I have practiced yoga with hundreds of instructors and Murti Howard and Larina Hawkins are my favorite.
Although only a minor reason why you should continue your yoga practice here, the fact that the first three classes are free is kickass cool.
The duo teach hatha yoga five days a week in a breezy, open-air classroom at the Waikiki Community Center. Parking is free at the center (enter from the Liliuokalani side of the block, not the Paoakalani side of the block). The entire second-floor classroom floor is covered with a thick spongy surface that you can put your yoga mat or or borrow one of the ones Murti or Larina provide. There is very little chance of slipping or hurting yourself. Maha Fusion also provides straps and blocks, which they use in every class to support good form. The class is gentle, restorative, and yet designed with pose progression such that even students who have been practicing for decades will find their edge of challenge.
Murti's yoga heritage goes back to Rodney Yee, whom I believe is a master of restorative, restful poses, but Murti also folds in traditions of ashtanga, a more acrobatic and spectacular yoga practice. We also use methods employed by those who practice kundalini yoga, micro yoga, B.K.S. Iyengar yoga and vinyasa yoga. Murti is an avid read in yoga theory and makes his students well aware of the vast survey of yoga teaching through commentaries and the sutras. Go Rumi!
Larina is a dancing yogini! Larina teaches classes in conjunction with Murti, and usually heads up the Saturday class. Her hatha-based practice folds in elements of ecstatic dance. Students in her class will find themselves moving about the classroom in addition to engaging in a challenging vinyasa flow. Larina has a very healing and gentle spirit about her and the sharpest eye when it comes to adjusting students' form. With the slightest touch or brush of her fingertips she will have you executing poses with the accuracy.
What I love the most about this practice is the flexibility is brings to my own practice. I am an athlete and strong and experienced in practice, yet there are days when my body, like anyone's is not having it, has had it, and does not want me to be there. Those are the days that I am thankful I practice with these two. I am never made aware that I suck that day and never am I guilted into going beyond what I should be doing that day. Larina and Murti break down each pose is broken down into krama or various expressions of a pose, from the slightest expression of a pose to its grand finale, and each student is invited to find a variation of the pose that suits them that day. There are some days when I am a full wheel and some days I am a man on his back with just his hips raised off the floor a little.
The students in the classes range from 30-something to 70-somethings, from surfers and athletes to grandmas and grampas. The rapport between students is remarkable, and is probably due to the fact that in every practice the students engage in partner yoga whereby they assist one another in obtaining the proper form or in engaging in more challenging poses with the support of another person. It is common to for students at the center to greet one another with hugs and kisses on the cheek. At least several times a year there are vegetarian potlucks after classes on Sunday where students catch up, and every month there is a meditation group held at the beach. In sum, Murti and Larina have created a yoga community.
I recommend practice at Maha Fusion very much for the novice practitioner and those who have been practicing for a long time. read more
