moral structure of the universe, and these principles are as inescapable as the law of gravitation."
On making decisions Conscientiously : “On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, "Is it safe?" Expediency asks the question, "Is it politic?" And Vanity comes along and asks the question, "Is it popular?" But Conscience asks the question "Is it right?" And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right.”
On being human: “We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”
On the power of people standing up for what they believe in: “The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority.”
May we use this day to truly absorb the power and truth of these statements into our own moral codes.
A brief selection of some of his most powerful quotes:
On his learnings from Gandhi: "Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity. In a real sense, Mahatma Gandhi embodied in his life certain universal principles that are inherent in the moral structure of the universe, and these principles are as inescapable as the law of gravitation."
On making decisions Conscientiously : “On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, "Is it safe?" Expediency asks the question, "Is it politic?" And Vanity comes along and asks the question, "Is it popular?" But Conscience asks the question "Is it right?" And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right.”
On being human: “We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”
On the power of people standing up for what they believe in: “The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority.”
May we use this day to truly absorb the power and truth of these statements into our own moral codes.
A Big Year
Polar Bear Going Swimming
Just over a year ago Rachel and I set out to design the perfect indoor footwear. It’s been a humbling and enlightening journey, one that has literally taken us from head to toe (the other way around to be fair, though toe to head just doesn’t sound the same!). Looking back now, it’s easy to find fault in our early naivety. Well, to be fair, my early naivety (I won’t speak for Rach here). I really thought it’d be relatively straight forward to design some shoes, have them made and then find a market for them. After all, Rachel understands commercial design as well as anyone whilst I have a pretty good grasp on selling. What I so easily overlooked though was product design and the incredible amount of detail that goes into the products we so often take for granted. No question now though; product development is an art unto itself.
In December we attended the Christmas party of a local Vancouver fashion designer who sells throughout the world. She recently opened a small boutique in Vancouver though aside from the employees at the boutique, she is the only employee of the brand. That said, every person at the party had played a hand – albeit modest in many cases – in building her brand. And there were well over a 100 people at the party! That really brought it home for me, visually seeing just how many people are involved (from pattern makers to acupuncturists) in making a product thrive.
From the onset of this company, we have known that collaboration would be integral to the brand’s success. Indeed that’s proved true in every stage just getting us to here. And will only become more important as these products move from paper to reality in 2012.
2012 is going to be an awesome year for Kooshoo. Beginning with the official launch of our logo and symbol next month (February) and followed shortly thereafter with the launch of the first Kooshoo Headbands. And we’re so incredibly excited to share them with you. If the dominoes align we’ll soon follow the headbands with the coolest house shoes you’ve ever seen. Good times ahead no doubt. So thrilled to have you along for the ride.
BIG love,
J
In December we attended the Christmas party of a local Vancouver fashion designer who sells throughout the world. She recently opened a small boutique in Vancouver though aside from the employees at the boutique, she is the only employee of the brand. That said, every person at the party had played a hand – albeit modest in many cases – in building her brand. And there were well over a 100 people at the party! That really brought it home for me, visually seeing just how many people are involved (from pattern makers to acupuncturists) in making a product thrive.
From the onset of this company, we have known that collaboration would be integral to the brand’s success. Indeed that’s proved true in every stage just getting us to here. And will only become more important as these products move from paper to reality in 2012.
2012 is going to be an awesome year for Kooshoo. Beginning with the official launch of our logo and symbol next month (February) and followed shortly thereafter with the launch of the first Kooshoo Headbands. And we’re so incredibly excited to share them with you. If the dominoes align we’ll soon follow the headbands with the coolest house shoes you’ve ever seen. Good times ahead no doubt. So thrilled to have you along for the ride.
BIG love,
J
Sports Headbands: Choosing between Synthetic and Natural Fibers
Sports Headbands of my Youth
Sports headbands, when I picture them at least, evoke images of my childhood: french terry, basketball players with short shorts and the great John Mcenroe. It's quite a nostalgic image.
Since that time though, sports headbands have undergone a revolution. What was once a humble cotton sweatband has become a high performance superhero, intent on using the latest technology known to man to keep the villain sweat from your eyes. Sounds great, but at what cost? Sure the sweat stays out but have you ever stopped to think just what's in that sports headband with the superhero properties? I won't get into it this time around (have a read for yourself) but safe to say, when things seem to good to be true, they usually are.
As with everything in life, it comes down to balance. Synthetics certainly can perform incredible feats though we owe it to ourselves to ask "at what cost?". If we feel that the performance of our sports headband warrants that cost, then go for it. But if you can attain an almost identical performance from a natural material - one that doesn't involve petrochemicals against your skin or a break-down cycle that will outlive anything currently alive on earth - then is it worth it? So next time you look to purchase a sports headband, or any other performance apparel for that matter, take a moment to ask yourself: "is it really worth it?"
For our part, we'll do everything we can to provide you with a range of beautiful sports headbands made of organic natural fibers - guaranteed to keep you looking awesome, feeling great and mostly dry of that pesky brow sweat.
Since that time though, sports headbands have undergone a revolution. What was once a humble cotton sweatband has become a high performance superhero, intent on using the latest technology known to man to keep the villain sweat from your eyes. Sounds great, but at what cost? Sure the sweat stays out but have you ever stopped to think just what's in that sports headband with the superhero properties? I won't get into it this time around (have a read for yourself) but safe to say, when things seem to good to be true, they usually are.
As with everything in life, it comes down to balance. Synthetics certainly can perform incredible feats though we owe it to ourselves to ask "at what cost?". If we feel that the performance of our sports headband warrants that cost, then go for it. But if you can attain an almost identical performance from a natural material - one that doesn't involve petrochemicals against your skin or a break-down cycle that will outlive anything currently alive on earth - then is it worth it? So next time you look to purchase a sports headband, or any other performance apparel for that matter, take a moment to ask yourself: "is it really worth it?"
For our part, we'll do everything we can to provide you with a range of beautiful sports headbands made of organic natural fibers - guaranteed to keep you looking awesome, feeling great and mostly dry of that pesky brow sweat.
Celebrity Yoga Teacher Steve Jobs and his Lessons on Living Life
Celebrity Yoga Teacher, Steve Jobs
Yesterday we made an awesome pea soup (thank you Jamie Oliver) for some awe-inspiring friends. As the onions, carrots and celery sautéed, we watched an inspiring TED talk by one of the world’s most famous celebrity yoga teachers, Steve Jobs.
OK fair enough, so Steve isn’t a celebrity yoga teacher in the conventional asana-preaching sense; however, if you’ve ever read or listened to his thoughts on living life, you’d surely recognize the teachings of a great old soul. And truthfully yoga, according to the original author himself (Patanjali), was a way of life in which asana only accounted for 3 of 194 sutras.
Steve’s TED Talk focused on his three personal keys to life:
1. Make decisions based on the knowledge of your heart and intuition. Sometimes your path may not seem clear though with the grace of retrospect, you’ll see the dots connect themselves beautifully.
2. Every morning wake up and ask yourself: “if today was the last day of my life, would I be happy with what I’m about to do?” If the answer is “no” too many days in a row, that’s a sign that you need to make a change.
3. Remembering you’re going to die is the best way to avoid the trap of feeling you have something to lose. When you acknowledge the inevitability of your death, there remains no reason not to follow your heart.
There you have it. Beautiful, succinct rules for living, and fittingly, starting a business - from the celebrity yoga master himself.
And that’s where we’re at now. Starting a business, we’ve found, is a very vulnerable time. You’re making decisions every day based on intuition, motivated (in our case at least) by blind faith in our own abilities to create positive change. As we make our core decisions on fair-trade manufacturers, eco-conscious materials and a sustainable supply chain, we are in fact trusting in our intuition that the dots will ultimately connect. It’s a leap of faith, so when you hear a celebrity yoga master like Steve Jobs affirming your direction, your ears perk up and your heart listens.
OK fair enough, so Steve isn’t a celebrity yoga teacher in the conventional asana-preaching sense; however, if you’ve ever read or listened to his thoughts on living life, you’d surely recognize the teachings of a great old soul. And truthfully yoga, according to the original author himself (Patanjali), was a way of life in which asana only accounted for 3 of 194 sutras.
Steve’s TED Talk focused on his three personal keys to life:
1. Make decisions based on the knowledge of your heart and intuition. Sometimes your path may not seem clear though with the grace of retrospect, you’ll see the dots connect themselves beautifully.
2. Every morning wake up and ask yourself: “if today was the last day of my life, would I be happy with what I’m about to do?” If the answer is “no” too many days in a row, that’s a sign that you need to make a change.
3. Remembering you’re going to die is the best way to avoid the trap of feeling you have something to lose. When you acknowledge the inevitability of your death, there remains no reason not to follow your heart.
There you have it. Beautiful, succinct rules for living, and fittingly, starting a business - from the celebrity yoga master himself.
And that’s where we’re at now. Starting a business, we’ve found, is a very vulnerable time. You’re making decisions every day based on intuition, motivated (in our case at least) by blind faith in our own abilities to create positive change. As we make our core decisions on fair-trade manufacturers, eco-conscious materials and a sustainable supply chain, we are in fact trusting in our intuition that the dots will ultimately connect. It’s a leap of faith, so when you hear a celebrity yoga master like Steve Jobs affirming your direction, your ears perk up and your heart listens.
Yoga Headbands to Celebrate YOU
Yoga Headbands are an Art
Designing fashionable headbands that are both functional and fun has been an enlightening adventure. There are so many different aesthetics out there – from sports headbands to hippie headbands to cute headbands to designer headbands. And that’s before mentioning headscarves, bandanas and everything in between. Despite the abundance of headbands, it was really only those that celebrated the creativity of the wearer that resonated with us when doing our market research.
So in order to design Kooshoo’s range of headbands we set out from the beginning to create headbands for individuals, as opposed to the masses. In order to do this, we enlisted the talents, opinions and sweat of some of our most creative and talented friends (hot yoga aficionados, kundalini yoga goddesses, eco fashion gurus...). Together we've designed, redesigned (and often redesigned again) a number of beautiful prototypes. From there a select few were moved forward to the testing stage where they're being put to the test everywhere from Bikram yoga studios to kundalini dance trances to forest running trails to the most fashionable streets of the city. This is the stage we're at today. From early feedback, we think we'll be launching (announcement on that soon) with a range of yoga headbands, running headbands, fashion headbands, anytime headbands that will celebrate your creativity and individuality in a way that few other products can.
It's not too late to get in on the creative fun. If you have a headband or headscarf idea or concept you'd like to see, please let us know. We'd love to engage in a conversation and would surely see a funky headband make it your way if we run with your suggestions. So please, let us know your thoughts....
So in order to design Kooshoo’s range of headbands we set out from the beginning to create headbands for individuals, as opposed to the masses. In order to do this, we enlisted the talents, opinions and sweat of some of our most creative and talented friends (hot yoga aficionados, kundalini yoga goddesses, eco fashion gurus...). Together we've designed, redesigned (and often redesigned again) a number of beautiful prototypes. From there a select few were moved forward to the testing stage where they're being put to the test everywhere from Bikram yoga studios to kundalini dance trances to forest running trails to the most fashionable streets of the city. This is the stage we're at today. From early feedback, we think we'll be launching (announcement on that soon) with a range of yoga headbands, running headbands, fashion headbands, anytime headbands that will celebrate your creativity and individuality in a way that few other products can.
It's not too late to get in on the creative fun. If you have a headband or headscarf idea or concept you'd like to see, please let us know. We'd love to engage in a conversation and would surely see a funky headband make it your way if we run with your suggestions. So please, let us know your thoughts....
Gratitude Yoga - the Practice of our Times
Over the past few weeks there's been a recurring theme in my life. It keep presenting itself from different angles at the most opportune times. The theme is gratitude. And what a beautiful theme it is to have recurring in your life.
A few weeks ago in my yoga teacher training weekend with Max Strom, we did a breathing workshop that focused on heart-opening exercises meant to access gratitude. As Max put it, "Gratitude is the most accessible of our higher emotions". It therefore acts as a crucial gateway to finding our other emotions. Only with gratitude can you find compassion. Only with compassion can you forgive. And only with forgiveness can you experience true love.
Elsewhere, a beautiful friend starting her own company is working on a payment mechanism that promotes "giving through gratitude". It's a system that allows you to show gratitude for yourself, friends or strangers by gifting them her service. This gratitude model will allow those who are not able to afford her service with the opportunity to use it, all thanks to the gratitude of others. I think it's a gorgeous pricing model that will excel in this new time.
And then again today gratitude came to the forefront. I'll save you the story and get straight to the quote - a quote that resonates so highly with me and my practice of yoga. The quote is from Kundalini Yoga's Yogi Bhajan: "The attitude of gratitude is THE highest yoga". Truly yoga in its most accessible form.
In Gratitude,
Jesse
A few weeks ago in my yoga teacher training weekend with Max Strom, we did a breathing workshop that focused on heart-opening exercises meant to access gratitude. As Max put it, "Gratitude is the most accessible of our higher emotions". It therefore acts as a crucial gateway to finding our other emotions. Only with gratitude can you find compassion. Only with compassion can you forgive. And only with forgiveness can you experience true love.
Elsewhere, a beautiful friend starting her own company is working on a payment mechanism that promotes "giving through gratitude". It's a system that allows you to show gratitude for yourself, friends or strangers by gifting them her service. This gratitude model will allow those who are not able to afford her service with the opportunity to use it, all thanks to the gratitude of others. I think it's a gorgeous pricing model that will excel in this new time.
And then again today gratitude came to the forefront. I'll save you the story and get straight to the quote - a quote that resonates so highly with me and my practice of yoga. The quote is from Kundalini Yoga's Yogi Bhajan: "The attitude of gratitude is THE highest yoga". Truly yoga in its most accessible form.
In Gratitude,
Jesse
Kundalini Yoga's (and the World's) Big Day
This week the focus of the kundalini yoga world was on 11.11.11 - quite possibly the most auspicious day in our lifetimes, let alone the last 29,000 years. It is the date on which the world entered the age of the Aquarius, moving from the mind-led Piscean age into an a new time where the heart will rule. Yogi Bhajan, the original teacher of Kundalini yoga said, "The Age of Aquarius is the age of excellence in which personal purity shall absolutely matter". Pretty cool heh!
On our front we celebrated by waking up for a global broadcast of morning sadhana, taking in some live webcasts from around the world, such as this beautiful little message from Gurmukh of Golden Bridge Yoga. We then rocked some kundalini yoga classes, sporting the latest, greatest yoga headband prototypes and wrapped up the day by setting our intentions for the next 29 years (yes, very specific - not quite sure why 29 years). It was a beautiful day and we're so excited to have gotten to share it with all of you.
On our front we celebrated by waking up for a global broadcast of morning sadhana, taking in some live webcasts from around the world, such as this beautiful little message from Gurmukh of Golden Bridge Yoga. We then rocked some kundalini yoga classes, sporting the latest, greatest yoga headband prototypes and wrapped up the day by setting our intentions for the next 29 years (yes, very specific - not quite sure why 29 years). It was a beautiful day and we're so excited to have gotten to share it with all of you.
Today, I'm thankful for...
A wonderful friend of ours is building a very cool online tool that allows people to list what they're most thankful for on a daily basis. It also keeps historical record of everything you've been thankful for since you began inputting data. I just had a look at my historical top 10 and it painted an interesting haiku that I thought I'd share here:
Friends Love Yoga In To Life Of Beautiful Sunshine Laughter
So those are the 10 words that I've been most thankful for since early this summer. A pretty nice picture!
Wishing Ayla all the very best with this beautiful tool. Can't wait to share it with all you beautiful friends out there.
What are your Top 6 Thankfuls today?
Friends Love Yoga In To Life Of Beautiful Sunshine Laughter
So those are the 10 words that I've been most thankful for since early this summer. A pretty nice picture!
Wishing Ayla all the very best with this beautiful tool. Can't wait to share it with all you beautiful friends out there.
What are your Top 6 Thankfuls today?
Yoga Teaching of the Day: Time to Write the Book of Your Life
This weekend, I had the good fortune of doing a workshop with Max Strom, yogi, author and thought provoker. We did an exercise that every human being should do. For yourself, please use a pen and paper to answer the following:
1) Define happiness? Not by use of a dictionary, but rather what it means to you to be happy.
2) Write down who your true friends are - those you trust beyond anything.
3) You have 30 minutes to pack a suitcase for the rest of your life, what do you bring?
4) Write down your code of ethics. Be honest and descriptive with each ethic and how it may need to be adapted in certain situations
5) If you were to die in the next 24 hours, what would you regret?
6) What is your mission in life?
7) How do you sabotage yourself in trying to achieve your mission?
Answer these humbly and truthfully. These answers are the keys to your life.
...
Wrote down your answers? Now reread your answers with the following in mind:
1) This exercise makes it clear that most of us cannot easily define happiness. And if you can’t define happiness, then it’s impossible to know when you’ve found it. So in order to solidify your personal definition, publicize it. Tell your family and friends what happiness is to you. Make yourself accountable. But also know that your happiness definition will evolve with time.
2) For your true friends, those you trust beyond anything, take time to write a hand written card to each of them explaining to them that they are on your short list. This may well be the most meaningful gift you ever give them.
3) The suitcase exercise shows us what’s really precious in our lives (and equally important, what’s NOT precious in our lives). Treat the objects in your suitcase with precious behaviour.
4) Collapses in ethics are responsible for all the strife in our world today. Too often we are making decisions based on circumstance rather than conscience. We need to return to a place where we make our decisions from our conscience – that innate knowing of right and wrong that we all have. To solidify your code of ethics, share it with those you most love. Have them write their own and then discuss. You’ll learn an amazing amount about a person from this simple exercise.
5) Your regrets are your TO DO LIST FOR LIFE. Get on it.
6) If you don’t know your mission in life, your friends will. Choose 5 people who know you and respect you. Make sure you know and respect them too. Ask them to list your strengths, gifts, talents and what they think your mission in life is. Then ask them: “how am I sabotaging myself?” Do not interrupt and do not take things personally. Just listen. Do this with 5 different people and clarity will emerge.
7) See previous message.
Imagine if every human being on earth took the time to do this? Please share this.
Thanks Max.
1) Define happiness? Not by use of a dictionary, but rather what it means to you to be happy.
2) Write down who your true friends are - those you trust beyond anything.
3) You have 30 minutes to pack a suitcase for the rest of your life, what do you bring?
4) Write down your code of ethics. Be honest and descriptive with each ethic and how it may need to be adapted in certain situations
5) If you were to die in the next 24 hours, what would you regret?
6) What is your mission in life?
7) How do you sabotage yourself in trying to achieve your mission?
Answer these humbly and truthfully. These answers are the keys to your life.
...
Wrote down your answers? Now reread your answers with the following in mind:
1) This exercise makes it clear that most of us cannot easily define happiness. And if you can’t define happiness, then it’s impossible to know when you’ve found it. So in order to solidify your personal definition, publicize it. Tell your family and friends what happiness is to you. Make yourself accountable. But also know that your happiness definition will evolve with time.
2) For your true friends, those you trust beyond anything, take time to write a hand written card to each of them explaining to them that they are on your short list. This may well be the most meaningful gift you ever give them.
3) The suitcase exercise shows us what’s really precious in our lives (and equally important, what’s NOT precious in our lives). Treat the objects in your suitcase with precious behaviour.
4) Collapses in ethics are responsible for all the strife in our world today. Too often we are making decisions based on circumstance rather than conscience. We need to return to a place where we make our decisions from our conscience – that innate knowing of right and wrong that we all have. To solidify your code of ethics, share it with those you most love. Have them write their own and then discuss. You’ll learn an amazing amount about a person from this simple exercise.
5) Your regrets are your TO DO LIST FOR LIFE. Get on it.
6) If you don’t know your mission in life, your friends will. Choose 5 people who know you and respect you. Make sure you know and respect them too. Ask them to list your strengths, gifts, talents and what they think your mission in life is. Then ask them: “how am I sabotaging myself?” Do not interrupt and do not take things personally. Just listen. Do this with 5 different people and clarity will emerge.
7) See previous message.
Imagine if every human being on earth took the time to do this? Please share this.
Thanks Max.
Yoga Headbands, Kooshoo's first product, are almost ready!
The launch date of Kooshoo headbands is getting closer! We’re currently preparing the final material and design details for a 3rd, and hopefully final, round of prototypes. This latest round of prototypes will be put to the test by the most dedicated yogis, yoginis and athletes we know over a multi week trial before we either make one more round of adjustments or officially launch.
As for styles... Based on the requests we’ve been getting, we’ve made sure that the kundalini yoga market will be well served with a host of beautiful, white headband choices. The hot yoga and power yoga crews have also been taken care of in the design process – with special attention being paid to durable natural materials (organic cottons and hemp namely) that wick your hard-earned yoga-sweat from your brow, while maintaining their grip under pressure. We’ll be revealing more specifics about the designs in the weeks to come so please check back often.
As for styles... Based on the requests we’ve been getting, we’ve made sure that the kundalini yoga market will be well served with a host of beautiful, white headband choices. The hot yoga and power yoga crews have also been taken care of in the design process – with special attention being paid to durable natural materials (organic cottons and hemp namely) that wick your hard-earned yoga-sweat from your brow, while maintaining their grip under pressure. We’ll be revealing more specifics about the designs in the weeks to come so please check back often.
Patanjali's yamas: the moral compass of Kooshoo yoga headbands
I'm currently doing my hatha teacher training with Semperviva Yoga in Vancouver. It's been a beautiful and enlightening experience to date (check out this fun video for more). We've been blessed with teachings from Nicki Doane, Gurmukh, Mark Whitwell and next week, Max Strom. And that's just a sampling of the many reasons that I'm loving my training. Another is the philosophy that we're learning along the way. Each week we have learnt the meaning of one of Patanjali’s 5 yamas and spent time that week focusing on how those yamas can be applied to our lives. We began with Ahisma, non-violence. Next was Satya, truthfulness. Then came Asteya, non-stealing, and Bramacharya, moderation. And finally we focused on Aparigraha, or non-hoarding. They’re beautiful rules on which life should be lived and the reason I bring them up today is because they are also the morals on which we are building Kooshoo. With each decision we make about materials, printing, labour, shipping and marketing, we first measure that decision against the 5 yamas. It’s the way we believe all businesses will be built in the future and we’re proud to bring you the most awesome yoga headbands on the market with these morals leading the way. - J
Welcome to the Kooshoo blog... a little about us to start
Oct 10 - Welcome to Kooshoo's blog. Starting today, we'll be endeavoring to keep you up to date on all things Kooshoo, amongst other things currently capturing our attention. For starters, we'll begin with our name. Rachel, the co-founder of Kooshoo, is from a very remote part of the world. It's called Norfolk Island and lies in the middle of the South Pacific, roughly halfway between Australia and New Zealand. As a Norfolk Islander, Rachel is an 8th generation descendant of the Mutineers of the Bounty (as made famous by Marlon Brando and Mel Gibson). The blend of Tahitian and old world English that resulted from that mutiny is the basis for the Norfolk Island language that exists today. And Kooshoo, alternatively spelled Kushu, means 'good' or 'great' in the Norfolk language. So the next time someone asks you how you're doing, try replying with 'Kooshoo. You?" Let's see if we can get it to catch on :)
