Meet Senior Yoga Instructor Bhavani Maki 

Director of Yoga Hanalei &
Ashtanga Yoga Kauai


                                                                                                                              International Yoga teacher, Bhavani Silvia Maki is the director and founder of Yoga Hanalei in 1999 and Ashtanga Yoga Kauai in 1995, is an Experienced Yoga Alliance teacher at the 500 hour level, a musician and Yogini.  A practitioner of the Ashtanga Yoga System for more than 20 years, she began teaching Yoga in 1995, and has been offering Yoga Alliance teacher training programs since 2003.  Bhavani has made six trips to Mysore, South India to study with Sri K Pattabhi Jois, as well as having the rare experience of hosting him twice on her home island of Kaua'i.  She received her teacher training and authorization from Astanga Yoga Masters Sri K. Pattabhi Jois of Mysore, South India, and Baba Hari Das of Hardwar, North India, and the Mount Madonna Center.  She also regards Rama Jyoti Vernon as integral in her understanding of the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali and the weaving of the metaphysical teachings with the practices of Yoga that she teaches to this day.
     Raised quadrilingual from a multicultural background and having traveled extensively, Bhavani interweaves the insights she has gathered into a holistic exploration of the microcosmic and macrocosmic self.  Dedicated to exploring Yoga in it’s complete expression, Bhavani’s classes are steeped in the traditions of Patanjali’s classical Eight Limbed Yoga, with an emphasis on integrity of alignment and the use of Yoga as therapy.  
     Described as a teacher’s teacher, Bhavani specializes in the Patanjali Yoga Sutra, Yoga Philosophy, Yoga Psychology and Yoga Therapy, and she offers unique insights into discovering greater joy and freedom within one's self.  She specializes in addressing the individual’s specific needs and in facilitating the individual to develop a personal practice that is appropriate to their challenges, physical injuries, and desire for personal growth and transformation.  Yoga can be described as compressed evolution.  Bhavani believes that engaging in all the aspects of Yoga uplifts us, teaches us to connect with ourselves and surroundings, and most importantly, to the source of joy within the self.  
     Bhavani Maki offers Yoga classes in a supportive and encouraging environment at Yoga Hanalei on Kaua'i, Hawaii. Sharing her love of Yoga, she inspires you to explore your full potential through Yoga in a light hearted, exacting and compassionate way.
Click here to visit Ashtanga Yoga Kauai 
Meet Senior Yoga Instructor Tara Mala

Tara Mala is a dedicated, devoted and ever-evolving student of Yoga.  Tara is Yoga Hanalei’s second most senior teacher.  She began teaching at Yoga Hanalei in Winter 2001.
Her approach to teaching is therapeutic and insightful.  Tara’s 25 years of experience as a gymnast, dancer, aerobics instructor and yoga teacher have influenced her in creating a practice that is explorative and inviting.  With an instinctive gift for reading and adjusting bodies she heals through her touch.

Tara’s approach is enthusiastic, intelligent and inspiring.  Her ability to weave her knowledge of Ashtanga, Anusara and Iyengar traditions into a fluid and challenging yoga class is contagious.

She enjoys tapping into the energy of a class and uniquely blending anatomy, alignment, rhythm and breathing into a mindful and dynamic yoga practice.

Tara’s eclectic style reflects her studies and inspiration from incredible teachers around the globe including:  Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, John Friend, Paul Grilley, Sianna Sherman, Tim Miller, Sharon Gannon, David Life, Desiree Rhumbaugh, Bhavani Maki and many others.  Her most recent teacher training with Master Gyrokenisis teacher, Sebastian Plettenberg (N.Y.C.) helped guide her to a new understanding of bhandas and pranayama.  Her creativity and love for communication are reflected in her yoga classes; integrating Sanskrit, yoga philosophy, and visual imagery.  She lives and teaches in Kauai at Yoga Hanalei.   Tara is certified by the Yoga Alliance at the 500 Hour level.



Meet Yoga Instructor Melissa Willoughby


Melissa began exploring yoga in 2000 and has continued to deepen into her process as a yoga student since then.  She began teaching yoga in 2007 after completing Levels 1 and 2 of the teacher training programs at Yoga Hanalei with Bhavani Maki.  She recently completed Level 3 at the beginning of 2010.  Melissa is a licensed massage therapist and practices bodywork on the north shore of Kauai.  Her studies have been inspired by her many injuries and experience of physical pain throughout her life.  Her life experience has initiated a deep curiosity of anatomy along with the science of therapeutic yoga to find alignment and begin to heal her body.  While the invitation to yoga was in her physical body, Melissa has recognized that yoga is the integration of her whole being.  She is also an artist and enjoys painting and has studied dance for most of her life.  Melissa focuses on alignment and awareness in her classes along with lovingly challenging her students to grow in their own personal yoga practice.  She is honored to share her experience and love of yoga.  


Meet Yoga Instructor Lucie Olivova

   Lucie, originally from the Czech Republic, spent 15 years as a professional athlete.  After relocating to Kauai, she decided to study more deeply the mind - body complex and its connection to nature.  In 2006 she became a licensed massage therapist and certified Ayurvedic practitioner.  She has completed level I, II, and III teacher trainings with Bhavani Maki, and started teaching yoga in 2010.  As an athlete she learned the importance of discipline, endurance, eating a balanced diet, and taking good care of the body.  She also is an avid surfer, swimmer, loves to mountain bike, and horse back ride.  In her yoga classes, Lucie focuses on awareness, balance, alignment and helping students to realize their own healing potential.  Her true passion is the study of Ayurveda, the Yogic science of life, and opening that knowledge in everyone by living in harmony with the basic laws of nature.  She is pleased to be offering diet and lifestyle consultations, as well as massage.


Meet Yoga Instructor Lynn Theodose

Lynn moved to Kauai in 2005, hoping to create a healthier lifestyle and begin healing unaddressed grief from her childhood. A friend gifted her 10 yoga classes for her 38th birthday. By the 10th class she was hooked, and became a regular at Yoga Hanalei. In 2009, she completed Level I and II teacher training with director, Bhavani Maki, and began teaching immediately after. She completed Level III in 2010, and is eagerly working towards her 500-hour certification.
     Lynn comes from a family of educators, and finds teaching to be a familiar adventure. She continues to deepen her own practice daily, and has developed a particular love for the Yoga Sutra.  Lynn is continually awed and humbled by the evolution of her healing. She has become fearless in her quest to uncover outdated, self-limiting belief patterns, and is honored by the opportunity to help others do the same. She encourages proper alignment, self-responsibility, and examination of the possibility that many of our limitations are self-imposed. 
     Lynn is a writer and a poet. She brings richness of language, a unique sense of humor, quiet wisdom, and heartfelt gratitude into every class she teaches. She knows that it is through sharing the sacred gift of yoga that we will continue to heal ourselves, and each other.

Meet Yoga Instructor Maile Wehrheim

Maile’s parents introduced her to Iyengar yoga when she was in high-school. Although it struck a chord, she fell on and off the mat until sophomore year in college when she realized her practice helped her cope with school, growing up and all of her relationships. As she traveled around the world after college, Maile sought welcoming yoga shalas everywhere she went, especially warming to the Astanga Primary series while living in New Zealand and completing her Post-Grad Certificate in Education. However, the more she traveled, the more she realized her luck at having a world-class teacher right in her backyard: Bhavani Maki. She completed Level I and II teacher training in 2009 and Level III in 2010. She works towards her 500 hr level certification.

Local-girl Maile Wehrheim brings her decade of practice and range of yoga teaching experience to her classes: from “chair yoga” with her tutu to Vinyasa Level II to unraveling surfer shoulders. She brings her education background to classes that focus on the synergy of alignment and breath: combining the emphasis of both the major branches of modern yoga. Yoga makes her a happy to be alive and happy to share her practice. E komo mai!


 
  

    
 

                                                 

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Yoga Hanalei
P.O. Box 990 
  Hanalei, HI 96714 
  (808) 826-YOGA

yogahanalei@hotmail.com

    Meet our Instructors............