Hawaiian Islands Yoga Tour

The raw beauty of the Aloha State inspires yoga practitioners to reconnect to the divine within.

By Tara Bray Smith
Instead of greeting each other with a kiss, the traditional Hawaiian welcoming and parting gesture consists of pressing one's nose close against another's to exchange sacred breath. In fact, the Hawaiian sound "ha"--the root of aloha--literally means "full of breath." This idea of filling yourself with breath, or as yogis call it prana, is just one of the many similarities that make practicing yoga in the Aloha State a natural fit. Founded in 1977, the Iyengar-based Silent Dance Center has grown over the last quarter century to three spacious studios around Oahu. A mainstay in the island's yoga scene, they offer Iyengar Yoga, classes for seniors and children, a pranayama and restorative class, teacher-training programs, and trilingual (Japanese-English-Korean) commentary in classes taught by the SDC's most senior-level instructor, Ae Ja Mobley.

It's this same kind of mix of cultures and traditions that provides the energizing spirit for one of Oahu's newest yoga studios, Yoga Hawaii, located in the heart of Kaimuki and founded by Kripalu-trained former triathlete Tania Jo Ingrahm and partner Rupali (Cheryl Figueira). The center features classes from several styles, including Kripalu, Ashtanga, Sivananda, Integral, Iyengar, hatha, and vinyasa flow.

If it's a high-energy, hot, sweaty practice you're seeking, you might head over the Pali (the ridge of mountains that divides the east and west sides of Oahu) to Bikram Yoga College of India in balmy Kailua. Founder Brent Purdue and studio manager-teacher Ted Grand find their core of devoted practitioners among windward Oahu's many athletes. A marathoner, surfer, and rock-climber himself, Grand finds the set of static postures in the Bikram series "very healing, very complementary" to his active lifestyle.

While Oahu might have the biggest and most diverse selection of schools and studios, the outer islands can't be beat in terms of setting. As Nadia Toraman of Maui Yoga Shala puts it, "These islands are alive, and it's something you can feel every day." Her studios--one in the busy, westside port town of Lahaina and the other in sleepier, plantation-style Paia--offer Iyengar, Viniyoga, flow, and hatha in addition to a full complement of Ashtanga classes.

Husband and wife team Nicki Doane and Eddie Modestini teach Ashtanga Yoga at their studio, Maya Yoga, in Huelo on Maui's north shore. Their studio, crafted of Alaskan yellow cedar wood, is warm and light, with one wall composed entirely of windows displaying a stunning view of the Pacific Ocean. The building uses no electricity and relies only on natural light and heat. Modestini has traveled to India several times to study with both B. K. S. Iyengar and Sri K. Pattabhi Jois.

Gary Kraftsow, founder of the American Viniyoga Institute, teaches a holistic approach to yoga philosophy and practice. Gary and his wife, Mirka Kraftsow, codirect Maui Yoga Therapy and direct the teacher development program at the American Viniyoga Institute. They also hold monthly retreats called the Art of Personal Practice in Maui and offer six and eight-week courses on everything from back pain to the yoga sutras. "We are trying to integrate the total human being," Kraftsow says.

In the old fishing village turned modern town of Kailua-Kona, Barbara Uechi founded Kona Yoga, an eight-year-old Iyengar center that offers workshops and retreats for senior-level Iyengar instructors.

If you are looking for restorative yoga, there's probably no better place than on the island of Kauai. "Kauai is where the healers come to be healed," says Bhavani Maki, one of Yoga Hanalei's founders along with Bikram instructor Lynn Moffitt. The studio, which offers a variety of Ashtanga, Bikram, and hatha classes, enjoys a steady stream of practitioners both from Hawaii and abroad who come for Hanalei's unparalleled scenery.

Practicing yoga against the tropical backdrop is a dream for most people. In Hawaii, it's a daily reality, an example of the profound connection between human breath and elemental energy that seems to be inherent in the islands themselves--the "ha" that defines both yoga and Hawaii.