Earthsong Hawai’i started to offer yoga in Ka’u January of 2022 and since then there has been an ebb and flow of locals and visitors attending the weekly classes and monthly special events. We’ve been told by many of the people who find us how needed more than ever this space is now. There aren’t a lot of options for yoga and community gatherings in the island of Hawaii’s largest and most rural district of Ka’u.

The Earthsong Foundation is a 501c3 organization devoted to serving the community of Ka’u with donation based yoga classes.

The Big Island is somewhat transient with people living here part time, or just passing through whether for a short visit or for a few months. Earthsong itself has a transient nature because it is a retreat center and ecological community learning space that we also call an Earth Ashram. In the last year there have already been several incarnations of community at Earthsong, and it continues to transform and grow. There’s usually a mix of visitors, locals, and community members in residence in the yoga classes and monthly gatherings we offer. As a teacher I get to know the bodies and energy of those who come consistently, and have the honor of witnessing the layers drop like petals from a rose.

It helps that we practice in an octagon/circular shaped temple. There is a Native American belief that humans began to lose their connection to Earth and Spirit when they started building square structures and moving away from circular shapes that mimic the spirals found in nature. I find teaching in a circle to allow me to tap into and feel the energy of everyone in the space more powerfully and fluidly.

Observing the community after our shared yoga classes I notice everyone walking and working the land seemingly floating in a bubble of light. Their energy glows along with the brilliance of the sunlight illuminating all that it touches. Sometimes I hear someone chanting a mantra that we chanted together in the practice. Sometimes I notice someone dropping into meditation amidst their work. Sometimes it’s seen in an aligned posture while weeding a garden bed thanks to the asana we did together. There are a variety of expressions of an illuminated and elevated consciousness, a cleared energetic field (or aura), and a body that has been loved up through breath and movement.

Yoga is a technology given to us for the benefit of human consciousness.

We are here, together, with the opportunity and potential to unify in the ascension of collective consciousness. Our ancestors who walked the earth before us formed communities in order to survive and evolve. Through this coming together and sharing of knowledge there have been incredible technological advancements made for humanity. Yoga is one of the oldest of these technologies. Technology, by definition, means “the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes”. There have been countless studies showing the scientifically proven benefits of meditation, breathwork, and physical movement practiced in yoga. However, yoga is often still misunderstood as simply a “workout”, a “stretch” or “woo-woo” which dismisses the ancient and holistic system of Yoga.

The true meaning behind the practice and philosophy of Yoga is to experience Unity. Unity with self, others, earth, and spirit.

Yoga is one path that I’ve been exposed to over the last 20 years which has continually brought me back into Unity when I have lost my way. It has given me the tools and the awareness to transverse my life’s hardships and challenges. My greatest prayer is to bring the practice of Yoga off of the mat and into daily life. I’m triggered all the time by other people, the news, the government, the injustices of this world. I bow with gratitude to all that has triggered and hurt me for it has pushed me further down the path of Yoga.

I teach Yoga because it brings out the best in me. My goal is to carry that same level of compassion, listening, empowerment, patience, and care into my relations with others when we are together outside of the temple and off our mats. Now living and sharing the practice of yoga in this rural community of Ka’u I am given ample opportunity to put my prayers into practice.

If you are a yogi drawn to the Big Island looking for yoga retreats, classes, and/or yoga teacher trainings immersed in nature, check out what we have coming up in 2023. Visit our website to learn more and to sign up.

Elena Rose Davis is a Holistic Healing Artist, Sattva Yoga Master Teacher, and one of Earthsong’s Stewards.